Teachers Embrace Artificial Intelligence to Manage Workload and Enhance Education

Elementary school teacher Jessica Reid from Muskoka, Ont., was on the verge of quitting her dream career due to the overwhelming workload of planning lessons, creating support plans, grading, and raising three young children. However, she found a lifeline in artificial intelligence, which has helped her manage her workload and plan for the upcoming school year.

Using an AI program called Eduaide.AI, Reid can input Ontario’s curriculum and receive lesson plans as guidelines. She still fact-checks the information and uses the AI to fill in the gaps in subjects she’s less confident in teaching. This has allowed her to plan most of her school year in a short amount of time and feel more prepared for the challenges ahead.

While some have criticized Reid for using AI and potentially setting a bad example for students, she believes that the role of a teacher is different from that of a student. Other teachers, like French teacher Kasi Humber from Truro, N.S., have also embraced AI to make education more efficient, using tools like ChatGPT to create report cards and provide personalized reading materials for students.

However, there are concerns about students using AI to cheat, which has led to calls for more education on the proper use of the technology. Teachers like Denis Tanguay from Ottawa and Karen Littlewood from the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers’ Federation emphasize the importance of teaching students how to use AI responsibly and recognizing when it is being used for cheating.

As the new school year begins, educators like Sarah Eaton from the University of Calgary stress the need for professional development on AI in education. With AI becoming an integral part of students’ lives, teachers must adapt to this new reality and embrace the potential benefits of technology in the classroom.