Exploring AI for Communicating and Connecting
By By Russell A. Sabella, Ph.D. | January 2025
Imagine a virtual assistant that works tirelessly behind the scenes to support you in your work. This assistant can help you spend less time on mundane tasks and more time directly helping your students. It’s happening now with the power of artificial intelligence (commonly referred to as AI). AI is emerging as a transformative technology, allowing school counselors to focus on what truly matters: helping students achieve and succeed. By investing in AI literacy as part of your ongoing professional development, you can use the power of AI to enhance your practice and improve outcomes for students.
One specialized platform is MagicSchool (free with premium features for a fee), engineered by a team of teachers and principals. The founders of MagicSchool endeavor to “help lighten the load, so educators can save their energy for where they shine best – with students.” Another option is Khanmigo (free for educators as of this writing), which also endeavors to help us “spend less time on prep and more time with your students.”
Some AI platforms are considered generative artificial intelligence (GAI), a type of artificial intelligence that is more human-like. GAI can create new and creative content based on patterns and data it has been trained on or taught itself. Generative AI is designed to be highly adaptable, assisting with a much wider range of tasks. A good place to start would be to experiment with those GAIs from the big tech companies:
Crafting effective input instructions is known as prompting. A well-crafted prompt can significantly influence the quality of AI’s output. It’s about leveraging the right language and context to optimize the AI’s output for various tasks. Fortunately, you can request AI’s help to craft an effective prompt. Ask AI:
“I need help designing a prompt that will achieve [specific goal]. The prompt should be clear, concise, and tailored for [type of task or audience]. Can you suggest or refine a prompt to meet these criteria?"
Then, know that you can be conversational with AI, adding more prompts to develop the output further.
Language Translation
AI-powered language translation apps break down communication barriers with families whose primary language is not English. By enabling real-time, accurate translations during meetings or written correspondence, school counselors can ensure that all families feel seen and understood. Here is one example of a prompt to give an AI such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude:
“Act as a real-time translator between two people speaking English and Spanish. Listen to each speaker's input, translate it into the other language, and then output the translation in a clear and natural voice. Maintain the natural flow of conversation, ensuring smooth and accurate translations.”
Know that to accomplish this using natural voice, you may have to subscribe to the premium version of the AI. Otherwise, you would have to translate in a text-based manner.
Awesome Messages
Whether sending an email or leaving a voice mail, AI can help you polish your communication in many ways. For instance, AI can help you to fix grammatical errors, make your message more concise or change its tone. For example, try this prompt:
“I need help drafting a response to a concerned parent’s email. The tone should be 65% professional and 35% friendly, addressing their concerns while maintaining a warm and approachable demeanor. Please include reassurances, clear information and an invitation for further discussion if needed.”
Add any details you need to be addressed in your communication. Again, remember to ensure you are not infringing on privacy or breaching confidentiality by removing any identifying information.
Summarize or Compare Documents
One of my favorite platforms is NotebookLM, an AI-powered tool from Google, which processes documents by analyzing their content to generate summaries, answer specific questions about the text and even create different formats like study guides or podcasts based on the information it extracts from uploaded documents. Imagine turning your newsletter or other document into an NPR-style podcast that students and stakeholders can have fun listening to.
AI offers school counselors an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen connections and enhance communication throughout their communities. By embracing these technologies thoughtfully and ethically, we can expand our impact, meet the evolving needs of our students and ensure that all kids are included. AI is in the early stages of a rapid evolution, with advancements in capabilities, accessibility and applications to transform industries and daily life. Let’s take the next step together in capturing this power and transforming school counseling into the 21st century.
Russell A. Sabella, Ph.D. is professor and program coordinator in the Department of Leadership, Counseling and Human Development, College of Education, Florida Gulf Coast University.
Which AI Might I Use?
The number of AI platforms is constantly growing. Some are designed to perform a specific task but cannot generalize knowledge to other areas. Several education-specific AI tools can help school counselors more efficiently conquer tasks. Examples include generating suggestions for lesson plans, behavioral intervention plans or student accommodations, or creating an image based on text-based instructions.One specialized platform is MagicSchool (free with premium features for a fee), engineered by a team of teachers and principals. The founders of MagicSchool endeavor to “help lighten the load, so educators can save their energy for where they shine best – with students.” Another option is Khanmigo (free for educators as of this writing), which also endeavors to help us “spend less time on prep and more time with your students.”
Some AI platforms are considered generative artificial intelligence (GAI), a type of artificial intelligence that is more human-like. GAI can create new and creative content based on patterns and data it has been trained on or taught itself. Generative AI is designed to be highly adaptable, assisting with a much wider range of tasks. A good place to start would be to experiment with those GAIs from the big tech companies:
How Do I Use AI?
To use AI effectively, identify a specific task or problem you want to address. Then, choose an appropriate AI tool or platform. The more you use each AI platform, the better you’ll know which is best for certain tasks. Input relevant information into the tool and review the AI-generated output, critically evaluating its quality. Finally, incorporate the insights gained from AI into your school counseling practices, using it to supplement your expertise and judgment.Crafting effective input instructions is known as prompting. A well-crafted prompt can significantly influence the quality of AI’s output. It’s about leveraging the right language and context to optimize the AI’s output for various tasks. Fortunately, you can request AI’s help to craft an effective prompt. Ask AI:
“I need help designing a prompt that will achieve [specific goal]. The prompt should be clear, concise, and tailored for [type of task or audience]. Can you suggest or refine a prompt to meet these criteria?"
Then, know that you can be conversational with AI, adding more prompts to develop the output further.
What are Some Examples?
Note: When using AI, follow all relevant school policies, laws and school counseling ethical standards.Language Translation
AI-powered language translation apps break down communication barriers with families whose primary language is not English. By enabling real-time, accurate translations during meetings or written correspondence, school counselors can ensure that all families feel seen and understood. Here is one example of a prompt to give an AI such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude:
“Act as a real-time translator between two people speaking English and Spanish. Listen to each speaker's input, translate it into the other language, and then output the translation in a clear and natural voice. Maintain the natural flow of conversation, ensuring smooth and accurate translations.”
Know that to accomplish this using natural voice, you may have to subscribe to the premium version of the AI. Otherwise, you would have to translate in a text-based manner.
Awesome Messages
Whether sending an email or leaving a voice mail, AI can help you polish your communication in many ways. For instance, AI can help you to fix grammatical errors, make your message more concise or change its tone. For example, try this prompt:
“I need help drafting a response to a concerned parent’s email. The tone should be 65% professional and 35% friendly, addressing their concerns while maintaining a warm and approachable demeanor. Please include reassurances, clear information and an invitation for further discussion if needed.”
Add any details you need to be addressed in your communication. Again, remember to ensure you are not infringing on privacy or breaching confidentiality by removing any identifying information.
Summarize or Compare Documents
One of my favorite platforms is NotebookLM, an AI-powered tool from Google, which processes documents by analyzing their content to generate summaries, answer specific questions about the text and even create different formats like study guides or podcasts based on the information it extracts from uploaded documents. Imagine turning your newsletter or other document into an NPR-style podcast that students and stakeholders can have fun listening to.
What Challenges Might I Face?
Like the wise Uncle Ben told Peter Parker/Spiderman, “Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.” If not implemented thoughtfully, AI can introduce significant challenges, becoming a time waster instead of a time saver. For example, AI is also known to sometimes produce false information, making things up that sound quite compelling (aka hallucinations). AI can be biased in its output because it is learning from humans. Like all technologies, AI can also pose a threat to privacy and confidentiality. Another challenge is how we may become overly reliant on AI, potentially eroding learning and the human connection at the heart of effective school counseling. As with all techniques, approaches and technology tools, without proper training and ethical decision making, they could hinder rather than help a school counselor’s work.Other Suggestions
As you begin integrating AI into your daily routine, join online networks like the ASCA Member Community or my Facebook group, AI in School Counseling to share your experiences, ask questions and help each other learn. Participate in related webinars, workshops or training sessions to stay updated on best practices. Regularly evaluate the impact of AI on your practice and make necessary adjustments. Promote discussions on data privacy, equity, access, cheating and other ethical considerations related to AI use in schools to ensure responsible adoption.AI offers school counselors an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen connections and enhance communication throughout their communities. By embracing these technologies thoughtfully and ethically, we can expand our impact, meet the evolving needs of our students and ensure that all kids are included. AI is in the early stages of a rapid evolution, with advancements in capabilities, accessibility and applications to transform industries and daily life. Let’s take the next step together in capturing this power and transforming school counseling into the 21st century.
Russell A. Sabella, Ph.D. is professor and program coordinator in the Department of Leadership, Counseling and Human Development, College of Education, Florida Gulf Coast University.