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Unlocking AI: A Primer for Educators

September 24, 2024

As of fall 2023, more than half of all U.S. workers use artificial intelligence (AI) for work. The education field is no exception to this trend, as teachers across the nation are exploring ways AI can transform their work and help students learn. Despite the incredible promise of this new technology, many educators are still at the starting line — nationally, over half of teachers have never used AI. The opportunity that generative AI (GenAI) — programs that can generate text, images, and other media — brings to Tennessee’s classrooms, however, is worth the exploration. Our memo outlines two readily available tools for teachers to either dip a toe in the water or take a full-on first dive into AI to experience the possibilities and limitations of AI in its current state.  

Key Insights:

  • AI is an advancing field with rapidly improving capabilities. Teachers should learn how to use it now so that they can leverage it even more effectively in the future, as well as contribute their voices to steer how the technology develops. 
  • GenAI is no replacement for the expertise of a teacher. Teachers can use AI tools as a prompt or starting point when time is short or ideas are low, and then layer in their own expertise and edits. 
  • Students stand to benefit from teacher engagement in GenAI because tasks that once took hours (creating visuals or designing activities) can be accomplished with AI tools in a fraction of the time, freeing teachers to focus on higher level or relational sides of teaching.