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AI Advocates
Welcome to AI Advocates, a podcast dedicated to helping educators integrate artificial intelligence into their classrooms to save time, enhance learning, and provide more equitable educational opportunities. Hosted by Dr. Lisa Dieker and Dr. Maggie Mosher from the Achievement & Assessment Institute at the University of Kansas, this podcast offers practical tips, tools, and strategies for teachers looking to incorporate AI into their teaching practices safely and effectively.
In each episode, Lisa and Maggie explore the world of AI, breaking down key concepts like Narrow AI, Generative AI, and the emerging field of Superintelligent AI. They share insights on how AI can transform education by supporting both educators and students, and how teachers can leverage AI tools to improve accessibility, equity, and learning outcomes.
Whether you’re just beginning to explore AI or looking for ways to make it work in your classroom, AI Advocates is your go-to resource for all things AI in education. Tune in for short, bite-sized episodes packed with practical advice, thought-provoking discussions, and a few laughs along the way!
AI Advocates
S1 E8: Stop Searching, Start Saving: The Best Tools to Find AI Fast
In this episode of AI Advocates, hosts Dr. Lisa Dieker and Dr. Maggie Mosher spotlight their top tools for discovering AI resources that actually work—and won’t break the bank. From the strengths and limitations of “There’s An AI For That” to the user-friendly features of Toolify and Futurepedia, they break down how educators (and even students) can search for AI tools with confidence. Whether you're building a lesson plan or exploring the latest edtech trends, this episode is your shortcut to saving time, money, and sanity in the ever-changing AI landscape.
There's An AI For That: https://theresanaiforthat.com/
Toolify: https://theresanaiforthat.com/
Futurepedia: https://www.futurepedia.io/
Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aai-flite-center
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563791019174
X: https://x.com/KUFLITECenter
Reclaim your time….., time…., time.
Lisa Dieker:Welcome to AI advocates. I'm Lisa Dieker.
Maggie Mosher:And I'm Maggie Moser.
Lisa Dieker:And we're with you again from the FLITE Center at the University of Kansas, and we're talking about finding an AI.
Maggie Mosher:Yeah, there's so much out there, and it changes on a daily basis. And even when we go and train on AI tools, and to a lot of teachers, we hear all about what they're looking at, and it's changing constantly.
Lisa Dieker:It's free, it's not free. It costs a lot. You can use it. You can't. And there's some go-tos that we've already talked about that are probably going to be free forever for teachers. But again, where do you go find them? So I think we have three. We're going to mention, I'll mention the first one that literally, right before this podcast, we did a little search, and we both kind of loved, There's An AI For That. It was kind of an early one, but now we're understanding it costs a lot per month, and it gives you limited search options. So we came up with two more that we think you might like. Even better, if you're like, hey, I need to find something for blank. This is a search tool. Now you can do that as a Google search, but you both, we both know what happens there. Whoever paid the most money comes to the top, whereas this one may be the same, but again, you got a couple of options.
Maggie Mosher:So my favorite has always been, even before There's An AI For That, my favorite's always been Toolify. It's Toolify.ai. And the reason I like Toolify is because when I sit there and I type in the word or what I'm looking for, it'll tell me, is this a browser extension? Is this an app? Is this a just somebody trying to sell me something? Is this legitimate? And then when I choose what I want, like, I just want to make an image, I just want to make a lesson plan, I just want to make a PowerPoint. If I put that in the search, it'll give me just the AI for that. And when you scroll down, what I love about just getting the AI for that is, if you scroll down, it'll also tell you ratings. So this is what people thought about it. This is where it was created, and this is how many users it has. I follow that 22.7 million users is going to be and it has a five star, is going to be much better than four users with a five star, yeah, so it really helps me.
Lisa Dieker:Your hotel ratings, right?
Maggie Mosher:Yeah. A lot of people are using them because if a lot of people are, it's probably better than the new ones.
Lisa Dieker:I always like the new restaurant that has four ratings or five stars, and you're like, that would be their mother, their brother, their sister and their cousin. And so again, I love that. And then I think the other one we were chatting about is Futurepedia, so little like the sound of Wikipedia, but it's trying to help us have an encyclopedia of AI.
Maggie Mosher:Yeah, and it has actually also courses. So if you don't feel like you know enough about AI.
Lisa Dieker:Cost.
Maggie Mosher:it does have some free courses, some free courses.
Lisa Dieker:The word we like best is free.
Maggie Mosher:It's kind of like, though, when I searched it, it was kind of like sending me to YouTube and showing me some of the YouTube courses, and then some of LinkedIn's courses that are free, it would also pull up. But then random things, like people who are making courses, maybe will be on there one day. We don't have course
Lisa Dieker:Yeah.
Maggie Mosher:Random things to teach you and come up. But it also helps with, okay, this tool is used for this specific it just gives you one sentence. This is the one thing it's used for, and I can search for it. I can also search for keywords, and it's not a price for that. Like certain search engines, if I put in a keyword, if I get really specific, it costs.
Lisa Dieker:Got it.
Maggie Mosher:this one's free. Even with that, if you want to get really specific, like say it's only for fourth graders at this age level with who can speak Spanish that there's a cost for but.
Lisa Dieker:And we would tell you There's An AI For That, called Khan Academy, which is free, free, free, free, free for teachers, a small cost for parents. So, you know, that's the thing. And again, we we always do talk on this podcast about saving time and money, but I think it's hard to break the habit. I don't know if you find that that I tend to immediately go to a Google search, and I'm finding now I'm either going to a Copilot or a ChatGPT search. But even then, I don't get whatever's latest on the market. I get what they're selling. And I'm not so sure that the ones we talked about aren't also, yeah, also having a paid part of it. But again, if you're really wanting to narrow and just look for some AI tools, I actually think you should turn your kids loose on these too. I'm a big believer. Like, if you give it an assignment and you're like, hey, we're gonna look at, you know, the nuclear reactions tomorrow, give the kids a homework over the weekend. Find the best YouTube video and find the best app. I now would probably say, find the best AI tool you think that is safe for you to use. And that's always the tricky part.
Maggie Mosher:Yeah, and I will say, when you get things like that that are really open ended, if you're going to talk to any elementary kiddos or anybody under eighth grade, I maybe use Magic School for that, because, you know, it's only pulling from certain apps. Yes, this might pull from others. So just be cautious. If you just send any child onto this, I would probably go to some place like Khan Academy, Magic School. But yeah, I think.
Lisa Dieker:Or give the homework to do with a family member, just another way that can do that, or do it in the class where you're monitoring and you show them and say, Hey, which of these four do we like? So, yeah, but again, definitely saves you not just time and money, but sanity, because there's a new app coming out by the hour.
Maggie Mosher:All the time.
Lisa Dieker:And by the time, I think we have what. What was our number 170?
Maggie Mosher:178 currently, apps we want to talk to you about at some time.
Lisa Dieker:So if this keeps up, we'll be 300 years old when we're done doing all the apps so well. Thanks for joining us on AI Advocates, and we look forward to
Maggie Mosher:saving you time and money you.