AI in the Classroom Conference · Melbourne 2026

Using AI to create digital interactives for your classroom

James Jenkins
Head of AI and Digital Transformation, Canterbury College (Science Teacher)
Your class is unique
Nobody else is going to build exactly the tool your students need.

AI can write the code, so the hard part is no longer programming.

The hard part is knowing precisely what your class needs, and nobody knows your students better than you.
How you get a classroom tool

Three older options.
One new one.

Until recently

  • Search the web and hope something close enough exists
  • Pay for software, or pay someone to build it
  • Learn to code

Now

Describe what you need AI builds it you refine it

Conversational tool building. You explain a classroom problem in plain English and get back a working HTML file that opens in any browser.

What you end up with

One file. No install. No login.

No technical barrier

You think about the learning. The AI handles the code.

Minutes, not months

From idea to a working tool inside a single free period.

Built for your class

Your syllabus, your terms, your students and their needs, your Tuesday afternoon.

Runs anywhere

Projector, laptop, phone. Offline, from a USB stick if you like.

Nothing to procure

No subscription, no account, no student data leaving the device.

You own it

No feature removed in an update. Change it whenever you want.

From a sentence to a working tool

This is the whole process.

One prompt. One file. Not a line of code written by me.

Examples in action · one of two

A browser does more than you think.

Science Timer

Animation and sound, built for the board

Sound Waves

Makes real sound from the maths

RGB Colour Mixer

Move a slider, see it change instantly

Pond Screen Saver

A scene that never repeats

Predator and Prey

Change a variable, watch the model

2nd Line of Defence

Rules, a score, a win state

Daily Science Fact

Knows the date, runs all year

Advent Calendar

Opens on the day, images embedded

Examples in action · two of two

Then you pour your own content in.

Lesson Companion

A whole lesson in one file

Year 9 Science Vocab Lab

It speaks, and it listens

Flashcard Maker

An empty shell for any subject

Concept Map Builder

Students build it and keep it

Science Report Generator

Scaffolds writing, then prints

Activity Series

Predicts from a dataset you supply

Class Dashboard

Remembers your class next lesson

Exam Timer

Your subject, your rules, on the board

Every one is a single file. Offline, any browser, no login, no account.

The capabilities

What a browser can actually do.

It speaks and listens

Reads text aloud, and hears a spoken answer.

It knows the date

Content that changes daily, all year, untouched.

It runs a model

Change a variable, watch the outcome respond.

It takes touch and stylus

Drag, draw and write on a board or a tablet.

It takes your content

An empty shell you fill with your own material.

It remembers

A class list or a score, still there next lesson.

It keeps score

Rules, points, a timer and a win state.

It draws and animates

Scenes and sound generated live, never repeating.

It prints

On screen, then straight to the photocopier.

It adapts to the learner

Bigger text, read aloud, five words instead of twenty.

Board, laptop or phone. Offline, no login, no account.

Getting it to students

It is one file. It goes wherever your files already go.

OneNote

Drop it onto a page. Students click it from the notebook.

SharePoint or OneDrive

Share a link the way you share any other document.

Your LMS

Upload once, then link it from the lesson that needs it.

Teams or email

Send it as an attachment to a class or a colleague.

USB or shared drive

No network involved at any point.

A website

If you want other teachers to have it too.

Students install nothing, log in to nothing, and nothing about them leaves the device.

The workflow

Three steps.

1

Identify the problem

Not an idea for a tool. A problem in a lesson. What eats your time, or what do students keep getting wrong?

2

Describe it like a colleague

Say what students do, what good looks like, what happens when they get it wrong, and who is in the room. Include your actual content.

3

Try it, then change one thing

Open it, use it, then ask for the single change that matters most. Repeat until it feels right for your class.

A disappointing first result is almost never a bad model. It is a thin description.

Your turn · build or discuss

Start with this sentence.

I need an interactive HTML tool that helps me ...

call on students fairly, using my actual class list
drill the twenty key terms in our current unit
run a three minute starter that changes every lesson
let students check their answers without me marking
On your laptop or phone

Open Claude or Gemini, paste your sentence, and let it build the tool for you.

Add one line at the end: make it a single self contained HTML file that works offline.

Taking it further

Start small. Keep the wins. Share the prompts.

Pick one thing this week. Something that buys back your time, or makes a learning activity land better. Keep what works so your faculty can use it too.

You know what your students need. Now you can build it.

If you made something, shout out what it was and what subject you teach.

Emailj.jenkins@canterbury.qld.edu.au
LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/jamesdjenkins
Key readout · press K to closepress a key