Transforming Learning with AI: Why These Tools Are Top Picks for Digital Learning Grant Success

In today's educational landscape, technology is a powerful force, and the Digital Learning Grant (DLG) presents an incredible opportunity for schools in Indiana to embrace innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Five Star Technology Solutions is well-equipped to support the priorities of the Digital Learning Grant through tailored, high-impact professional learning. Our offerings align with grant goals by focusing on areas like student engagement, digital citizenship, UDL, Google tools, as well as, AI literacy. We believe that real transformation occurs when powerful tools are purposefully integrated into teaching and learning, and this requires educators engaging in continuous skill-building to maximize the effectiveness. Five Star supports a curated suite of AI-powered tools designed to enhance teaching, learning, and leadership while prioritizing safety, equity, and instructional integrity. 

These tools aim to simplify lesson planning and differentiation, transform student research and writing, elevate visual storytelling, ensure safe and age-appropriate AI use, and deliver personalized support. Based on DLG priorities, Five Star is uniquely positioned to partner on initiatives like creating dynamic, interactive experiences, building a responsible digital community through digital literacy, and advancing AI literacy in education. Here are some AI-powered platforms Five Star sees as best options to help schools achieve these goals:

Featured AI-Powered Platforms Endorsed by Five Star:

💎 Gemini (Google) | Conversational AI Assistant

Gemini is a conversational AI Assistant that can be integrated into Google Workspace for Education. It is embedded into essential Google tools like Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Gmail. Its capabilities include generating writing support, summarizing content, and creating visuals from text. Gemini offers AI Coach features to provide real-time feedback or suggestions in student (ages 13+) writing and assignments. It helps save time by integrating AI directly into Google Workspace, making tasks like writing parent newsletters, developing learning activities, and personalizing assignments faster and more efficiently.

Why is this a top pick? 

As Google's native AI, Gemini's strength lies in its deep integration within the widely used Google Workspace for Education ecosystem. This allows it to provide seamless writing support, summarization, and creative assistance directly within your already established digital ecosystem, boosting productivity for both teachers and students and encouraging thoughtful interaction with AI. Gemini for Education also has enterprise-grade data and privacy protection.

🎨 Adobe Express | Creative AI Tools for Visual and Multimedia Design

Adobe Express offers creative AI tools for visual and multimedia design. It includes generative AI features like text-to-image, background removal, and stylized text creation. The platform supports multimodal projects, allowing students and educators to quickly create graphics, videos, and presentations using AI prompts. It is designed with education-safe environments and admin-controlled settings to ensure age-appropriate use. Adobe Express is a teacher and student-facing tool primarily used for creativity, storytelling, and visual literacy. It enables the quick design of professional-quality graphics, videos, and websites without needing advanced technical skills.  It easily empowers teachers to create polished visuals for classroom materials and communications. It can also support reflection through templates for digital portfolios and journals.

Why is this a top pick?

Adobe Express makes powerful visual and multimedia creation accessible to everyone, regardless of technical skill. Its AI features allow students and educators to focus on conveying ideas and building visual literacy in a safe, controlled environment.

🪄 Magic School | AI-Powered Educator Tools

Magic School is a Vendor Approved AI Platform Support tool designed specifically as an AI-Powered Educator Tool. It is primarily focused on teacher productivity, content creation, and differentiation. Magic School uses generative AI to help educators create lesson plans, parent communications, rubrics, IEP goals, and more. It provides scaffolded support by differentiating tasks, simplifying texts, and generating prompts for all grade levels. The platform includes time-saving templates for common education tasks like email translation, text leveling, and creating reading passages. 

Why is this a top pick? 

Magic School is built specifically for the needs of K-12 educators, offering a wide range of AI tools focused on saving teachers time and supporting instructional tasks like content creation and differentiation. Its teacher-controlled design ensures it is a powerful, compliant tool for boosting educator capacity.

✍️ Scrible | AI-Enhanced Research and Writing Platform

Scrible is a student-facing AI tool for research, organization, and citation. It helps students cite correctly and take intelligent notes from online sources. The platform offers organizational tools that automatically categorize research, tag sources, and streamline the writing process. It also includes AI-powered writing assistance with capabilities to help organize research and support the writing process. 

Why is this a top pick: Scrible excels in supporting students through the entire research and writing process. Its focus on smart citation, note-taking, and organization directly addresses common student challenges, helping them manage information effectively and build academic integrity.

🛜 Digital Respons-Ability | Digital & AI Literacy Certification

Five Star is committed to building a responsible digital community through digital literacy and advancing AI literacy in education. Supporting digital citizenship and AI literacy are core priorities that align with the goals of the DLG. 

Why is this a top pick?  While not an actual AI tool for classroom use, Digital Respons-Ability provides crucial support for the foundational skills needed in a technology-rich world. Their educator certification program equips teachers with the knowledge to build responsible digital communities and advance AI literacy, ensuring technology is used thoughtfully and safely.

🤖 Edthena | AI-Augmented Video Coaching Platform

Edthena is an AI-Augmented Video Coaching Platform. It features an AI Coach that simulates an instructional coach by prompting reflection based on uploaded teaching videos. The platform assists with data analysis, helping identify patterns in teacher behavior and instructional practices. It supports personalized feedback cycles, using AI to organize reflections and promote evidence-based teaching improvements. Edthena is a teacher-facing tool primarily for coaching, reflection, and professional growth. Pairing the AI coach with a virtual human coach is where the real magic happens. 

Why is this a top pick? 

Edthena offers a unique approach to teacher professional development by integrating AI directly into coaching. Prompting reflective questions provides personalized, data-driven insights to help educators refine their practice and drive evidence-based improvements.

Purposeful integration of AI tools like these, combined with a strategic implementation plan and targeted professional learning, can truly transform classrooms and build sustainable, future-ready learning environments. Five Star believes in the thoughtful and purposeful integration of AI to empower both educators and students. We are ready to help districts strategically and responsibly implement these platforms, ensuring they amplify instruction, build capacity, and improve student outcomes.

Ready to explore how Five Star Technology Solutions can help your district leverage AI and other digital tools for DLG success and beyond? Learn more about our tailored support options and how we can create custom solutions to fit your school's unique needs.

I would love to hear what your goals are and explore how this funding can support them.

📅 Schedule with Kelly York today!