Are you looking for ways to save time while creating engaging and impactful learning experiences for your students? Whether you’re planning a lesson for next week or refreshing an older course, AI-powered instructional design can help streamline your learning design and content creation process. That’s where IDEAL-Gen.AI (Instructional Design Enhanced Active Learning through Generative Artificial Intelligence) comes in and I’m excited to share this AI-powered pedagogically-driven platform with you!

IDEAL-Gen.AI supports educators by generating custom learning activities,  lesson plans and assessment tasks in just a few clicks. It’s specifically designed to help you stay focused on what matters most—your students—while taking the heavy lift out of content creation and curation.

With its user-friendly interface and no sign-up required, IDEAL-Gen.AI is ready to use right away. From personalized fully-editable prompts to downloadable documents, this tool supports educators at all levels. You also can select “Other” in the filtering options to indicate your preference. So for example, if you are used to using a specific technology in class, you can specify the technology.

Let’s take a look at how it works and why IDEAL-Gen.AI might be a good fit for your classroom!

Exploring AI-Powered Instructional Design

Regular readers of the blog know that over the past few years, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring AI-powered tools designed to support educators. Whether you’ve joined me for a webinar, participated in a workshop, or tuned in to an episode of my podcast, you know I’m always on the lookout for resources that help teachers save time without sacrificing quality. So when I come across a tool that connects to those values, I get excited to share it.

Using an AI tool to support lesson planning can quickly take you from a blank page to a structured activity. It’s not about replacing an educator’s expertise, but having a jumpstart that you can further personalize for your students. As you explore IDEAL-Gen.AI, you’ll see how it puts you in control. It gives you a starting point, so you can build an intentional learning experience that truly reaches every student in your classroom.

How does IDEAL-Gen.AI work?

IDEAL-Gen.AI walks you through five simple steps to generate customized instructional materials. You don’t have to create an account or download anything to start. It’s a no-sign-up-needed experience, so you can dive in right away.

Once you’re ready, you’ll use the platform’s Automatic Prompt Generator. This feature helps you specify detailed criteria across a comprehensive set of filtering options, such as the subject discipline, area of study, degree level, technology use, class size and activity size, so it can tailor the output to your pedagogical needs.. If you’ve ever been stuck trying to phrase a prompt or struggling to decide how to kick off your lesson planning, this part is a real game changer.

Generating Highly Customizable Resources for Your Class

After your prompt is ready, you’ll hit “Generate.” Then you’ll receive a high-quality output in just seconds. Whether you’re creating a single class activity or building out a full instructional unit, IDEAL-Gen.AI lets you tailor the learning to the needs of your students. The platform supports a wide range of pedagogical and instructional design principles, as well as content creation and delivery methods,so the results go beyond surface learning by fostering deeper learning and engagement.

As you can see in the video overview below, once you receive your results, you can review and refine. You are completely in the driver’s seat. Every output is fully editable, so if you want to tweak the tone, change a standard, or add scaffolds for your students, it’s all possible right inside the platform. You’re not stuck with a template—you’re in control of the final product.

Then, when everything looks good, you can copy your results or download them in a format that fits your workflow. Whether you’re adding a resource to a digital folder, printing out a lesson plan, or sharing it with a colleague, IDEAL-Gen.AI makes exporting simple and fast.

Why Try AI-Powered Instructional Design?

Whether your planning lessons, differentiating activities, designing assessments, each step in the process takes valuable time. IDEAL-Gen.AI helps save time without sacrificing quality. IDEAL-Gen.AI helps you generate content that feels intentional and aligned with best practices in teaching. 

The tool integrates established instructional strategies and learning theories into each response. That means the lessons and activities it produces aren’t just created quickly. They’re also grounded in best practices for what works for students.

Using AI to Help Personalize Instruction

IDEAL-Gen.AI allows educators to specify detailed criteria and tailor their content to meet the unique needs of their students. Whether you’re designing for a multilingual classroom or adapting for different ability levels, IDEAL-Gen.AI helps streamline the process. It also makes it easier to create space for project-based learning without starting from scratch.

In addition to personalization, IDEAL-Gen.AI offers content that is discipline-specific. If you’re a science teacher, the outputs won’t feel like they are for a literature class. If you’re working with early grades, you won’t get middle school-level activities. It uses smart filtering and criteria that aligns to your curriculum to make sure the materials are the right fit.

Using IDEAL-Gen.AI for Your Instructional Planning

IDEAL-Gen.AI is completely free to use, and doesn’t require a paid subscription or have steep learning curves. If you’re a new teacher or new to using AI, the clear design and built-in support will help you start right away. And if you’re a tech-savvy instructional coach or curriculum designer, you’ll appreciate the level of control and customization it provides.

IDEAL-Gen.AI was developed by the DREAM (Digital Resources for Enhancing Adaptive Methodologies) Team from Lingnan University, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong  and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, as part of an  University Grants Committee-funded Inter-Institutional Collaborative Activities (IICA) initiative on Virtual Teaching and Learning (VTL).

Whether you’re building something new or updating something old, IDEAL-Gen.AI is worth checking out. Ready to try it out? Visit IDEAL-Gen.AI’s website to experience AI-powered instructional design firsthand.