AI in Education: Distinguishing Hype from Real Value
The term “AI-powered” is the most popular buzzword today, especially in the education sector. A growing number of edtech tools now claim to use AI, promising smarter, faster, and more personalized learning experiences. However, as AI becomes a marketing must-have, educators and school leaders must separate meaningful functionality from superficial hype.
Not all AI is the same. Just because a tool claims to use AI doesn’t mean it offers real value in the classroom. In some cases, AI is only being used to automate basic tasks like spell checking or keyword tagging—features that have been around for years. In other cases, AI capabilities may exist in name only, offering little more than what traditional software can already do.
This presents a challenge for educators trying to make informed decisions. With tight budgets and high pressure to integrate technologies that truly support student learning, choosing tools with truly impactful AI capabilities is more important than ever. Educators should feel empowered to ask tough questions about the tools they use. By focusing on practical, student-centered AI capabilities, schools can ensure they are investing in technology that actually improves teaching and learning—not just following the latest trend.
ClassDojo’s Sidekick
ClassDojo’s Sidekick is an AI assistant that helps reduce a lot of work and gives teachers more time for students. Sidekick assists with lesson planning, administrative tasks, and day-to-day classroom workflows, evolving based on teacher feedback. A report card comment generator converts notes into personalized feedback, saving valuable time for educators. Sidekick also helps teachers write thank you notes, respond to messages, create multiple choice assessments, write story posts, and more. Melissa Chapple, a teacher at a K-12 virtual academy, uses ClassDojo’s Sidekick to work smarter while maintaining a personal connection. Chapple refers to Sidekick as her “teaching assistant”—a resource that makes her work easier without sacrificing quality.
Brisk
Brisk is a Chrome and Edge extension that helps teachers with curriculum, feedback, and differentiation while giving leaders peace of mind with student-safe AI and real-time visibility into its usage. The browser extension works within the tools schools already use, such as online textbooks, documents, images, PDFs, and more, providing support without additional complexity. Brisk includes more than 30 built-in tools and allows teachers to: review student writing, track revision history, and gain insight into writing processes; quickly create curriculum and assessments, including lesson plans and tests, presentations, rubrics, syllabi, and ACT/SAT practice tests. It offers personalized feedback in Google Docs via AI-generated comments and differentiates learning materials by adjusting reading levels or translating text, ideal for supporting diverse learners.
Eduaide
Eduaide, an AI-powered instructional design application, helps educators create content across all subject areas, such as research-based STEM labs and projects, math word problems, and real-world applications. The teacher-centered interface connects users to more than 120 tools that help plan lessons, create learning resources, differentiate instruction, provide actionable feedback, and automate administrative tasks. The feedback tool enables educators to receive targeted insights on submitted student work, enhancing the quality and efficiency of teaching.
Twee
Twee is an AI-driven platform tailored specifically for language teachers, streamlining lesson creation, task management, and feedback. Teachers enter a topic, a link, or a vocabulary list, and Twee generates CEFR-compliant content such as texts, dialogues, gap fillers, comprehension questions, writing prompts, and more for different language levels. Once created, materials can be delivered in various formats: downloadable PDF or Word documents, interactive Google Forms, or live assignments via Twee’s online interface. It even offers instant grading and uses AI to grade multiple-choice, gap-fill, and written answers.
Diffit
Diffit helps teachers create accessible, engaging learning materials tailored to each student’s level. By entering existing curricula, text excerpts, PDFs, URLs, or even YouTube links, educators receive level-appropriate content—from 2nd grade to advanced—complete with vocabulary lists, comprehension questions, and graphic organizers. Teachers can use existing curricula or create standards-aligned content with real, cited sources. Diffit values the quality of education and maintains teacher control while supporting differentiated instruction, with a priority on data protection as no student data is collected.
Laura Ascione is editorial director at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland’s prestigious Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
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