Anyone who has spent any time in schools has no doubt had experience or at least discussions about the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and their use in our classrooms. Often the discussion is around students using them as shortcuts or to cheat through the use of programs such as ChatGPT or PhotoMath, but lately the discussion has shifted to programs that are designed to help lighten teachers workload. As described in a recent Edutopia article, AI tools can “help teachers boost their productivity, personalize learning and create lesson content.” Intrigued, I decided to capitalize on the opportunity to dive deeper into and explore the world of teacher AI for my learning project.
My first exposure to the realm of teacher AI came as I read a syllabus for a class where the professor was encouraging us to use teacher AI programs to assist in our lesson planning for our assignments. Yes, you read that right, a university professor was encouraging students to use AI, with specific guidelines on proper citation and including the AI generated content, the same as we would for any other source. The next day during a discussion at work, a learning resource teacher (LRT) told me about a program she recently discovered that she wished more teachers knew about. So what exactly is teacher AI? What do these programs do? How can it help us and our students?
Many times we fear what we do not know, especially when it comes to new technology such as AI that is often vilified in the media and pop culture movies. Over the next few weeks my goal is to alleviate some of the fear surrounding the use of AI in our classrooms by exploring some of the available teacher programs, learning how to use them and uncovering how they can be used to enhance our students learning and our teaching practices. Follow along as I delve into the controversial world of educational AI.
Programs to be explored:
