Using Generative AI to Develop Writing Skills for Secondary Learners: What I Learned from Cambridge’s Latest Webinar

I’ve recently watched a webinar on using AI with our students, and this was by far one of the best webinars I have watched on GenAI.

The webinar was organized by Cambridge English, titled “Using Generative AI to develop writing skills for secondary learners”. The aim was to explore how generative AI can be integrated into writing instruction for secondary-school students, and what the opportunities and pitfalls are.

It uses practical examples drawn from Cambridge coursebooks to demonstrate how AI can support writing tasks.

The presenters (Evelina Galaczi and Ana Clara Petersen) highlight the importance of teachers and pedagogy and how GenAI can be used as a tool rather than something the student cheats with or generates instead of them.

The webinar opened with the poll question “Should we still teach how to write essays?”, and the answer was a definite “yes”.
So in real life, students will still write things, but how we teach writing is changing, and this shift opens up exciting opportunities for both teachers and learners.

Yes, AI isn’t replacing writing skills — It’s reshaping them! Change is inevitable. Since we have GenAI as a tool now, we need to consider creating new tasks, teaching new skills, helping our students identify the risks, think outside the box and be creative and critical thinkers! These were the messages of the webinar, and also this was another one: as teachers, we can teach students how to use it as a tool.

Instead of banning generative AI or fearing it, the presenters encouraged us to integrate it meaningfully into our writing lessons. Not as a shortcut. Not as a “write this for me” machine. But as a partner that:
• sparks ideas
• supports drafting
• offers feedback
• encourages reflection
• expands creativity

This shift allows teachers to guide students toward thoughtful AI use—something they will need in their future life when they leave their classrooms.

The presenters showed 4 different tasks from Cambridge coursebooks. When you watch the webinar, I’m sure you will also like these tasks. The tasks were very similar to those we are used to, but there was a sprinkle of AI gitter on them. This was what I liked the most actually, so teachers can design tasks where students:• read and choose from AI-generated options
• justify which version is better and why
• compare style, tone, or accuracy
• revise or improve the AI’s attempt
• challenge the model when it gets things wrong
• discuss whether the ideas make sense
• add their own examples or analysis

In other words, AI becomes a stimulus—not a replacement—for real thinking.

Of course, this approach also supports higher-order skills:
• critical thinking
• creativity
• decision-making
• evaluation
• argumentation

And these are exactly the skills our students need to become confident writers.

With the help of the presented activities, students learn to question, reflect, and evaluate, and this is when learning happens.

The presenters also mentioned the risks and concerns. They highlighted that the teacher is not the second best but the one to control everything in the classroom. Also, pedagogy is more important than technology, and technology should be used when it is really necessary—so is GenAI. There was another takeaway that I completely agree with. One of the aims of educators should be to teach learners about life competencies, and AI is the reality of their future, so we should help them navigate it safely, teaching them about ethical use, plagiarism, and how to deal with bias and fake information.

To sum up, I highly recommend you watch this webinar to learn and to get inspiration.

Thank you Evelina Galaczi and Ana Clara Petersen!