Teachers know that student-centered instruction leads to better outcomes. However, time isn’t always on their side—teachers work an average of 54 hours a week and spend 20-40% of their time on lesson prep, grading, and administrative tasks. They’re also working harder than ever to address literacy gaps and pandemic-related learning losses.
Fortunately, artificial intelligence (AI) provides a win-win solution. Teachers can now use this technology to create a wide variety of content within seconds while learning more about their students and how to address their needs.
In this article, we describe 3 ways teachers can use AI technology in the classroom: adaptive testing, content development, and differentiated instruction. For each strategy, we also discuss some benefits and steps to get started.
Key Takeaways:
As always, when teaching with technology, there are many ways to use it. If you’re curious about how to use AI in the classroom, the following 3 ways will help you get started.
Adaptive testing is a classroom technology that helps teachers address more student needs in less time. Also known as computer-adaptive testing (CAT), it uses AI to customize each test-taker’s experience in real time. When a student answers a question correctly, the next one becomes more difficult. Incorrect answers prompt the algorithm to generate easier questions.
Educators use CAT platforms for many types of tests, such as schoolwide diagnostics or everyday classroom tests. For example, you might use a platform like TAO to create a pretest at the onset of a unit. The TAO platform includes end-to-end features such as item authoring and question banking, a WCAG accessible delivery engine, screen readers (and other assistive technology), and tools for scoring and score analysis.
Using CAT for schoolwide diagnostic tests—to measure core skills such as reading or math—provides educators with more data about their students’ needs. For example, the TAO platform captures rich learning data throughout the end-to-end assessment cycle in one convenient place, providing detailed scoring reports, so teachers know about students’ strengths and challenges.
Another benefit of CAT is that it helps teachers pretest students more effectively. With TAO, you can access questions on almost any learning standard (rather than writing all questions from scratch). The scoring and reporting tools help you efficiently decide what skills an upcoming unit should cover and which students need extra support. It can also help identify high- and low-performing students, helping educators to better target their learning interventions where needed.
AI can be used to generate educational content for assessments, tailored to specific levels, lesson topics, objectives, and educational standards.
For example:
A high school biology teacher needs an assessment on cellular respiration. The teacher specifies that it should cover understanding the Krebs cycle, align with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) standards, and include a mix of MCQs, short-answer, and essay questions.
AI generates:
| Tip: Teachers can also use a similar approach for lesson planning with tools like MagicSchool’s Lesson Plan Generator. Create customized plans adapted to different student needs, addressing any learning challenges identified with diagnostic assessments. |
AI classroom technology can be used to differentiate course materials for a wider variety of student needs. Students in the same class can receive different versions of the same content so that everyone has a chance to learn the course concepts. Examples of content to differentiate include assignment instructions, reading assignments, or word problems.
Using AI to differentiate course materials helps minimize the impact of reading challenges on academic achievement.
For example, students in the same high school class might be reading at different levels. Teachers can use adaptive AI tools to address this by adjusting the reading difficulty of a specific text and generating images and other visuals that support reading comprehension.
In addition, AI tools for differentiated instruction can benefit English language learners. Teachers can use them to translate texts into students’ home languages or adjust the reading level to match students’ English proficiency levels. You can also add glossaries to reading passages so that learners can expand their English vocabulary.
AI tools for adaptive testing, assessment content creation, and differentiated instruction help teachers gain a better understanding of their students’ needs and meet them more effectively. They can now tailor these materials to a wider range of abilities, language levels, and interests while making considerable time-saving gains.
AI-based strategies could profoundly improve student learning, and we’ve covered just 3 of many possibilities. You can find more information about how to use AI in the classroom in How to Make AI a Genuine Asset in Education, 6 Things to Consider When Integrating AI Tools in the Classroom, and other articles on the TAO blog.
Teachers can use AI to save time diagnosing students’ abilities, creating assessment content, and differentiating course materials. AI classroom technologies can also help teachers with grading, parent communication, and professional development requirements.
AI tools can access educational standards such as Common Core when generating content test questions, lesson plans, and course content. Teachers can align AI-generated content to specific educational standards by including them in the prompt.