Plan Smarter. Save Time and Boost Clarity with AI Visuals and Dual Coding
A practical guide to using AI to plan better lessons faster, with high-quality diagrams, dual-coded supports and concept visuals that improve understanding, reduce cognitive load, and deepen learning.
Welcome to AI for Teachers, a 12-part series designed to help you plan smarter, teach better, and make your workload more manageable. Whether you’re new to AI or already exploring what it can do, this series will guide you step by step with real examples, practical tools, and research that matters.
🧭 This is not the only way to use AI in education. The possibilities are endless. This post is simply designed to show you one approach that might work for you, your learners, and your setting.
🖼 In this post, we’re focusing on how AI can help you turn abstract ideas into accessible visuals. From concept maps to labelled diagrams and flowcharts. We’ll show you how teachers are using AI to design visuals that support understanding, retention, and clarity across subjects and phases.
Why This Matters: From Research to Practice
💡 Paivio (1986) – Dual Coding Theory
Learning is more effective when visual and verbal information are presented together.
How AI helps: AI image tools like DALL·E and GPT-4V can generate topic-specific visuals quickly. This saves time and boosts impact.
💡 Mayer (2001) – Multimedia Learning
Well-designed visuals improve comprehension and reduce cognitive overload.
How AI helps: By prompting clearly, teachers can generate diagrams that support schema-building and reduce ambiguity.
💡 Marzano (1998) – Classroom Instruction That Works
Non-linguistic representations help students organise and retain knowledge.
How AI helps: Concept maps and visual summaries can be auto-generated and easily differentiated for different learners.
🔍 A quick note on purpose: Not all visuals help. Clipart and generic stock images often distract. What matters is alignment. Diagrams must match your learning goal and simplify what you’re teaching. That’s where AI can make all the difference.
Step-by-Step. Use AI to Create Custom Visuals for Your Lesson
Let’s walk through how a KS3 Science teacher used AI to create a set of dual-coded diagrams to support EAL learners in understanding the particle model.
Step 1 – Identify a Concept That Needs Visual Support
Start by choosing a tricky topic or abstract idea where visuals could lighten the load. This might be a new process, a complex relationship, or an unfamiliar object.
Why this matters: Choosing the right moment for visual support helps students form more durable mental models.
What to watch for:
✅ Concepts with sequences (e.g. life cycles, processes)
✅ Key vocabulary that needs to be seen and understood
❌ Avoid simple facts that don’t need visuals (e.g. dates or definitions)
Step 2 – Choose the Right Visual Type
Different ideas call for different visuals. Use this guide to match your concept to the most effective visual:
Labelled Diagram. A picture with clearly marked parts. Best for showing systems or objects.
Example: Use to illustrate the digestive system or structure of a volcano.Flowchart or Sequence Map. A step-by-step visual showing how something progresses.
Example: Great for showing processes like the water cycle or how laws are passed.Venn Diagram. Two or three overlapping circles used to compare and contrast features.
Example: Perfect for exploring similarities and differences between mammals and birds.Concept Map. A web of linked ideas that shows how key terms relate.
Example: Useful for mapping the causes of World War I or parts of a plant.Frayer Model. A four-part vocabulary organiser that includes definition, example, non-example, and picture.
Example: Excellent for teaching tricky academic language like “evaporation” or “justice.”
Why this matters: Matching the visual to the cognitive task helps learners make the right connections.
What to watch for:
✅ Keep visuals simple. Too much detail overwhelms.
✅ Clarify the purpose of the visual in your modelling.
❌ Don’t overload a diagram with colour or clipart. It should aid, not distract.
Step 3 – Use AI to Generate the Visual
Now prompt AI to create your visual. You can use DALL·E, GPT-4V, or a whiteboard sketch generator. Include clear, content-rich descriptions in your prompt.
Why this matters: The more precise your prompt, the more useful your visual.
What to watch for:
✅ Include key terms and clarify layout (e.g. labelled left to right)
✅ Ask for dual coding. Text and visuals should appear together.
✅ Review image accuracy. AI can sometimes invent details.
Sample prompts:
KS1 Science prompt: “Create a simple labelled diagram of a sunflower for Year 1. Show roots, stem, leaves, flower. Use child-friendly labels and a bright layout.”
KS2 English prompt: “Make a Frayer model for the word ‘persuade’ for Year 5. Include definition, example sentence, opposite word, and a quick sketch of someone persuading.”
KS4 Geography prompt: “Design a concept map showing the causes and effects of desertification for GCSE. Use key terms like climate change, overgrazing, deforestation, and link arrows.”
💡 Want to level up?
“Now generate a differentiated version with simpler labels and a blank version for retrieval tasks.”
Step 4 – Annotate and Adapt for Your Lesson
Add your own touch. You might add colour coding, extra labels, or sentence starters to support explanation.
Why this matters: Personalising the visual ensures it fits your lesson language, level, and intent.
What to watch for:
✅ Use highlighters or callouts to draw attention to key parts
✅ Add blank versions for retrieval practice or assessment
✅ Link visuals to key questions or tasks in the lesson
Examples across subjects:
KS2 Geography: Map with climate zones labelled and colour coded
KS3 History: Timeline showing causes of WWI with categories (e.g. alliances, empire)
KS4 Maths: Annotated graph showing transformations of quadratic functions
KS2 English: Frayer model for ‘persuade’ with synonym, antonym, example and visual
Step 5 – Save and Build Your Visual Bank
Save your visuals by topic and type. Reuse them next year or share them across your team.
Why this matters: Once you’ve built a bank of visuals, you reduce planning time and support consistency across classes.
What to watch for:
✅ File by unit or curriculum strand
✅ Add visuals to your lesson templates or slide decks
✅ Use the same visual across weeks for recall and consistency
Challenge: Step It Up
🎯 Pick a topic you’re teaching this week. Where would a visual help?
🧠 Use AI to generate two diagrams. One for whole class teaching, one differentiated for EAL or younger learners.
📁 Start your subject visual bank with your best output. Try to add to it weekly.
📚 Resources to Support You
🆓 Free Resource
Visual prompt set and side-by-side teacher vs AI image example.
Includes guidance for generating diagrams using GPT-4 and DALL·E, with editable samples.
🔐 Paid Subscriber Exclusive
Graphic organiser generator and subject-specific diagram templates.
Download our growing AI visual library with editable templates for Science, Humanities, Maths and more.
🎓 Available now soon in your subscriber dashboard
💬 Reflect and Share
What part of your subject do students consistently find hard to picture? Could AI help you visualise those ideas faster and more effectively?
Try it this week. Then tag a colleague and share your best AI-made diagram or concept map.
AI for Teachers – Blog Series
You’re currently reading Post 7 in the AI for Teachers series. A 12-part guide to help you plan smarter, teach better, and save time with real-world AI strategies.
You are here:
Plan for Talk – Using AI to Build Better Group Tasks in Less Time
Plan Smarter. Save Time and Boost Clarity with AI Visuals and Dual Coding
Formative in a Flash – Low-Stakes Checks with AI
Mastery Matters – Designing Summative Assessments
Feedback Fast – Personalised Marking with AI
Data Talks – Analyse Student Work and Trends with AI
The AI Planning Workflow – From Intent to Impact
📅 Coming Next:
Formative in a Flash – Low-Stakes Checks with AI - Discover how to create quick, high-impact exit tickets, hinge questions and mini-assessments using AI. Check for understanding more often, with less planning time and more precision.