7 things teachers want you to know about AI in education

Back when you were in school, you might have faced questions like these:

• What are the similarities and differences between capitalism and communism?
• If x2−y2=33 and x−y=3, what is the value of x2+y2?
• How do cells divide?

Just reading them probably makes you glad your school days are behind you!

But as a student, you learned how to understand complex topics, use your critical thinking skills and thoughtfully structure your responses so you could answer these types of questions.

Today’s students can use technology like ChatGPT and AI to write their papers, solve their problems and answer their questions in seconds. And while their solutions might get past teachers and earn them As, if they’re leaning on AI for the answers they aren’t learning how to think critically or building the skills they need to succeed in their careers.

Teachers have concerns about AI, for sure. But they are also embracing AI tools that can help their students succeed.

Noel Candelaria is secretary treasurer of the National Education Association, and he works with the NEA’s task force on AI. “There’s both a sense of excitement about AI and the possibilities, but there’s also some fear,” he tells TODAY.

Here’s what parents should know.

AI is a tool that’s not going away, and students need guidance to use it properly, ethically and morally.

“As technology evolves and disinformation is a click away, we are constantly trying to help our students separate fact from fiction,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, tells TODAY.

The AFT has partnered with NewsGuard and GPTZero to help educators ensure that online sources are reliable, and to spot signs that students used AI for an assignment. “They’re a magnifying glass to help teachers get a closer look behind the scenes of a document,” Weingarten says.

“Showing students how to properly use AI is really important. How do they use AI to prompt them and help them but not as an end-all to their work?” Candelaria says. “We need to teach students how to analyze data, and where that data is coming from, to help ensure that AI is guiding us down the right path.”

“Seventy-one percent of educators use education technology every day in the classroom, and students are using AI more every day,” Weingarten says.

Those teachers are finding creative ways to use AI to handle routine tasks so they can focus on doing the things only humans can do, like educating.

“AI has helped eliminate a lot of the busy work, so it’s been able to free teachers up to work more with students and prepare more for their classes,” Candelaria says. Teachers can use AI for tasks like drafting emails for parents, honing lesson plans and analyzing grades to see how students are performing. That frees up time they can spend with their students.

Candelaria points to an elementary school teacher in California who has nine students in his classroom. None have been in the United States for more than a year, and they speak nine different languages.

“Being able to use translation AI tools in the classroom has completely changed how he can communicate with his students. It’s made a world of difference in helping them as English language learners,” he says.

In another classroom, Candelaria says a fifth-grade teacher has some students who are reading at a third-grade level while others are at an 11th-grade level. That teacher uses AI to help him level up or down assignments, which frees up his time to work one-on-one with students.

AI tools can make it easier for students with disabilities to participate in school. For example, AI text-to-speech and speech-to-text technology can make communication easier for students with speech disorders, vision impairments, learning disabilities or motor issues.

Students with mobility challenges can use AI tools to overcome physical barriers. For example, geometry students might need to get up and measure specific angles in the classroom. With AI, they can get the data they need from a photo instead.

And AI tools can support learning directly. Candelaria shares the example of a high school student with severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who struggles with punctuation, which is common in people with ADHD. They can use an AI grammar checker like Grammarly, which corrects their punctuation and also helps them learn how to use punctuation properly.

Before AI, teachers had to generate a lot of content like study guides, flashcards and quizzes. Now, they can hand off a lot of those tasks to AI and focus on helping students learn.

“That’s going to require the ability to take a deeper dive and understand how students learn individually, then to be able to use AI to help adapt to students’ learning styles. It will provide an opportunity for teachers to differentiate instruction like we haven’t done before, and really help students maximize their full potential,” Candelaria says.

Since AI’s strengths lie in facts and data, students need to learn ways to grow complementary skills.

Teachers, especially at the high school level, are exploring how AI can help students generate ideas in a way that doesn’t inhibit their own creative thinking. “We’re trying to maximize the creativity students bring, not replace it,” Candelaria says.

Weingarten stresses the importance of building critical thinking skills through writing. That way, “They learn to express their thoughts truthfully and coherently, so they’re adequately prepared for opportunities when they enter the world.”

Think back to your favorite teacher. What is it about that person that holds a special place in your heart? At its core, you’ll probably find traits like compassion, empathy, encouragement and support.

AI isn’t going to give a student a high-five for trying their best, spot when the class energy level is ready for a shift or build personal relationships with students and their families. “The aspect of learning and connecting as humans will never go away,” Weingarten says. “That is going to be a really important role that will be elevated as AI continues to evolve.”