Our Unit 871 ESL Instructor, Isaac, remarks on AI lesson planning and where human decisions still play a major role.
AI Can Generate, but Teachers Must Design. Artificial intelligence can produce a lesson plan in seconds. However, producing a plan and designing effective instruction are different tasks.
Milad and Fayez (2024) compared teacher-created lesson plans with plans generated by ChatGPT. The AOU student-teachers’ plans more consistently included student monitoring and varied instructional resources (Milad & Fayez, 2024). These findings reflect how I approach AI lesson planning in the American Language Course (ALC). I let AI generate possibilities. I remain responsible for choosing what my students actually need.
Start With the Learners
My adult Vietnamese students need more than correct vocabulary and grammar exercises. They need opportunities to use English meaningfully. ALC lessons provide clear language objectives and structured content. I can use AI lesson planning to develop activities around those objectives. However, I adapt those activities for my actual classroom.
For example, AI might suggest a generic role-play. I can transform it into an information gap or problem-solving task. Students must then listen, negotiate meaning, and communicate to succeed. That human adjustment matters. Milad and Fayez (2024) found stronger student-led characteristics in the teacher-designed plans they studied.
Let AI Suggest, Then Add the Human Factor
AI lesson planning works best for me as a starting point, not a finished product. AI can suggest activities, questions, scenarios, and lesson structures. I decide whether those ideas fit my students.
The study reaches a similar conclusion. Its authors propose a “mid-way strategy” that combines TEFL teaching methods with AI tools (Milad & Fayez, 2024). This approach makes AI lesson planning part of the teacher’s process rather than a replacement for it. Let AI generate, then let the teacher evaluate and adapt.
I can add pair work, competition, information gaps, and real-world communication. I can also increase or reduce support based on students’ responses.
Meeting Halfway
The real evolution is not replacing teacher planning with AI lesson planning. Instead, teachers can combine AI efficiency with professional judgment.
AI can expand our options. Teachers provide context, interaction, monitoring, and adaptation. For my ALC classroom, that balance keeps technology in the right role. AI supports the lesson. The teacher designs the learning experience.
References
Milad, M., & Fayez, F. (2024). Your way AI way: Let’s meet half-way: Paradigm shift in TEFL. World Journal of English Language, 14(5), 468–481. doi:10.5430/wjel.v14n5p468.