Matthew's Google Workspace, Apple & AI EdTech Blog

 Using ChatGPT can drastically cut down on the amount of time an educator needs to spend when creating new lesson plans. Particularly useful when embarking on creating lesson materials for subjects or topics you are new to teaching. OpenAI has a page with a few useful detailed prompts for teachers covering these topics: A. Come up with lesson plans B. Create effective explanations, examples, analogies C. Help students learn by teaching D. Create an AI tutor You can find all the prompts on this page  HERE In the video below we take the first prompt 'Come up with lesson plans' and interact with it to create a number of lesson plans which can serve as a starting point for thinking about how to go about teaching new or unfamiliar content, topics or themes. The idea is not to take the lesson plans ChatGPT spits out and unthinkingly follow them. But they can, most definitely, be used as useful guides. 3 key points to remember when interacting with ChatGPT: 1. Stop it and explain whe

 This blogpost may be of interest to educators who are looking to introduce the concept and powers of Chat GPT to Young Learners in a fun, interactive way. For this example we will be using Books by AI , which is currently in its Beta phase. This is a platform that allows you to create and modify books (or the text at least) through inputting prompts.  Before we start with the activity example for this blogpost, let's quickly touch upon the ethics of students using AI and specifically Large Language Models chatbots (LLMs). There are good arguments for both allowing and not allowing students access to AI tools to supplement and support learning. Personally, I think if there are productivity tools such as Chat GPT, which are now being used and will be used in daily life and work in the future, then it's probably a good idea to introduce students to these tools and try and get them using them in a productive and responsible way. No doubt some students will be unable to responsibly

This blogpost may be of interest to educators who want to think more deeply about how to integrate non-academic and non-educational AI tools into their portfolio of teaching and learning activities. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has, over the last year in particular, become widely-known and discussed. There is a growing number of AI-powered tools that are being introduced for everyday use and their potential in education should not be ignored. Elementary through tertiary educators can utilize these tools in various subjects to create engaging and impactful learning experiences for their students. As educators in the past decade previously took everyday tools such as Google Maps and Earth to create engaging lesson materials across a variety of subjects from Maths to Science to Geography, History and even Literature, it seems now that we can apply this idea of thinking outside the box in terms of the waves of new AI tools which are now proliferating. An obvious example of an AI-powered

Reading & Writing Activities for Young Learners with AI-powered Tools This blogpost might be of interest to educators who want to develop collaborative reading activities which can utilise individual reading, guided reading, shared reading while incorporating speaking and writing activities. We all know the story about stories: Stories are a great way to help students learn so many things, not just literacy but morals, ideas, concepts etc. However, in terms of literacy we know the studies have been done repeatedly and in many places in recent decades with the general conclusion that students who read more do better at school over time. For any educator working with young learners in an ELA, EFL/ESL environment, the use of stories is crucial in engaging students and aiding that literacy development. However, with young learners now frequently using tablets and phones - and therefore being more image-focused than text-focused these days - there is a feeling amongst many educators tha

This blogpost may be of interest to educators who want to create digital gap fill worksheets using Google Docs Dropdown Chips.  What are they and how can you use them? There are so many new EdTech features and products coming online every day. It is therefore easy to miss out on some interesting and helpful features.  Google Doc Dropdown Chips is one. These chips are not that new, but it seems rare to hear educators in my field of EFL/ESL and ELA talking about them or using them. They are in fact a powerful yet simple tool that can be used to create digital gap fill worksheets and cloze reading comprehension exercises . Ok, great, but why would you use them?  In a world of technological transformation, gap fill activities may sound somewhat old-fashioned and out-dated, but they are still a tried and tested way for educators to easily check how much students understand - in particular they work well for less-able students who find more technologically-challenging learning activities dif

  The concept of differentiation has been around for a long time but technology is now giving educators options to greatly expand the scope… This blogpost may be of interest to educators who a) are looking for a way to engage students in the classroom b) want to provide them with differentiated and self-paced activities?  If that sounds like you, then choice boards are an excellent tool that can help make learning more accessible and enjoyable for learners of all abilities and interests. So, what are choice boards?  Here is an example choiceboard made with Padlet , used as a platform for reviewing the year's lessons at the end of the Term. _______________________________________ Choice boards are a simple tool that can provide teachers with the opportunity to create individualized learning experiences tailored specifically to each student’s needs. They can be used as pre-planned lessons or simple assignments, allowing students to choose tasks based on their own preferences and leve

It's June. The summer holidays are almost upon us. As educators, the summer months can be both exciting and daunting. With the end of school year activities behind us, it's time to think about how we'll spend our summer holidays. Of course, we will be on the beach. However, if you really do want to keep one eye on work, one way to make sure your break is potentially productive and interesting is by taking a look at Google Workspace Marketplace. The summer holidays is a great time to casually browse a platform like this as you may randomly find some useful tools which you will incorporate into the next academic year. So, if you are using Google Workspace products such as Slides, Docs, Gmail and all the rest, and you aren't familiar with Google Workspace Marketplace, what is it? Google Workspace Marketplace provides an extensive list of educational apps, add-ons and extensions that are designed for teachers, trainers or any other type of educator looking for new ways to