Introduction
Our teachers have the most important job in the world: nurturing young minds and in turn building a better future for all of us.
And they work tirelessly to fulfill it. Extending well beyond the final bell, almost always taking home a pile of work, and making several other personal sacrifices.
However, recent research reveals that much of this hard work that our teachers put in, goes into paperwork rather than passion:
On any given day, our teachers are actually tackling a staggering workload that has little to do with supporting students: Aligning units horizontally and vertically, breaking them into weekly and daily lessons, poring over the internet for meaningful resources, creating assessments and rubrics for each student, assigning work to students, constantly reminding them of deadlines, collecting evidence of learning across disconnected folders, analyzing large volumes of student performance data, ensuring regular communication with parents, managing projects, field trips, progress reports, attendance, —the list goes on.
And it’s this demanding non-student workload, that’s draining our teachers physically and emotionally over time:
“As summarized in an article by the EdWeek Research Center, teachers spend only 25 hours in the classroom every week. Teaching, in itself, is not the source of excessive workloads and teacher burnout; it’s the secondary and tertiary responsibilities that put undue pressure on their schedules.”
The good news: AI presents the opportunity to cut down on non-student time, and protect our teachers’ passion to teach!
The impact of AI on teacher workload
AI solutions can integrate into 70% of teachers’ daily responsibilities – including planning, reporting, communication, and administration – and potentially free up over 20 hours of their time every month for highest-value work.
That’s a whole week’s worth of time every month that you can give back to your teachers to dedicate to their classrooms and students.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the most significant ways in which AI, in its current form, can reduce teachers’ workload and save time:
Calculate how much time your
teachers will save with AI
“Using AI is like having a teaching assistant that knows what you need and gets it right every time. It takes over the heavy lifting of planning and report commenting, saving hours that we can now spend on student interactions.”
Erin Hart, Superintendent, Three Rivers Christian School
Conclusion:
Even with its current applications, AI can assist with a significant amount of our teachers’ workload, giving them back at least 8-10 hours each week, to pursue the core of their teaching craft.
And this is only the beginning. As AI continues to advance, we will likely see more powerful capabilities that enhance virtually every aspect of our teachers’ work.
In fact, it’s projected that half of all learning management systems will incorporate such advanced AI capabilities as early as 2024. With schools usually operating on annual budgets, missing out on budgeting for AI in the upcoming cycle, means missing out on the potential of this technology, during its most promising phase.
We owe our teachers a system that supports and the incredible effort and passion they pour into their work, and AI presents the opportunity to achieve it!
