Artificial Intelligence is transforming education, but the real opportunity isn’t replacing teachers. It’s helping them work smarter, save time and deliver better learning experiences.
As we approach 2027, here are ten AI tools every forward-thinking educator should explore.
1.ChatGPT: An excellent all-round assistant for lesson planning, creating assessments, generating teaching resources and explaining difficult concepts.
2. MagicSchool AI: Designed specifically for educators, offering tools for lesson plans, rubrics, differentiated activities and classroom communication.
3. Brisk Teaching: Works directly within your browser to create resources, adapt materials and provide draft feedback on student work.
4. Diffit: Particularly useful for differentiation, transforming reading passages and learning materials into accessible resources for students with varying abilities.
5. Google NotebookLM: Upload curriculum documents, research papers and teaching materials to generate summaries, study guides, quizzes and source-grounded explanations.
6. Canva for Education: Create professional presentations, worksheets, posters and interactive learning materials using AI-powered design tools.
7. Khanmigo: Khan Academy’s AI teaching assistant helps educators develop lesson plans, assessments and personalised learning activities.
8.Wayground: Formerly Quizizz, this platform combines AI-supported assessment creation with engaging quizzes, interactive lessons and formative assessment. You can upload your slides and Wayground’s built-in AI will generate questions for you.
10.SchoolAI: Allows teachers to create supervised AI learning environments where students can practise, explore concepts and receive personalised guidance.
My Advice for 2027 and Beyond
The secret isn’t mastering every AI application. It’s selecting the right tools and combining them into efficient, reliable workflows.
AI should enhance professional judgement, not replace it. Always verify AI-generated materials, protect student information and retain human oversight of assessment decisions.
I also offer Corporate Training Workshops, particularly my Smart Workflows course, which focuses on making AI and digital tools part of practical, repeatable and productive working processes.
The future belongs not to those who use the most technology, but to those who use technology most intelligently.
There’s a tension that every modern marketer, product manager, and data strategist knows all too well. That is none other than personalization.
Personalization can drive a small percentage of sales lift. But that dream quickly sours when data breaches, new privacy mandates, and creepiness fatigue trigger a public relations nightmare.
The pressure is real on both sides. McKinsey’s report reveals that 71% of consumers expect tailored interactions. Meanwhile, 76% get outright frustrated when brands miss the mark.
On the other side of the coin, new privacy laws and $16.6 billion in annual cybercrime losses have left consumer trust in a precarious state.
So, how do you balance personalization at scale with consumer data protection? We’ll share that here. Dive in, then!
#1 Embrace Privacy by Design from the Outset
Privacy by design (PbD) is the foundation, not a checkbox. This concept means baking data protection into every stage of product development, from ideation to launch and beyond.
PbD comes from seven foundational principles. These are to be proactive, make privacy the default setting, embed it into design, ensure full functionality, end-to-end security, visibility, and transparency, and respect for user privacy.
The stakes of ignoring this are remarkably high because design choices have deep psychological impacts.
A prominent example of this failure is the Snapchat mental health lawsuit. On the surface, Snapchat’s design, which features disappearing photos and videos, seems like a privacy feature. But that just creates an illusion of privacy and exclusivity.
Users, especially young adults, feel safe sharing impulsive content. But streaks and constant interactions foster compulsive behavior. Not surprisingly, families across the U.S. are filing the Snapchat lawsuit.
TorHoerman Law notes that tracking-based algorithms are what foster addiction by surfacing the most engaging content.
To integrate privacy into design, use data minimization. Only pull in what’s essential. Implement role-based access controls, so only the right people (or AI models) can touch sensitive info. In development environments, mask or anonymize test data automatically.
#2 Adopt Differential Privacy and Anonymization
Want to deliver personalization at scale without the privacy panic? Differential privacy and anonymization allow you to scale insights with built-in mathematical protection.
Differential privacy works by injecting controlled noise into datasets, so individual data points blur, but aggregate trends shine through. Anonymization strips or masks identifiers (k-anonymity, l-diversity, etc.).
Together, they power AI models that deliver hyper-personalized experiences, like tailored product recommendations, without exposing raw personal info.
The numbers are compelling. Market reports project the differential privacy sector growing from $1.8 billion in 2025 to $6.26 billion by 2030. This rapid expansion is fueled by the rise of AI, widespread cloud adoption, and tightening U.S. regulations.
Big players have been doing this for years. Apple is an excellent example. It uses local differential privacy in its devices to improve Siri suggestions and emoji predictions without shipping raw user data to the cloud.
Implementation is straightforward and scalable. Audit your data pipelines. Identify high-risk fields (location, browsing history). Apply differential privacy libraries (open-source options like Google’s or IBM’s) to analytics dashboards.
For personalization engines, use synthetic data generation. That creates realistic but fake datasets that mimic real behaviors.
#3 Build Transparency through Just-in-Time Notices
Long, legalese privacy policies? Consumers skim them or ignore them entirely. Just-in-time notices are your friendly, non-intrusive way to deliver it exactly when it matters most.
What is a just-in-time (JIT) notice? Unlike a wall-of-text privacy policy that nobody reads, JIT notices deliver a short, clear, contextually relevant explanation of data use at the exact moment it becomes relevant. This notice pops up or slides in gently right at the moment you’re collecting or using data.
This works because JIT notices align with U.S. laws requiring clear consent, such as the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)’s easy-to-understand standard.
It also builds real-time trust. Users see exactly how their data fuels better recommendations, faster checkouts, and relevant offers, and they are far more likely to say yes. McKinsey’s research shows that 65% of customers buy more from targeted promos when they feel informed.
Roll it out simply. Integrate them into your UX flow, during account creation, at checkout, or when a personalization feature activates. Keep language plain, offer easy opt-out or preference toggles, and make them dismissible without frustration.
Nail the timing. Don’t prompt at every turn. Use behavioral triggers and user preferences. The return on investment? Higher customer engagement and loyalty, and fewer complaints.
Building a Better Digital Experience
At the end of the day, personalization at scale is a transaction. The customer gives you their data, and in return, you give them a better, faster, more relevant experience. But this transaction only works if there is trust.
Adopt these practices, and you can deliver the experiences consumers demand while building unbreakable trust.
Ready to start? Pick one tip this week, pilot it, measure results (engagement + privacy metrics), and then scale. When you lead with transparency, you don’t just win a single click but long-term loyalty.
Language models of AI have become one of the most impressive achievements of modern technology. The development of these systems is extremely dynamic. From simple chatbots to complex systems that can write texts, compose music, and even analyze emotions. One of the most famous examples of language models is the GPT series by OpenAI. Also, the latest models from Anthropic. In particular, Claude AI. Hence, we will take a closer look at the main stages of evolution of AI language models. In particular, GPT and Claude AI features and their advantages or differences.
The Best Screen Recording Software for Content Creation. Practical AI in Action.
Artificial intelligence keeps integrating into daily lives. So, effective tools for visual communication are becoming indispensable. It is especially true for Mac screen recording. In fact, it is a key tool if you need to create training materials, presentations, social media content etc. This year, users have a wide range of screen recording programs available. Among the best solutions, CleanShot X stands out. This tool allows you to not only record videos and GIFs, but also hide desktop icons and turn off notifications while recording. You can also share the results instantly via a cloud service. There are other great options, too. The best Mac screen recording software will depend on your specific needs. For quick recordings, the built-in macOS Screenshot tool is a good choice. If you need advanced editing and sharing features, CleanShot X or Capto are great choices. For professional streaming and deep customization, consider OBS Studio. Thanks to these tools, creating high-quality visual content is now accessible to everyone.
The Path to Smart Text: GPT Language Models
Origins
Opportunities and development
Artificial intelligence that learns from texts: Origins of GPT
Generative Pre-trained Transformer is a series of artificial intelligence models developed by OpenAI. The first versions had rather limited capabilities. With each new iteration, they became more powerful. GPT-3 was already capable of:
Respond to user queries,
Generate almost complete essays,
Model dialogues,
And even joke around a bit.
The real breakthrough came with GPT-4. It has reached the level of high-quality generation of meaningful text regardless of context.
GPT-4 features. Ecosystem development.
GPT-4 supports multimodality. This means that it can work not only with texts but also with images, tables, etc. It was this version that gave rise to the creation of numerous third-party services. In particular, GPTNinja. They allow you to customize the model to meet specific user needs. Thanks to APIs and integrations, GPT has become a universal assistant in development, business, and education.
New Vision of the Language Models’ Future: Claude AI
Meaning
Ethics, security and quality
What is Claude AI?
This is a model created by Anthropic. The latter positions itself as an ethical, safe, and less biased alternative to traditional language models. It is named after Claude Shannon. He was the father of information theory. So, answering the question of what is Claude AI, we can affirmatively say that it is more than just a description of artificial intelligence. Claude has a different architecture. It is focused on responsible interaction with users.
Ethics. Security. Quality.
Claude was developed with a focus on safe behavior. This model is better at handling sensitive topics. It avoids toxic responses. It does not “hallucinate” as often as GPT-3.5. At the same time, Claude demonstrates high-quality generation and deep contextual analysis.
Claude AI vs GPT-4
Architectural differences
Quality of generation
Technological Base: Differences
Claude and GPT-4 operate on different architectural approaches.
GPT-4 is a transformer with a complex infrastructure and multibillion parameters. This allows it to efficiently process a large amount of data.
Claude is more focused on ethics, security, and humanity in the answers.
Who Creates Better?: Generation Quality
The question of whether Claude is better than GPT 4 cannot be answered unequivocally. For some tasks, Claude does win. In particular, when generating business letters or ethical responses.
At the same time, GPT-4 often demonstrates better results in coding or analytics.
So, the choice depends on the specific need.
Integration Into Business and Daily Life: AI in Real Life
Useful applications
How to choose?
Useful applications for all industries
Language models are already actively used in the following areas:
Business:Automation of correspondence. Creation of marketing strategies.
Education:Generation of tests and training materials.
Programming: Writing and analyzing code.
Media: Creating content for social networks and blogs.
How to choose a language model?
As always, it all depends on your goals. GPT-4 or GPTNinja will be a good choice if you need a powerful tool with wide capabilities. If you are looking for a model that is focused on ethics and accuracy, Claude AI can be a great alternative.
You can also experiment with new services that clearly demonstrate the capabilities of modern AI.
Summary
The evolution of AI language models has transformed the way we interact with data. This path demonstrates the growing interest in ethics, security, and practical applications of AI in everyday life. From the first versions of GPT to the innovative Claude AI. Today, everyone can use GPTNinja or Al story writer tools. However, it is crucial to approach everything consciously and use the potential that these models open up to us with wisdom.
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I’ll admit it: I was skeptical at first. When I first heard about teachers using AI like ChatGPT to help in the classroom, I imagined some robotic voice taking over my lessons while I stood awkwardly in the corner. But after giving it a try for a while, I can honestly say this: Generative AI has become one of my most useful classroom assistants, and I don’t even need to buy it coffee.
In this post, I’ll walk you through how I’ve been using AI to support my teaching, lighten my workload, and, most importantly, improve learning outcomes for my students.
I started small. I asked it to generate example questions for a maths lesson. Within seconds, I had five beautifully structured, appropriately scaffolded problems tailored to the topic I was teaching. Then I asked it to rephrase a tricky scientific explanation for my ESL students. It gave me three versions at different reading levels. I was hooked.
Supporting Differentiation Like a Pro
Differentiation has always been both crucial and time-consuming. Now, AI helps me tweak worksheets and task instructions for students of varying abilities with minimal effort.
For example, when teaching a unit on exponential growth, I asked the AI to generate three real-world examples: one for beginners (bacteria multiplying), one for intermediates (compound interest), and one for advanced learners (population modeling using e functions). It was done in under a minute.
This doesn’t replace my professional judgement. It enhances it. I choose what is suitable and make the final call, but AI saves me from reinventing the wheel.
Feedback That’s Fast and Focused
One of the areas where I’ve seen the biggest time savings is in providing formative feedback. Using AI, teachers can input a student’s short essay or paragraph and get a summary of strengths, areas for improvement, and even suggested sentence rephrasings. As a mathematics’ teacher this isn’t something that I tend to use, but a number of my colleagues in schools all over the world have reported to me personally that this is fast becoming their favourite way to use AI: particularly for work that students are submitting online, through platforms like Google Classroom, Moodle and Managebac.
Of course, I would always recommend that you cross-check the feedback before sharing. It’s important to keep the human touch. But it has helped many educators provide more timely feedback to more students. Research shows this is key to learning progression (Hattie, 2009).
Making Planning and Admin Less Painful
Here’s something I didn’t expect: AI is amazing for lesson planning. If I know the learning objective and the topic, I can ask ChatGPT to suggest a lesson structure, key questions, differentiated activities, and even potential misconceptions. It’s like brainstorming with a colleague who never gets tired.
Teachers who I communicate with around the world have also used it to draft:
Rubrics for creative projects
Parent letters
Report comments
Learning objectives written in student-friendly language
These tasks used to take hours. Now teachers are telling me that these jobs can be done in minutes, and they can get back to actually teaching.
Student Use: A Double-Edged Sword?
Like any tool, AI can be misused by students and teachers alike. I make it a point to teach AI literacy in my classes. My students learn that it’s fine to use ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas or check understanding. However, it is not okay to copy and paste whole essays.
We talk a lot about academic honesty, critical evaluation of AI outputs, and how to verify information. The goal is not to ban the technology. It is to guide its responsible use, just as we do with calculators, the internet, or even textbooks.
As Selwyn (2023) notes: “Schools are no longer gatekeepers of knowledge, but navigators of abundant (and often overwhelming) information.”
Your Personal Therapist
I recently went through a major setback in life, which I can’t describe in detail here (sorry). It was a very emotionally trying time for me, but one thing that really got me through it was ChatGPT. I was able to vent all of my feelings and thoughts to the system, and it provided me with excellent advice and encouragement. Since the AI pulls information from multiple, verifiable sources, it made the advice it gave seem all the more trustworthy. It remembered my previous inputs and iterated accordingly, providing me with a highly personalised and effective therapy experience.
I recently learned that I was far from from alone in using generative AI in this way. A simple Google search reveals multiple articles describing the many ways in which people are using AI chatbots as personal ‘friends’ and counsellors. My favourite article (and one that I recommend) is this one by Eleanor Lawrie from the BBC describing how Al can be an alternative to human help.
The Human Touch Still Matters
Despite all this excitement, I remind myself often that AI is a tool, not a teacher. My job is still to motivate, to connect, and to inspire. No algorithm can replace the relationships we build, the trust we earn, or the “aha” moments we create. But AI can help us make more time for those moments.
Final Thoughts
If you’re an educator and haven’t yet explored how generative AI can support your teaching, I encourage you to give it a try. You don’t need to be a tech expert. You just need to be open-minded and willing to experiment. Like me, you might just find yourself wondering how you ever managed without it.
References
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. Routledge.
Selwyn, N. (2023). Should Robots Replace Teachers? AI and the Future of Education. Polity Press.
Don’t forget to check out the full bibliography and recommended reading list at the end of this blog post.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) used to sound like science fiction, and was once confined to the creative genius seen in movies I loved as a child, such as WarGames (1983), The Terminator (1984) and Short Circuit (1986). These days, however, it has graduated beyond the illustrious imaginations of movie directors and authors and is actually having an impact in schools: helping students write essays, solve mathematics problems, and even brainstorm ideas for group projects. Welcome to 2025, where generative AI is fast becoming an essential tool in the high school classroom.It’s also the technology behind some bizarre and fun recent trends, such as the current AI Doll image creation craze. A doll version of me, created by ChatGPT, is given below. I hope the similarity does me justice!
On a more serious note, however, generative AI has presented school teachers all over the world with some pressing challenges. It’s important to consider how we, as teachers, can use this technology responsibly and effectively. In this blog post I’ll outline some practical, classroom-friendly ideas that even complete beginners can start utilizing right away!
What is Generative AI?
Before we begin, it’s important to make the distinction between generative AI, and other forms of AI. As I alluded to earlier, AI has actually been around in various forms for quite a while. It’s what allowed me and scores of children in the 80s and 90s to play single-player computer games on systems like the Atari ST, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Sega Mega Drive (remember Sonic the Hedgehog?) and many other devices.
What’s relatively new in the AI space, and what’s caused so much debate and excitiement in the past two to three years is generative AI, which refers to algorithms that can create new content based on existing data. This includes text, images, music, and more. One of the most famous examples is ChatGPT, which can write essays, summaries, and even simulate conversations (Center for Teaching Innovation, 2023).
Rather than replacing teachers, AI is best used as a co-pilot. It can help to lighten workloads, support differentiation, and provide new ways to engage learners.
Five Practical Ways to Use Generative AI in Your Classroom
1. Boost Writing with AI Examples and Prompts
Ever had a student stare at a blank page, unsure where to start? I certainly have. Reaching such students can be real challenge at times. Generative AI, however, may be able to help you by offering writing prompts, providing structured outlines, and generating example paragraphs in various tones and styles. These can be used to help students compare good versus poor structure, or to kick-start a creative writing project (XQ Institute, 2023).
💡 Try this: Ask ChatGPT to produce an essay introduction on climate change, or any topic, then let your students critique it or build on it with their own arguments.
2. Teach Critical Thinking Through AI “Mistakes”
Generative AI can sometimes produce responses that are incorrect or subtly flawed, and that can be a gift in disguise. Use AI-generated answers with embedded errors and ask students to fact-check and edit them. This teaches critical reading, evaluation of sources, and digital literacy, all of which are key 21st-century skills (TIME, 2023).
💡 Try this: Present an AI-generated paragraph with factual errors and challenge students to find and correct them using reliable sources.
3. Differentiate Learning Materials
Students learn at different paces and levels. Generative AI can help you rephrase content in simpler language or adjust reading levels to suit English Language Learners (ELLs) or students with learning difficulties (CRPE, 2024). It is like having a personalized assistant that adapts your materials on demand. If you’re looking for additional tools to add to your differentiation toolkit, then generative AI may be just what you need!
💡 Try this: Take a science article, or an article on any subject matter, and ask the AI to rewrite it for different reading ages or to include more visual metaphors. You can do this with existing worksheets, slides, guides and other resources, too.
4. Fuel Student Creativity
Generative AI can co-create stories, invent fictional dialogue, compose poems, or help design imaginary worlds. For creative projects in English, drama, music or even business studies, it can be a brilliant brainstorming tool (Ali et al., 2023).This allows the AI system to become a ‘creation expansion’ tool that can extend and relate students’ current creative abilities.
💡 Try this: Ask students to work with AI to co-author a short story, with students editing and expanding the AI’s ideas. The prompt ‘I would like to co-author………with you’ should work well with most generative AI systems.
5. Streamline Your Workload
Let’s be honest, teaching is a really demanding job. AI can help with lesson planning, quiz creation, report card comment generation, and even drafting parental emails (Wired, 2023). It is not about replacing your voice, but about saving you time so you can focus on what matters: your students. If you’re struggling with your workload as a teacher, then you should always talk with your line manager in the first instance, as they will know the context within which you are working and will be able to best advise you. However, you may wish to experiment with AI tools too, as you may find that they will relieve you of some of the pressure created by administrative tasks.
Tip from experience: If you want to use AI to generate student report cards, then please seek the permission from your school first, as copyright/data privacy may be an issue to consider. If you are given the green light to go ahead, then check that the correct English is being used (British, or American, for example) and always double-check the reports before officially publishing them,
To make the most of generative AI while keeping things ethical and purposeful, consider the following:
Discuss ethical use with your students: Talk about plagiarism, misinformation, and AI’s limitations (Center for Teaching Innovation, 2023).
Always verify facts: AI can sound confident, even when it is wrong. Teach students to double-check.
Use AI as a tool, not a crutch: Guide students to be critical thinkers, not just content consumers.
Address access equity: Ensure all students have access to tools, especially those from underserved communities (CRPE, 2024).
Final Thoughts
Generative AI is here to stay and that is exciting. With the right approach, it can support better learning outcomes, help differentiate instruction, reduce our workload and spark joy in the classroom. The key is to use it with your students, not for them. As educators, we still provide the wisdom, mentorship, and heart that AI can never replicate.
So why not give it a go this week? Whether it is generating a debate prompt or helping a student craft their first poem, AI might just become your new favourite teaching assistant.
Bibliography and References
Ali, S., DiPaola, D., Williams, R., Ravi, P. and Breazeal, C. (2023) Constructing Dreams using Generative AI. arXiv. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.12013 (Accessed: 12 April 2025).
Liu, L., Chen, J. and Singh, R., 2023. Implementing Learning Principles with a Personal AI Tutor: A Case Study. arXiv. [online] Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.13060 [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
James Madison University Libraries, 2024. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education: AI and Ethics. [online] Available at: https://guides.lib.jmu.edu/AI-in-education/ethics [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
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When ChatGPT first came out in 2022 it hit the education sector like a sudden whirlwind – whipping up a flurry of emotions, such as fear, excitement and uncertainty, as it tore its merry way through one teachers’ meeting after another. Around about that time I wrote a blog post that aimed to inform teachers about what generative AI could already do – and the list was impressive even then. From scoring a Level 5 on an IBDP Mathematics exam to outwitting plagiarism detection software – it seemed as though the fine arts of classroom instruction, assessment and active engagement would be bent out of shape forever.
Fast forward to today, and that whirlwind has been tamed to gentle breeze. The anticlimax has been deathly in its silence, and I am personally of the opinion that AI’s ‘saturation point’ is quickly approaching. People simply don’t want fake stuff (such as fake photos in ads, or blog posts written exclusively by AI), but people DO want the time-saving and cognitive offloading features that AI can provide. Even as far back as 2022, for example, the World Economic forum published the results of a major study which found that 60% of adults around the world agreed that AI products and services would make their lives easier, but just 50% said that they’d trust companies that use AI as much as those that do not. One year later, in 2023, The University of Queensland partnered with KPMG to conduct their own global study of people’s trust in AI. They found that:
61% of respondents were ambivalent or unwilling to trust AI
55% were comfortable with the use of AI at work to augment and automate tasks and inform managerial decision-making, as long as it was not used for human resource and people management purposes.
You can download the full report from the University of Queensland, here.
What is 100% certain is that whilst we’re still sailing on the open ocean of AI, we can harness certain tools to enhance the learning experience, streamline administrative tasks, and provide personalized education. So, in today’s blog post, I will share ten practical ways teachers can incorporate AI into their classrooms, complete with examples and tips for immediate implementation.
Let’s address the elephant in the room first: ChatGPT
It is my observation that ChatGPT is currently being utilized in a ‘skeleton before the meat is added’ way across the education sector:
ChatGPT can quickly generate student written reports, upon providing the system with a lengthy prompt (e.g. student names, genders and overall attainment). These reports are often incomplete and lack context, however, and teachers often need to revise the reports afterwards before final publication. PLEASE CHECK your school’s policy on using ChatGPT for report writing before you proceed – you may come across privacy issues. ChatGPT does ‘learn’ from user inputs, which technically means that the prompts and feedback you share with it are not confidential, as the model uses that information to develop itself.
Students can use ChatGPT to generate ideas for projects and assignments, as well as the core elements of any written work they need to produce. This will, of course, need to be modified afterwards.
What has become clear about ChatGPT since 2022 is that it’s not (currently) as clever as we all thought it would be. Common issues/mistakes that arise include:
Lack of original tone and prosaic/robotic like syntax
Web references and links generated by ChatGPT 4o that are incorrect/do not link to the desired site upon further inspection
Misunderstanding of the original prompt, which often requires further prompt revisions by the user
Image generation is particularly problematic, and the average non-IT professional will still find it difficult to generate photo-realistic images of themselves and others using ChatGPT, even when reference images are provided
Let’s finally get into the ten AI tools that teachers should try out.
#1: Personalized Learning
AI can help tailor educational content to meet the individual needs of each student. Tools like DreamBox and Smart Sparrow adapt lessons based on student performance. For example, a math teacher can use DreamBox to provide customized exercises for each student, ensuring that advanced learners are challenged while those struggling receive extra support.
#2: Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) like Carnegie Learning and ALEKS offer one-on-one tutoring. For instance, a teacher might assign ALEKS for homework, allowing students to receive immediate feedback and explanations on math problems they get wrong, thereby reinforcing learning.
#3: Automated Assessment and Feedback
AI-powered grading tools, such as Gradescope and Turnitin, save teachers countless hours by automating the grading of assignments. A practical example is using Gradescope to quickly grade multiple-choice quizzes or written assignments, providing students with detailed feedback while freeing up the teacher’s time for other tasks.
#4: Live Quiz Apps
AI can increase student engagement through interactive platforms like Kahoot! and Quizlet. For example, a history teacher can create a Kahoot! quiz to review key concepts before a test, making the review session fun and competitive, which helps students retain information better than they might otherwise. I’ve written a separate blog post listing and describing my favourite live-quiz apps which you can read, here.
#5: Analysing student data and making predictions
Predictive analytics tools, such as BrightBytes, analyze student data to predict outcomes and identify students at risk of falling behind. A teacher could use BrightBytes to track student performance throughout the semester, identifying those who need additional support early on and implementing targeted interventions. In theory, the system could also be used to determine predicted grades for students applying to universities, although I wouldn’t recommend only using this tool. Predicted grades are notoriously difficult to pin-down and can be a point of great contention and controversy depending on the dynamics that are at play in your school. Always use assessment data and your professional judgement, coupled with AI if you wish, you make the best predictions you can.
#6 VR and AR tools
AI-powered VR and AR tools like Google Expeditions and Nearpod bring immersive learning experiences into the classroom. For instance, a geography teacher can use Google Expeditions to take students on a virtual field trip to the Grand Canyon, providing a visually engaging way to learn about geological formations. This great blog post by Jennifer Snelling at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) lists 23 brilliant AR and VR tools that teachers can use in the classroom (well worth a read!).
#7: Language translation
AI-based language translation tools, such as Google Translate, facilitate communication in multilingual classrooms. Additionally, language learning apps like Duolingo use AI to personalize lessons. For example, an ESL teacher can use Google Translate to help non-native speakers understand complex instructions, making the classroom more inclusive. For more tips on how to engage EAL/ELD/ESL students specifically, then this great blog post contains some useful advice.
#8: Admin
AI can streamline administrative tasks, allowing teachers to focus more on teaching. Tools like IBM’s Watson Education can handle scheduling, student attendance, and other administrative duties. A practical use case is using Watson Education to automatically generate class schedules based on student preferences and availability, reducing administrative workload.
#9: Collaboration and communication
AI-powered communication tools, such as Microsoft Teams and Slack, can be used to enhance collaboration among students and teachers. A teacher can create a Microsoft Teams channel for a group project, allowing students to share resources, communicate in real-time, and collaborate on assignments effectively.
#10: Professional Development
AI can also support teachers’ professional development. Platforms like Coursera and LinkedIn Learning use AI to recommend courses and resources based on individual interests and career goals. For instance, a teacher looking to improve their coding skills can use LinkedIn Learning to find and enroll in relevant courses, keeping their skills up-to-date.
Did I use AI to help me write this blog post?
I have to admit, yes, I did. But most of this blog post was written by me. I used ChatGPT 4o (which you need a paid subscription for) to do the following:
Write my references in Harvard style
Come up with the ten ideas for using AI in the classroom, to which I added my own thoughts
So, even I am guilty of succumbing to the temptation of using AI to save me time and energy. However, I do think that you, as my readers, deserve more than just a ChatGPT generated blog post every week, which is why I will only ever use generative AI to provide the ‘skeleton’. I must add the ‘meat to the bones’. Perhaps that’s what we should be training our students to do, too?
Updated: 7th February 2023 – As this is an evolving topic, this blog post shall be updated regularly in order to make the content relevant for teachers and schools.
Accompanying podcast episode:
You’ve probably already been swept up by the huge (and sudden) tidal wave of hysteria that has been generated by OpenAI’s latest product: ChatGPT.
From writing computer programs to producing beautifully formatted English and SAT essays, to answering Mathematics IGCSE examination questions – ChatGPT seems to be the digital guru we’ve all been waiting for, and big tech companies have been attempting to create, for decades.
You could almost say “Chat’s one small step for RAM, one giant leap for mankind!”
Whilst a witty pun like this is enough to break the ice and get a few giggles at your next Teach Meet (perhaps), it won’t be enough to calm the nerves of many who have suddenly realised that we have a major problem on our hands.
ChatGPT has hit educators globally with thunderclap surprise and is causing a lot of panic – and for good reason. In terms of updating Academic Integrity policies, schools will now have to go right back to the drawing board and devise intelligent solutions to a wide array of complex challenges that ChatGPT will pose. Another key consideration for all educational institutions will be how to figure out their position on AI, and which teaching practices to use, as these systems and tools evolve.
So, if you’re one of the many educators out there who is considering how ChatGPT will affect your teaching, then here are some interesting thoughts and resources:
The first rule with any new technology is to educate students regarding its use and to reveal what is ethically and academically acceptable (as they say the genie cannot be put back in the bottle so banning does not work). Is ChatGPT just another ‘cognitive offloading’ tool like spellcheck, Grammarly, or Amazon Polly, or is it much more than that? Read this good overview piece by Larry Ferlazzo at EdWeek to find out more.
#3: Plagiarism software cannot detect it quite yet
OpenAI have just recently created a kind of ChatGPT detector – to check if an assignment has been artificially generated – but even they themselves say that it’s nowhere near perfect: only 26% accurate! OpenAI recommend using their plagiarism detector, along with other software (like the tool from TurnItIn) to get a good, overall picture of just how much bot-generated text is present within a piece of work.
What if it catches a student who has used ChatGPT partially? Is this acceptable?
#4: Have a go yourself.
A colleague of mine used it in class with students on an IB Digital Society essay and he reported that it was interesting to examine and use the results. It writes pretty good TOK (Theory of Knowledge) essays based on last year’s prompts, for instance. However, it does have many limitations and I believe it’s important to discuss these with students. I do think the TOK assessment, and other essay-based coursework, will have to radically change over the next few years. It wouldn’t surprise me if we see a shift in schools towards more internal assessment methods like group/individual presentations and practical work.
#5: Should we be concerned about students using it?
As schools continue to set essay assignments (as per current requirements) I recommend using a new tool called Elicit which can help students with searching and ranking sources alongside improving the quality of their research questions. This is a great introduction to the Extended Essay for IB, for example. A list of the many other tools out there can be found at this link – Future Tools – Find The Exact AI Tool For Your Needs.
In addition to the current disruption already caused by ChatGPT, Google (of course) are planning to stamp their feet and make their mark very soon. The AI arms’ race is on, and Google’s offering is a system called Bard – so advanced that its predecessor, LaMBDA, was controversially described as being “sentient” by its developer.
Will we see the day when self-aware AI systems are given the same rights and responsibilities as people? In LaMBDA’s case, the system described feeling “happy or sad at times” and reported having a deep fear of being switched off – a fate comparable to being killed, in its ‘opinion’.
Special thanks to Jeremie Tisseau, CEO of Morphosis Holdings Co. Ltd., for acting as my ‘go-to consultant’ and for sharing his expertise on all things ChatGPT and AI with me. Your input has allowed this blog post to remain relevant, useful, topical and accurate.
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