To be honest, Pearson’s Smart Lesson Generator feels like a double-edged sword for me.
I’ve been working on a similar concept to replace outdated textbooks—many of which haven’t seen an update since around 2012. They still refer to terms like ‘the tube’ and ‘pounds,’ which feel completely out of place for us here in Australia. My belief is that AI can be a powerful tool for generating faster, more personalized lessons when prompted correctly. However, it’s evident that human editing is essential as AI often falls into clichés, particularly when it comes to cultures outside of North America. On top of that, it can be factually incorrect around 30% of the time.
That said, AI does bring certain undeniable benefits to the table. For instance, it’s rarely grammatically wrong, and its structure is generally sound. While occasional errors arise in the context of its usage, these don’t diminish the potential of AI to create more up-to-date, dynamic, and personalized lessons. AI, in my opinion, won’t replace teachers but rather complement their efforts to deliver high-quality learning experiences.
Here’s an overview of Pearson’s work with its Smart Lesson Generator, which aligns with many of these ideas:
The Smart Lesson Generator: Transforming Teaching
In 2024, Pearson conducted research revealing that 76% of teachers spend at least an hour each week on lesson planning, with 43% dedicating over three hours. To reduce this workload, the Smart Lesson Generator was developed. It’s an innovative tool that significantly cuts preparation time while maintaining the quality of lesson content.
Leveraging generative AI and natural language processing, the Smart Lesson Generator creates supplemental activities within seconds. These are aligned with Pearson courseware, enhancing existing lessons to make them more engaging and effective. For non-Pearson users, the tool generates materials tailored to specific topics and proficiency levels, while automatically adhering to GSE Learning Objectives for accuracy and relevance.
A Three-Step Process for Quality Assurance
To ensure its outputs are of the highest quality, the Smart Lesson Generator employs a rigorous three-step process:
- Teachers input details such as the type of activity, topic, and their learners’ proficiency levels.
- The AI generates content via a large language model, which is then filtered through Pearson’s Global Scale of English (GSE). Any discrepancies in level or accuracy are automatically corrected.
- The finalized content is delivered through the app, where teachers can choose to use it as is or further customize it.
Additionally, the tool allows educators to create stretch and remediation activities, tailoring lessons to individual learner needs. By providing ready-to-use materials, it frees up teachers’ time, enabling them to focus on what AI cannot replace: meaningful human interactions with students.
The Value of GSE in Language Education
The GSE proficiency scale and its detailed learning objectives play a pivotal role in ensuring appropriately leveled content. Unlike the broad groupings of the CEFR, the GSE framework provides a granular 10-90 proficiency scale. This enables educators to scaffold learning pathways with precision. Moreover, the GSE database includes English-specific grammar and vocabulary, ensuring that lessons are well-matched to learner needs.
This precision can save teachers significant time when adapting articles, current events, or other topics of interest to their students’ levels.
Reflections on AI’s Role in Education
I like the concept in theory. However, as with all AI and social media platforms, users should remain mindful that the content they generate feeds back into training AI systems, which could potentially replace aspects of their work in the future.
For now, I’m eager to explore the software further and see its practical applications. My hope is for a future where teaching focuses on creating personalized materials for both students and teachers, not AI-driven instruction. It’s encouraging to see that Pearson seems to share this vision.
For now, I’m eager to explore the software further and see its practical implication. My hope it is the start of a future where AI focuses on following teacher instructions to help create dynamic and personalized materials, rather than this trend of replacing them.
My personal experience is that migrants and international students don’t want to sit in from of computers and talk, that programs can be fun tools for practice here and there but language is more fun done by humans. AI should be used to make the humans job better not replace them.
It’s encouraging to see that Pearson seem to share this vision.
Click here for more on the Pearson website.
IELTS & PTE TUTORING & COSULTANCY 
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