A Teacher's Guide to using AI in the Classroom

There are a lot of mixed feelings in education in regards to the use of AI. But its time for the conversation to move beyond "kids use it to cheat," and "it might replace teachers!" We need to move on towards discussing and finding ways to best implement it. Love it or hate it, AI is here and it's here to stay.

From the Teacher Lens
Approach with Caution
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The Cons - AI is still in its beginning stages and it is flawed. From the perspective of using it as a professional and through the lens of allowing students access to it considering the following.

1. AI Amplifies Bias - This absolutely must be considered when using AI and especially when allowing students to use it
2. AI is NOT perfect and at times gives inaccurate information
3. AI can be used as a tool to assist  with grading but should not be used as the grader. It is horribly inconsistent and often gives poor feedback.

The Pros-Overall, AI can be used as a tool to save time on tasks that can be automated to then move focus to student engagement, interaction, and building lessons that are both authentic and engaging to student learning.

Align to the Science of Reading
For many teaching professionals, the Science of Reading has created a strong shift in their teaching. A shift that requires materials that sometimes, at least in upper grades, are not engaging, not relevant, or simply non existence. AI provides teachers with a tool to quickly provide resources to use in the classroom.  Need a list of words that match the morpheme you are teaching? Done. ​

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