Why did the teacher ask the AI to grade homework?

This is my first go at writing a blog post, so here goes!

I’ve been using AI tools for over a year now, but only really got serious about wanting to know more and learning how to really make use of the tools available in the past few months. Every day I learn a little bit more and with RAISE I hope to pass that knowledge on to others!

So for my first post I wanted to pass on some ideas and pointers to whoever takes the time to read beyond my waffle at the start!

Top 5 AI Tools For Teachers

1. LLM’s - ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini et al

   

   Sorry for the generality here, but I tend to use all three of the LLM’s name-checked here. The other day I got asked which one is best and I have read somewhere that they all have their different strengths. What I do often is ask the same question to more than one of the LLM’s and see which answer I like best, or more often, combine the answers!

   I basically use these tools as a sounding board for ideas which, according to the Harvard Business Review, is among the top 10 uses for Gen AI in 2025. I use them for refining emails and writing reports.

   Quick shoutout to Copilot’s Prompt agent (unfortunately only available on a paid license) – I’ve started using this to improve my prompting – the better the question you ask, the better the answer! See also my Prompt guide under Resources!

2. Canva

   I’ve not been using Canva long or in any particularly genius way, but I have been using it to edit images for my website. According to Google’s AI overview mode, Canva can be used for “creating visually appealing educational materials such as presentations, worksheets, and posters.” The free version gives you a limited number of credits to use the built in tools, but they seem to offer regular trials so you can try out the full version for 30 days.

3. MagicSchoolAI

   I haven’t used this tool nearly enough – there are over 80 different tools, and I am sure they keep adding more. The terrible joke (punchline at the end of this post) was generated using the Teacher Jokes tool, but more useful tools include lesson planning, slide generation, quiz creations and parental communication drafts. One really useful tool (Inception style) is the Tool Recommendation tool – Discover the best tool to use based on your specific needs!

4. NotebookLM

   Google’s NotebookLM is a tool for research and writing. Unlike the LLM’s (which are trained on massive amounts of data which can lead to inaccuracies and hallucinations), NotebookLM’s responses are based on the sources provided by the user! From your uploaded sources (e.g. course syllabus, grading rubric, student work etc) you can create mind maps, audio and video overviews, create summaries and do a Q&A on the sources, and you can collaborate with other users for a team/department project. You do need a Google account, but NotebookLM is free for Google account users. Google also state that NotebookLM user interactions and data are not used to train AI models.

5. Oak National Academy

   Oak National Academy was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and provides lesson plans and resources from Reception up to Year 11. They have recently launch an AI-powered lesson planning assistant called Aila to help teachers save time and create customised resources. Aila uses Oak's existing curriculum and subject expertise to generate lesson plans, slides, and quizzes that can be downloaded and adapted. The tool is designed to be prompt-driven, allowing teachers to tailor lessons for their specific pupils and ensure they align with the national curriculum. Aila is still in development and can’t create images or diagrams, but will suggest where to find them.

I hope you enjoyed reading my first blog post and come back for more!

And finally, the punchline…
Because the AI promised to give only "byte"-sized feedback!