I'm a retired teacher. These days, I write about K-12 education and community college. However, I know how time-consuming it is to write lesson plans and rubrics and ensure compliance with the curriculum. Grading English compositions, communicating with parents, and creating quizzes take infinite time and patience. And those are just a few things we teachers are expected to do.
That's why I want to introduce you to my assistant. It's an AI app called Perplexity. Now there are dozens of AI apps you can use. Chat-GPT is probably the most popular. Both Google and Microsoft have their versions of AI built into their search engines, as does Grammarly. It doesn't matter which AI app you choose. What's important is to learn how to tell Perplexity or Chat-GPT what you want it to do. That's called prompt engineering. So, let's start with that first. Then I'll show you some websites with AI tools explicitly written for teachers and administrators.
Introduction to Prompt Engineering
How do you write an effective prompt?
As teachers, you and I have learned how to give clear instructions to our students. We choose our words carefully to achieve a pre-determined result. In other words, we narrow the field and limit the choices. That's precisely how prompts workâthat's the essence of prompt engineering.
The art and skill of writing effective prompts is called prompt engineering. It's a burgeoning field within the realm of artificial intelligence. Indeed, I suspect that most of your students will use AI in their careers, no matter what sector of the economy they are in. Writing a prompt can be likened to classical rhetoric, where the art of persuasion through language was paramount. Just as Socrates employed methodical questioning to stimulate critical thinking, effective, prompt engineering uses structured queries to harness the full potential of AI, creating a harmonious interplay between human intellect and machine learning. Essentially, when I write a prompt, I give a set of instructions to Perplexity. Now, some of you will wonder why this is necessary. It's necessary because it is such a time saver. We, teachers, need timesavers. We older teachers can remember how wonderful slide carousels and slide projectors were. But they were very time-consuming to set up, weren't they? Computers pretty much-banished tools like that to museums. AI tools like Perplexity are the next generation of time savers as far as I am concerned. That's why I am making the point that you need to learn how to use AI in your daily work as a teacher.
In this video, Ted Pickett shows you how Chat-GPT can do an hour's work in 6 minutes.
How can prompts be used in the classroom?
In the classroom, prompt engineering can be a real timesaver. Can you imagine having an assistant to help you write lesson plans, do research on a world history source, write a quiz, develop rubrics for a term paper, etc.? Writing carefully crafted prompts will make all that happen. Do you have a student who needs help with English as a Second Language? Are you a student who doesn't understand how to punctuate? Writing a prompt can find online help for both of these students in seconds! Furthermore, you can personalize the help. You don't have to accept a "one size fits all" solution, which we often find in our online search results.
The power of precise language in your prompts can unlock new dimensions of student understanding. So, instead of looking out at your class and seeing all those young people with their unique learning styles, you have to find the middle ground somehow to cover the material specified in your curriculum; telling AI the situation and the solution you want will help you provide that personalized attention your students deserve, without creating more work for you. As I said, it's like having a capable assistant in your classroom. All you have to do is learn how to harness AI's power.
Using AI as your assistant
Can AI help with writing lesson plans?
I used Perplexity to help me write this article. Here's how my process works. I think you will find it analogous to writing lesson plans. I wrote The following prompt asking Perplexity to write an outline of this article. Notice how precise and detailed my prompt is.
Hi! I have an idea for a new article entitled "Prompt Engineering for Teachers." I would like to include writing prompts that will help teachers plan lessons, handle parents' emails and text messages, create quizzes, facilitate discussion, handle teacher recommendations for students' college applications, organize regular meetings with parents, organize an extracurricular activity, coach a sport, and any other tasks a private high school teacher might have. Remember that we are writing for https://PrivateschoolReview.com. Class sizes are small, 10-15 students. Private school teachers are expected to teach their specialty, supervise an extracurricular activity, and coach a sport. If you have questions, please ask. Please suggest an outline which I will review. Thanks.
My article would probably be the equivalent of 2 weeks' worth of lesson plans. But you get the idea. Think clearly about what you want your AI assistant to do and write your prompt accordingly. One of the most potent phrases to include in a prompt is "If you have questions, ask me before writing. The AI assistant will stop and ask a question and won't proceed until you answer it.
What I like about using Perplexity or Chat-GPT is that the answers are precise and targeted to my specific requirements, unlike Google or Bing search results which favor the sponsored sites first. AI tools save me valuable time. They don't waste it. And they are fast. Perplexity produced my article outline in 30 seconds.
What are some of the AI resources specifically designed for teachers?
AI resources specifically designed for teachers cover every need you can imagine. Tasks like quiz and assessment creation, facilitating classroom discussions, writing recommendations, communication with parents, and all the other tasks we teachers have on our plate are made much easier with AI tools.
- AI for Educators offers dozens of commonly used prompts and a search feature for prompts suitable for your specific needs.
- 7 Best AI Tools For Teachers That Will Save You Time in 2024 offers free and subscription AI tools.
- KhanMigo is Khan Academy's AI-powered tool for teachers. The intuitive interface makes this app easy to use.
In this video, Jeremy J. offers some Chat-GPT resources for teachers.
How do I know which AI tools will work best for me?
- Identify your key time-consuming tasks.
- Start with widely adopted tools.
- Look for tools with education-specific features.
- Prioritize user-friendly interfaces to save time.
- Seek recommendations from your colleagues.
- Start small and experiment.
- Be patient! Learning anything new takes time and patience.
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