Digital Promise launches AI-powered lesson planner ‘Yourway’

Digital Promise’s new AI-powered platform represents a significant advancement in personalized education technology, combining established research with artificial intelligence to create customized lesson plans for individual student needs.

The innovation explained: Digital Promise and Learning Innovation Catalyst (LINC) have developed Yourway, an AI platform that integrates with the established Learner Variability Navigator (LVN) to generate personalized lesson plans.

• The platform builds upon Digital Promise’s LVN web application, which has been operating since 2017
• Yourway considers multiple factors affecting student learning, including sleep patterns, sense of belonging, and processing speed
• The tool is designed to support a whole-child approach to education, viewing student variability as a design challenge rather than a learning deficit

Key features and functionality: Yourway enables educators to create tailored instructional approaches through a systematic input process that considers multiple learning factors.

• Teachers can specify grade level, desired learning outcomes, and specific topics
• The platform includes comprehensive checklists for literacy skills, cognitive factors, and social-emotional learning elements
• Users can generate lesson plans instantly and further customize them through additional prompts and requests
• The system supports students from preschool through 12th grade

Implementation and accessibility: The platform offers multiple deployment options with plans to expand its capabilities.

• A basic version of Yourway is available free of charge
• Digital Promise offers six months of professional access at no cost to educators who complete a feedback survey
• Future updates will include LVN models for mathematics and 21st-century skills like peer collaboration and critical thinking

Expert perspectives: Education leaders emphasize the platform’s potential to create more inclusive and effective learning environments.

• Megan Gross, a former California Teacher of the Year, highlights how recognizing student identities in the classroom promotes cognitive engagement and academic growth
• Barbara Pape, Senior Director at Digital Promise, emphasizes the importance of understanding learner variability as a design challenge
• Dr. Cassondra Corbin-Thaddies from LINC notes that while AI provides a strong starting point, educators should review and enhance the generated content

Looking ahead: While Yourway shows promise in reducing teachers’ cognitive load and improving personalized instruction, its true impact will depend on how effectively educators integrate it into their teaching practice and adapt its AI-generated suggestions to meet their students’ specific needs.