Student use of NSWEduChat
NSWEduChat is a generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tool owned and designed by the NSW Department of Education.
Generative artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems that appear to use human like intelligence to learn, reason, and problem solve.
Generative AI (GenAI) can create new content, such as text, images, audio, and video, that is similar to what humans can produce. It recognises patterns in video, audio, text or images and copies them when asked to produce something. GenAI can simulate many tasks that a human might perform but may not always be accurate.
NSWEduChat
What is NSWEduChat?
NSWEduChat is a generative artificial intelligence tool owned and designed by the NSW Department of Education.
50 trial schools which have been working with us to provide insights since early 2024 will continue to be key in further shaping our understanding of how AI might effectively be used by staff and students.
NSWEduChat promotes equitable learning opportunities by providing students with a free, safe and effective generative AI (GenAI) tool.
NSW public school students in Years 5 to 12 now have access to NSWEduChat student mode.
It is designed to be:
- secure and private
- safe
- educational.
Secure and private
NSWEduChat data is secured. The department does not share data input into NSWEduChat with anyone else. User input is not used to train NSWEduChat. Because NSWEduChat is secure and private, this means students can input personal identifying information such as emails, names and addresses. They can also input their work into NSWEduChat. As with all tools, students should not input any sensitive or confidential information. This can include health records and private legal information.
NSWEduChat’s student mode is being rigorously tested in 50 trial schools and feedback from principals has highlighted NSWEduChat as a valuable resource that can promote independent learning, critical thinking, and student engagement.
Safety of students
The department has taken measures to make NSWEduChat a safe and beneficial educational tool. NSWEduChat employs a comprehensive, multi-layered content filtering system to ensure interactions remain appropriate and educational. This includes profanity filters, semantic analysis to detect harmful content, and topic restrictions.
Educational design
NSWEduChat has been designed to respond to students with guidance and by asking open-ended questions that encourage them to explore and share their thoughts and reasoning. This approach sets it apart from other GenAI applications, like ChatGPT. NSWEduChat supports students to deepen their understanding and think critically. NSWEduChat only uses text. This means it cannot produce media such as pictures, video or music. NSWEduChat has been built with text to voice.
Staff wishing to access resources to support student use should visit the NSWEduChat resource library (staff only).
Student use of NSWEduChat
Video transcript
Kelly Brydon, principal
Hannam Vale public school is a small school nestled in the valley on the Mid North Coast, so we are halfway between Taree and Port Macquarie. Most of our families come from dairy farming or farming backgrounds, with others who have made the move out after Covid to work from home. Once working from home became more popular, they've moved out of the cities and come to our beautiful location to work from home and have joined our school community.
We're at 27 students, which is one of the biggest numbers we've seen in quite a while. We have K-6 in 2 multi-stage classes, so Kinder to year 2 in one class, and year 3 to 6 in another.
Myra, student
My name is Myra Ziebell and I am in year 5.
Nicole, parent
Hi, I'm Nicole. I'm Myra's mother. We are lucky enough at this little school to have an opportunity to use EduChat.
So since EduChat has been here, Myra has been able to confidently write by herself. She recently developed a story about a mango that started with just a couple sentences about our mango tree and our little cottage at home and where we live. And now that developed into such a large story, that's interesting, it's intriguing, and she's so proud of the work that she's developed.
Myra, student
Miss Brydon said that we're like, remember where your favourite place is at home and stuff, wherever you want. And my mango tree, that's what I thought of when I got the idea of the story.
Nicole, parent
Being able to use EduChat really helped her expand on what she had already written.
Myra, student
Yeah, because I wasn't very good at writing at the beginning, so I would have to like, improve and make it better and then like keep writing and keep using EduChat to help me write more.
Nicole, parent
When you're a bit nervous about writing or trying something new, it's not always easy to ask somebody to help you when you're unsure. So having the ability to just use EduChat independently has been a really good opportunity for her.
Myra, student
Mom was really happy and dad loved it as well. They thought it was awesome.
Kelly Brydon, principal
So here at our school were small school and therefore we have multi-stage classes.
Using EduChat as a tool has been wonderful. In my stage 3 literacy group, we've been able to take it from using it just as feedback on writing, to getting more more intricate with it and getting it to rephrase things that they've written, and for them to then be critical analysers of that.
In a small school we are teaching multi stages, so it's easy to use EduChat to set students at different levels, different tasks.
Nicole, parent
Our kids matter in the regional areas and the more opportunities they get, it just enhances their ability to learn in a different space. It sets them up for success.
Myra, student
I think that everyone like from Kindy to year 6 should be able to use EduChat, because I definitely think it will be able to help all of them.
Kelly Brydon, principal
It's like the teacher's helper while you're working with other groups.
It works brilliantly in small schools.
End of transcript
Accessing NSWEduChat at home
Who has access?
Students from Year 5 to Year 12 have access to NSWEduChat. This is automatically enabled for students.
Access at home
Students can access NSWEduChat through the student portal at https://portal.education.nsw.gov.au/ or directly via chat.education.nsw.gov.au.
Students will need to log in using their NSW Department of Education login. Only the student who logged in should use NSWEduChat.
Safe and ethical use of NSWEduChat
The department assesses all AI tools to ensure they meet our safety requirements.
We recommend that students use NSWEduChat, as it was built specifically for use in NSW public schools.
Please support your child to use NSWEduChat for their schoolwork only. If your child needs help with anything outside of school-related tasks, they should reach out to trusted adults such as parents, carers or teachers.
It is important to remind your child to speak up if they have any questions or concerns and to talk to a trusted adult for support.
Resources are available for schools to support students' understanding about how to engage safely and ethically with GenAI.
You can read more information on the Guidelines regarding the use of generative AI webpage. This page includes information on:
- appropriate AI tools
- risks and minimum safety practice
- ethical checks.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of this tool, please contact your school principal.
Using NSWEduChat for assessments and homework
Schools communicate their assessment guidelines to students and their families at the commencement of a course. It is recommended that schools now incorporate guidance regarding the use of NSWEduChat for assessments and homework.
Disclosure
If schools advise that NSWEduChat can be used for homework or assessments, students should notify their teachers if they have used NSWEduChat in completing tasks. This includes using NSWEduChat for tasks such as, but not limited to, summarising study notes, definition of key terms or structuring text. Schools should communicate the ways in which students can reasonably notify their teachers.
Students should appropriately cite the use of NSWEduChat in assessment tasks. They may consider using the following citation structure: Owner, year, [Large language model], Retrieved Month, Day, Year, from [website].
Example: NSW Department of Education, 2025, NSWEduChat, Retrieved February 10, 2025, from https://chat.education.nsw.gov.au/.
Staff seeking more information on GenAI and assessment should visit Student use of GenAI in assessment tasks (staff only).
Online safety and GenAI tools
The department's restriction of student access to GenAI tools and features on online networks reduces the risk of exposure to potentially explicit or harmful AI generated content. However, this does not extend to the risks posed by GenAI tools outside of school.
The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) is the Australian Government's independent online safety regulator. Their purpose is to help safeguard Australians at risk of online harms and to promote safer, more positive online experiences. eSafety has released information and resources to assist parents and carers in navigating the digital landscape, including guidance specifically relating to AI and social media. Parents and carers can learn more by visiting the below webpages:
Parental privacy notice
Parents and carers should download and read the NSWEduChat parental privacy notice (PDF 256 KB). The notice informs parents and carers about how the department keeps student data safe when using NSWEduChat, including data collection and privacy practices. If you wish to discuss any aspect of this tool, please contact the principal.
Information on NSWEduChat for parents and carers
Refer to information on NSWEduChat for parents and carers (PDF 409 KB).
You can find translated versions on the Translated documents: Student use of NSWEduChat webpage.