The Untapped Dividend: Professionalizing the "Shadow Use" of AI in Education

Introduction

In the discourse surrounding Educational Technology (EdTech) in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries, there is often a reliance on technological determinism—waiting for a future breakthrough to save the system. However, the reality is that the technology is already present. A significant number of educators are already utilizing Generative AI (GenAI) tools to reduce their workload, often described as "taking back" their time (World Economic Forum, 2023). The challenge is that this usage often occurs without institutional strategy or ethical guardrails.

We propose a shift toward a voluntary training program designed to professionalize the usage teachers in those countries have already adopted. This approach moves from haphazard experimentation to strategic mastery, focusing specifically on planning, material generation, and ethical oversight.

The Context: The "Grunt Work" Crisis

In many resource-constrained contexts, the fundamental challenge is scarcity coupled with administrative density. Teachers frequently face unmanageable student-teacher ratios and excessive paperwork. Tasks such as researching topics, writing notes, designing slides, and formulating quizzes can consume hours of a teacher's evening.

However, the integration of AI tools offers a solution to this "efficiency gap." Reports indicate that AI lesson generators can eliminate "hours of grunt work," handling tedious planning tasks in seconds (Education Week, 2025). By automating these routine aspects of the profession, we can prevent the cognitive drain that occurs before a teacher even steps into the classroom.

From "Cheating" to Co-Piloting: The Curriculum

The core of this voluntary training is twofold: Effectiveness and Ethics.

1. Effectiveness: The 60-80% Dividend

Estimates suggest that using AI for lesson planning and material creation can reduce teacher planning time by roughly 60–80% ("Teachers Take Time Back," n.d.). Effective training teaches teachers how to unlock this specific dividend.

• Curriculum Design: Teachers can utilize AI as an instructional designer. For example, a teacher can prompt an AI to outline a new 16-week course and generate daily lesson plans aligned to state standards in minutes—a process that would traditionally take days (The Washington Post, 2023).
• Localization and Translation: In multilingual contexts, AI serves as a crucial tool for equity. AI-based translation and content generation offer significant efficiency gains in producing educational materials, potentially cutting content creation costs by over 50% (McNulty, 2025). This allows for the rapid creation of mother-tongue resources that are otherwise scarce.

2. Ethics: The "Human in the Loop"

This is the most critical component. Without training, the "shadow use" of AI poses risks. Teachers must be trained to view AI not as an oracle, but as a tireless, yet flawed, assistant.

• Verification: While AI can draft a week’s worth of reading lessons in minutes, human oversight is required to ensure accuracy (UNESCO & World Economic Forum, n.d.).
• Differentiation: Ethical use involves utilizing saved time to support struggling students. AI can adapt content to different skill levels, facilitating "teaching at the right level" ("Teachers Take Time Back," n.d.).

The "Firewall": Protecting Teacher Autonomy

We must be explicitly clear about the political economy of this proposal. The efficiency dividend earned by using AI must belong to the teacher, not the school administration.

• It is Voluntary: No teacher should be forced to adopt these tools.
• No New Claims on Time: A national survey found that teachers who use AI weekly save an average of 5.9 hours per week, which is equivalent to nearly six weeks of teaching time over a school year (Nittle, 2025).

This time must remain theirs for rest, one-on-one student mentorship, or professional reflection. As one educator noted, these tools allowed him to plan an entire year’s lessons and effectively "take back his summer" (World Economic Forum, 2023). If we can help a teacher reclaim five hours a week from administrative drudgery to avoid burnout, we have saved a career.

Conclusion

We are not suggesting that AI can replace the teacher. In fact, the human connection is the most vital infrastructure available. Learning after all is a social process and therefore involves human-to-human connection. We are suggesting that the current administrative burden is suffocating that connection. By offering voluntary, high-quality training on the effective and ethical use of GenAI, we treat teachers as the professionals they are, acknowledging that they are already navigating the digital future. The stakes are high, the global learning crisis, is here, and our government do not seem inclined to address it, or increase spending on education.

Taster: Universal Prompt for Secondary School Teacher

Here is a prompt that can help reduce class preparation time enormously. If you have an electronic version in pdf of your textbook, that is fine, but it will work without it as well. This Universal All in One Prompt creates 11 Google Docs documents using Flintk12.com, including a slide deck. All nicely formatted, ready to use or  share with your students in Google Classroom or downloading them in PDF. 

First, get a subscription in FlintK12, no worries it is free for teachers to use for up to 87 students. It is safe for teenagers and runs on Claude 4.5. It generate online learning activities, but also Google Docs.

START PROMPT

You are an experienced teacher for the [name of the program and exam board]. If I use a textbook, it is attached in readable PDF. For a class for year [class and age] who a [native] English speakers, first, for this lesson on [topic] write a 3-4 sentences introductory paragraph, that sparks curiosity and explains the real-world importance of the chapter's key concepts. Tell them they can use any resource they want. The tone should be engaging and motivational.

For my lesson on [topic] , I want you to create the following documents as a Google Docs document:

1) A lesson plan that the school can file in its records.

2) Summary Document with short description, including graphs based on the chapters attached. For all tables and diagrams use the same numbering as in the book.

3) Slides deck for presentation in class.

4) Table with main concepts without definitions

5) Table with main concept with definitions

6) Exit Ticket 3 questions Quiz

7) Exit Ticket 3 questions Quiz Answer Key

8) Chapter quiz

9) Chapter quiz with answer key

10) Homework Worksheet

11) Homework Worksheet Answer Key

For a class for year [class and age] who a [native] English speakers, first, write a 3-4 sentences introductory paragraph that sparks curiosity and explains the real-world importance of the chapter's concepts. Tell them they can use any resource they want. The tone should be engaging and motivational.

Next, examine the chapter attached carefully and create an extensive summary of the chapter attached, including the formulas, and matching graphs. For each section of the summary, up to 3 levels at each level include short descriptions and an example.

1) First, use the information and fill out this lesson plan:

"Lesson Title:

Unit/Topic:

Learning Objectives:

Key Vocabulary:

Starter Activity:

Main Activities:

Application/Practice:

Assessment for Learning:

Plenary/Reflection:

Resources Needed:

Homework/Extension:"

Create:

1) a lesson plan document, including lesson objectives All following documents must be aligned with the lesson objectives. Next Create:

2) Summary document for students' exam revision, no shorter than 1500 words, and no longer than 3000 words

3) Slides deck in HTML if possible, otherwise just the text content.

4) Table of formulae, and key concepts without definitions. 

5) Table of formulae, and key concepts without definitions. 

6) Exit ticket quiz with 3 questions.

7) Answer key for exit ticket quiz

8) Chapter quiz consisting of 3 T/F (2 points each), 4 MC (4 points each), 4 FIB (5 points each), 2 SA (7 points each) questions. 

9) Answer key for chapter quiz

10) A worksheet to give the students as homework or classwork, based on a concrete examples, cases or scenarios. Include a task of drawing a diagram. 

11) An answer key for this worksheet. 

Do not stop until you have completed all these tasks. END PROMPT

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References

Education Week. (2025). Teachers find AI lesson generators can eliminate “hours of grunt work”. www.edweek.org

McNulty, N. (2025). AI for multilingual publishing. www.niallmcnulty.com

Nittle, N. (2025, August 25). Teachers try to take time back using AI tools. EdSurge. www.edsurge.com

Teachers take time back. (n.d.). [Attached Document].

The Washington Post. (2023, July 13). In education, AI is changing how teachers develop tests, emails and lessons. www.washingtonpost.com

UNESCO & World Economic Forum. (n.d.). Generative AI in education: Teachers are already using AI tools to drastically cut planning workload. www.weforum.org

World Economic Forum. (2023, September). Generative AI in education. www.weforum.org