Generative AI—it might sound like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, but trust me, it’s less “robots taking over the world” and more “robots helping you not drown in paperwork.” Picture this: lesson plans created in seconds, grading streamlined, and personalized content suggestions that actually make sense! If you’re a teacher like me juggling a never-ending to-do list, ChatGPT is the sidekick you never knew you needed. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but wow, has it made my teaching life a whole lot easier and even a bit more fun.

Let’s explore how generative AI is transforming education (and why I’m borderline obsessed with it).

What’s Generative AI Anyway? Is It a Robot Butler?

Close, but not quite. Generative AI is like that friend who always has a genius idea when you’re out of steam. Instead of just processing info, it creates. From lesson plans to writing prompts to funny cat memes—AI has a wide range of talents. According to Medium’s AI Overview for Educators, this tool is basically a productivity hack wrapped in cool tech.

In my classroom, ChatGPT is my brainstorming buddy. Got a mixed-level class where some students are breezing through while others need a bit more support? ChatGPT can help me whip up differentiated activities faster than I can drink my morning coffee. Need fresh ways to explain The Pythagorean Theorem for the fifth time this year? Boom, ChatGPT to the rescue! This thing’s like my very own AI Robin to my teaching Batman.

How ChatGPT Made Me a Super-Productive Teacher

Teaching? More like juggling flaming swords while balancing on a tightrope—blindfolded. Between lesson planning, grading, and attempting to squeeze in a lunch break, it can feel impossible to get everything done. Enter ChatGPT, my personal assistant for all things educational.

For those of us teaching without a set curriculum or managing classes with students on different levels, AI has been a game-changer. I can fire off a quick prompt and have a full lesson plan, activity ideas, or even an engaging classroom debate topic ready in minutes. As Learner-Centered’s Blog points out, AI doesn’t replace us as teachers; it just makes us better at focusing on the important stuff—like actually interacting with students, instead of drowning in paperwork.

The Good, The Bad, and the Funny of Digital Citizenship in Classrooms

With great AI power comes great responsibility. In an age where Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter dominate students’ lives, digital citizenship needs to be front and center in our classrooms. And no, that doesn’t mean lecturing them on the evils of social media for 45 minutes straight (trust me, they’ve heard it). Instead, it’s about making them aware of the consequences of their digital actions.

Take the infamous Harvard University case where students had their admissions revoked for sharing inappropriate memes.

It’s a perfect (and cringe-worthy) example of why teaching digital footprints is crucial. I use ChatGPT to generate discussion prompts and role-playing scenarios where students explore what happens when “just a joke” spirals out of control online. It’s like a

digital soap opera, but with a moral at the end.

The best part? AI helps me break it down for them. We talk about cyberbullying, online ethics, and the everlasting impact of that time they posted their breakfast sandwich with a questionable caption. AI doesn’t just help create lessons—it becomes a tool for teaching digital literacy, letting students reflect on their digital behavior in a way that sticks.

But Wait, Shouldn’t We Ban AI in Schools?

Short answer: Nope. Long answer: Why would we? There’s been a lot of hand-wringing about whether AI tools like ChatGPT should be banned in schools. Some fear that students will use it to slack off or write essays without learning anything (nice try, Jimmy). But The Journal rightly points out that banning AI would be like banning calculators—you’re just delaying the inevitable.

Instead of banning AI, we should teach students how to use it responsibly. In my class, I use ChatGPT to enhance critical thinking. It’s not about copy-pasting answers—it’s about questioning those answers. “Did ChatGPT actually get this right? How do you know? What’s missing?” We’re fostering digital responsibility and helping students understand AI’s potential and its limits.

AI Isn’t Perfect (But Who Is?)

Alright, let’s get real—AI isn’t perfect, and neither am I. Sometimes ChatGPT misinterprets a prompt, and I end up with something more suited for a Shakespearean sonnet than a 9th-grade math class. As MIT’s Tech Review notes, AI can sometimes be biased or just plain weird.

But that’s okay—these “mistakes” are learning moments. I use them to teach my students about media literacy and critical thinking. “Why did the AI say this? Is there a bias here? How can we fact-check this information?” Suddenly, AI isn’t just a tool—it’s a lesson in digital awareness. And hey, it keeps things interesting.

The Three S’s: Safe, Savvy, and Social (With a Side of AI)

Thank you, Mike Ribble, for introducing the three S’s of digital citizenship: Safe, Savvy, and Social. This was mentioned in my last post – go check it out here). It’s the perfect framework for teaching students how to navigate the wild world of the internet responsibly.

• Safe: We talk about cybersecurity in class—password management, recognizing phishing emails (because no, Prince Nigeria does not need your credit card info), and using AI-generated cybersecurity scenarios to bring these lessons to life.
• Savvy: I teach students to use AI critically. Whether they’re fact-checking a piece of news or using ChatGPT for homework help, they learn to evaluate the credibility of their sources.
• Social: We explore the ethics of social media and AI. I create role-play situations using AI where students can explore what happens when digital citizenship goes wrong—and how to make it right.

By integrating the three S’s into the classroom, we make digital citizenship not only informative but also interactive and—dare I say—fun.

Why I’m Obsessed with ChatGPT (and You Should Be Too)

So, yeah, I’m pretty much in love with ChatGPT. It’s made me more productive, more creative, and definitely less stressed. It helps me brainstorm, organize, and even laugh when I need it most. And as I continue learning with AI, I see its potential to make the future of education brighter and more efficient for both students and teachers.

Plus, it gives me time to focus on what I actually enjoy—teaching, connecting with students, and, of course, making sure I have at least one funny meme on hand for class.

 

The Future of Teaching: Powered by AI (and Maybe Coffee)

At the end of the day, AI isn’t here to replace us; it’s here to help us. From helping craft differentiated lesson plans to promoting critical thinking and digital citizenship, AI like ChatGPT is a tool that makes education better. So let’s embrace it, learn alongside it, and have some fun along the way. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned—teaching with AI? It’s a blast.

Hi again, and welcome to, the final blog post for EDTC 300. For this post, we were asked to compile some examples of how I contributed to my classmates’ and others’ learning. I consider myself a lifelong learner and through this, I can share new information to enhance others’ learning. Learning is not a one-sided experience for me; it is important that I learn from others the same amount as others learn from me. So, not only am I learning but I also like to focus on supporting those who are doing the same. This is what we were able to experience during EDTC 300. We experienced this by creating a personal learning network with other teachers, classmates, and other professionals. These connections will be long-lasting and beneficial to continue learning from one another.

I have compiled my contributions into the variety of social media we used throughout the semester: Twitter, Slack, Blog, and Anchor.

TWEET TWEET

Twitter acted as one of the strongest personal learning networks that we experienced this semester during EDTC 300. Due to an extensive amount of time spent on Twitter, I have made connections that will benefit me for years to come. For example, following the SaskEdChats to connect with more teachers and to challenge my biases and to learn and grow from these connections.

Not only did I participate in a few SaskEdChats, but I was also able to fill my personal Twitter feed with quality, relatable content that allowed others to grow their knowledge from class content. I also was aware of my bias towards high school teaching and attempted to share resources for other grade levels. Some examples of these contributions are below.

Slacking off

Slack was a less audience-directed app that we were to use, for example, if classmates had questions, whether directly to a classmate or the whole class. We used this as a method to bounce questions off of each other and this has created a sense of community because of this communication. It was great to have classmates reply with their opinion or suggestions to find an answer to the questions. I loved that this modeled what being on a teaching staff is like – it will prepare students for this transition as they enter their professions. I am a technologically literate person so I did my best to give suggestions when my classmates were having issues with their technology or any of the social media or blog platforms we used. Here are some of my contributions to the Slack community.

I B-log here

This was my favourite part of EDTC 300 – blogging and commenting on my classmates’ blogs. This is where I felt the most connected to my classmates. This is because we were all experiencing the same, new information and reflecting on it much differently. This is where a majority of my learning took place because of the wide variety of thoughts and responses to the prompt posts and their learning projects. It was great to read a different point of view or a different method of approaching the new content. It was also great to experience difficulty and success in our learning projects, side by side. It felt like a very supportive community of people with the same experience(s). Here are a few examples of how I responded to others’ blogs and provided learning in my own blog posts.

ANCHOR Overboard

Anchor was one of the apps I tried in one of my blog posts, called Lower The Anchor. I really enjoyed the user-friendly platform because students would have an easy time adjusting to this kind of app. I also loved that it was available on all devices. This means that if for some reason, there is not enough tech available, students can use their phones to participate. Due to a bit of experience in an actual classroom, I teamed up with a classmate, Tina, to provide an opportunity to share some of our experiences with our other classmates. Tina set up a Google form that our classmates had access to and, with that information, we used Anchor as our method of answering the questions from the form. We did a two-part podcast and were able to use the share function on Anchor so that we could speak into our own devices, from our own homes. We did get some really good feedback on how helpful it was to have those questions answered prior to their teaching careers. Below is our podcast and a few responses to the podcast.

https://anchor.fm/allysia-coburn/episodes/Episode-One-QA-with-Tina–Allysia-eri8pc/a-a4qsc8e

Coming to an End

Overall, I am very pleased with the exponential learning and connection I have made outside of the classroom and look forward to continuing the connections I have made on our social media accounts. I loved that this provided many different perspectives and challenged my current thinking. These types of personal learning networks are a great asset to my professional development and I look forward to expanding them. I would love to know if I have made an impact on you throughout the last 4 months. Leave a comment below and reach out when you like, I am always here to help and learn alongside you.

Here is my summary of learning from EDTC 300. Here are the resources used to complete this video:

• YouTube
• iMovie (for Mac only)
• Canva (slides)
• Samsung VoiceNote Recorder

I cannot believe that this is our last week of prompted blog posts! This week we were asked to go and have some fun coding. We were given the following options to practice coding:

• Code Academy
• Scratch
• Code

I chose to use Code and did the Hour of Code option: Intro to App Lab under the “comfortable” skill level because I have no issues picking up new skills when it comes to technology. Watch the progress below:

As expected, I didn’t have any issues navigating the hour of code that ended in doing a second one called Dance Party.

What I Learned

I certainly learned how easy it was to code using this method. I also understand how difficult it can be for those using it to code apps we use on our phones daily. I cannot imagine how long it took to code all of the functions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other related social media platforms.

Thoughts & Applications

I really like the idea of Code and how it has coding available for all different grades and skill levels. I think it makes it more welcoming for any kind of student. I also liked how easy it was to navigate the website and use filters to find the correct grade and level of difficulty. I also enjoyed that students receive a certificate for the completion of the coding tasks – it gives them a sense of accomplishment that they can share with their friends and family. Again, something that elementary and middle-year students would be more excited about than high school students. Ah, who am I kidding? I got one and I was excited for it.

It has many applications to the school curriculum and makes learning not feel so much like ‘work’ for students. If I taught middle years, I feel like it would have multiple applications to those curricula. I have a hard time stretching how it would apply to the high school curriculum, especially mathematics. However, I did notice that there was university-level coding available but never had the chance to check that part of the website out.

Thanks for following along with my prompted posts and you will see, in the next week or so, some concluding thoughts on the class as well as a final learning project post!

Talk soon!

Well, EDTC300 is wrapping up, against my wishes! This has definitely been one of the most practical and applicable courses I’ve ever taken. In this post I’ll be showcasing some of the ways I’ve (hopefully) helped others learn throughout the past couple of months, as others have certainly helped me!

One thing I noted was that I was one of the only (if not the only) working/experienced teacher in the class. So as soon as I was told I am expected to contribute to the learning of others, I felt suddenly quite a bit of responsibility fall on my shoulders. I suppose because I figured I should be using my experience as best as possible to help the learning of others. This was then done through various forms of technology, but I found that my classmates were the most active on Twitter, so I posted most of my experiences on Twitter, to hopefully help my classmates! Here are a few examples of times I supported the learning of others via my own educational experiences:

In addition to sharing some of my experience, I also shared resources! This was done over Twitter, but also in our Slack Community as well:

I also took some time to read and comment on other people’s blogs, as I was fortunate enough to experience others reading and commenting on mine as well!

So overall, what did I learn about networked learning?

In one of our class discussions a classmate said “I used to think it was better to be offline, than online” in reference to how often times, as educators, we try to erase any digital footprints we have to perhaps appear more professional. After looking through the dozens and dozens of screenshots I’ve posted, how can we say that being offline lends itself to being MORE professional!? Look at the resources I’ve shared with others, the blog posts I read of my fellow classmates, the Twitter interactions we shared regarding professional learning or even teacher related well-being. Being actively engaged online is necessary, in today’s world, to being an effective teacher and I thoroughly believe that. I think that there are obvious benefits to understanding how blogs, Twitter, Slack, etc. all work in terms of possibly using to incorporate in the classroom. However, more impressively, these mediums are so essential to an educators growth as a professional! I sincerely cannot express how much I’ve learned just from being on Twitter for 10 minutes a day. Things about my profession that I haven’t been exposed to in my seven years of experiences. So simply put, we as educators need to broaden our horizons to include an extensive digital professional network. It doesn’t happen overnight, but the ability to share and collaborate with other professionals online is genuinely one of the most valuable tools I think a teacher can put in their pocket!