It’s no secret that the world of education is changing rapidly. And one of the reasons for this rapid change is artificial intelligence (AI).
Some teachers are concerned that AI might replace them in the future. But the truth is that AI lacks the human traits that teachers have: emotional, social, and creative capacities. Nowadays, people place more importance on emotional, social, and creative abilities - areas where humans are good and machines aren't. This change doesn't mean that teachers are less important, though; it actually makes them even more valuable. The classroom becomes a space where students not only develop their intellectual skills but also their emotional and social skills. They learn not just from machines but from personal interactions with their teachers and classmates.
So, instead of battling AI and being scared that it will overtake your teaching job, may it be time to learn how to utilize it in teaching practices?
For you as a teacher, it’s not about being replaced by AI but being empowered by it. You can use AI in teaching in multiple ways, so let’s dive into what AI can do for you, why it’s worth the effort, and how to implement it effectively in your classroom.
First of all, let’s find out what AI generally is. In 2019, the European Commission’s AI High-Level Expert Group defined AI in the following way: “Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to systems designed by humans that, given a complex goal, act in the physical or digital world by perceiving their environment, interpreting the collected structured or unstructured data, reasoning on the knowledge derived from this data and deciding the best action(s) to achieve the given goal.”
AI might sound like a sci-fi buzzword, but in education, it’s a practical and approachable tool. At its core, AI systems are designed to analyze data and make intelligent decisions. Thanks to its capabilities, in teaching, AI can help with generating lesson plans, personalising learning materials, or even providing feedback on student work. So, instead of being scared of AI or rejecting it, teachers should accept and use it as their helpful teaching assistant.
Let me guess - you’re likely juggling numerous tasks every day, such as grading, planning, and admin work, and feeling like there’s never enough time for meaningful interactions with your students. Research backs this up. According to the findings from McKinsey's report on the impact of AI on K-12 teachers (2020), teachers spend around 50 hours a week working, but less than half of that time is spent directly engaging with students. Luckily, AI can change this dynamic by taking some tasks off teachers’ plates.
Here’s why AI is worth considering:
#1 AI can save teachers precious time. A McKinsey's report on the impact of AI on K-12 teachers (2020) estimates that AI could save teachers up to 40% of their time by automating repetitive tasks like lesson planning, grading, and admin work.
#2 AI can boost students' learning outcomes. Studies show that students using AI-driven tools improve their understanding of key concepts by 30% compared to traditional methods (EdTech Magazine, 2023).
As we can see, AI can serve as an efficient tool for teaching and for students’ learning processes. Remember, AI doesn’t replace your human touch in teaching, it amplifies it. By taking care of the busy work, AI allows you to focus on creating those “aha” moments that make teaching so fulfilling.
Ready to give AI a try? You can start small by using any AI chatbot, like ChatGPT or Gemini, etc. and start “chatting with AI” by asking what you need help with for your teaching process. Let me introduce some ideas and examples of how AI can help you with your daily teacher tasks:
First, AI can serve as a brainstorming assistant that can help you come up with creative and relevant lesson topics that align with your curriculum. For instance, if you're teaching 9th-grade history and need a new unit, you could prompt ChatGPT with: "Generate lesson topics for 9th-grade history on the theme of the Industrial Revolution."
And then the AI might suggest topics like:
So, if you run out of ideas for the next lesson topic, you can simply ask AI to generate those lesson topics for you.
2. Collecting Ideas for Tasks
Once you have your lesson topics, you can use AI to generate engaging tasks that support those lessons. For example, after deciding on a topic about the Industrial Revolution, ask ChatGPT:
"Suggest interactive tasks for a lesson on the impact of the Industrial Revolution on society."
And then the AI may provide task ideas like:
If you need more detailed ideas, you can always ask AI further by writing something like this: “Provide the detailed implementation of the task “A role-playing activity where students simulate a day in the life of a factory worker”, and AI will provide the instructions for implementing the task.
Of course, you can always edit AI-suggested tasks or add more. Remember, you are a teacher and the source of creativity, and AI is your helping tool!
We all know that planning lessons can be time-consuming, but AI can significantly speed up the process. Provide the learning objectives to AI, and it can help outline the structure of a lesson, suggest activities, and even recommend assessment methods.
For example, you can ask AI: "Create a lesson plan on the role of women in the Industrial Revolution for high school students."
AI might generate the following:
Again, you can ask AI further for a detailed lesson plan or activities, so as a result, you can get a ready-to-use lesson plan. And look how much time it can save!
4. Collecting Sources & Materials for Tasks
Collecting sources and learning materials for tasks does require some time. So, why not delegate this to AI?
For example, if you're preparing for a lesson on the Industrial Revolution and need resources, ask AI in ChatGPT:
"Find educational sources and materials for a lesson on the Industrial Revolution."
And ChatGPT can suggest ideas like:
AI can help you gather a variety of learning materials, such as articles, YouTube videos, official documents, and readings so that you don’t have to spend hours searching for them yourself. Pretty convenient, huh?
By using AI tools you’re not only saving time but also creating a more dynamic and engaging learning experience for your students.
And Redmenta AI can help you with that too! Redmenta’s AI Assistant Hub contains various ready-to-use AI assistants for different purposes. There, first of all, you can create engaging worksheets for your students using the assistants. But also, you can use assistants, such as “Lesson Planner”, “Activity Ideas Generator”, “Attention Grabbers”, and many more to help you with lesson planning, collecting ideas, and doing admin work.
So, go to Redmenta’s AI Assistant Hub and check them out! I specifically suggest checking the “Teaching Tools” and “Administrative for Teachers” categories there, as those categories contain various assistants for teachers’ different purposes.
Sources