Using AI Tools for Lesson Planning

Manas Gaur

https://kai2.umbc.edu

I would present a Mixed Opinion Talk

While 67% of teachers rated their AI expertise at 6 or higher on a 10-point scale,

Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA)

Good Progress by AI

2025

2023

Focus of today’s talk at FDP

• Why use AI tools for lesson planning?
• What AI models and tools have been widely used in lesson planning?
• How can I craft effective AI prompts for lesson planning?
• NotebookLM
• Comparison of the tools I have used
• Ethical and Critical Perspective
• Are there any issues with confabulation in lesson planning?
• Is AI lesson planning safe to use in schools?

Why use AI Tools for Lesson Planning

• Enhancing instruction with responsible AI
• Improving efficiency while maintaining quality
• Supporting differentiated and standards-aligned learning
• Saves time on routine planning tasks
• Generates standards-aligned outlines and activities
• Supports differentiated instruction instantly

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Enhancing Instruction with Responsible AI

• Step 1: Define standards and measurable learning objectives
• Step 2: Select the appropriate AI tool for the task
• Step 3: Craft structured, standards-aligned prompts
• Step 4: Generate and critically review AI output

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• Use AI to generate initial lesson outlines and activity ideas.
• Request detailed reasoning for mathematical or technical concepts.
• Verify equations, facts, and references.
• Adjust tone, pacing, and examples to fit your classroom context.

Supported Differentiated Learning

• Generate multiple reading levels for the same concept
• Create scaffolded examples and guided practice
• Design extension tasks for advanced learners
• Produce varied assessment formats (MCQs, short answers, projects)

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Maintaining Responsible AI Practices

• Use FERPA/COPPA-compliant tools when required
• Never upload identifiable student data
• Maintain teacher oversight in all decisions
• Continuously refine prompts based on classroom outcomes

School AI Powerups and Diffit

• Generates presentations, flashcards, visuals, and activities
• Supports interactive student workspaces
• Designed for education with privacy compliance
• Adapts reading levels and text complexity
• Generates summaries, vocabulary, and questions
• Exports to Google Docs, Slides, and Forms

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School AI Powerups and Diffit

• Generates presentations, flashcards, visuals, and activities
• Supports interactive student workspaces
• Designed for education with privacy compliance
• Adapts reading levels and text complexity
• Generates summaries, vocabulary, and questions
• Exports to Google Docs, Slides, and Forms

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How do I write AI Prompts for lesson Plans?

• Effective AI prompts for lesson plans include four key elements: your specific learning standard with the exact code, the grade level and subject, relevant class constraints like time and available materials, and your preferred activity format.

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• The more context you provide upfront, the fewer revisions you'll need before the lesson is classroom-ready.

For example, instead of "plan a machine learning," write "create a 50-minute lesson on linear regression for undergraduate”, including a hands-on activity using paper strips and an exit ticket at two reading levels."

Prompt Engineering for Lesson Planning

• LLMs assist curriculum development
• Helps structure mathematical reasoning
• Supports lab generation and coding exercises

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• Zero Shot Prompting
• Relies on pre-trained knowledge
• High Chances of Confabulation
• Best for quick overviews

Teacher Prompt

LLM (Pretrained Knowledge)

Lesson Output

Few Shot and Chain of Thought

• Provide example lesson structures
• Model mimics the structure pattern
• Improves consistency
• Encourages step-by-step reasoning
• Useful for derivations
• Improves logical transparency

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Example Lesson 2

New Topic Prompt

Structured Output

Define Objective

Derive Equation

Compute Gradient

Final Explanation

Example Lesson 1

ReAct Prompting (Reason+Act) and Structured Decomposition

• Combines reasoning and action
• Useful for ML lab design
• Generates explanations + code

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Reason About Concept

Generate Dataset

Produce Python Code

Create Exercises

• Break large topics into submodules
• Prevents shallow outputs
• Ideal for Neural Networks lectures

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Biological Intuition

Mathematical Formulation

Backpropagation

Implementation

Retrieval-Augmented Prompting

• Integrates external sources
• Improves factual grounding
• Useful for research-based ML topics

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Prompt

Retrieve Research Papers

LLM Reasoning

Cited Lesson Output

Practical Use of these Prompting Schemes

• Teaching Linear Regression by prompting GPT-5.2 using a
• CoT prompt on Step-by-Step Derivation
• ReACT Prompting for Generating Lab and Code
• Teaching Neural Networks using Decomposition Strategy:
• CoT for backpropagation mathematics
• Retrieval for Latest Architectures

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• Adaptive tutoring systems (e.g., AI Institute ALOE)
• Automated curriculum generation
• Human-AI collaborative teaching

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Effectiveness of these Prompts when applied to GPT 5.2

How NotebookLM Can Be Used for Lesson Planning

• AI tool grounded in uploaded sources
• Generates summaries, outlines, and questions
• Cites information directly from your materials
• AI-Assisted Curriculum Design
• Grounded in Your Own Teaching Materials
• Instructor-Controlled & Source-Based
• Upload PDFs, Google Docs, or course readings
• AI analyzes only the provided sources
• Generates lesson-ready outputs with references

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Upload Course Materials

NotebookLM Processes Sources

Ask Structured Prompt

Receive Grounded Lesson Output

Use-cases with NotebookLM

• Upload a textbook chapter on Linear Regression
• Ask for a 60-minute structured lesson
• Generate objectives, examples, and activities

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• Summarize complex topics
• Extract key definitions
• Generate review questions
• Adapt explanations to different reading levels
• Generate simplified summaries
• Create extension questions for advanced learners

Source: Chapter PDF

Prompt: Create 60-min lesson

Output: Structured Plan

Upload Lecture Notes

Prompt: Create Study Guide

Output: Definitions + Questions

Original Text

Simplified Explanation

Advanced Extension

Effective Prompting with NotebookLM

• Specify lesson duration and objectives
• Ask for step-by-step reasoning when needed
• Request citation-based answers
• Source-grounded responses reduce hallucination
• Keeps instruction aligned to the course material
• Supports research-based teaching

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Connection to Research & Attribution

• When Large Language Models (LLMs) are used to generate lesson plans, they synthesize information based on patterns learned during training — not from live, verifiable databases. Without explicit citation:
• The origin of facts, statistics, and pedagogical claims is unclear
• Teachers cannot verify academic accuracy
• Students may unknowingly rely on

unsupported or outdated information

• Transparency and academic integrity

are compromised

• Referencing ensures:
• Accountability
• Verifiability
• Alignment with curriculum standards
• Ethical educational practice

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Tool Comparison (1/2)

Tool Comparison (2/2)

Ethical and Critical �Perspectives

• AI outputs require teacher validation for Accuracy
• AI may reflect “lesson” bias or outdated information without grounding
• Teachers ensure cultural relevance and alignment with standards. Some courses have prerequisites, but how AI sees it is different.
• Human-in-the-loop Instructional Model

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Is AI Lesson Planning Safe to Use in Indian Schools?

• Shiksha Copilot is used in Karnataka government schools: teachers co-create lesson plans with AI, blending AI drafts with local expertise.
• In these deployments, researchers highlight that teachers need structured collaboration with AI and active human oversight to ensure quality and contextual relevance.

Factual integrity and student learning outcomes

• Journalistic reporting notes that in many Indian classrooms where
• Unregulated, generic AI tools are used without pedagogical safeguards,
• Teachers have produced lessons, quizzes, or facts that were fabricated or misleading due to AI hallucinations.

57% could correctly identify a basic AI misconception, highlighting a gap between perceived and actual understanding.

Safety in AI Lesson Planning

• AI can safely assist in lesson planning when governed by teacher oversight and policy review.
• India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act exists, but education-specific AI regulation is still evolving.
• As a Faculty, I would emphasize on:
• Cautious Optimism
• Recognition of Regulatory Gaps
• Emphasis on human oversight

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References

• [Microsoft and Cornell]: Teacher-AI Collaboration for Curating and Customizing Lesson Plans in Low-Resource Schools
• Albrecht-Crane, C. (2025, October). Thinking Smarter, not Harder? Google NotebookLM's Misalignment Problem in Education. In Proceedings of the 43rd ACM International Conference on Design of Communication (pp. 121-127).
• Dornburg, Alex, and Kristin Davin. "To what extent is ChatGPT useful for language teacher lesson plan creation?." arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.09974 (2024).
• Saxena, Yash, Deepa Tilwani, Ali Mohammadi, Edward Raff, Amit Sheth, Srinivasan Parthasarathy, and Manas Gaur. "Attribution in scientific literature: New benchmark and methods." arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.02228 (2024).
• https://www.unite.ai/scispace-review/
• Diffit: https://www.post-gazette.com/business/tech-news/2025/12/27/ai-teachers-students-magicschool-diffit/stories/202512150048
• https://indiaai.gov.in/article/how-to-harness-ai-in-schools-opportunities-and-challenges-ahead?