Aila FAQs

Contents

• Getting started
• Features and functionality
• Support and assistance
• Accessibility
• Usage and best practices
• Technical support
• Updates and enhancements
• Other concerns
• Data privacy and security

Getting started

How do I get access to Aila?

To access Aila you need to sign in. Select the 'Start creating with AI button' to get started. 

How much does it cost to use Aila?

Like all our resources, Aila is completely free to use - and always will be. We've put some fair use limits in place, so you may notice restrictions if your usage appears to be unusually high.

What are the system requirements for using Aila?

We aim to make our resources as accessible as possible. You can use Aila on any laptop or computer with internet access. We currently don't support mobile usage.

Why is Aila labelled a beta product?

Aila is in beta, which means we’re still testing and improving it. This helps us spot issues by seeing how it works in real classrooms. It won’t always get everything right, but we’re improving all the time. Your feedback helps us make Aila better for you and your pupils. 

Is there a tutorial or guide available to help me get started?

Aila provides helpful tips and prompts to get you started. You can also explore our Aila guide, with example prompts to get you going.

Features and functionality

What features does Aila offer?

Aila helps you create and adapt high-quality lesson plans and resources, aligned with the national curriculum. You can edit your lesson plan step by step, quickly generating downloadable lesson plans, slide decks, and starter and exit quizzes. Everything is fully editable, so you adapt it to suit your pupils and context.  

Can I customise lessons?

Yes! Aila guides you through co-creating lesson plans and teaching materials. The more you specify, the better it can tailor the results to your needs. 

You can adapt resources to suit your context, including your location, the reading age of your pupils, or any other needs in your classroom. 

Everything you create is fully editable, so you can refine it for your pupils.

What are the advantages of using Aila?

Aila helps you plan lessons effectively, while keeping you in control. 

It guides you through a structured planning process, starting with your lesson outcome and breaking learning into manageable chunks.

It encourages you to think about the prior knowledge that pupils will require, the vocabulary that can be explicitly taught during the lesson, the key knowledge that you want pupils to take away and any common misconceptions or errors.

Our learning cycles are designed to ensure clear explanations. We provide image and slide text suggestions to allow for dual coding, we've ensured slide design minimises extraneous cognitive load for pupils and built-in regular checks for understanding tasks followed by practice for pupils.

Aila draws on Oak’s high-quality, national curriculum-aligned content, created by teachers and reviewed by subject experts, to give you a strong starting point you can trust.

It’s built for UK classrooms, so content is relevant and you are less likely to see Americanisms.

With Aila, safety is built in. Content is filtered to be appropriate for pupils and data is kept secure.

Does Aila only use content from Oak?

Aila is built on Oak's high-quality, national curriculum-aligned content, created by teachers and reviewed by subject experts. This helps give you a reliable starting point.

It also draws from its underlying AI model to support how content is generated. For topics that change quickly, such as current events, we recommend checking content carefully .

As always, you stay in the driving seat - Aila supports your planning, but you decide what to use and how to use it.

Why has Oak created Aila when other AI tools are already available?

We created Aila to give you an AI tool you can trust for lesson planning. 

Unlike generic AI tools, Aila draws on Oak’s content, which has been expertly created by real teachers and quality-checked by subject experts. Aila has been designed around our curriculum principles, which are national curriculum-aligned and geared towards UK classrooms. 

This means you’re less likely to see inaccuracies or irrelevant examples, and you can spend less time adapting content than you would with generic tools.

Read our blog: Looking for an AI tool you can trust for use in Education?

What are Aila's current limitations?

Aila doesn’t currently generate images or diagrams. Instead, it provides an 'image suggestion' to help you search for an appropriate image online. Image production is a feature that will come with a future iteration of Aila.

We are aware that complex concepts may require more than one slide to support their explanation. We are developing this feature. We know this is the part of a lesson that will need the most development from a teacher after download.

Like all AI tools, Aila’s stronger in some subjects than others.  We’re continuing to improve STEM subjects and modern foreign languages. We're refining Aila all the time, and your feedback helps us make it better for you and your pupils.

Why does Aila only output in Oak format?

Aila uses the Oak lesson format to give you a clear, structured starting point for your planning. This format is based on evidence-informed teaching approaches, helping you to co-build lessons step by step. Everything is fully editable, so you can adapt what you create to suit your pupils, context and preferred formats.

Why is there only one type of questioning in the quizzes?

Aila currently focuses on multiple-choice questions, as they’re a quick and effective way to check pupils' understanding. We’ve included carefully designed distractors to save you time. You can edit these after export, for example, to remove the options and make them short answer questions, or add your own additional questions.

You can ask Aila to generate more open or ‘deeper thinking’ questions. We’re continuing to develop Aila, and plan to introduce more question types.

Support and assistance

Is support available if I encounter any issues or have questions?

Yes, if you have any questions just contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Can I provide feedback or suggest improvements for Aila?

Yes, we’d love to hear your feedback! Your suggestions help us improve Aila. You can submit your feedback or suggestions.

Are there resources available for troubleshooting common problems?

We’re building further support resources based on the most common questions and issues we see.

As we learn from your feedback, we’ll continue to add troubleshooting guidance to help you resolve problems quickly.

Accessibility

Are there features in place to support diverse learners and educators?

We want as many people as possible to be able to use Aila. You can customise your experience by changing colours, contrast levels and fonts, and by  zooming in up to 400%. You can also navigate most of the website using just a keyboard or speech recognition software, and listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver). 

Read our full accessibility statement for more details.

Can lesson plans be adapted for pupils with SEND?

Yes -  you can use Aila to adapt your lesson plan to support your pupils' needs. This helps you personalise support while keeping all pupils working towards the same learning outcome. 

For example, you can adapt tasks by breaking them into smaller steps or changing how they are delivered.

You can also adjust reading levels, shorten text, or create additional materials such as sentence starters, writing frames and further scaffolds. 

Can lesson plans be adapted for stretch and challenge? 

Yes - you can use Aila to build in stretch and challenge. You can ask it to:

• include more challenging vocabulary
• generate ‘most likely misconception’ and ‘deeper thinking’ questions in the starter quiz
• add error analysis or evaluative reasoning to check-for-understanding questions
• design practice tasks that involve decision-making or higher-order thinking
• include metacognitive prompts to encourage pupil reflection.

A helpful approach is to pitch the lesson for stretch, and then use scaffolds to support all pupils to access that level of challenge.

Usage and best practices

How can I get the most out of Aila?

Work with Aila to co-create your lesson step by step. 

Start by checking that you’re happy with your lesson outcomes and learning cycle outcomes, as this shapes the rest of your lesson.

If you want to adapt content for your context (such as location, reading age or specific pupil needs), include this early on so Aila can factor it in. 

You can also use the additional materials section to create tailored resources, such as teacher instructions for a practical lesson, model answers, essay-style questions, narratives for your explanations or texts differentiated by reading age for your pupils.

Technical

How does Aila work?

Aila is built to use Chat GPT4, but we are also evaluating other models. We have written a 9,000-word prompt that provides very specific guidance on what excellence looks like for each section of a lesson.

It uses a structured approach, guided by Oak’s curriculum principles, to help you build lesson plans step by step.

Aila also draws on Oak’s expert-created resources to give you a strong, reliable starting point that’s relevant for your classroom.

Updates and enhancements

Are there plans for future enhancements or new features?

Yes, we’re continuing to improve Aila based on feedback from our users.

We’re working on new features, including the ability to generate images and diagrams. We are also improving  Aila’s pedagogical rigour for a range of different subjects.

Can users suggest features for future updates?

Yes, we’d love to hear your ideas.  Your suggestions will help shape future updates to Aila and support your teaching. You can share  your feedback.

How often are updates released for Aila?

Aila is still in development, and we're the first to admit it's not perfect. It doesn't yet have all the features you'll want, and you may spot the odd glitch or mistake. 

We make frequent updates based on your feedback, often on a day-to-day basis.

Your feedback helps us prioritise improvements and shape how Aila develops.

We're reliant on your  feedback to help us improve Aila - we aim to iterate our tool on an almost daily basis!

How will Aila be evaluated?

We constantly evaluate Aila to help make sure it produces high-quality, classroom-ready content. This includes checking for consistency, quality and how well content meets the needs of teachers and pupils. We also review things like Americanisms, cultural biases, reading level and how learning builds across the lesson.

As with any AI tool, it’s important to review and adapt the outputs before using them in your classroom.

Other concerns

Is Oak trying to replace teachers with AI?

Absolutely not - Aila is designed to support teachers, not replace them.

At Oak, we showcase the expertise of teachers across the country through our resources, and Aila is no different. It keeps you in the driving seat, using AI to support your planning and reduce workload.

Data privacy and security

Is Aila safe to use?

Yes - Aila is designed with safety in mind, so you can use it confidently in your planning. We’ve put technical and policy measures to help ensure content is appropriate, reliable and suitable for your classroom. 

As with any AI tool, it's important to check content thoroughly before using it with your pupils. Care should be taken, for example, you must not input personally identifiable information into Aila, and this is in breach of the terms and conditions of use.

Is there a limit to how much I can use Aila?

There are some fair use limits to help ensure Aila works well for everyone. 

If you're reaching these limits, get in touch to request a higher allowance.

How is Aila designed to be ethical and responsible?

• We’ve designed Aila to be safe, responsible and transparent in how it supports teachers. 

  This includes:

  • keeping the teacher  in the driving seat, with AI supporting (not replacing) their expertise
  • avoiding  the use of personal data when generating content 
  • reviewing outputs to identify and reduce any potential cultural biases 
  • creating guardrails to help ensure content is appropriate and aligned to the national curriculum  
  • being transparent about how Aila works and how content is created.

  We also follow emerging guidance on the use of AI in education, including from the Department for Education and UNESCO.

Aila

Why is Oak's AI lesson assistant named Aila?

The name is an acronym for 'AI lesson assistant', making its purpose clear from the start. We wanted a name that reflects how Aila supports teachers to save time with AI. 

The name also has a meaningful connection to Oak.  'Aila' means 'oak tree' in Hebrew, and in Scottish Gaelic it means 'from the strong place'. This reflects the strong foundations behind Aila, built on Oak’s curriculum principles and high-quality content created by teachers.