Are schools ready for the responsible introduction of AI in the curriculum?
What educators, policymakers and school leaders had to say at Hedgehog Education's Launch Event.
July 31st marked the launch of Hedgehog Education, bringing together teachers, heads of school, policymakers and key stakeholders to discuss the responsible integration of AI in the classroom.
Framing the choice ahead
Kenneth Brincat, CEO of the Malta Digital Innovation Authority, opened the event by framing the choice ahead of schools: AI could become a “shortcut to learning,” or a tool that strengthens it.
Responsible integration in practice
Central to the event was a panel discussion with experts and leaders in the Maltese education sector to explore what this adoption looks like in practice, with the goal of achieving better learning outcomes.
Rev. Dr Jean Gové (Archdiocese of Malta) argued that AI has not created new problems in education so much as exposed underlying ones. Equally important to what these tools are capable of is drawing a clear line around what they must not be allowed to do.
Sue Midolo, President of the Independent Schools Association and Head of School at St Catherine’s High School, made the case that while AI can help a teacher produce feedback, it cannot replace the trust that makes a student act on it. She called AI integration “less about a technology project than a leadership project.”
Neil Attard, Director for Digital Literacy and Transversal Skills at the Ministry for Education and Sport, argued that AI will reshape which skills matter most, not the value of education itself - naming critical thinking and creativity as the two to prioritise.
Miguel Micallef, Physics teacher and co-founder at Hedgehog, spoke to the new reality educators are facing: students handing in seemingly perfect homework, then struggling when tackling problems on their own. That frustration is what gave rise to the idea behind Hedgehog, kicking off an iterative process of testing and refining the platform directly in his own classroom before integrating it in others.
A shared vision, and a shared effort
Hedgehog Education CEO Mikea Dimech outlined the vision behind the company: a world where struggle stays part of learning, students reach for their own thinking rather than offloading it to AI, and teachers are equipped to focus on the human side of their work - a vision he sees as shared with educators and institutions across Malta and beyond.
He stated that tackling the growing concern of cognitive offloading and making this vision a reality is not a feat one entity can achieve alone. It takes educators, school leadership, tech experts, policymakers and parents working together - and that collaboration is the approach Hedgehog is committed to going forward.
We would like to thank Glenn Bugeja and the HSBC Malta Foundation for hosting what was a fruitful event and discussion, as well as every attendee, speaker, educator and school leader who participated.