Custom GPT Use Cases: 19 Ideas for Teachers

ChatGPT is a versatile and general-purpose AI, trained on a massive dataset. Users have been seeking ways to tailor it to their specific needs. In response, they introduced the Customize ChatGPT feature, which allows you train ChatGPT to write like the way you want. However, the demand for even more control remained strong.

As a heavy ChatGPT user myself, I used to keep a list of carefully crafted prompts and instructions for recurring tasks, copying them into ChatGPT manually. But now, custom GPTs can handle all of that for me!

What are GPTs?

Custom GPTs are specialized versions of ChatGPT that you can create to suit specific needs or tasks, all without needing to write any code. In laymen terms, a GPT is a bot trained to do a specific task and do it better.

Creating a custom GPT is easy! Using the GPT builder, you simply describe in plain English what you want the custom chatbot to do, and the builder takes care of the rest. These custom chatbots can browse the web, generate images using DALLE-3, and even run code.

They can be as simple or complex as needed, depending on the tasks they are designed to handle. For example, you could create a GPT to help students understand complex math concepts, assist with creating detailed lesson plans, or even analyze student performance data to tailor your teaching methods.

Advantages of Custom GPTs over ChatGPT

GPTs biggest benefit is in convenience. Custom GPTs allow users to create a library of prompts without the need to manually retype them. For example, as a teacher, you might want ChatGPT to help you grade assignments. Typically it would require you to go through the same prompting process repeatedly for each of your student submission.

But with a custom GPT, you can set it up to understand your specific grading criteria and the curriculum you follow. Then instead of typing out the same instructions every time, your custom GPT will already know what you need! You just submit your student’s answers and it returns just what you want.

There are certain GPT features that add to its convenience:

• Multiple Custom GPTs: You can build an unlimited number of custom GPTs, each tailored to provide specific outputs based on different prompts. This flexibility is a step up from custom instructions, which limit you to just one set of instructions.
• Knowledge Source Files: Instead of copying and pasting text from various resources, you can upload knowledge files directly to the GPT builder. It could be any text book or relevant information you can use as reference. The GPT will use these source files to generate your answers. This way you get to make GPT work based on your dataset.
• Sharing Capabilities: You can fine-tune custom GPTs and share with others, provided you have a ChatGPT Plus or Enterprise subscription. You can share GPTs among your colleagues to share the productivity benefits, or your students to interact with the bot.
• Enhanced Prompt Engineering: Custom GPTs provide a dedicated platform for prompt engineering, which helps you create and refine prompts more effectively.

19 Practical Use Cases of Custom GPTs in Teaching

Folks are already creating GPTs and submitting it on the official GPT store in ChatGPT (here are our picks on top custom GPTs for teachers). While the opportunities are limitless and only bound by your imagination, here are few teaching relevant examples to inspire your thoughts.

1. Adaptive Curriculum Creation: There are many GPTs out there that can craft personalized curriculums, practice tests, and interactive lessons tailored to each student’s needs and learning styles. Use these GPTs to differentiate instruction and ensure every student gets materials suited to their pace and style. You can create one yourself.
2. Interactive Course Assistants: Custom GPT bots can serve as virtual teaching assistants, answering questions about course materials, assignments, and schedules. Deploy these bots to handle routine queries, allowing you to focus on more complex teaching tasks. You can feed relevant guides or rulebook to the GPT as reference.
3. Efficient Note-Taking and Summarization: LearnFlowGPT converts lectures and readings into structured notes and summaries. This can help your students organize study materials and extract key concepts. Encourage your students to use these tools for better note management and reinforced learning.
4. Flashcard Creation: GPTs like AnkiX create customized flashcards for memorization and review, enhancing study effectiveness. Recommend these GPTs to your students for personalized flashcards that improve retention of key concepts.
5. Dynamic Content Delivery: You can create a GPT that guides students in creating mind maps to visualize complex topics.
6. Text-to-Speech Conversion: ElevenLabs Text To Speech allows you to create engaging audio versions of educational materials, which makes learning accessible for students with visual impairments or those who prefer auditory learning.
7. Research Paper Analysis: Paper Interpreter breaks down complex research papers into understandable sections
8. Relationship Analysis: LearnFlowGPT’s relationship analysis functionality helps you understand how different concepts are interconnected. You can use or create similar GPTs to demonstrate connections between ideas, enhancing holistic understanding.
9. Automated Reminders and Scheduling: Custom GPTs that send automated reminders about deadlines, classes, and events, helping your students stay organized. You can implement these systems to keep students on track with their assignments and schedules.

10. Resource Recommendations: Custom GPTs that provide personalized resource recommendations based on student progress and interests. Use these tools to offer targeted resources that align with each student’s needs.
11. Interactive Explanations: CK-12 Flexi provides step-by-step explanations and personalized support in subjects like math and science. Use these explanations to support your teaching and offer extra help to students.
12. Exam Preparation: GPT bots can offer tailored exam tips, practice questions, and key topic summaries to help students study effectively. Encourage your students to use these bots for focused exam prep and review.
13. Multilingual Support: GPT bots can provide support in multiple languages catering to international students and those with diverse language preferences.
14. Instant Feedback: You can GPTs and share it to students, to offer immediate feedback on assignments and quizzes. This will allow students to learn from mistakes in real-time.
15. Time Management Tools: GPT bots include scheduling and time management tools to help students plan study sessions and balance workloads. Promote these tools to help your students develop effective time management skills.
16. Literature Review and Academic Writing: GPTs like Literature Review Writer and AutoExpert assist in generating high-quality literature reviews and summarizing papers.
17. Document Access and Management: There are GPTs like Link Reader that quickly locates and accesses specific documents like PDFs, PPTs, and DOCs.
18. Content Summarization and Analysis: If you want to transform videos into accessible summaries for classroom use, you can create or use GPTs like Video Insights. It summarizes video content and analyzes transcripts.
19. Interactive Coding Lessons: There are interesting GPTs like Code Tutor by Khan Academy’s Khanmigo, which offers guided, Socratic-style learning for coding challenges.

As you start interacting with GPTs, you’ll gradually come up with more ideas to create custom GPTs for yourself, your colleagues and your students!