In today’s fast-paced educational landscape, teachers are constantly juggling multiple responsibilities and facing increasing demands on their time. From lesson planning and grading to administrative tasks and communication, the workload can feel overwhelming. Thankfully, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), a new wave of tools has emerged that can significantly streamline teacher workflows, allowing them to focus on what truly matters: inspiring, guiding, and educating students.

1. Practice Sets on Google Classroom: Automating Assessment and Feedback

Google Classroom’s Practice Sets feature harnesses the power of AI to redefine how teachers create and manage practice assignments. By auto-generating questions aligned with specific learning objectives and curriculum standards, Practice Sets significantly reduces the time teachers spend crafting assessments. Moreover, the AI provides instant feedback and auto-grades student responses, enabling educators to quickly identify areas where students may be struggling and provide targeted support.

For example, a maths teacher can create a practice set on solving quadratic equations, incorporating questions with varying levels of difficulty (a task that could also be delegated to an AI tool like Gemini). Practice Sets AI can suggest possible answers and resources to assist students if they need a hint. Students receive immediate feedback on most question options, and the teacher can view a report highlighting areas where students may need additional help. Teachers can also add their own resources to the available list.

In this way, teachers can create practice sets that support student revision while gaining valuable insights into areas where students might be struggling, which can inform future lessons.

For more information on Google Classroom Practice Sets, check out these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-UgPQ6OvAk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gncTQgAZiM

2. Google NotebookLM: Your AI-Powered Interactive Notebook

NotebookLM allows you to upload existing documents like lecture notes, articles, YouTube videos, websites, or even entire textbooks. The AI processes this information, becoming an expert on your subject matter. You can ask it questions, generate ideas, and even request summaries or outlines. It’s like having a tireless research assistant who can instantly analyse your materials and offer tailored suggestions.

NotebookLM can assist teachers by creating differentiated materials for various learning styles, such as summarising or simplifying complex texts. Additionally, it can generate creative lesson plans and suggest engaging activities, including icebreakers and wrap-up activities. Teachers can also receive instant feedback on the clarity of their explanations and suggestions for improvement. You can even create podcasts based on the uploaded content, providing another excellent way to share information with your students. Furthermore, NotebookLM can save teachers time on research by finding relevant information within uploaded documents.

I’m particularly impressed with how NotebookLM can be a perfect teacher assistant for differentiation, saving you time by generating tailored materials and resources for different students with just a few prompts. Need more complex questions about the content? Ask NotebookLM. Need complex content explained with football-related examples to engage a group of football-mad students? Just ask NotebookLM.

For example, a history teacher could create a notebook on World War II, adding slides, trusted links, and articles. NotebookLM could then generate a timeline of events, icebreaker questions, and summaries of key battles.

Currently, this tool cannot be used directly by learners under 18, but teachers can use it in the classroom as an assistant, allowing students to ask NotebookLM specific questions and interact with the tool during lessons.

Check out these examples of what NotebookLM can do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG0DP6nVnrc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VSm2I0_1Fg

3. MagicSchool AI: The All-in-One Teaching Assistant

MagicSchool AI functions as a comprehensive teaching assistant, supporting educators in a wide range of tasks. From generating detailed and customised lesson plans and creating engaging quizzes and assessments to grading assignments and providing personalised feedback, MagicSchool AI streamlines administrative tasks and empowers teachers to deliver more effective and efficient instruction. The tool’s advanced AI capabilities can also analyse student performance data, identify learning gaps, and suggest tailored interventions, ensuring that every student receives the individualised support they need to succeed.

For example, a science teacher could use MagicSchool AI to create a lesson plan on the solar system, including differentiated activities for students of different abilities. The AI could also generate a quiz to assess students’ understanding and provide feedback on their answers.

MagicSchool also has a GDPR-compliant “MagicSchool for Students” version that can be used directly with your students.

The possibilities with MagicSchool are vast, so I encourage you to give it a try and test some of the features in your future lesson preparation.

Watch it in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AVpt7tONVI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12x_B_9ki8w

4. Canva Magic Studio: Generating Visuals to Enhance Learning

Visuals are essential for capturing students’ attention, stimulating their imagination, and facilitating understanding. Canva Magic Studio, powered by AI, empowers teachers to create stunning visuals for their lessons with unprecedented ease and speed. By simply providing a text prompt or description, teachers can generate high-quality images, videos, infographics, and other visual elements that perfectly align with their lesson content and learning objectives. This tool not only saves teachers time but also enables them to design visually appealing and engaging learning experiences that cater to diverse learning styles and enhance comprehension and retention.

For example, an English teacher could use Canva Magic Studio to create a visual representation of a poem, such as a word cloud or an image that captures the poem’s mood.

See it in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrPKJSkRnWo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr3n4uYsDp4

5. Google Gemini for Lesson Planning: Streamlining Lesson Design

Crafting effective and engaging lesson plans is a time-consuming but crucial aspect of teaching. Google Gemini streamlines this process by generating comprehensive lesson plans based on teachers’ input and preferences. Educators can specify learning objectives, topics, desired activities, and assessment methods, and Gemini will create a detailed and well-structured lesson plan that incorporates relevant resources, differentiated instruction strategies, and formative and summative assessments. This tool not only saves teachers time but also ensures that lesson plans are aligned with curriculum standards, tailored to student needs, and optimised for maximum learning outcomes.

For example, a geography teacher could use Google Gemini to create a lesson plan on climate change, including activities such as a debate or a group project. The AI could also suggest resources, such as videos or articles, and assessment methods.

If you use Gemini with your Google Workspace for Education account, your data remains protected within your organisation thanks to additional data protection measures in the Google For Education environment.

Want some inspiration from others? Have a look at these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv1Fc21zmbk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBUrubFyWDg&t=58s

Embracing the Future of Education

These five AI tools represent just a glimpse of the transformative potential of AI in education. As AI technology continues to advance, we can anticipate even more innovative tools that will further empower teachers, personalise learning, and revolutionise the educational landscape. By embracing these tools and integrating them into their workflows, educators can create more dynamic, engaging, and effective learning experiences that prepare students for success in the 21st century.