Almanack AI is an innovative platform that targets educators, facilitating the creation of lesson plans, quizzes, tests, and course materials.
Here’s a breakdown of what it does and who might find it insightful.
Let’s jump in!
Disclosure: Parts of this post are written with AI. I reviewed and tested the product myself, though. 🙂
Lesson Planning and Material Generation
Almanack AI provides a solution for teachers to design lesson plans and generate course materials effortlessly.
For example, here I’m using Almanack to generate a Physics course for Grade 3.
Almanack utilizes an intuitive interface and AI recommendations to assist in the creation of dynamic lessons tailored to student needs​​.
It serves as a smart course material generator and a lesson planner, aiming to simplify the lesson planning and grading processes for educators​.
Here’s an AI-generated course plan for my Physics course.
On the surface, this looks awesome.
Let’s see what kind of details Almanack can produce for the course:
In the above screenshot, I asked Almanack to generate details for me to teach to my students.
I think it did a good job overall! The details are well-rounded and complete. Of course, I need to do some filtering and assessment too, but overall looks good.
Generative AI for Education
Almanack employs generative AI technology, which when combined with the knowledge of prominent curriculums, aids in crafting relevant quizzes, tests, and assessments.
These created materials can be exported to various formats such as Google Docs, PDF, and Microsoft Word, or even taken digitally by students through Google Forms​.
Here are some screenshots of the slideshow I generated with Almanack:
As you can see, there are lots of issues with the slideshow. Some images are out of place, some text is too long, and some images don’t work.
Here I have to be honest and say that I’d much rather start this slideshow from scratch. Because if we’re brutally honest, this slideshow is something I need to work on before I’d be able to use it with my students.
The colors are off. The images are off or don’t work. The text is decent, but I’m sure there are also some inconsistencies with a closer look (as AI always has).
Other Key Features of Almanack AI
Grading Assistant
The platform features a grading assistant that helps save hours spent on grading, allowing for more focused and meaningful instruction.
It provides detailed feedback, which is invaluable for teachers and students​​.
Integration with Other Platforms and Curriculums
Almanack has integrated with the Australian curriculum, UK National Curriculum, Cambridge Curriculum, and Ontario Curriculum, demonstrating its versatility and adaptability to different educational systems​4​.
Moreover, it’s working towards full Google Classroom integration and already facilitates exporting quizzes and assessments to Google Forms, indicating its potential for seamless integration with other educational tools​4​.
Pricing
There’s a completely free version of Almanack. It allows you to use the basic functionality quite well.
This is for individual teachers.
Then for school districts, there are custom plans that are evaluated case by case:
Continuous Updates and Features
Almanack seems to be in continuous development with new features and updates being rolled out.
For instance, it recently introduced a feature where users can turn a PDF into a slide deck using AI, demonstrating its commitment to evolving and meeting the needs of its users​.
Almanack AI is likely to be insightful for educators, school administrators, and educational institutions looking for smart, AI-driven solutions to streamline lesson planning, grading, and the creation of interactive and engaging educational materials.
Bottom Line
I must say Almanack was a way more sophisticated tool than I expected. The slideshows weren’t that impressive because they used generic images and generic jargon.
However, the course planning and details for individual modules were mind-blowing. I can see this type of tool to really help course creators.
To use this tool, I wouldn’t 100% rely on AI. I’d generate course plans and details with a grain of salt. The AI is not perfect. The deeper you dive into less researched topics, the less AI knows too.
Take this into account. Don’t blindly rely on AI when creating courses!
Mind the AI
While tools like Almanack AI can significantly aid in course creation and grading, the responsibility remains on the educators to ensure accuracy, relevance, and comprehensiveness.
Almanack AI is a companion that offers a starting point, streamlines certain processes, and provides useful insights.
It seemingly can automate everything. But that’s not really how it works.
Similar to those impressive AI-generated images with people that have no hands or fingers, there are problems in details with Almanack AI-generated course materials.
Actively engage in reviewing, customizing, and enhancing the generated material to ensure it meets the educational objectives and caters to the unique needs and understanding levels of the students.
Leverage the benefits of AI while upholding the quality and integrity of education!
Wrap Up
Thanks for reading. Happy teaching and experimenting!