Ten tools for classroom material with artificial intelligence

Mastering your discipline and having a vocation for education is essential for teaching. But nowadays, it is also necessary to capture students’ attention, and artificial intelligence can therefore be useful to achieve this.

So says Ana María Ribon, Director of the Academic Department of Social Sciences and Humanities at PrepaTec, State of Mexico.

“Our students grew up in this (technological) world, and it’s the language they use. If we don’t engage them, students don’t learn,” she says.

Ribon shared with teaching colleagues some technological platforms and tools that use artificial intelligence, which can be useful for creating impactful teaching resources.

 

“AI in education can personalize learning and make it more efficient (...) Proper guidance by the teacher is crucial to ensure effective and ethical implementation,” Ribon said.

These are the AI resources that Ribon, along with the Tec’s Technologies for Education area, shares with her colleagues.

 

 

1. Canva: presentation design with integrated AI tools
2. Prezi: guide the AI to create your presentation
3. Gamma: structuring and original presentations
4. Adobe Firefly: create illustration with AI

 

 

RESOURCES FOR INTERACTION

 

1. Wisdolia: invite your students to create and answer questions
2. ScreenCastify: create feedback videos

 

 

RESOURCES FOR DYNAMIC ACTIVITIES

 

1. Suno: learning with rhythm and songs
2. Fliki: original and personalized videos

 

 

RESOURCES FOR ACTIVITIES

 

1. Leonardo.ai: unique images for classroom activities
2. Mindmeister: collaborative mind maps

 

 

Resources for presenting

According to Ribon, the goal of presenting is to engage students with the content in an entertaining and easily digestible way.

“We have approximately eight seconds for young people to retain information, and we need to do this with material that engages them beyond visual appeal,” she explained.

1. Canva: design of presentations with integrated AI tools

In addition to being an extremely user-friendly platform, the educator highlights the implementation of AI within its functions with elements such as “magic writing,” as well as additional applications.

Ribon also points out that as Tec teachers, the institution provides access to the full version when you register with the institutional email address for teachers.

“Within Canva, the AI model can help me improve or change my writing to a more formal style,” she said.

“When we go into the apps, Canva’s AI helps us create visuals from the instructions we give it such as avatars, illustrations, etc.,” she added.

 

With the launch of its own free artificial intelligence model, the educator indicates that this tool is capable of creating the basis of an interactive presentation with just a prompt (a request to guide the interaction with an AI system).

“Once given the prompt, Prezi is going to choose the theme and background color. It’s going to give it a spatial touch, it’s going to teleport my students, it’s going to generate the slides, and it’s even going to generate content,” she explained.

Although Prezi can speed up the start-up process by providing a structure, the educator stresses the importance of always verifying the data it proposes.

“Let’s not limit ourselves to what it proposes. We’re the guardians of education, so it’s important to ensure accuracy,” she warns.

 

 

>Regresar al listado de herramientas

Ribon considers this tool even more powerful than Prezi since Gamma can also propose structure outlines from prompts, with the difference of being more accurate, having more complex language, and unique material.

“It’s like having a personal assistant that tells me how I can structure my information and even creates original material for it,” the director said.

However, Ribon points out that Gamma can make mistakes, particularly in language (as the tool is intended for English text) and images (anatomical errors).

“Artificial intelligence hasn’t yet finished learning (...) It can’t take care of the details. The ones who take care of that are we as teachers,” she said.

 

 

>Regresar al listado de herramientas

Additionally, there are tools of this type suggested by the Tec de Monterrey Educational Technologies area, such as Adobe Firefly.

As such, Adobe Firefly allows for the creation of illustrations that can be used within course presentations or even for videos of the subject from “prompts” with precise instructions to generate the visuals.

The use of this technology depends on whether the user has an active Adobe license. However, the online version allows some images to be generated free of charge.

 

 

>Regresar al listado de herramientas

 

Resources for interacting

According to the director, if as teachers we are not able to ‘click’ with students in a personal way, the learning process may become more complex.

“We have to connect with students through something, such as a joke, a question at the beginning of class, or a discussion since this interaction allows them to take ownership of the class material and be more willing to learn,” she said.

 

Ribon said that creating questions, improving reading comprehension, and generating interaction between the student and artificial intelligence is an effective way to provide freedom to the student in the learning process.

“These types of tools promote student self-management,” she said.

In this way, Wisdolia acts as a question generator from the given material, which helps students to self-evaluate and receive feedback according to their answers.

“We can adjust whether the questions will be open-ended, multiple choice, the level of difficulty, etc. Everything is customizable according to what is required and gives a personality to the language model,” she said.

 

 

>Regresar al listado de herramientas

 

As part of the suggestions promoted by the Technologies for Education area, ScreenCastify is a Google Chrome extension that can be used to create customized feedback videos.

To start recording, you only need to install the extension, click on the ScreenCastify icon, the “record” option, and choose what you want to share, either the screen itself or even a presentation in Google Drive.

To try the tool, you can search for it in the Chrome Web Store or visit their site at this link.

 

 

>Regresar al listado de herramientas

 

Resources for dynamic activities

For the teacher, dynamic activities at different points in the class are crucial to retaining students’ attention.

“The class should ideally have different moments. I start with questions, then I can show them audiovisual material, etc.,” Ribon explained.

 

This tool is capable of creating original songs from the given prompt.

“Learning through songs can help animate the information so that it lives on even years later,” she explained.

In Suno, it is possible to choose not only the theme and information of the song but also the musical genre you are looking for.

“Another benefit is that I can print out the lyrics, give them to all my students, and we can sing them together,” the educator added.

 

 

>Regresar al listado de herramientas

 

 

Fliki is a tool promoted by the Educational Technologies area, designed for the creation of original and customizable high-quality videos.

The platform supports more than 75 languages and offers features such as AI avatars and automatic voice, which add a personalized touch to the videos.

Its interface in turn simplifies video production, making it accessible even to those with basic technical editing skills.

The free option has five minutes of credits per month, limited access to the voice library, ability to create videos withprompts, articles, presentations, etc.

 

 

>Regresar al listado de herramientas

 

Resources for activities

For the director, activities are fundamental for hands-on learning and reinforcement of classroom concepts, something that artificial intelligence can help with creating.

 

While the tool is for image generation, Ribon explains that it can be used intelligently for creative classroom activities.

“For example, in a philosophy class, students can be asked to accept the challenge of creating an image based on the elements of beauty and provide an explanation,” she said.

“The great thing about artificial intelligence is that everything it creates is unique. In other words, there is no way that the image I’ve just generated has been created before,” she said.

For the best use of this tool, Ribon advises being extremely specific with the prompt for the image you want to generate.

 

 

​​

MindMeister is an AI-powered mind mapping tool that facilitates collaborative brainstorming and project planning.

In the classroom, students can use this application to visually organize ideas, create concept maps, and collaboratewith peers in real time.

The AI component helps generate intelligent suggestions for related concepts, streamlining the process of creating complete mind maps for projects and presentations.

MindMeister offers a free version with basic functions and paid plans for advanced features.

 

 

>Regresar al listado de herramientas

 

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN READING: