# Best AI tools for teachers Source: https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/teachers Last checked: 2026-10-02 (each pick's free plan and price on the maker's own pricing page) ## Short answer The best AI tools for teachers are ChatGPT for lesson plans and differentiated worksheets, Gemini Notebook for building resources from your own materials, Gamma for lesson slides and Canva for classroom visuals. Claude drafts feedback comments and Adobe Express makes posters. Check every output for accuracy and follow your school's rules on pupil data. ## Sections ### Draft lesson plans and differentiated worksheets: ChatGPT Give it the objective, the year group and how long the lesson runs, and ask for 3 versions of a task at different reading levels. You get a usable first draft in a minute; your subject knowledge turns it into a good lesson. Free plan: Free plan with unlimited chats on the standard model and limited uploads. ### Build resources from your own materials: Gemini Notebook Upload your scheme of work, past papers and textbook chapters, then ask for quiz questions or a revision summary drawn only from them. Answers cite your sources, so you can check each question against the page it came from. Free plan: Free with a Google Account, up to 50 sources per notebook. ### Turn a lesson outline into slides: Gamma Paste the plan and it builds a clean deck with one idea per slide. Edit the wording to match how you teach, and you've saved the half hour you'd spend fighting layouts. Free plan: Free plan for simple projects. ### Make classroom visuals and displays: Canva Worksheets, display boards, certificates and timelines from templates. Its education features suit sharing designs with a class, and pupils can use it for project work too. Free plan: Free plan for one person. ### Draft written feedback comments: Claude Describe what a piece of work did well and what to fix, and ask for feedback in plain, encouraging language at the pupil's level. Never paste in names or identifying details: describe the work, not the child. Free plan: Free plan for chat on web, desktop and mobile, including web search and file creation. ### Make posters, handouts and newsletters: Adobe Express Quick, tidy one-page designs for parents' evenings, trips and clubs. Its templates are a good alternative if Canva's feel crowded. Free plan: Adobe Express Free costs nothing. ### Which AI tool saves teachers the most time? ChatGPT saves teachers the most time, because planning and adapting materials is where the hours go. Start with one recurring job, such as differentiating a worksheet into 3 levels, and use it for that every week before you add anything else. ### What should teachers never put into an AI tool? Teachers should never put pupil names, grades, behaviour notes or anything identifying into a consumer AI tool. Describe the work instead of the child. Your school or trust may also approve specific tools, so check its policy before you use any of these with pupils. ## Best courses - Generative AI for Everyone - Elements of AI - Ethics of AI ## Verdict If you teach and plan your own lessons, start with ChatGPT among AI tools for teachers for planning and differentiation, add Gamma when slides take too long, and keep pupil data out of every prompt. ## Questions people ask ### What is the best free AI tool for lesson planning? ChatGPT's free plan is the best place to start for lesson planning: it drafts objectives, activities and differentiated tasks quickly. If you want plans built from your own scheme of work, Gemini Notebook answers from the documents you upload. ### Can AI mark pupils' work? AI can draft feedback comments, but you should make the judgement and the final mark. Models misread handwriting, miss subject nuance and can be inconsistent between scripts. Use AI to word feedback faster, not to decide grades. ### Is it safe to use AI tools with pupils' data? Not by default. Keep names and identifying details out of every prompt, and use only tools your school has approved for pupil data. Describing the work without the child is enough to get useful feedback drafts. ### Which AI tool makes lesson slides? Gamma turns a written outline into a designed slide deck in a minute or two. Canva is better if you want more control over the design or already have school templates there. ### How can teachers spot AI-written homework? Detection tools are unreliable, so don't rely on them alone. Ask pupils to explain their work aloud, set tasks that use class discussion or local examples, and compare against work they wrote in the room. ### Is there a free course on AI for teachers? Elements of AI is free and explains what AI can and can't do with no maths or code, which helps when pupils ask. Ethics of AI, also free, covers bias and privacy questions that come up in school. ## Related pages - [Generative AI for Everyone](https://freeaicourses.com/courses/generative-ai-for-everyone) - [Elements of AI](https://freeaicourses.com/courses/elements-of-ai) - [Ethics of AI](https://freeaicourses.com/courses/ethics-of-ai) - [Best AI chat assistants](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/chat-assistants) - [Best AI research tools](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/research) - [Best AI design and presentation tools](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/design-presentations) - [Best AI tools for students](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/students) - [Best AI tools for content creators](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/content-creators) - [Best AI tools for small business](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/small-business) - [Best AI tools for marketing](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/marketing) - [Best AI tools for developers](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/developers) - [Best AI tools for writers](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/writers) - [AI tool rankings](https://freeaicourses.com/tools)