Key points:
- When we frame AI as a creative partner rather than a productivity tool, something shifts
- 5 ways to infuse AI into your classroom this school year
- In training educators on AI, don’t outsource the foundational work of teaching
- For more on AI’s role in education, visit eSN’s Digital Learning hub
As a former teacher, educator coach, and principal, I’ve witnessed countless edtech promises come and go. The latest refrain echoes through conference halls and staff meetings: “AI saves teachers X hours a week.” While time is undeniably precious in our profession, this narrative sells both educators and students short. After years of working at the intersection of pedagogy and technology, I’ve come to believe that if we only use AI to do the same things faster, we’re not innovating–we’re just optimizing yesterday.
The real opportunity: From efficiency to impact
Great teaching has never been about efficiency. It’s iterative, adaptive, and deeply human. Teachers read the room, adjust pace mid-lesson, and recognize that moment when understanding dawns in a student’s eyes. Yet most AI tools flatten this beautiful complexity into task lists: generate a worksheet, create a quiz, save time, done.
The question we should be asking isn’t, “How do I get through prep faster?” but rather, “What would I try if I didn’t have to start from scratch?”
Consider the pedagogical best practices we know drive student success: timely personalized feedback, inquiry-based learning, differentiation, regular formative assessments, and fostering metacognition. These are time-intensive practices that many educators struggle to implement consistently–not for lack of desire, but for lack of bandwidth.
AI as a pedagogical ally
When AI is truly designed for education–not just wrapped around a large language model–it becomes a pedagogical ally that reduces barriers to best practices. I recently observed a teacher who’d always wanted to create differentiated choice boards for her diverse learners but never had the time to build them. With AI-powered tools that understand learning progressions and can generate standards-aligned content variations, she transformed a single instructional idea into personalized pathways for 30 students in minutes, then spent her saved time having one-on-one conferences with struggling readers.
This is the multiplier effect. AI didn’t replace her professional judgment; it amplified her impact by removing the mechanical barriers to her pedagogical vision.
Creativity unleashed, not automated
The educators I work with already have innovative ideas, but often lack the time and resources to bring them to life. When we frame AI as a creative partner rather than a productivity tool, something shifts. Teachers begin asking: What if I could finally try project-based learning without spending weekends creating materials? What if I could provide immediate, specific feedback to every student, not just the few I can reach during class?
We’ve seen educators use AI to experiment with flipped classrooms, design escape room reviews, and create interactive scenarios that would have taken days to develop manually. The AI handles the heavy lifting of content generation, alignment, and interactivity, while teachers focus on what only they can do: inspire, connect, and guide.
Educators are the true catalysts
As we evaluate AI tools for our schools, we must look beyond time saved to amplified impact. Does the tool respect teaching’s complexity? Does it support iterative, adaptive instruction? Most importantly, does it free educators to do what they do best?
The catalysts for educational transformation have always been educators themselves. AI’s purpose isn’t to automate teaching, but to clear space for the creativity, experimentation, and human connection that define great pedagogy. When we embrace this vision, we move from doing the same things faster to doing transformative things we never thought possible.
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