Top 10 AI Tools for the Classroom

In the current technological climate, it feels like AI is everywhere – on our phones, answering customer service calls, and enhancing every other website with its signature sparkle emoji. With so many AI tools, apps, and features, how can teachers decide what’s suitable to use in the classroom? Fortunately, you don’t need to be an AI expert to find the right fit; these 10 tools will get you started:

1. MagicSchool

This award-winning website provides tools and resources to make educators’ jobs easier. From lesson planning to providing feedback, MagicSchool facilitates every step of the teaching process with AI assistance. Of course, AI-generated content should never be the end point of your work, and MagicSchool advises teachers to use the “80-20 Approach,” using AI to create the initial work, then reviewing it for accuracy. Lesson materials can also be creatively enhanced and personalized for the target students. MagicSchool has both free and paid plans for students and educators.
https://www.magicschool.ai/magicschool

Suggested use: Generating lesson and activity ideas, creating examples, and analyzing student performance.

2. Canva AI

Canva is a convenient, all-in-one content creation platform, where teachers can make dynamic presentations, documents, databases, and more to enhance lessons. Both free and paid plans have access to AI tools, including Canva’s “Magic Studio,” which can generate editable presentations, create eye-catching images and video, and more. The handy photo editor can use AI to remove distracting backgrounds, ideal for isolating objects to create vocabulary flash cards.
https://www.canva.com/magic/

Suggested use: Creating and editing images to illustrate your lessons; creating slide shows, posters, brochures, and other visual media to enhance learning.

3. Quizlet

Perfect for creating engaging lessons, Prezi helps users put together attention-grabbing presentations on any topic. The built-in AI tools turn user prompts into full, customizable slide decks with tailored recommendations along the way. Teachers can choose from a variety of AI-powered templates to create a professionally-designed lesson in minutes. Alternatively, teachers can use Prezi’s AI magic to enhance an existing presentation. There is no free plan, but educators can sign up for a discounted rate, or try the platform for free.
https://prezi.com/

Suggested use: Turning dull lectures or PowerPoint presentations into engaging lessons that students will remember.

5. ChatGPT

One of the most widely-used AI applications on the market today, ChatGPT isn’t just a digital conversation partner; it can be an indispensable idea-starter for teachers, too. Possibilities include asking the AI to create lesson-specific activity ideas, generate questions based on a provided text, write brief examples of essay answers, and more. The only limit is the teacher’s imagination. ChatGPT is free to use.
https://chatgpt.com/

Suggested use: Brainstorming every part of the lesson design process; generating example texts.

6. Socrative

Another tool to assist with student assessment, Socrative helps teachers create custom quizzes and activities for your lessons, including their unique “Space Race” game, a competitive activity that makes learning fun and engaging. AI features include automatic quiz generation from existing lesson materials, creating assessments that reflect your educational goals, and ensuring questions are in line with any given curriculum standards. Socrative has both free and paid plans.
https://www.socrative.com/ai/

Suggested use: Creating meaningful assessments for a particular assignment; keeping younger learners focused on the material.

7. Google Gemini

Powered by Google, Gemini is an “everyday” AI assistant that can also be used in the classroom. Gemini can create images and short videos from text (or voice) prompts, bringing your explanations to life. The AI’s knowledge is based on Google Search, making it an ideal way to find answers, and the “Deep Research” tool makes topic research quick and easy. For teachers who do their best thinking in conversation, the app responds to voice prompts, allowing teachers to brainstorm out loud and “discuss” lesson ideas.
https://gemini.google.com/

Suggested use: Making classroom explanations more dynamic; brainstorming and researching lesson ideas.

8. Khanmigo

From Khan Academy comes the AI teaching assistant Khanmigo. This AI chat tool guides students to learn answers to questions about science, math, and other subjects for themselves, rather than just providing answers with no context. This is a safer and more reliable option than allowing students to ask more general AI chat bots, which may “hallucinate” incorrect answers. Furthermore, Khanmigo’s information is drawn from Khan Academy’s extensive educational content library, ensuring students are receiving high-quality information designed to further their learning.
https://www.khanmigo.ai/

Suggested use: Guiding students to explore topics they’re interested in; answering questions about the subject material.

9. Grammarly AI Detector

With so many AI tools readily available to students, it’s important for teachers to be able to detect cheating in the form of AI-written assignments. While AI can provide helpful feedback when writing an English assignment, some students may be tempted to ask chat bots like ChatGPT to write their answers for them. Grammarly offers an easy-to-use AI detector, allowing teachers to quickly copy and paste text to check for AI-generated content. The tool will then provide an assessment of the submitted work, advising which parts (and how much of the total) may be written by AI.
https://www.grammarly.com/ai-detector

Suggested use: Scanning written work for AI use.

10. QuillBot AI Detector

Another tool to help teachers track down AI-written work, QuillBot offers similar features to Grammarly’s AI detector, but also includes an analysis of whether writing may be written by AI and then refined by a human writer. This can be helpful for more advanced courses, where students may be writing essays or thesis papers over a long period of time.
https://quillbot.com/ai-content-detector

Suggested use: Scanning longer or more complex written work for AI use.

With these tools in your digital tool belt, you’ll be well on your way to an AI-powered classroom. Just remember to use these tools in moderation and – more importantly – in conjunction with your own best practices as a teacher. While AI can make your job faster and easier, only you know what’s best for your own students, so follow your instincts about whether a tool is working or not.

It’s always a good idea to proofread anything written by AI for errors and accuracy, and don’t be afraid to add your own creative touch! Even in an increasingly AI-enhanced world, teachers are always going to be the star of the show, and you’re still the best resource for the students in your classroom.