As artificial intelligence is increasingly used in the field of education, a visual aid called "Generative AI Map" has emerged. Developed by Edtech Insiders, this tool aims to clearly display the application scenarios of more than 250 AI-empowered educational tools, and categorizes them by categories such as teaching materials, assessment feedback, teacher support, etc., making it easier for educators to quickly find and understand suitable ones. AI tools. The map also provides links to databases and company directories, allowing users to drill down into the details of each tool and the company that developed it.
With the rapid growth of artificial intelligence tools and use cases, education technology experts have created a visual aid to make the AI tools landscape clearer and easier to understand. Led by Edtech Insiders, this new generative AI map and database categorizes more than 250 AI-enabled tools into use cases for teaching and learning. Use case categories for the map include instructional materials, assessment and feedback, teacher practice support, teacher professional learning, student support and social tools. There are more specific use cases within each category, such as lesson plan generation and homework help.
The map shows the logos of the “broadest” edtech companies in each use case, based on company size and network traffic. Links to the use case database and AI tool company directory are provided above the map. The database contains a comprehensive list of AI-driven education tools identified as supporting each use case, while a searchable catalog provides information on the companies creating these tools.
According to Alex Sarlin, co-founder of Edtech Insiders, the map only shows those tools that have been publicly released, are currently available, and are focused on K-12 education. He added that the inclusion of a tool does not mean it has been proven effective.
Maps, Databases, and Catalogs are an expansion of previous work by Laurence Holt and Jacob Klein, two edtech veterans who created an AI Map in Education in 2023 to make sense of the sudden emergence of AI-enabled teaching and learning tools. Holt is a senior advisor at the nonprofit XQ Institute, and Klein is a product manager at TeachFX, a company that provides teachers with AI-powered instructional coaching.
“We just wanted to make sense of it all, and we started doing it thinking this might be useful to other people, too,” Holt said. “So the initial target was ourselves and then other people who were thinking about innovation.”
In June 2023, they posted the map on Medium, and Holt said it quickly gained traction. He and Klein began fielding inquiries from other education technology developers, philanthropic funders, and educators as the map revealed the glut and gaps of AI in education. For example, when creating the original map, there were already many AI tools available for tasks like tutoring and question generation, but few or none in areas like grading and student data analysis.
After updating the map on Medium in March 2024, Holt said he and Klein realized the project would need a dedicated team to update it regularly to keep up with this rapidly evolving field.
“Jacob and I were really looking for a home for Maps,” Holt said. “It was beyond our ability to manage, but we knew because of the calls and emails we were getting that people were starting to rely on it in different areas. "
They reached out to Sarlin and Ben Kornell, co-founders of Edtech Insiders, who already tracked AI-powered education tools in their database directory, to help move the map to their own website.
"Laurence and Jacob did this amazing use case analysis, and we were simultaneously doing a database of AI tools to try to understand this rapidly evolving space," Sarlin said. "So, not only are we big proponents of the use case taxonomy, we're also More companies can be brought in, and we can use it as a searchable database to drill down into any one use case and consolidate them."
The number of AI tools showcased in the new map has more than doubled to a total of 269, and Sarlin expects another 100 to be added in the coming months. In terms of any new gluts and gaps, the database currently lists 92 AI tools for student support, 78 for instructional materials, 46 for teacher practice support, 38 for assessment and feedback, and 10 for use for practical support for teachers and 5 for social purposes.
In summary, this AI-powered educational tools map provides educators with a valuable resource to help them understand and select appropriate AI tools to improve teaching quality and learning outcomes. Its continuous updating and improvement mechanism also ensures the practicality and forward-looking nature of the map.