Hey Everyone! Ready to supercharge your students' research skills? Let's talk about Perplexity AI, the research-changing tech tool that is super engaging and easy to use ! 🌟 Perplexity AI helps students by turning information-gathering into an engaging, interactive experience and is a great way to practice writing good questions.

Takeaways:

• Perplexity AI is an engaging tool that aids students in developing effective questioning skills.
• Using Perplexity, students can access organized resources, articles, videos, and images for research.
• Teachers can incorporate Perplexity AI in lessons to promote media literacy among students.
• The tool provides real-time information and cites all sources used for its answers.
• Perplexity AI helps students navigate overwhelming information by breaking it down clearly.
• With a free version allowing three searches a day, it's accessible for classroom use.

Links referenced in this episode:

• perplexity.ai
• smartinwi.com
• buymeacoffee.com/smartinwi

Mentioned in this episode:

Education Podcast Network

Tech Tools for Teachers is part of the Education Podcast Network. https://www.edupodcastnetwork.com/

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Shannon Martin: 00:00:19

Thanks for listening to the Tech Tools for Teachers podcast, where each week we talk about a free pizza tool of technology that you can use in your classroom.

Shannon Martin: 00:00:26

I'm your host, Shannon Martin.

Shannon Martin: 00:00:27

I'm a middle school teacher, technology, and instructional coach for my district.

Fuzz Martin: 00:00:31

And I'm our producer and husband, Fuzz Martin.

Fuzz Martin: 00:00:33

And I do all the button pushing because all these buttons can be a little perplexing.

Fuzz Martin: 00:00:39

I mailed in the joke.

Shannon Martin: 00:00:41

You did?

Fuzz Martin: 00:00:41

I did.

Fuzz Martin: 00:00:42

I couldn't chat.

Shannon Martin: 00:00:43

GDP wasn't helping out.

Fuzz Martin: 00:00:45

No, I was like.

Fuzz Martin: 00:00:45

I was, like, swinging and missing.

Shannon Martin: 00:00:49

It's fine.

Fuzz Martin: 00:00:49

It's one of the complexities of this role as your producer and husband is I have to.

Fuzz Martin: 00:00:55

I have to do the hard work each week and that's come up with a pun or word play on the tool.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:00

Did you just roll your eyes so hard that you sprained the muscle in your head?

Shannon Martin: 00:01:05

Yes.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:06

Okay.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:06

Yes, I did.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:06

You'd think they'd be really strong and flexible after all these years with me, but here we are.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:12

We are here.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:13

Episode 197.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:15

197.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:16

Wow.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:17

That's crazy.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:18

That is so crazy.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:21

Season 7 perplexing it's perplexing.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:25

Really?

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:26

It is.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:26

Yeah.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:28

So we're talking about a tool called Perplexity today, if you haven't figured that out yet, probably by the title when you clicked on it in your car.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:36

And it said Perplexity or while you're out walking.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:39

Yes, it's called Perplexity.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:41

It is.

Fuzz Martin: 00:01:42

Tell us about it.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:43

So we are talking about Perplexity this week.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:46

It is a fun little piece of AI, which is really cool.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:53

It's fun.

Shannon Martin: 00:01:54

Anyway, so I was playing around with it this week, and here are my top five pieces of information about why Perplexity is pretty cool.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:02

And then we're going to talk about the site itself, but it is super engaging.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:07

So it's a form of AI and you pose a question and it gives you all kinds of resources and stuff.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:12

I'll kind of walk you through it.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:13

And it's a great piece of AI to engage students in question asking.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:19

And that research piece where sometimes they lock up and I don't even know what to look up, up.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:23

Like, it's a great place to start.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:25

It collects all kinds of resources.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:26

So it's not just articles, but it will actually organize your kind of research for you and then give you articles and videos and images, all kinds of stuff.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:35

It is a great way for students to practice writing effective questions.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:40

Okay, so I can't like, like using AI as AI as tools in the classroom, a lot of it's like, oh, let me just like type this in.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:48

It's gonna do it for me.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:49

And that's not the point.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:50

Like, the goal is if you're going to use some sort of AI as a tool, then you have to be able to use it appropriately.

Shannon Martin: 00:02:55

So perplexity, if you ask the right specific questions, it will give you what you need.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:01

But if you're not writing good questions, it's going to give you nothing.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:06

So it teaches kind of that question writing skill set, which I think is important.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:11

It's also a great lesson in media literacy.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:13

So we talk so often about kids being aware of what kind of sources they're using and where they're pulling their information from and being aware of it.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:20

Well, it will.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:21

And this is also like my, my number five thing too is it cites all the sources it's pulling the resource research from.

Fuzz Martin: 00:03:29

Yep.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:30

So it will tell you where your information is from.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:32

So if you like don't want your students using Reddit as a resource and it says like this information came from Reddit, you'd be like, hey, maybe we should choose something else so you can teach media literacy along with it does cite its sources for you.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:46

So you are aware of that when you're using it, which I appreciate.

Fuzz Martin: 00:03:49

Yeah.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:50

So with that perplexity.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:52

So to get to perplexity, it's perplexity AI.

Shannon Martin: 00:03:56

So it's P, E, R, P, L, E, X, I, T, Y, AI Perplexity.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:04

And it is a, like a form of AI that will give you real time information and it will give you the research.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:13

Yeah, it is.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:14

I always talk about the free version.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:16

So the free version, you get three free searches a day, like forever.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:21

And then if you want to do more complicated things and you have to pay for it, but to search three things, I'll explain.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:26

Like you get a ton of information in one question.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:29

So they have little spaces.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:32

And once you create account, like with Google, you have a little library, it will save your searches for you, which is nice.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:37

Search anything.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:38

What do I want to know?

Shannon Martin: 00:04:39

I want a question.

Shannon Martin: 00:04:41

Let's ask something that a student would ask.

Fuzz Martin: 00:04:44

Okay.

Fuzz Martin: 00:04:44

I did one because our daughter, well, yesterday you went out to dinner with some of your friends and we had a little pizza party.

Fuzz Martin: 00:04:52

And afterward our daughter decided to do some drawing at the table.

Fuzz Martin: 00:04:56

And what did she draw?

Fuzz Martin: 00:04:58

Our 9 year old drew James Madison.

Fuzz Martin: 00:05:02

So I decided to look up who was James Madison.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:07

Okay.

Fuzz Martin: 00:05:08

And it gave me a lot of great sources.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:10

Okay.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:12

Why does the rain freeze as it's Falling through the sky.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:28

Okay, okay, so pose my question.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:33

I hit enter.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:34

Now, what's cool about this is it puts your question up there.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:39

It automatically gives your sources right away.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:41

My first source, Reddit.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:43

Okay, cool.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:44

But also there's more like the weather Channel.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:47

And so then it breaks it down.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:49

Here's your answer.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:50

When the rain freezes, it falls through the sky.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:52

It can result in different types of frozen during the atmospheric conditions.

Shannon Martin: 00:05:58

Here's an explanation of how the process occurs.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:00

Now, what's cool about this?

Shannon Martin: 00:06:01

And it does this for every single one of your questions.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:03

When you pose it, it breaks it down for you, which makes it so much easier for a student to process the information.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:10

It's not just like paragraphs and paragraphs and paragraphs of information.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:13

It actually will give you your bold headings.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:18

It will tell you like atmospheric temperature layers, and then explains them types of frozen precipitation, and then explains each one of them factors that influence freezing and explains each one of those.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:28

It also then gives you related searches on the bottom.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:31

So it encourages kids, especially if you're using like this for inquiry learning.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:35

They then will like, okay, so how does freezing rain differ from sleet?

Shannon Martin: 00:06:40

What conditions are necessary for hail to form?

Shannon Martin: 00:06:42

Like, you can click that and it will breaks it down and gives you additional information so you can continue your research based on the first set of research that you did, which I think is kind of cool.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:54

It also gives the option you can search.

Shannon Martin: 00:06:58

Then on the right hand side it gives you like these little plus buttons you can search.

Shannon Martin: 00:07:02

Then it will give you images.

Shannon Martin: 00:07:03

So it will pull like infographics for you.

Shannon Martin: 00:07:06

You can search videos as well.

Shannon Martin: 00:07:09

And so then it pulls like YouTube channels and things like that and other resources of video.

Shannon Martin: 00:07:14

So then you can also watch the information that you just researched.

Shannon Martin: 00:07:19

So it gives you your sources, it gives you the answer, it gives you the breakdown of the specific details and then gives you images and gives you videos all in one search.

Fuzz Martin: 00:07:34

Neat.

Shannon Martin: 00:07:35

Which is super cool.

Shannon Martin: 00:07:36

So if you have kids that are doing inquiry learning or they're doing some specific research that they need to know information on, and when kids are researching, oftentimes I know middle school specifically, they get overwhelmed.

Shannon Martin: 00:07:48

Like I don't even know where to start because they're so overwhelmed by all of the information in front of them, it's nice that this breaks it down for them in very clear manner.

Fuzz Martin: 00:07:58

Yeah, it definitely does.

Fuzz Martin: 00:07:59

It's laid out really well.

Shannon Martin: 00:08:00

Did you find the answer for James Madison?

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:02

Oh, yeah.

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:02

I mean, I'm looking up.

Shannon Martin: 00:08:04

I'm your research.

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:04

Oh, you Know, like.

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:06

Like, for instance, how did Madison's ideas influence the separation of powers in the Constitution?

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:13

He's part of the Virginia plan.

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:15

And checks and balances and specific checks.

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:18

The president can veto bills passed by Congress.

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:21

Congress can override a presidential veto by a two thirds majority.

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:24

Supreme Court can declare laws on constitutional presidential.

Shannon Martin: 00:08:27

All right, so we're good.

Shannon Martin: 00:08:29

It gives you lots of information.

Fuzz Martin: 00:08:31

There you go.

Shannon Martin: 00:08:33

But, yeah, so it's cool.

Shannon Martin: 00:08:34

That just gives you the prompt, search anything, and then you're able to set up your questions.

Shannon Martin: 00:08:39

And it gives you all this research and all this information and will also give you, like, the videos, the images, and with the pro version, actually will create AI images for you too, based on your research.

Shannon Martin: 00:08:47

But it's just a very cool way to engage students in their learning and their research and also save some time trying to find all the different pieces of information.

Shannon Martin: 00:08:59

And it also gives you the link, so then you can pull up additional information as you go.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:03

So I think it's really cool.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:05

It also can be like, it's on the App Store too.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:07

So you can do it in Google Play or on Apple in the App Store, but you can just go to the website and try it out.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:13

And you also can just, without creating an account, just try Perplexity.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:17

And it says search anything.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:18

And you can just show the coolest LEGO sets available.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:22

Right.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:23

All right, that's an opinion, but it's generating something.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:27

Okay, you want to know which ones are the most popular?

Fuzz Martin: 00:09:29

Millennium Falcon.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:31

No, I think that Christmas catalog that just came to our house.

Fuzz Martin: 00:09:35

Oh, okay.

Fuzz Martin: 00:09:39

I don't even know.

Fuzz Martin: 00:09:41

I haven't looked through it yet.

Fuzz Martin: 00:09:42

The little one stole it.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:44

Yeah, I know.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:45

But here, LEGO sets.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:46

You want to know the coolest?

Shannon Martin: 00:09:47

Show me the question is one of their examples.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:50

Show me the coolest LEGO sets available.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:52

Sources come from LEGO Brick Fanatics, Games Raider, New York Times, and Amazon.

Shannon Martin: 00:09:57

So, you know, there's your sources.

Fuzz Martin: 00:09:59

Yep.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:00

The answer.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:01

Lego Harry Potter, Hogwarts Castle and Grounds.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:03

I was gonna say that.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:04

LEGO ideas.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:06

Home Alone.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:07

Oh, okay, cool.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:08

Marvel Adventures Tower.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:10

Yep.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:10

And Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:12

Oh, no.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:13

Star wars in there.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:14

Not in the top four.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:15

Yeah, I'm sorry.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:16

Dang.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:17

But these ones look pretty cool.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:19

And don't worry, they're all over $200.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:22

Maybe that's why.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:23

That's probably why.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:24

Oh, nope.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:24

The Harry potter one's like 170.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:27

Nice.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:27

Okay, let's get it.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:28

So there you go.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:29

So you can also pose random questions to perplexity as well.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:32

Buymeacoffee.com.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:33

Smart buy Legos.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:35

Buy me a coffee.

Fuzz Martin: 00:10:39

Legos.com if you want to buy a podcast producer some Legos for Christmas.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:46

So, yeah, so that's perplexity.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:47

I think it's a super cool AI tool that you could totally build into your classroom.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:51

I think students would have fun with it.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:53

And as a class, you can definitely use it for, like, media literacy lessons and things like that.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:57

Like, all right, we're going to search something.

Shannon Martin: 00:10:58

We're going to use AI and then kind of walk them through the appropriate way to do so.

Fuzz Martin: 00:11:03

Yeah.

Fuzz Martin: 00:11:04

So I love it.

Fuzz Martin: 00:11:05

It's great.

Fuzz Martin: 00:11:05

It's well laid out and easy to navigate and has a ton of great information.

Fuzz Martin: 00:11:10

And also those resources are all right.

Shannon Martin: 00:11:13

There, which is cool.

Fuzz Martin: 00:11:14

Yeah.

Fuzz Martin: 00:11:14

And it didn't give us Reddit.

Shannon Martin: 00:11:16

It didn't.

Shannon Martin: 00:11:16

Well, not for that one anyway.

Fuzz Martin: 00:11:17

Not for that one, no.

Shannon Martin: 00:11:19

So thanks for tuning in.

Shannon Martin: 00:11:21

This has been the Tech Tools for Teachers podcast.

Shannon Martin: 00:11:23

If you ever have any questions, you can find me on the app formerly known as Twitter, which is X, at smartwi or on threads.

Shannon Martin: 00:11:30

And if you want to get more information on the links to the technology discussed in this episode, you can visit smartenwi.com if you'd like to support the show, please consider buying me a coffee or two.

Shannon Martin: 00:11:41

Visit buymeacoffee.com smartenwi or visit smartenwi.com and click on that cute little purple coffee cup.

Shannon Martin: 00:11:47

Your donations help keep the show going and apparently can supply our family with Legos.

Fuzz Martin: 00:11:53

Help support a podcast producer who wants to build this Christmas season.

Fuzz Martin: 00:12:00

Thanks for listening.

Fuzz Martin: 00:12:01

Go educate and innovate.

Fuzz Martin: 00:12:03

I finished it for you.

Shannon Martin: 00:12:04

Thanks.

Fuzz Martin: 00:12:05

The ideas and opinions expressed on this podcast and the Smart NWI website are those of the author, Shannon Martin, and not of her employer.

Fuzz Martin: 00:12:11

Prior to using any of the technologies discussed on this podcast, please consult with your employer regulations.

Fuzz Martin: 00:12:17

This podcast offers no guarantee that these tools will work for you as described, but we sure hope they do, and we'll talk to you next time.

Fuzz Martin: 00:12:24

The 198th episode of the Tech Tools for Teachers podcast.