To use AI in the classroom in Malaysia, teachers should work through DELIMa (Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia), the official KPM-provided platform built on Google Workspace for Education, which now includes Gemini for Education tools for lesson planning, differentiation and feedback. Dr Muhamad Hariz Muhamad Adnan (drhariz.com), an HRD Corp certified AI trainer and Senior Lecturer at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), trains Malaysian teachers on exactly this kind of practical, policy-aligned classroom AI workflow.
Most guides on AI in education talk about tools in the abstract. This one focuses on what a Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) teacher can actually do this week, inside the systems the ministry already provides, without stepping outside school policy.
Start with DELIMa, not a random AI app
DELIMa is the Ministry of Education’s official digital learning ecosystem, built on Google Workspace for Education. Because it is the sanctioned platform, using its built-in AI features is the lowest-friction way for a KPM teacher to bring AI into a lesson without raising data governance or approval concerns that come with third-party apps. As Google has rolled Gemini for Education into Workspace for Education accounts in participating regions, Malaysian schools using DELIMa gain access to AI features layered directly into the tools teachers already use for documents, slides, and classroom management.
Lesson-level workflows inside DELIMa
Lesson planning with Gemini in Docs
Draft a lesson outline in Google Docs within DELIMa, then use the built-in Gemini assistant to expand a topic into learning objectives, activity suggestions, and formative assessment questions aligned to the syllabus. Review and edit every suggestion; treat the output as a first draft, not a final plan.
Differentiated worksheets in Slides and Docs
Use Gemini to generate two or three versions of the same worksheet at different reading or difficulty levels, which is one of the most time-consuming manual tasks in differentiated instruction. Keep the core learning objective identical across versions so assessment stays comparable.
Feedback drafting, not feedback replacement
For written assignments, AI can draft a first-pass comment bank (common errors, suggested phrasing for feedback) that the teacher then personalises. This keeps the teacher’s professional judgement in the loop while cutting the time spent writing repetitive comments.
Bahasa Melayu prompt examples
DELIMa’s AI tools work in Bahasa Melayu as well as English. Useful starting prompts for BM-medium classrooms include: “Bina rancangan pengajaran harian untuk topik [tajuk] bagi murid Tahun [X], selaras dengan DSKP,” “Hasilkan lima soalan pemahaman aras rendah dan lima soalan aras tinggi untuk petikan ini,” and “Cadangkan aktiviti kumpulan untuk mengukuhkan kefahaman murid tentang [konsep].” Always review AI-generated Bahasa Melayu output for accuracy before use, since translation and terminology errors can slip through.
Working within KPM and Digital Education Policy guidance
Malaysia’s Digital Education Policy sets the direction for how technology, including AI, is meant to support teaching and learning in government schools, with an emphasis on equitable access and teacher readiness rather than unmanaged tool adoption. Practically, this means a teacher’s safest path is to stay inside DELIMa’s sanctioned AI features rather than adopting external consumer AI apps that have not been vetted for student data handling. Where a school wants to go further, such as piloting additional AI tools, this should route through the school’s ICT coordinator and align with existing KPM circulars on digital tool use, not be an individual teacher’s ad hoc decision.
Protecting assessment integrity
AI-assisted lesson preparation is different from AI-assisted student work, and the two need separate rules in the classroom. Three practical habits help: set clear expectations with students about when AI tools are and are not permitted for a given assignment, prefer in-class or oral components for high-stakes assessment where authorship matters most, and design tasks (personal reflection, in-class application, oral defence of written work) that are harder to fully outsource to AI regardless of what detection tools claim to find.
Where this fits with your professional development
DELIMa fluency is a starting point, not the ceiling. Teachers who want a structured pathway from basic AI literacy through to confident classroom integration, including how it maps to LDP and CPD requirements, can see our related guide on AI professional development for educators in Malaysia. For guidance on planning individual lessons with AI in more depth, see AI for lesson planning: a step-by-step guide for Malaysian teachers.
Dr Hariz’s training for schools and IPTA/IPTS institutions is built around exactly this kind of policy-aware, tool-specific approach: practical enough to use on Monday morning, structured enough to satisfy a school’s or ministry’s governance expectations. Programmes are delivered in Bahasa Melayu, English, or bilingually and are HRD Corp claimable where applicable to the institution.
Frequently asked questions
Is DELIMa the only approved AI platform for Malaysian teachers?
DELIMa is the Ministry of Education’s official digital learning platform and the most straightforward, policy-aligned starting point, since it is already sanctioned for use in government schools. Individual schools may pilot additional tools, but this should go through proper school-level approval rather than informal individual use.
Do I need special training to use Gemini inside DELIMa?
Basic use requires little training since the AI features sit inside familiar Google Docs and Slides interfaces, but getting genuinely useful, curriculum-aligned output (rather than generic answers) benefits from structured training on prompt writing and lesson-specific use cases.
Can AI tools in DELIMa access or store student personal data insecurely?
Because DELIMa runs on Google Workspace for Education under KPM’s governance arrangements, data handling follows the ministry’s approved framework, which is the main reason it is preferred over unvetted third-party AI apps for classroom use. Teachers should still avoid entering sensitive personal student information into any AI prompt unnecessarily.
How do I stop students from using AI to cheat on assignments?
Redesign high-stakes assessment to include in-class components, oral explanation, or personal reflection that are harder to fully outsource to AI, rather than relying solely on AI-detection tools, which are inconsistent. Clear, assignment-specific rules on permitted AI use also reduce ambiguity for students.
What is the difference between using AI for lesson planning and using AI in the classroom with students?
Lesson planning use is entirely teacher-side (drafting materials, generating question banks) and carries low risk. In-classroom use with students, such as letting students interact directly with an AI tool, requires additional thought about age-appropriateness, data privacy, and school policy before introducing it.
Want practical, DELIMa-aligned AI training for your school or institution? Contact Dr Hariz to discuss a session for your teaching staff.
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