^{Themes: Engagement, Special education, Teaching Strategies
Audience & Subject: General (All Grades); Support for Educators}

Introduction

In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, educators face the dual challenge of adapting to technological advancements while maintaining the human touch in the classroom. The session “Revolutionizing Education: Humanizing the Classroom with AI” offers a compelling solution by showcasing how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can serve as a transformative tool to enhance teaching practices and deepen student engagement. This session is for educators at all levels seeking innovative ways to rejuvenate their profession by leveraging AI technologies. It emphasizes the importance of building relationships with students while effectively delegating administrative tasks to AI systems. By exploring the intersection of AI and education, participants will discover how to create more meaningful learning experiences and reignite their passion for teaching.

General Guidelines

1. Utilizing Tools like Diffit.me for Task Differentiation and Assessment: AI-powered tools like Diffit.me offer invaluable support in differentiating tasks and creating modified or accommodated materials for students, including those with diverse learning needs or English language learners. These tools streamline the process by exporting tasks into platforms like Google Forms and linking with Google Classroom, providing instant assessment assistance and promoting accountability for student engagement. By automating these tasks, teachers can focus more on providing personalized support and fostering social-emotional learning in their classrooms.
2. Outsourcing Classroom Communication and Data Interpretation: AI can significantly reduce teacher workload by outsourcing tasks such as drafting professional emails, composing class newsletters, and sorting large volumes of data. By setting the tone and content for communication and aiding in data interpretation, AI enables teachers to allocate their time more efficiently, allowing for a greater focus on building relationships with students and addressing their social-emotional needs. The process ensures that teachers can communicate effectively with students, parents, and colleagues while alleviating stress and improving overall engagement.
3. Staying Aligned with Curriculum and Reducing Weekend Workload: AI is crucial in helping teachers stay connected to the curriculum by recommending tasks aligned with grading expectations, creating rubrics, and generating checklists tailored to student needs. By automating these processes, AI supports teachers in delivering curriculum-aligned instruction and reduces the amount of task-oriented work that typically encroaches on weekends or evenings. The combination enables teachers to strike a healthier work-life balance, allowing for more time to focus on social-emotional learning initiatives and personal well-being, ultimately enhancing their effectiveness in meeting the diverse needs of their students.

Activity: Diffit.me

Overview

Diffit.me is an innovative AI-powered platform designed to support teachers in restoring capacity and fostering student success through differentiated resources and AI-generated content. With its intuitive interface and robust features, Diffit.me empowers educators to personalize instruction, meet diverse learning needs, and enhance student engagement in the classroom.

Description

Diffit.me offers a comprehensive suite of tools and resources to streamline the process of task differentiation and content creation for teachers. By harnessing the power of AI, educators can easily generate modified, accommodated, or multilingual learning materials tailored to the unique needs of each student. These resources include interactive exercises, visual aids, and comprehension activities designed to support differentiated instruction and promote academic success. The educational purpose of Diffit.me aligns with contemporary pedagogical approaches, such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which emphasize the importance of providing multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression to support diverse learners. By incorporating AI-generated content into their teaching practice, educators can create inclusive learning environments where all students have the opportunity to thrive.

Key Benefits

1. Personalized Learning: Diffit.me enables teachers to deliver personalized instruction by providing access to a wide range of AI-generated resources tailored to individual student needs and preferences.
2. Meeting Diverse Learning Needs: By offering differentiated materials and accommodations, Diffit.me supports educators in addressing the diverse learning needs of their students, including those with disabilities, English language learners, and gifted learners.
3. Enhanced Student Engagement: The interactive nature of AI-generated content fosters greater student engagement and participation in learning activities, leading to improved academic outcomes and a deeper understanding of course material.
4. Time-Saving: Diffit.me automates the process of task differentiation and content creation, saving teachers valuable time and energy that can be redirected towards providing personalized support and fostering social-emotional learning in the classroom.

Possible Challenges

Several challenges may arise when integrating AI tools like Diffit.me into the classroom, including ethical considerations. One such consideration is privacy, as AI tools often collect and analyze student data to personalize learning experiences. Teachers need to ensure that student privacy is protected and that any data collected is used responsibly and in compliance with relevant regulations. Additionally, ethical concerns may arise regarding the source of curated data used by AI tools, highlighting the importance of transparency and accountability in data sourcing and algorithmic decision-making processes. Teachers should carefully evaluate the ethical implications of using AI in education and implement safeguards to mitigate potential risks while maximizing student learning and well-being benefits.

Support Materials

This document provides a comprehensive list of prompts and ideas to help educators integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their classrooms effectively. Whether you’re a beginner or already familiar with AI technology, these prompts offer practical suggestions for leveraging AI tools to enhance teaching practices and improve student outcomes. From utilizing AI-powered platforms for task differentiation and assessment to outsourcing classroom communication and data interpretation, each prompt offers actionable insights into how AI can support teachers in reducing stress, increasing engagement, and meeting students’ social-emotional learning needs. To access the document and explore these prompts in detail, please click here [doc].

Resources

1. Diffit.me: An AI-powered platform for generating differentiated resources and content to support personalized learning and meet diverse student needs.
2. Mentimeter: A real-time polling and interactive presentation tool that utilizes AI to gather student feedback, promote active participation, and assess understanding.
3. Edpuzzle: Utilizes AI to personalize video-based lessons by adding interactive elements, such as quizzes and annotations, to enhance comprehension and retention.
4. Socrative: An AI-powered assessment tool that provides instant feedback and analytics on student performance, allowing teachers to tailor instruction to individual learning needs.

About the author

name: Amanda Paul

Amanda Paul, M.Ed., is currently advancing her expertise as a doctoral student in educational leadership and policy at the University of Toronto OISE. At Servo Annex, she leads innovation and curriculum development, focusing on enhancing C-suite clients’ educational and professional training through innovative technology. In addition to her role at Servo Annex, Amanda teaches business at a secondary school within the DDSB. Her passion for technology drives her to explore and implement innovative teaching methods, particularly in e-learning for adult education, aiming to elevate the teaching profession and provide impactful, relevant learning experiences to a broad audience.