AI in the Classroom, I think I love it!

I am somebody who typically doesn’t scare easily, I love trying new things. I am a big fan of evolution, these types of new technology are exciting. While the future of technology can be scary at times because we don’t know what it’s capable of and how it can be used and manipulated, it can also be extremely beneficial for teachers in classrooms. Just imagine if teachers never became comfortable with a calculator or the internet, because both of those things were once unknown and frightening as well.

This week I had the opportunity to check out MagicSchool AI and can I just say, WOW! That is one powerful tool. I can think of a million different ways I could use this in my future classroom. I also think that it would be a great and safe way to introduce AI to students.

For the teachers, there are so many great tools in one place. I looked into the lesson plan making, it was incredibly simple. I typed in a few simple keywords and hit generate, and BAM! just like that there was an age-appropriate lesson plan. I was amazed.

There was also a tool for building a slideshow, where again you just had to type in a few keywords and AI produced as many slides as you requested and what to include on each slide!

Amongst all of the other great tools, which there was tons. I also tried the vocabulary list builder,

As an Educational Assistant though, this tool had to be one of my absolute favourites. This was the behaviour intervention suggestions tool. All I had to do was type in the behaviours I’m dealing with and what kind of support I’m looking for and AI provided a lengthy list of possible interventions I could try, as an aspiring teacher this is amazing because sometimes, you will be at your wits end and not know how to proceed. So to have all of these tools in one website and this accessible is something magical.

All of these tools make teaching a little bit easier, not only did I accomplish all of these things in a matter of minutes but it gives you the option to enter guidelines, rules, and/or academic standards for your region. This eliminated so much time consuming research and networking. That can also be viewed as a negative I suppose, because some might say that face-to-face networking is one of the most important parts of your career as a educator.

When it comes to the students, I clicked the box on the top right to switch it over to Magic Student. I played around with the student tools and once again was obsessed with all of the magnificent things at my fingertips. I instantly saw the rap battle option and was drawn to it. I entered something super light-hearted just to see what the outcome would be and it was awesome!

There was a plethora of great materials for students and I believe if instructed properly this would be a great site to introduce the safe use of AI within the school environment. I personally feel like using this website in the classroom would be incredibly beneficial for both students and teachers! Not only does this serve the average student, but it also creates a space for diverse students with diverse needs, it can be used by students who may have academic challenges. There is a voice-to-text option imbedded within the program which makes it accessible for students who may have difficulties with typing, spelling or reading.

I believe that ethically, integrating AI into the classroom could prove to be challenging as there are so many unknowns. There is the obvious aspect of cheating, the concept that it diminishes creativity and that people will become too reliant on it. I completely understand those fears, but in my personal opinion, this is the next greatest thing to happen to our society. I believe there are more pros than there are cons. Maybe I’m naive. I don’t know, but it really excites me.

What do you think? Is it a good idea to introduce AI into the classroom setting?