What's This Episode About?

In this comprehensive episode of Early Education in the Age of AI, I'll show you exactly how to use AI as your collaborative partner to create professional, personalised visual support resources efficiently.

By the end of this episode, you'll understand how to use AI to overcome "blank page syndrome" and generate foundation content for communication boards, visual schedules, and social stories whilst maintaining your professional expertise, master specific prompting techniques that ensure culturally sensitive, developmentally appropriate, and personalised visual support resources, and learn step-by-step processes for creating each type of visual support, from initial AI prompts through to final design and implementation.

Whether you're new to creating visual supports or looking to make your existing resource development process easier, I'll give you practical prompts, ethical considerations, and strategies for connecting these AI-assisted resources to Early Years Learning Framework outcomes.

Discover how AI can transform the time-consuming task of creating visual supports into an efficient, collaborative process that enhances rather than replaces your professional judgement.

The Quick Takeaway - Essential Learning

Understanding visual supports and their importance - discover how communication boards, visual schedules, and social stories support children's learning, communication, and independence across diverse needs and abilities

AI as a collaborative resource creation partner - learn to use AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT as starting points for content creation whilst maintaining your professional voice and expertise

Step-by-step creation processes for each visual support type - use detailed workflows from initial prompting through content editing to final design preparation

Ethical considerations and privacy protection - understand how to maintain confidentiality, ensure cultural sensitivity, and create inclusive resources when using AI assistance

Framework alignment and professional documentation - explore how to connect AI-assisted visual supports to EYLF outcomes and demonstrate intentional teaching practices

Quality assurance and personalisation strategies - develop skills for reviewing, tweaking, and adapting AI-generated content to meet specific children's needs and developmental goals

AI Prompts You Can Try from This Episode:

Prompt 1: Communication Board Development

I'm an early childhood educator creating a communication board for [age group - e.g., 2-3 year olds, 3-4 year olds] to use during [specific context - e.g., meal times, outdoor play, art activities]. Please suggest [number - e.g., 15-20, 20-25] words or phrases that would be most useful, organised into logical categories. The children in my group [describe your group - e.g., have diverse cultural backgrounds, include children with autism, are learning English as a second language], so please ensure the vocabulary is [specific considerations - e.g., inclusive of different food preferences, uses simple language, includes visual cues].

Use this when: You need comprehensive vocabulary suggestions for specific contexts that reflect your group's unique needs

Why it works: Provides structured, inclusive content whilst specifying context, age group, and specific considerations for relevant, practical results

Prompt 2: Visual Schedule Creation

I'm creating a visual schedule for [age group and setting - e.g., a toddler room, preschool class of 4-5 year olds, mixed-age family daycare]. Please help me break down a typical day from [start time] to [end time] into appropriate segments, considering the need for a mix of [activity types - e.g., active and quiet times, indoor and outdoor play, group and individual activities] and necessary routines like [specific routines - e.g., meals, rest time, nappy changes].

Use this when: You want to create balanced, developmentally appropriate daily schedules that consider various activity types and smooth transitions

Why it works: Includes specific timing, age considerations, and educational principles for creating realistic, effective schedules that work for your unique setting

Prompt 3:  Social Story Development

I need to create a social story for a [age - e.g., 3-year-old, 4-year-old] who [describe the specific challenge - e.g., becomes upset when it's time to transition from free play to group time, struggles with sharing toys, finds loud noises overwhelming]. Please help me draft a simple social story using first-person language that explains [what you want to explain - e.g., why we have group time, how sharing helps everyone have fun] and strategies the child can use to [coping goal - e.g., manage their feelings, remember to take turns, feel safe when things get noisy].

Use this when: You need to address specific social situations with personalised, age-appropriate language and practical coping strategies

Why it works: Combines storytelling structure with practical guidance whilst maintaining the first-person perspective that makes social stories effective for young children