Using AI to Support Teacher Coaching (via ISTE)

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Even a 10-year instructional coach thinks about how to get better at coaching teachers. But getting better is harder when coaches have a lot on their plates.

Coaches need to provide teachers with best practices and strategies aligned to their professional goals. But delivering this to teachers is not a quick process for coaches, who, just like the teachers they support, are often stretched thin.

Patty Hagan, a Teaching and Learning Coach at St. Vrain Valley Schools (CO), tried out AI Coach by Edthena as a way to enhance and strengthen her practice.

How did the artificial intelligence-driven platform support teacher coaching?

In a recent ISTE blog post, Patty talked about how AI coaching supplements her instructional coaching and supports her development as a coach.

Here are highlights of what she had to say about how using AI can support teacher coaching.

Support teacher coaching with AI coaching

With many teachers to support, Patty found herself competing with time and her own bandwidth.

She reflected, “There can be a lag between when teachers upload video of their classroom practice and when they receive feedback from their mentors.”

“AI Coach by Edthena has the ability to change that. Using the platform, teachers work with a computerized coach as they self-reflect and comment on videos of their teaching,” she continued.

“The coach provides on-demand guidance as teachers work through the process of developing goals and strategies for improving specific areas of their instruction.”

Using the AI Coach platform helps support teacher coaching by providing teachers with self-reflection and goal-setting tools in between in-person coaching.

Instructional coaching development guided by artificial intelligence

A reflective instructional coach engages in professional learning and development, just like their teachers. Patty tried out a full AI Coach coaching cycle and put herself in teachers’ shoes as she went through the Analyze, Reflect, Enact, and Impact phases.

This helped with her own ability to observe and analyze teaching videos:

The AI Coach platform guided me to focus on a couple key areas as I was reflecting on this video. The virtual coach asked open-ended questions like, “Are you seeing any patterns?” and “How would you tell the story to someone else?”

The result? Patty provided more specific feedback to teachers around using visual and more frequent checks for understanding.

Teacher and coach collaboration and self-reflection, strengthened

Some instructional coaches may be worried that new technology aims to replace their work supporting teachers.

Patty reflected, “I see the use of the AI instructional coaching technology actually leading to more in-person collaboration and self-reflection. Teachers and coaches will be able to engage in more data-driven conversations around specific teaching practices and the impact these practices have on student growth.

While we are still getting our feet wet with using artificial intelligence within our teacher professional learning model, we know that this next-gen technology will be a valuable, added support that will benefit our teachers and coaches alike.”

Read the full article at the ISTE blog: Using AI to Support Teacher Coaching

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