How AI Enabled the Development of 8,000 Educational Resources in Just 3 Months

By: Débora Nunes – Product Manager.

AprendiZAP Professores was created as a platform to help educators plan lessons by providing content and tools to facilitate this process. With more than 2,000 lessons already available, covering 6th grade through high school and all aligned with the BNCC, AprendiZAP achieved excellent satisfaction among teachers. However, a frequent complaint was the need for more content and activities using innovative methodologies to enrich lessons.

Stage 1: pilot project

To meet this demand, we decided to test whether teachers would be interested in activities using active teaching methodologies. A team consisting of a designer and Portuguese language teachers was assembled. They studied active methodologies and defined 12 activity models for AprendiZAP lessons. Based on this work, 80 activities specifically designed for Portuguese language lessons were developed. In February 2023, this content was made available to users, and we validated teachers’ approval of this type of material.

Stage 2: the scaling challenge

Producing activities using active methodologies for all lower secondary school lessons would require significant resources and time. It was estimated that 52 content producers and approximately a year and a half would be needed, making the project unfeasible with the available resources. That was when the idea arose of using generative AI, through ChatGPT, to create the activities while combining this with human expertise in reviewing the materials. With a team of 30 teacher reviewers and a three-month project timeline, we were able to make this implementation possible.

Stage 3: content generation and review

Based on the knowledge acquired during the pilot project, the technology team developed the prompts for creating activities via ChatGPT. Based on the 12 methodologies already structured (such as peer learning, critical debate, flipped classroom, gamification, etc.), the AI selected 6 methodologies per lesson and created 6 activities for each one. All the generated content was then reviewed by teachers specializing in each subject, with the goal of ensuring quality.

Stage 4: design and implementation

The design team proposed how to incorporate the new activities into the lesson page, which originally contained only two exercises. Based on this proposal, the technology team developed screens that present the new content to users in a simple way. To do this, the reviewed materials underwent a formatting standardization process before being sent to the content database.

At the end of the project, we were able to make 8,568 educational resources available across 1,428 lower secondary school lessons—something that was only possible thanks to the use of AI. I firmly believe that teachers will continue to be at the center of the teaching and learning process, but new technologies can help them develop more innovative learning experiences and use their time more efficiently. AprendiZAP is expected to be a valuable tool for educators as they create amazing lessons, positively impacting their students’ learning.

Images 3 and 4: former AprendiZAP lesson page with 2 activities and new lesson page with 8 activities