There has been so much buzz (and controversy!) over the past few months regarding AI or Artificial Intelligence and how it will change education. I played around with Chat GPT a few weeks ago and realized that I had just met my new personal assistant! Anything that I asked Chat GPT to do, create, modify- it was able to do it within seconds! It can create lesson plans, speeches, rubrics, draft letters to the community, write emails, break down steps, write code, create questions based on a youtube video, and the list GOES ON! I also recently joined a Facebook group started by Joe Dale titled “Language Teaching with AI” and I have learned a great deal in a short amount of time- thanks Joe!

As an educator who values tools that make our lives easier when it comes to planning & preparation, here are a few of my favorite AI apps/tools (so far!) that may also make your head spin! 🤩

diffit.me

Friends, look no further for great leveled texts with summaries, questions, prompts, etc in ANY language! You select to either type in a topic of choice, copy/paste a URL to an article, or add a PDF file of any text – the drop down allows you to choose the reading level (by grade 2nd-11th+ perhaps this will be by lexile level in the future?) and language of your choice! Yes, they have almost every language, it seems to good to be true! With a few simple ideas like “How is Day of the Dead celebrated in Mexico” or “How do Spaniards enjoy the annual Tomatina” – the site will generate a text based on your grade level of choice and a bunch of follow up activities based on that same text. I created this two minute video overview to help you navigate, but I promise it’s so simple! Talk about such an easy way to differentiate for your learners in seconds! This is what I like to call a total game changer when seeking a particular interpretive resource, no more wasting hours hunting down that great article at the appropriate level for your students, diffit.me just made it WAY easier by creating it for you! And as an added bonus – you can export it right into a Google Doc! Here is a 2nd grade level text all about how Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico in Spanish! 😃

Canva – Text to Image

#realtalk moment, I could probably spend a full week exploring Canva and learning all of the cool tricks the site does! It such an AWESOME tool! I stumbled upon a new feature using AI called “Text to Image” available within the Apps section. See the image below, top left corner but don’t you just want to click on everything?!?

Canva has come a LONG way in just a few years! Once you select the type of design, it will bring you to the editing space and let you type in whatever you would like to see on your screen. I went with “A cartoon bull wearing sunglasses at the beach” and here is what Canva created for me:

Think about all of the neat images you’ve always wanted to find online but had trouble, now that is no longer an issue! Any image you would like to see, it will design it for you based on your specifications! I envision students using this to create their own digital stories with some unique images thanks to AI! And another AI site: onceuponabot.com helps you create children’s stories!

magicschool.ai

As an educator, this feels like a one-stop shop for all things related to teaching and the sometimes piles of paperwork! And yes, it can complete tasks in multiple languages, just ask! Check out the list below of all of the ways this tool can help you! I was able to generate text dependent questions from an online article excerpt, write an IEP report, compose an email, and provide rich feedback- in seconds!

Within a short period of time, I SO appreciate these time saving AI tools! Teachers deserve a personal assistant and here we finally have one at our finger tips! It also seems that it is only the beginning for {language} teachers- I am curious, which is your favorite?!?!

Please share with me below! 🙂

*And, if you are a language educator and are interested in joining a unique community dedicated to exploring these ideas and many other topics related to Generative AI in language instruction, consider a membership to our AI Innovator Community for Language Educators. A yearly subscription includes monthly themed GenAI workshops, access to several asynchronous courses dedicated to GenAI in the language classroom, a quarterly newsletter with the latest tips & insights and ongoing chats & collaboration amongst educators within the private AI Innovator discussion space. There are also several GenAI courses available to begin or continue your journey in learning about Generative AI as a language educator!