5 AI Tools To Explore in 2024-2025 School Year

Education, like many fields, is not immune to fads. Methods and policies wax and wane in popularity, often promising revolutionary change yet delivering mixed results. Amid this ebb and flow of trends, however, the primary goal of educators remains constant: to engage students in meaningful learning experiences. The rapid growth of AI tools in education presents both opportunities and challenges to achieve this goal.

It’s tempting to be taken with promises of AI-powered planning sessions, personalized feedback, and intelligent tutors. Yet to reject the technology outright may be easier still. Instead, let's consider how Generative AI may support principles of good teaching. Our tools may amplify our capabilities, but principles guide our actions. When considering AI tools, teachers should focus on how these technologies can support specific instructional goals rather than adopting them for their novelty or for vague promises of "improving learning" or "saving time."

Foundations

Before diving into specific AI platforms, let's review some of those principles of good teaching:

Prior knowledge mediates all learning. In other words, we learn in relation to what we already know.

Learning requires active engagement. Or, actively processing information leads to deeper understanding and retention.

Learning is more effective when directed toward clear, meaningful goals. That is to say, students learn best when they understand the purpose and relevance of what they’re learning.

Effective learning involves practices like spacing out study sessions and asking why questions. To put it more formally, techniques like distributed practice and elaborative interrogation can assist in reinforcing and deepening understanding.

Timely and constructive feedback is crucial for learning. In other words, students need specific, actionable feedback to understand their progress and how to improve.

These principles assume a certain level of skill with classroom management and relationship-building, as learning takes place within a community context. Moreover, this is not an exhaustive list but rather a sampling of things to keep in mind and items to look for in AI responses.

I've compiled a list of five AI tools that seem promising. These are not miracles, mind you, but rather potential aids in our noble profession. I offer them not as endorsements but as starting points for your exploration.

So, let us proceed with open minds and steady hands, ready to embrace innovation where it serves us well, but always grounded in the fundamental principles of our craft. For in the end, it is not the tool that makes the teacher, but the teacher who makes the tool worthwhile.

Eduaide.Ai

What It Does: Eduaide.Ai provides teachers with a workspace for lesson planning, resource generation, and instructional design. It offers an array of customizable tools for creating and revising educational materials.

Cognitive Science Insight

One of the fundamental principles of effective teaching is scaffolding—building on students’ prior knowledge and gradually introducing new concepts in reference to that previous knowledge. In other words, the curriculum should be logically sequenced and progressively built based on prior knowledge.

• Prior Knowledge & Scaffolding Tool + Standards Search Tool: Unpacking standards on the level of relevant student prior knowledge—declarative, procedural, and conceptual knowledge—to access the to-be-learned material implicit in the standard. The tools also suggest different options for scaffolding student work from that prior knowledge toward the to-be-learned material.
• Elaborated Analogy: A tool in the information objects tab that can be used to map to-be-learned material onto familiar or concrete ideas.
• Lesson Seed: This tool does not suggest a single lesson path but instead suggests different methods and techniques that may be employed in the lesson. However, the teacher must make conscious decisions about their direction.

Practical Use Case

Use Eduaide.Ai to generate differentiated instructional materials that cater to the diverse needs of your students. Start by identifying gaps in student understanding, and use the tool to create resources that explicitly address these areas, ensuring that new content is both accessible and challenging.

Considerations

• Accuracy and Reliability: While Eduaide.Ai is designed to assist with lesson planning and resource generation, there is a risk of AI-generated content containing inaccuracies or "hallucinations," where the AI provides incorrect information confidently.
• Data Privacy: Eduaide.Ai is designed to be a teacher-facing platform that does not require or store student personally identifiable information, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations such as FERPA and COPPA. However, teachers should remain vigilant about data privacy when using AI tools.
• Teacher Involvement: Eduaide.Ai emphasizes a human-in-the-loop approach, where teachers have granular control over AI-generated content. This requires teachers to actively engage with the tool, making deliberate choices about the resources used and ensuring alignment with instructional objectives.

Curipod

What It Does: Curipod is an interactive presentation tool that uses AI to help teachers create engaging lessons that encourage student participation.

Cognitive Science Insight

Active learning—where students are actively involved in the learning process—is crucial for deep understanding. Curipod’s interactive features can be used to foster such engagement by encouraging students to collaborate with peers in controlled environments peppered throughout multimedia-based direct instruction.

• Richard Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning may be instructive in evaluating this tool for yourself.

Practical Use Case

Incorporate Curipod into lessons where students can interact with the content in real-time, such as during a Socratic seminar or group discussion. This tool can help structure these interactions, prompting students to engage with the material and with each other in a way that deepens their understanding.

Considerations

• Alignment with Curriculum Standards: Curipod offers lessons aligned with standards such as CCSS and TEKS. However, educators must ensure that the AI-generated content aligns with their specific curriculum requirements and educational goals. Customization may be necessary to meet local or institutional standards.
• Teacher Involvement and Customization: While Curipod can quickly generate lesson plans and activities quickly, teachers need to actively engage with the content to tailor it to their students' needs. This involves reviewing and modifying AI-generated materials to ensure they are appropriate and relevant for the classroom context.
• Student Engagement and Interaction: While Curipod is designed to enhance student engagement through interactive lessons, educators should monitor student interaction to ensure that it fosters meaningful learning experiences.

Perplexity

What It Does: Perplexity is an AI-powered research and conversational search engine that provides quick and accurate information by using natural language processing (NLP) capabilities. It utilizes various large language models, including GPT-4 and Claude 3, to understand and summarize user queries.

Practical Use Case

Using Perplexity to support inquiry-based learning projects.

• Real-Time Information Gathering: Perplexity searches the internet in real-time, gathering insights from authoritative sources and summarizing them into clear, concise responses.
• Conversational Search: It engages users conversationally, allowing for follow-up questions and maintaining context throughout the interaction.
• Professional Development: Educators can stay updated with the latest trends and research in education by using Perplexity to explore new topics and gather insights. The Academic focus setting is useful for those who want access to peer-reviewed research on specific topics or questions.

Considerations

• Quality and Relevance of Information: While Perplexity AI is adept at providing quick answers, the quality and relevance of the information can vary, especially if the query is not clearly stated.
• Data Privacy and Security: As with any AI tool, data privacy and security are essential considerations. Perplexity offers enhanced features like increased data privacy and SOC2 compliance in its Enterprise Pro version, which may be necessary for educational institutions to protect sensitive information.
• Accessibility and Cost: Although Perplexity AI offers a free version, the more advanced features are part of a paid subscription.
• Integration with Curriculum: The effectiveness of Perplexity AI in education depends on how well it can be integrated into the existing curriculum. Teachers need to ensure that the tool complements their teaching methods and enhances learning outcomes without overwhelming students with information.

Flint

What It Does: Flint is an AI-powered tutoring platform that personalizes learning experiences based on individual student needs.

Cognitive Science Insight

Personalized learning, when properly understood and done correctly, aligns instruction to the learner’s current level of understanding. This means a meaningful interplay of the process, path, and product of learning beyond a mere passing mention of student’s interest in their math problem set. Flint’s AI capabilities can help provide this personalized approach, ensuring that students receive the right level of challenge and support.

Practical Use Case

Integrate Flint into your classroom for students who need additional support in specific areas. For example, if a student struggles with a particular math concept, use Flint to provide targeted practice and actionable feedback to assist the student on the path to mastery before moving on.

Considerations

• Data Privacy and Security: Flint AI prioritizes data privacy by not sharing any data with third parties and only tracking and sharing student data with the students, their legal guardians, and educators. Schools must ensure their AI policies comply with safety and usage regulations to protect student information.
• Teacher and Student Engagement: Flint AI is designed to facilitate the teacher-student relationship by providing tools that enhance feedback loops and support personalized learning. Teachers need to actively engage with the platform to ensure it aligns with their instructional objectives and enhances the learning experience.
• Accessibility: Flint is not easily accessible without requesting a demo or institutional adoption, which may be a barrier for the individual teacher exploring options.

Quizizz

What It Does: Quizizz is an interactive quiz platform that gamifies learning, making it fun and engaging for students.

Cognitive Science Insight

Spaced retrieval practice—recalling information from memory—is a well-established method for reinforcing learning. Quizizz can be used to implement this practice in a way that is both effective and enjoyable for students. Moreover, you can use Quizizz to create regular practice sessions by interleaving in new concepts with persistent reviews of prior knowledge.

Practical Use Case

Use Quizizz to create formative assessments that help students consolidate their learning. Regular low-stakes quizzing can help reinforce content, identify areas where students are struggling, and provide immediate feedback, all of which are key to long-term retention.

Considerations

• Alignment with Educational Objectives: Quizizz should be used to complement and enhance the curriculum rather than replace traditional teaching methods. Educators need to ensure that the quizzes and activities align with learning objectives and educational standards to support meaningful learning experiences.
• Student Engagement and Motivation: While Quizizz's gamified elements can enhance student engagement, it is important to monitor how these elements impact motivation and learning. Educators should strive to balance competition with collaboration and ensure that the focus remains on learning rather than just scoring points.
• Adaptability and Differentiation: Quizizz offers features for personalized learning paths, but educators need to actively use these tools to differentiate instruction based on individual student needs. This requires careful planning and adaptation of content to ensure all students are appropriately challenged.

Final Thoughts: Practical AI Adoption in Education

When integrating AI tools in the classroom, stay focused on explicit goals and use cases. Ask yourself:

1. What specific instructional problem am I trying to solve?
2. How does this tool align with the cognitive science of learning as it pertains to the instructional problem I am trying to solve?

By keeping these questions in mind, you can ensure that AI serves as a tool to enhance learning rather than a distraction from it.

Remember, AI tools are not a substitute for thoughtful teaching and careful planning. They are aids that, when used judiciously, can support the critical work of helping students learn.