Which tool for which task?
There are dozens of AI tools. Most do similar things, and the real difference for teaching work is smaller than it appears. This map helps you choose based on the task — not based on hype.
| Task | Recommended tool | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Generate an assessment rubric | Claude or ChatGPT | A structured task that both handle well. Claude tends to follow formatting instructions more precisely; ChatGPT has many rubric examples in its training data. Either works with a well-written prompt. |
| Plan a lesson or unit | Claude or ChatGPT | Both generate coherent lesson plans. Claude's advantage is its large context window: you can paste the full course syllabus and ask for an aligned plan. |
| Give feedback on student work | Claude | Large context window allows pasting multiple pieces of work or a detailed rubric plus the work itself. Claude also tends to give specific, nuanced feedback rather than generic comments. |
| Write communications to parents or guardians | Claude or ChatGPT | Standard writing task that both handle well. Specify the tone and purpose — the difference between "reporting a disciplinary situation" and "requesting a meeting" changes the result significantly. |
| Transcribe a recorded class | None of these tools directly — use Whisper, Otter.ai, or the native transcription in Google Meet/Zoom | Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini do not transcribe audio directly from a recording file (as of May 2026, with some exceptions in advanced Gemini versions). Transcription is a separate step; once you have the text, you can paste it into Claude or ChatGPT to summarize or analyze. |
| Summarize an academic article or paper | NotebookLM or Claude | NotebookLM if you want the summary fully anchored in the text with citations showing where each idea came from. Claude if the paper fits in its context window and you want to ask follow-up questions freely. |
| Analyze grade or attendance data | ChatGPT with Code Interpreter (Plus version) or Gemini with Sheets integration | You can upload a CSV file with grade data (ALWAYS anonymized — no names, no student IDs) and ask it to generate charts, calculate averages, or identify patterns. Never upload data with student identifiers. |
| Translate teaching materials | Claude or ChatGPT, with human review afterward | Both translate well between Spanish and English. For other languages, quality drops considerably and requires expert review. Specify the register and audience. |
| Generate an image for a class or presentation | ChatGPT (with DALL-E, Plus version) or Gemini (advanced version) | Claude does not generate images. ChatGPT integrates DALL-E. Gemini integrates Imagen. For educational use, specify that the image should be clear, without text, and appropriate for the grade level. Results are useful starting points, rarely perfect on the first attempt. |
| Create a quiz or interactive questionnaire | Claude or ChatGPT to generate questions; then transfer the output to Kahoot, Quizlet, or Google Forms | AI models generate well-calibrated questions if you provide the level and objectives. They do not create quizzes directly in interactive platforms (without an API integration), but the generated text is easy to copy. |
| Research a topic quickly with sources | Perplexity | Built for search with citations. Every claim comes with a source. More useful than a regular web search when the topic is specific and you need to know where the information comes from. |