The less it is more about AI in teaching

Artificial intelligence (AI) revolutionizes education. AI can automate the classification, generate course plans and provide instant comments to students. But for many educators, this has not reduced the workload; He has reshaped it, often in a way that feels as crushing as it is before. The temptation to adopt several AI tools without a clear strategy has let many teachers spend more time learning from new technologies than teaching.

We found that the key to operating AI for educators is not to use more AI but to use it more deliberately. Here are four ways to help educators integrate it into their teaching in a way that supports, rather than overwhelming.

Disrupt the routine

Repetitive teaching tasks, such as the classification of similar missions, delivery of the same conferences and the writing of identical feedback documents, can accelerate professional exhaustion. Although AI can rationalize workflows, excessive retention on a single function is likely to create new forms of monotony. Strategic dishabitation, which implies intentionally disturbed predictability, helps Continue to teach engaging without adding to the technological burden.

Beyond these structural changes, we have varied our AI techniques, exploring tools to facilitate interactive exercises, grammar feedback and dynamic evaluations rather than using AI only for lessons planning. In addition, random warm -ups generated by AI and spontaneous revision sessions inject a variety in lessons, breaking the rigid teaching models.

By regularly changing thematic concentration, for example, to the experimentation of new evaluation methods a personalized term and learning the following, we ensure that Improved education Remains stimulating rather than routine. The small intentional adjustments can transform the use of monotonous to innovative AI.

Focus on using AI for optimizing workflow

The adoption of AI is often marketed as a way to save time. However, without an appropriate strategy in place, it can create as much work as it removes it. We have realized that the adoption of AI in a way that optimizes our workflow requires being selective on how we use it.

Rather than automating everything, we focus on some high impact areas:

Automated grade: The AI ​​provides initial comments on the assessments of the formative revision, allowing us to focus on the support of students and other teaching activities.

Lesson structure: Instead of writing each conference outline from zero, AI helps generate structured models that we can refine.

Administrative tasks: The editorial staff by e-mail assisted by Ai reduces the time spent to answer students' questions and take meeting notes.

We avoid relying on AI for summative assessment comments, personalized students' comments, delivery of conferences and complex academic discussions: areas where human expertise is irreplaceable.

Adopt a minimalist approach

Just because an AI tool exists, it does not mean that it is useful. Many educators fall into the AI ​​overload trap, testing several tools and adding unnecessary layers of technology to their workflow. Instead, we have adopted a minimalist approach, using an AI rationalization control list before adopting a new tool. The questions to ask you include:

• Does it really save time?
• Does it easily integrate into your workflow?
• Does this simplify rather than complicate your work?

Rather than juggle several platforms, we focus on a set of AI tools that line up with our teaching needs. For example, Eduaide.ai provides ready -to -use course plans, quizs and learning activities, reducing the preparation time without requiring an in -depth manual contribution. This allows us to maximize efficiency while maintaining the integration of simple and manageable AI.

Using only two or three IA tools with high impact, we avoid mental fatigue of constantly switching between platforms. AI should be an assistant, not a distraction.

Use for comments and self-reflection

Many educators use AI to provide comments to students, but this can also support reflection on the practice of teaching.

We use Otter.a to transcribe our conferences and examine them later, helping us to identify where the students' commitment dropped, where the explanations could be clearer or where the interaction lacked. Similar information can now be gathered using simple vocal records on our phones, which can be transcribed and analyzed with AI tools like Chatgpt.

We also use Chatgpt to review the samples of our written comments, identifying tone and content models. This helps us to vary our language and ensure greater clarity and consistency between students' comments. In addition, Rescueetime allows us to follow the time we have spent for rating, planning and administration tasks, helping us determine where we can rationalize our workload.

Together, these tools support small but significant improvements in our two Teaching delivery And time management.

The warning of Isaac Asimov according to which “the saddest aspect of life at the moment is that science accelerates knowledge faster than society meets on wisdom” at a time which becomes dominated by the use of AI. And AI in education is no different. More tools do not necessarily mean better education. The smarter use of fewer tools.

By turning the tasks for which you use AI, optimizing the workflow, applying a minimalist approach and using AI tools for self-reflection, we have found that these tools can be powerful allies; But only when they serve our teaching objectives.

If AI creates more work instead of reducing it, it may be time to ask: what is a tool or a habit of AI that you could refine this week to really make your teaching more efficient?

Garth Elzerman and Bin Feng are educators of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China.

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