Modern teachers deal with a bunch of tasks that can easily pile up and become too much to handle. From lesson planning and grading to student engagement and feedback, the workload can seem endless. Fortunately, AI tools are stepping in to help teachers streamline these processes, reduce time spent on administrative tasks, and focus more on meaningful interactions with their students. In this blog post, we’ll explore the top 5 AI tools that make teachers’ lives easier by improving efficiency and automating time consuming tasks.
The tools we will cover today will be:
- Magic School 🏫
- Price- Free or $99 per year for enhanced features
- Try Magic School
- SlideSpeak 💻
- Price- $24 or $29 per month for enhanced features
- Try SlideSpeak
- Claude.ai 🦾
- Price- Free or $20 per month for enhanced features
- Try Claude.ai
- Edpuzzle 🧩
- Price- Free or $13.50 per month for enhanced features
- Try Edpuzzle
- Audiopen 🖋️
- Price- $99 per year
- Try AudioPen
Now, let’s take a look at the top 5 AI tools for teachers in 2024.
1. Magic School: Your AI-Powered Classroom Assistant
Magic School is a versatile AI tool designed to simplify the teaching experience by automating several key tasks such as lesson planning, grading, and classroom management. This tool integrates seamlessly into a teacher’s workflow, offering time-saving solutions that free up more time for student engagement.
Key Feature: Automated Lesson Planning
Magic School’s AI-driven lesson planning feature allows teachers to generate detailed, standards-aligned lesson plans in minutes.
Step-by-step guide
Step 1. Log In and Select “Lesson Planning”:
Log into your Magic School account and navigate to the “Lesson Planning” section from the dashboard.
Step 2. Input your criteria and create the lesson plan
Enter the subject, grade level, and specific standards or objectives you want to cover. You can also add keywords or themes related to the lesson.
Click “Generate” to create a comprehensive lesson plan, including objectives, materials, instructional steps, and assessment strategies.
Step 3. Review and Customize
Review the plan and make any necessary adjustments. You can further personalize the lesson by adding specific notes or questions. We recommend using the “Actions” button for this.
Other Key Features:
- Grading Automation: Automatically grade multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay responses. The AI provides detailed feedback, helping students learn from their mistakes and freeing up more of your time.
- Behavior Tracking and Reporting: Monitor student behavior and engagement in real-time and generate reports to identify patterns and address issues proactively.
- Parent Communication: Automate routine communication with parents regarding student performance and classroom updates, saving time on crafting individual messages.
Why Teachers Love Magic School:
Teachers love Magic School because it takes the stress out of planning lessons, grading, and managing reports. It frees up more time to actually focus on students and make teaching fun again. The AI handles the boring stuff, making sure everything stays organized and on track, so teachers can breathe a little easier.
2. SlideSpeak- Turning Information into a Presentation in 2 minutes
SlideSpeak is an AI tool designed to help teachers quickly convert their teaching materials into presentations and quizzes. By using AI to chat with uploaded files, teachers can generate quizzes and multiple choice questions that are aligned with their lesson content in a matter of minutes, saving hours of preparation time.
Key Feature: Turn your files into a presentation
SlideSpeak’s ability to create customized presentations by interacting with your uploaded files is a game-changer for teachers. You can upload a PowerPoint, PDF, or Word document, and the AI will generate a presentation containing the key information.
Step-by-step guide
Step 1. Upload your files
Upload your chosen file by selecting on “Click to upload” which is on the homepage of the SlideSpeak web app. From the home dashboard, select the “Click to “Upload” button and select the teaching material (PowerPoint, PDF, or document) that you want to generate a presentation from.
Step 2: Define the presentation content
You should prompt the SlideSpeak AI chatbot to summarize the key information for your required teaching case. In most teaching documents, not all information is relevant so it is important to only include the key learnings in the presentation.
SlideSpeak AI can extract the key information from your files.
Step 3: Create your presentation
Within the chatbot window, select the “Create presentation” button and begin transforming the information into a presentation.
SlideSpeak offers various customization options related to length and tone of presentation as well as the ability to add your schools custom branding/template. This unique feature will allow you to take your presentation straight from SlideSpeak into the classroom.
Here is an example of a presentation SlideSpeak has produced from the chatbot discussion we had in the above image.
Step 4: Create additional learning content
Within SlideSpeak, teachers can also create quizzes and multiple choice questions from their uploaded files.
Simply prompt the chatbot to create some learning material for a certain audience (e.g. grade 9 students) and allow SlideSpeak to do the rest.
You can then insert these questions and answers into a SlideSpeak PowerPoint or you can copy the text and paste it into your LMS or on some digital flashcards.
Other Key Features:
- AI Speaker Notes: SlideSpeak can automatically generate high-quality speaker notes for your presentations, allowing you to create narrated slides effortlessly, perfect for online or flipped classroom settings.
- Interactive Study Guides: Upload study materials and let SlideSpeak create interactive study guides that include summaries, key points, and quizzes to help students prepare for assessments.
- Multilingual Support: SlideSpeak supports multiple languages making it easy to create quizzes and presentations for diverse classrooms with students who speak different languages.
Why teachers love SlideSpeak:
Teachers love using SlideSpeak because it makes creating presentations and quizzes a breeze. Instead of spending hours narrating slides or coming up with quiz questions, you can upload your content, and SlideSpeak’s AI does the work for you. It saves time, keeps lessons engaging, and is perfect for both in-person and online teaching. Plus, it’s super easy to use, so teachers can focus more on teaching and less on prep work.
3. Claude AI: A Smarter Way To Handle Complex Tasks
Claude.ai by Anthropic is a highly intelligent AI assistant that can assist teachers with a variety of educational tasks, such as content creation, curriculum development, and problem-solving. Claude.ai is designed to save teachers time and enhance the quality of education by providing accurate and insightful AI-driven support.
Key Feature: Curriculum Development
Claude.ai’s chatbot helps teachers design comprehensive and standards-aligned curricula, catering to various learning needs and educational goals. Here’s how to use Claude.ai to streamline curriculum planning:
Step-by-step guide
Step 1: Login and start a new chat
Log into your Claude.ai account and start a new chat. This is in the panel on the left hand side of the dashboard.
Step 2: Define your prompt
Start by inputting the broad educational goals or standards that your curriculum needs to meet. This could include state or national standards, specific learning outcomes, or skills you want your students to develop. We recommend attaching any helpful documents such as previous years curriculum or examples of lesson plans.
Be sure to state the appropriate grade level and subject area for the curriculum you are designing. This helps Claude.ai tailor its suggestions to be age-appropriate and subject-specific.
List the key topics or units you plan to cover. Claude.ai will use this information to suggest a sequence and duration for each topic, ensuring a logical flow throughout the curriculum.
Step 3: Review & Customize
Review the generated curriculum outline. You can make any necessary adjustments, such as adding or removing topics, modifying lesson objectives, or changing the order of units. Claude.ai allows you to customize the curriculum to better fit your specific teaching style and student needs.
Once you are satisfied with the curriculum, export it as a document or integrate it directly into your preferred Learning Management System (LMS) for easy access and use.
Other Key Features:
- Complex Question Answering: Claude.ai excels at answering complex, open-ended questions, providing detailed, well-researched responses that can be directly used in classroom discussions or lesson materials.
- Content Summarization: Quickly condense lengthy documents or articles into key points, saving teachers time on reading and preparing concise materials for students.
- Creative Writing Assistance: Claude.ai assists with generating creative content for lessons, such as engaging stories or example problems, making lessons more interesting and effective.
Why Teachers Love Claude.ai:
Claude.ai’s curriculum development feature is a time-saver for teachers who need to design comprehensive and coherent curricula. It provides a structured approach to planning that ensures alignment with educational standards and addresses diverse student needs.
4. Edpuzzle: Create interactive video lessons in minutes
Edpuzzle is a powerful tool that transforms traditional video content into interactive lessons, enhancing student engagement and understanding through multimedia.
Key Feature: Interactive video creation
Edpuzzle allows teachers to add questions, notes, and assessments directly into videos to create an interactive learning experience.
Step-by-step guide
Step 1: Sign in to Edpuzzle
Log in to your Edpuzzle account or create a new one if needed.
Step 2: Choose a video
Select a video from Edpuzzle’s library, YouTube, or upload your own.
Step 3: Add interactions
Use Edpuzzle’s editing tools to trim the video to the desired length, ensuring only relevant content is included.
Click on “Add Question” or “Add Note” to embed multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, or notes at specific points in the video.
Step 4: Share the video
Once happy with the video you can assign the interactive video to your class through your LMS integration or directly via Edpuzzle.
Other Key Features:
- Automated Grading: The AI grades quizzes embedded in the videos automatically, providing instant feedback to students and valuable insights to teachers.
- Integration with LMS: Seamlessly integrates with popular Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Google Classroom, Canvas, and Schoology for easy assignment and tracking.
- Customizable Content: Customize existing videos or create your own to fit the specific needs and learning objectives of your students.
Why Teachers Love Edpuzzle:
Edpuzzle’s interactive features make video content more engaging and effective for learning, while automated grading and analytics save teachers valuable time. That is why Edpuzzle is seen as the go to video creation ai tool for teachers.
5. AudioPen: Transform your thoughts into actionable content
AudioPen is an AI-powered voice-to-text tool that helps teachers quickly turn spoken ideas into written content. It’s particularly useful for capturing thoughts, drafting lesson plans, or providing student feedback without the hassle of typing.
Key Feature: Voice-to-text transcription
AudioPen’s voice-to-text transcription feature allows teachers to capture ideas on the fly and convert them into written text effortlessly.
Step-by-step guide
Step 1: Open the AudioPen app
Download and open the AudioPen app on your smartphone or desktop.
Step 2: Record your audio
Tap the microphone icon on the main screen to start recording your voice.
Dictate your thoughts, feedback, or lesson plans clearly. The AI uses advanced speech recognition to ensure accurate transcription.
Tap the microphone icon again to stop the recording.
Step 3: Edit and save
Review the transcribed text, make necessary edits, and save it to your desired folder or share it directly with your students or colleagues.
Other Key Features:
- Content Organization: Easily organize transcribed content into categories such as class, subject, or student-specific notes, creating an organized content library.
- Instant Feedback Generation: Dictate feedback on student assignments, which the tool then converts into text that can be shared directly with students.
- Integration with Other Apps: Seamlessly integrate with Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or other apps, allowing you to use the transcribed text in your preferred format.
Why Teachers Love AudioPen:
AudioPen is an AI tool for teachers that saves time and it can be used for many teaching use cases. This makes it much easier to capture and utilize ideas whenever they occur.
Conclusion
Integrating AI tools into the classroom offers tremendous benefits for teachers looking to save time, reduce administrative burdens, and improve the overall content of their lessons. Tools like Magic School, SlideSpeak, AudioPen, Claude.ai, Edpuzzle and AudioPen are designed to streamline processes, making it easier to plan lessons, grade assignments, and engage students. By leveraging these AI tools, educators can focus more on connecting with their students and creating impactful learning experiences.
Start using these tools today to transform your teaching approach and create a more dynamic, efficient, and productive classroom environment!