I gathered over 600 educators from across the globe to explore the AI platform Claude. Unlike ChatGPT, Claude doesn’t always get media fanfare when new features are released. But its newest updates are causing people all over the world to sit up and take notice.
Joining me for the online gathering was Ben Whitaker. Ben is aptly known as The Ideas Guy in his educational consulting work. His insights added fuel to our collective enthusiasm. Our mission was to uncover how Claude Projects could supercharge the way teachers plan, create and collaborate.
What Is It?
Claude isn't another ChatGPT wannabe. It's a sophisticated AI assistant that stands on its own two feet. Its capable of tackling everything from writing and analysis to problem-solving and coding. But it's the latest version, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, that is truly turning heads.
Anthropic, the company behind Claude, has been flexing its cognitive muscles. Claude 3.5 Sonnet has been outperforming competitors like ChatGPT and Google Gemini in graduate-level reasoning, coding and math. It's like having a personal assistant with the memory of an elephant and lightning-fast processing speed.
Claude Projects
This new feature transforms Claude from a simple Q&A bot into a customizable AI workspace. While Claude offers a free tier, Projects is a paid feature. But for educators looking to benefit from the power of AI in their workflow, it might just be a wise investment.
Three Reasons Why You Should Try Claude Projects
1. It's Like Having A Photographic Memory
Imagine never having to repeat yourself to a colleague again. That's the magic of Claude Projects' persistent memory. Upload your curriculum guides, lesson plans and research papers once. Claude remembers them forever in that project. It understands and applies this knowledge across all future conversations within that Project.
You can even give Claude custom instructions, like "Always use simple language for 5th-grade materials" or "Incorporate project-based learning principles in all lesson plans." Claude follows these guidelines religiously. This isn't just about saving time. It's about creating a personalized AI assistant that understands your teaching style, your curriculum and your needs as an educator.
2. Marie Kondo Would Approve Of This Workspace
If your digital workspace resembles a teenager's bedroom, Claude Projects will spark joy. Create multiple "conversations" within a Project, each focused on a specific task or topic. These are organized in a folder-like structure, making navigation a breeze.
Need to jump from lesson planning to assessment creation to curriculum review? It's all at your fingertips, neatly organized and easily accessible. A clean, intuitive interface means less time wrestling with technology and more time focusing on what matters.
3. Collaboration That Would Make The Avengers Jealous
Using AI as a teacher can feel like a solitary pursuit. Claude Projects will change that. For schools using the Claude Team plan, Projects introduces collaboration features that could make your staffroom the new hub of innovation.
Share snapshots of your Claude conversations to a team feed. Suddenly, your colleagues' brilliant ideas and Claude interactions are at your fingertips. You will have a window into the minds of your most innovative peers.
Imagine the possibilities: A history teacher's creative project idea sparks a cross-curricular collaboration with the art department. A math teacher's clever use of Claude for creating quizzes inspires the English team to level up their assessment strategies.
This feature transforms Claude from a personal assistant into a catalyst for organizational innovation. It's not just about sharing resources, it's about fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collective creativity.
The Way Forward
Tools like Claude Projects are lighting the way forward in how we will use AI. By providing persistent customization, an organized workspace and powerful collaboration features, Claude Projects has the potential to redefine what's possible in education.
The 600 educators I met with saw in Claude Projects the potential to reclaim time lost to administrative tasks, to create more engaging and personalized learning experiences and to collaborate in ways that were previously impossible. The future belongs to educators who can harness these tools to enhance their teaching.
The classroom of tomorrow is being shaped today.