6 Progressive AI Tools Essential for Modern Educators
Today's educators face mounting pressure to deliver personalized learning experiences while juggling endless administrative tasks and keeping students engaged. Fortunately, artificial intelligence has emerged as a game-changing ally in education, offering innovative solutions to these everyday challenges. From automating time-consuming duties like grading and data analysis to creating tailored learning paths and improving student literacy, AI tools are revolutionizing how we teach and learn. In this article, we'll explore five powerful AI-powered platforms – Extracto, Quill, Gradescope, Khan Academy, and Duolingo – examining how their unique capabilities help teachers work more efficiently, teach more effectively, and create better learning experiences for students.
extracto
AI-powered web scraping tool for easy data collection.
Extracto.bot gives teachers a powerful AI tool that makes research and data collection much simpler. It's a smart web scraper that works with Google Sheets right away, no setup needed, so you can pull information from any website easily. You just add your desired data fields as columns in a spreadsheet go to the website you want to gather from and hit "extract." This saves tons of time that would've been spent on manual data entry letting you focus more on planning lessons and grading papers.
The tool works smoothly with Google Drive which makes it great for sharing and working together with others. Anyone can get started since they offer different pricing options. While the free plan has some limits paid plans give you more pages and user spots. Teachers can use it in lots of ways like gathering comparison data for projects putting together teaching resources or keeping track of how students are doing across different websites. Since it can automatically pull data from pretty much any site teachers can easily create custom learning materials and stay organized without much extra work.
Link: https://www.extracto.bot
Quill
AI-powered writing tool that strengthens student literacy skills
Quill.org gives teachers a complete set of free tools powered by AI to help students get better at reading, writing and language skills from elementary through high school. Students can work on grammar exercises combine sentences and take assessments that help identify where they need help. The platform also includes writing lessons that work well for entire classes while staying aligned with Common Core standards.
One of its best features is "Reading for Evidence" which uses AI to create writing prompts based on nonfiction texts. This helps students think more deeply and learn to back up their ideas with evidence from what they read. Students get feedback right away so they can fix their writing, and teachers can easily see how everyone's doing. It works smoothly with Google Classroom and Clever which makes it simple to set up and manage classes.
The platform covers more than 100 different concepts through about 50 hours of lessons ranging from basic punctuation to more complex grammar skills. What's really helpful is how it adapts to each student adjusting the difficulty based on how they're doing. Quill also has special activities for English Language Learners with translations available and support for students who learn differently making sure everyone can benefit from the platform.
Teachers can see detailed reports that show exactly where students are doing well and where they might need extra help which makes it easier to plan lessons that work for everyone. Since it's free teachers can create engaging literacy lessons while spending less time grading and planning which is always a big plus in busy classrooms.
Link: https://www.quill.org/
Gradescope
Streamlines grading workflow while enhancing student feedback quality.
Gradescope is a flexible online grading platform that makes assessment easier for teachers and professors. It works with lots of different assignment types, from regular paper tests and homework to online quizzes coding assignments and bubble sheets. Teachers can use their existing materials without changing them which saves a bunch of time in preparation. The platform uses AI to help with grading and groups similar answers together, which is especially helpful when dealing with large classes.
One of the really nice things about Gradescope is how it shows detailed stats about how students are doing. You can see exactly where students are struggling and which concepts need more attention in class. The platform makes it super easy to give feedback and handle regrade requests which keeps communication flowing between teachers and students.
For educators, the time savings are pretty impressive. Teachers using the platform report that they can grade way faster than before which leaves more time for actually teaching and helping students. As one MIT professor put it "Gradescope is rocket fuel for grading." The platform lets teachers create detailed rubrics that help them give consistent feedback to everyone in class. Students can also request regrades right through the system, which makes the whole review process more open and engaging. In the end Gradescope helps teachers do their job better and creates a more effective learning environment for everyone involved.
Link: https://www.gradescope.com/
khanacademy
Free personalized learning platform with AI-powered support tools.
Khan Academy gives educators free access to tons of standards-aligned stuff covering everything from basic math to advanced science and humanities. Teachers use it to spot gaps in student learning and adjust their teaching style to fit different needs. The platform lets students learn at their own speed which helps them get solid understanding before tackling harder topics. Khan's teaching tools help educators customize lessons and give extra support where needed which gets students more involved in learning.
The platform recently added Khanmigo, a smart AI assistant powered by GPT-4 that works as both a tutor and teacher's helper. It fits right in with Khan Academy's huge collection of trusted learning materials and gives students and teachers another way to get personalized help. Khan Academy keeps working to give everyone everywhere access to quality education and now they're using cool tech like Khanmigo to help more people learn better. The platform makes it simple for teachers to track progress give feedback and make sure every student gets what they need to succeed.
Link: https://www.khanacademy.org/
Duolingo
Language learning made fun through gamified, personalized lessons
Duolingo gives teachers a really useful set of free tools to help with language teaching both in class and at home. The platform uses proven teaching methods and fun content to keep students engaged while they learn new languages through games points and level-ups. It's pretty cool how the AI adapts to each student's own pace and skill level which makes it work well in classrooms where students have different abilities.
Teachers can use Duolingo for Schools to blend the app into their lessons and keep track of how their students are doing. The platform has grown beyond just languages too - they now have Duolingo ABC for teaching young kids aged 3-8 how to read and write, plus Duolingo Math to help with mental math skills through fun exercises. Since all the tools are free and the lessons are short and sweet teachers can easily add some interactive learning to different subjects for students of any age. Students tend to really enjoy the game-like format which helps them learn better and actually look forward to their lessons.