Embracing the future: Teaching in the age of AI

Thomas Gardner
A man sat at a laptop smiling
Reading time: 4 minutes

With the continuous evolution of AI tools, it has become more critical to incorporate AI into our teaching practices. AI has the transformative power to improve our teaching methods, tailor learning experiences, and increase student engagement.

To give you a taste of our webinar 'Teaching in the age of AI: 7 tips for preparing for an educational evolution'. We'll cover seven tips designed to prepare you for an educational evolution with AI.

1. Choosing your AI path

The first step in integrating AI into your teaching practice is deciding your approach. Are you an AI methodologist who practices based on theory or an AI experimentalist who develops theory based on practice? Both paths are valid, but it's crucial to choose one to avoid inertia. Understanding AI's basics and experimenting with different tools will help you find your footing.

2. Becoming friends with AI

AI should be seen as a thought partner and assistant, not a replacement. Use AI to enhance your creativity and efficiency. For example, if you're stuck on creating a warm-up activity, ask AI for ideas. Treat AI as a helpful assistant to handle tasks you find time-consuming or less enjoyable, allowing you to focus on what you love about teaching.

3. Developing empathy for AI

Understanding AI's capabilities and limitations is essential. AI learns from the data we provide, so it's crucial to feed it accurate and relevant information. Developing empathy for AI means understanding how it processes information and how to give clear instructions to get the best results.

4. Using AI for comprehensive coverage

AI can help cover all aspects of language learning, including:

  • Meaning-focused input: Generate reading passages and listening activities.
  • Meaning-focused output: Create speaking and writing tasks.
  • Language-focused learning: Develop vocabulary lists, grammar exercises, and pronunciation activities.
  • Fluency development: Design repetitive practice tasks to build automaticity in language use.

5. Transforming teaching practices

Move beyond simple substitution and augmentation of tasks with AI. Aim for modification and redefinition of your teaching methods. For instance, use AI to create interactive and personalized learning experiences that were previously unimaginable.

6. Adopting AI pedagogy

AI offers new teaching possibilities that break away from traditional constraints. Embrace these opportunities to redefine your pedagogy. Think about what is now possible with AI that wasn't before and how you can leverage these capabilities to enhance learning.

7. Creating formative assessments

Use AI to develop formative assessments that provide continuous feedback. These assessments should help students understand their progress and guide you in improving your teaching strategies. AI can generate rubrics, provide instant feedback, and help track student performance over time.

Practical tips and challenges

To help you integrate AI into your teaching practice, here are some practical tips and challenges:

1. Experiment with AI tools: Find tools for creating text, audio, images, and video. Create activities using these tools to see how they can enhance your lessons.

2. Develop custom AI applications: Create custom GPTs for specific tasks, such as generating rubrics or formative assessments.

3. Engage students with AI: Design activities where students use AI to generate content, evaluate AI-generated work, and reflect on their learning process.

4. Focus on formative feedback: Use AI to provide continuous, formative feedback to students, helping them understand their strengths and areas for improvement.

Embrace AI and its challenges

Integrating AI into your teaching practice is not just about using new tools; it's about transforming your approach to education. By embracing AI, you can create more engaging, personalized, and effective learning experiences for your students. As you embark on this journey, remember that the goal is to enhance your teaching, not replace it. Embrace the challenges, experiment with new ideas, and let AI help you become the best educator you can be.

Watch our webinar

Ready to dive deeper into the world of AI in education? Watch our webinar, 'Teaching in the Age of AI: 7 Tips for Preparing for an Educational Evolution'. Discover how AI can augment teaching, personalize learning, and boost engagement. Delve into the AI-first pedagogy, ethical considerations and practical strategies to make your classroom more effective, engaging, and innovative.

More blogs from 色猫AV

  • Woman wearing headphones outside, smiling and looking hopeful

    6 easy ways to learn English

    提交者 Steffanie Zazulak

    When you’re learning English, it’s important to keep your motivation up. As with any task, there may be times when it feels a bit more difficult, so switch up your methods and don’t be afraid to make mistakes – you’ll reach the level you want to be at.

    We’ve already provided some unique ways to teach English that you may now have experienced with your teacher. Here, we suggest some easy ways to learn English that you can try any time – at home, at work or on the move. Why not try them today? Surround yourself with English and you’ll see improvements in your language confidence and skills, while having fun at the same time…

    1. English words with friends

    Scrabble is a classic board game in which players use random lettered tiles to create words in a crossword fashion. It’s a fantastic way to strengthen your English vocabulary, and there’s also a Scrabble Junior version for beginners. Playing Scrabble challenges you to really think in English as you try to come up with different words using your set of letters.

    If you’re taking an English class, buy the board game and invite your classmates to play with you. You can also play Scrabble online through websites like Facebook, where it is called Words With Friends.

    2. Add some music

    Not only will your favorite song wake up your mind and put you in a positive mood to learn English, but the lyrics can help you expand your skills. acquire grammar and vocabulary and improve spelling.

    Songs almost always contain a lot of useful vocabulary, phrases and expressions. And since the intended audience is fluent English speakers, the latest tunes include up-to-date language and colloquialisms. The language used in songs is casual and usable, if you pick the right music. Music also has an uncanny ability to stick in our heads, which can help you remember your new English words.

  • a hand holding a remote control

    8 easy tricks for improving your English skills

    提交者 Steffanie Zazulak

    As you work to improve your English skills, it’s always helpful to have some tricks and tips to help you stay motivated. With that in mind, we’ve collated these eight simple tips from fellow English language learners, to help you on your quest…

    1. Set yourself small goals

    Learning English is a long process, and it may take years to progress from one level to the next. That’s why it’s important to set yourself achievable goals. At 色猫AV, we work with thousands of English teachers worldwide to define what it means to ‘be at a level’ in English.?

    2. Create a study schedule

    Ensure this schedule works around your daily responsibilities and make sure to keep it simple! Try breaking up your English language learning over the course of an entire day, which may make it feel more manageable.

    3. Practice a little bit every day

    Even if it’s listening to an English podcast during your commute or practicing your favorite words while having breakfast, every little bit of practice helps!

    4. Discover what type of learner you are

    Auditory, visual, or tactile. Use this as a basis for how you spend time studying. For instance, a visual learner may benefit from flashcards (see point 7), while an auditory learner may benefit from watching a television program in English.

    5. Turn on music in English

    Rhythms and rhymes have been found to stimulate the brain and improve learning. Our research found that music can be an invaluable tool when learning English, as it helps with pronunciation, word boundaries and vocabulary.

    6. Watch movies with English dialogue

    Movies are a great source of native conversation and vocabulary. Plus, the visual nature of film allows you to experience nonverbal context too — such as facial expressions and hand gestures — accompanying and contextualizing the film’s dialogue. Above all, watching a movie is a fun and motivational way to develop English language skills.

    7. Learn new vocabulary with flashcards

    While this may be the oldest studying trick in the book, students around the world use flashcards because they work!

    8. Track your progress

    To gain a sense of accomplishment, it’s important to know where you’ve started. We’ve just introduced a new way to measure progress in English. Have a look at it to quickly discover what your areas of strength and weakness are.

    Finally, it’s important to remember that not every learning trick will work for you. So, if you find that chatting with fluent English speakers helps you progress faster but you’re not always able to converse with them face-to-face, spend more of your time communicating online with your English-speaking friends and contacts.

  • A overhead shot of a  person sat on a chair with a laptop to their left is icons of envelopes

    6 things to consider when writing English emails

    提交者 Steffanie Zazulak

    Every day, an astonishing number of emails are sent and received worldwide. While a considerable amount of these are informal messages between friends, the majority are for business purposes. Whether you’re emailing someone you work with, applying for a new job or making new connections, here are some general rules to follow when writing English emails…

    1. Know your tone

    Always consider who you are writing to and adapt your language accordingly. Emails are less formal than letters, so it’s fine to start your email with “Hi” or “Good morning” – but it may be better to write “Dear…” if you are emailing someone for the first time or if they are senior to you. Similarly, ending emails with “Best/kind regards” rather than “Yours sincerely/faithfully” works well, with the latter being more appropriate for a formal email. Whatever the relationship, though, don’t feel tempted to use laid-back, colloquial expressions like “Hey, you guys”, “Yo!”, or “Hi folks”.

    2. It’s all about the titles

    It’s increasingly common to use first names in international business communications, so don’t be afraid to do so. Another title to consider is your email subject header: a short, clear text is important as busy people often decide whether to even open an email depending on the subject header. Examples of a good subject header include “Meeting date changed”, “Quick question about your presentation”, or “Suggestions for the proposal”.

    3. Use a professional email address

    If you work for a company you’ll be using your company email address. But if you’re using a personal email account because you’re self-employed or looking for a new job, you should be careful when choosing that address.

    You should always have an email address that includes your name so that the recipient knows exactly who is sending the email. Email addresses that you created while you were in school or college (IloveJohn@… or “Beerlover@…) are not appropriate for the workplace!

    4. Limit the small talk

    Small talk can help to build relationships but it doesn’t need to be overly personal. A simple “I hope you are well” or “How are things?” will usually suffice. Also, be cautious with humor as it can easily get lost in translation without the correct tone or facial expressions that accompany face-to-face meetings. It’s safer to leave out humor from emails unless you know the recipient well.

    5. Keep it simple

    Emails are intended to be written, read and understood quickly, so only include the important details – and avoid saturating your message with unnecessary information.

    6. Proofread every message

    Always check your emails before pressing Send. Read and re-read your email a few times, preferably aloud, to ensure there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes. And never just rely on the auto spell-check; spell-checking software doesn't always understand the context of your writing and can throw you off with incorrect suggestions.?

    Happy emailing.