According to recent surveys, 60% of educators now use AI in their daily practice, with many reporting it saves up to five hours per week. But cutting through the hype requires understanding what AI does well—and where it falls short.
What Teachers Actually Want
Teachers want time to do the creative, intellectual work of adapting learning to their students' specific needs—not to become "delivery agents for someone else's materials."
The most valuable AI applications handle tedious mechanical tasks while leaving pedagogical decisions to the professional.
Practical AI Applications That Actually Save Time
- Administrative Communication: Drafting routine newsletters, permission slips, report card comments.
- Resource Discovery and Adaptation: Finding and adapting curriculum-aligned resources.
- Student Feedback: Generating personalised feedback that teachers review and refine.
- Learning Objective Generation: Suggesting specific, measurable objectives from curriculum outcomes.
Where AI Falls Short
AI cannot replace the professional judgment that comes from knowing your students as individuals. Generic AI-generated lesson plans often miss the mark because they lack contextual knowledge.
Adopting AI Responsibly
- Verify everything: AI can make confident-sounding mistakes.
- Protect student data: Never input identifiable student information into public AI tools.
- Maintain professional ownership: AI is a tool, not a replacement for your expertise.
TeachPlan uses AI thoughtfully—generating learning objectives aligned to NSW syllabus points while keeping teachers in control of pedagogical decisions.