AI tools offer teachers a number of ways to save time, but they come with risks that educators need to evaluate carefully. This summer, CEA is offering an AI Summer School with pop-in virtual sessions designed to help educators explore the opportunities, challenges, and realities of Al in education.
In last week’s session, titled Saving Time Without Losing the Human Touch, educators and presenter CEA Teacher Development Specialist Kate Field shared some of their favorite tools and discussed their pros and cons.
Field asked participants to reflect on the aspects of their jobs that are particularly time consuming and don’t have a corresponding level of reward.
Field, who was an educator and principal before working for CEA, said, “I didn’t mind grading papers, but I hated grading 80 papers. It took a big chunk out of my weekend when I was in the classroom.”
Some of the areas that participants shared they were considering using AI for included implementing a time-consuming rubric, elementary school progress reports, and adding fun and creativity to already established lessons.
Register for one or both of the remaining CEA AI Summer School sessions. Both are held virtually from 2 – 3:30 p.m.
Field recommended that teachers check out Diffit, an AI tool created expressly for educators that can be a secure option for easily differentiating lessons and instructional materials.
“I like ChatGPT for certain things, but I wouldn’t put anything personal or that shouldn’t be public knowledge into Chat,” she said. “It also hallucinates and will sometimes give you incorrect information. You don’t have to worry about that to the same extent with Diffit.”
Field says that it’s vital that educators make sure they’re abiding by privacy laws and policies and don’t share sensitive or personal student or educator information with AI tools.
“If your district has an AI policy, make sure you review it before you do anything with student work,” she stresses.
Field and other veteran teachers who joined the session also emphasized that teachers must have years of experience as educators and in their content area to properly use AI tools to create lesson plans or instructional materials. They agreed that educators must have the expertise to carefully review all AI generated materials to make sure all information is correct, grade-level appropriate, and will resonate with students.
“New teachers can be overwhelmed and underwater and think ‘I’m just going to ask Chat to create a lesson on this,’ but they don’t have the knowledge and background to properly evaluate the lesson AI has created,” Field says.
Other tools Field recommends educators check out, if they comply with a district’s AI policy, include Gradescope and Brisk Teaching.
Sign up for one or both of the remaining CEA AI Summer School Sessions to share your experiences, questions, and concerns, explore responsible and ethical uses of AI, and help identify guardrails that protect privacy and student well-being.
