AI in Education & the Teacher
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been the buzzword lately, but it has positives and negatives, especially for educators. After reading AI for Educators by Miller (2023), I found myself reflecting on what role AI should play in the classroom and, more importantly, how educators can ensure that technology supports rather than replaces the teacher and their impact.
Miller’s book is a great book for any educator who is trying to figure out what AI can do for them. It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you hear or read about AI. There are so many ways to use it and so many options available. What I appreciate most was that Miller provided a very easy read for someone new to AI. He offers strategies and introduces 30 different tools teachers can start utilizing right away. These are easy-to-use pointers for the person wanting to dip their toe in.
One of the most valuable takeaways for me was the idea that AI is a tool but should not be used as a replacement for teachers. Teachers spend an enormous amount of time on administrative work—grading, planning, organizing resources. If AI can assist with some of those hours, teachers can use that time in the classroom, offering support and focusing on what everyone needs.
I also appreciated how Miller acknowledges the limitations of AI. As Akopyan (2023) summarizes, “Miller presents a compelling argument for the integration of AI in the classroom, while also emphasizing the continued importance of human teachers and the need for responsible use of technology” (para. 1). This balance is critical for all using AI, but especially for a newbie. Blindly adopting any new technology without thinking about the repercussions can lead to more harm than good. For example, AI tools can generate lesson plans or quizzes, but if not reviewed, they might include false information or biased information.
Looking ahead, I believe AI’s greatest benefit is in the feedback it can provide teachers. It can help by creating differentiated practice sets in minutes instead of hours. It can help by creating different writing prompts and also by providing example responses for students to read. The possibilities are endless if using it critically.
The challenge, then, is for educators to become literate in AI. Informed users can make wise decisions about how to integrate these tools into the classroom. Just as calculators didn’t eliminate math teachers, AI won’t eliminate educators. Instead, it offers us the opportunity to focus on what we do best.
References
Akopyan, A. (2023, April 18). AI for educators: Learning strategies, teacher efficiencies, and a vision for
an artificial intelligence future by Matt Miller. American University of Armenia.
https://ctl.aua.am/1066-2/
Miller, M. (2023). AI for educators: Learning strategies, teacher efficiencies, and a vision for an artificial
intelligence future. Ditch That Textbook.
OpenAI. (2025, July 28). AI pros and cons illustration [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT.
Ashley, another fantastic blog post! I think I always say this, but I love hearing these topics through your lens of being a principal. Your point about how much time teachers spend on administrative tasks hits the nail on the head. When AI can help lighten the load, it allows us to focus more on supporting students and finding ways to differentiate and address their individual needs. Building on that, while some say, and even celebrate, that AI might replace educators, but through this class, I’m really seeing it as a tool that makes us even more essential. AI can assist with instructional tasks (I can attest to that!), but it can’t replace the human connection, empathy, and guidance that teachers provide, which are so important for student success and growing our little people into well-rounded big people. Arguably, it will become even more critical as humanized AI becomes more integrated into our society.
ReplyDeleteAs Fitria (2023) explains, AI can improve efficiency and personalize learning, but it doesn’t replace the experience, care, and judgment teachers bring to the classroom. The human side of teaching, helping students grow academically and personally, is something only educators can do. Lawrence (2022) spends a great deal of time in our course text speaking to the importance of ethos, or credibility, reminding us that trust and human connection are key in all educational interactions.
You did a great job in our group presentation providing practical tools for how teachers can adopt this technology productively. The teachers at HHS are fortunate to have a principal who is so well-versed in these issues and thoughtful about balancing technology and human connection!
On a closing note, Matt Miller (2023), referencing Sherry Turkle’s research, wrote, “We expect more from technology and less from each other. And I ask myself, ‘Why have things come to this?’” (p. 105). Our PLC book certainly gave us a powerful reminder of the value of our humanity, especially as technology continues to evolve.
It’s been great working with you this summer, Ashley. Hopefully, I will see you at SCS Summit next week! Have a fantastic year, and thank you for all you do for our kiddos here in Shelby County.
References
Fitria, T. N. (2023). The use of artificial intelligence in education: Can AI replace the teacher’s role? EPIGRAM (E-Journal), 20(2), 165–187. https://doi.org/10.32722/epi.v20i2.5711. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377081585_The_Use_of_Artificial_Intelligence_in_Education_AIED_Can_AI_Replace_the_Teacher’s_Role.
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.
Miller, M. (2023). AI for educators. Dave Burgess Consulting.
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about how the book you studied emphasized that AI is a tool, not a replacement for teachers. The book I read, How to Teach AI, conveyed a similar message. AI can be an incredible resource, helping to reduce the pressure on teachers and allowing them to dedicate more time to the students in their classrooms.
Beyond handling administrative tasks, AI can also enhance a teacher's ability to provide timely, thoughtful, and productive feedback. Poth (2024) states, “In the context of education, machine learning can analyze student data to recognize patterns and make predictions, making it easier for teachers to act faster to support student learning” (pg. 5). The more time we give teachers to support their students, the better!
That said, the use of AI in the classroom should be approached with caution. It’s important that educators understand the responsibility and nuance involved in using these tools. Fitria (2021) writes, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is believed to be able to help humans learn better and achieve educational goals more effectively” (pg. 135). I would argue that this is only true when teachers take the time to educate themselves on the topic.
Once teachers understand how to use and teach AI effectively, the best first step is to model proper usage. Poth (2024) emphasizes that we should “begin by modeling ethical use of AI tools and encourage conversations in your classroom” (pg. 19). Once students adopt ethical AI practices, much of the fear surrounding its use in education will begin to fade.
References:
Fitria, T. N. (2021, December). Artificial intelligence (AI) in education: Using AI tools for teaching and learning process. In Prosiding seminar nasional & call for paper STIE AAS (pp. 134-147).
Poth, R. D. (2024). How to teach AI: Weaving strategies and activities into any content area. International Society for Technology in Education.
I have made the joke that ChatGPT is my favorite co-teacher! Using AI has helped me create activities, provide feedback, balance my grading curve, and perform a host of other simple tasks that make my job so much easier. However, I have also learned that AI is not perfect and requires a keen eye and someone who knows the content and uses AI purely for administrative tasks. For example, I asked ChatGPT to list quotes from a specific chapter of Lord of the Flies for an activity on quote integration. When I read the list, I realized it was quotes from the entire book, and only a few quotes were from the chapter I needed. Had I not stopped to read and discern what the AI platform had given me, I would have embarrassed myself and created an unusable lesson.
ReplyDeleteMa from Edtopia (2024) explains that “We found that these educational generative AI platforms are helpful for supporting teacher efficiency in lesson planning, which includes customized content, instructional language, and learning activities. It saves us time in writing instruction and creating content, even though we need to use professional judgment to check for accuracy and bias” (para. 11). While AI is an incredible tool, it still requires accountability and professionalism in its use. In the same way, we wouldn’t want our students to just take information from the internet or a friend and plagiarize “simply copying and pasting would not make learning meaningful for our students” (Ma, 2024, para. 12).
Merrill and Merrill (2025) in The InterActive Class Creation argue that the balance between AI and the classroom lies in creativity and how the teacher uses AI and technology projects to harness the students’ creativity rather than do the thinking and work for them. There are plenty of AI models, beyond ChatGPT, that help students create amazing work that can be modified or enhanced by AI but still requires human-generated ideas (Merrill & Merrill, 2025).
References
Ma, S. (2024, May 22). How generative AI Tools Assist with lesson planning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/ai-tools-lesson-planning/
Merrill, J., & Merrill, K. (2025). Interactive class: Empowering educators to inspire creativity and innovation in an AI-driven... classroom. ELEVATE BOOKS EDU.