A guide to using an AI chatbot to design and write a training session or lesson plan

1. Decide on the lesson topic

For example, you might want to run a session which looks at mental health, stigma and discrimination. Consider your audience’s needs, their age group, and any specific challenges they might be facing.

2. Sign up for a ChatGPT account

Sign up for an account at OpenAI’s website. If you don’t already have an account, follow the registration process and choose a subscription plan that suits your needs, such as the free option. You can also use other AI chatbots when implementing the steps below.

3. Familiarise yourself with ChatGPT

If you haven’t used ChatGPT before, spend some time familiarising yourself with it and learn how to write ‘prompts’. A prompt is the term used to describe the instruction that you type into ChatGPT’s text box.

Once you have written your prompt, and received ChatGPT’s response, you can then have a conversation with the AI chatbot to further refine your outputs by writing additional prompts. Explore the platform and experiment with different prompts to get a feel for how ChatGPT works.

4. Craft a detailed prompt for ChatGPT

Once you are familiar with how ChatGPT works, it’s time to write a detailed prompt for your lesson plan. For example, your prompt could include information about the lesson plan’s duration, audience, and topic. Also, in your prompt, consider specifying the learning objectives and any activities or techniques you’d like to include. Providing detailed instructions will help the AI generate a tailored lesson plan that meets your requirements. The more detail you provide, the better the output will be.

Here is an example of a prompt:

Prompt: Design a one-hour classroom session plan on mental health, stigma and discrimination for a group of students aged 16-18. The session should include a brief introduction to mental health, definitions of stigma and discrimination, and two group activities to engage the participants.

5. Review the AI-generated output

See what content ChatGPT provides in response to your prompt. Below is ChatGPT’s response to the mental health, stigma and discrimination lesson plan prompt:

Session Title: Mental Health, Stigma and Discrimination

Session Duration: 60 minutes

Session Objective: To educate students aged 16-18 on mental health, stigma and discrimination, and to provide them with tools to challenge and reduce stigma and discrimination.

Materials Needed:

• Whiteboard and markers
• Handouts on mental health, stigma and discrimination
• Flipchart paper and markers for group activities

Session Plan:

I. Introduction (10 minutes)

• Welcome the participants and introduce yourself
• Explain the purpose of the session and its objectives
• Provide a brief overview of mental health and its importance

II. Defining Stigma and Discrimination (15 minutes)

• Define stigma and discrimination, and provide examples
• Explain how stigma and discrimination can impact mental health
• Discuss the different types of stigma (e.g., public, self, and structural) and how they can manifest in different contexts
• Facilitate a group discussion on personal experiences with stigma and discrimination

III. Group Activity 1: Stigma Scenarios (20 minutes)

• Divide participants into groups of 3-4
• Provide each group with a scenario related to mental health stigma and discrimination
• Ask each group to identify the different types of stigma and discrimination present in the scenario, and to come up with strategies to address them
• Allow time for groups to share their responses with the larger group

IV. Defining Mental Health (10 minutes)

• Discuss the importance of understanding what mental health is and what it is not
• Provide examples of mental health challenges that people might face
• Emphasize the importance of seeking help when needed

V. Group Activity 2: Mental Health and You (15 minutes)

• Ask participants to think about what mental health means to them and how they take care of their own mental health
• Divide participants into pairs and ask them to share their thoughts with each other
• Encourage participants to think about ways they can support their own mental health and that of their friends and family

VI. Conclusion (10 minutes)

• Recap the key points of the session
• Provide resources for further information and support
• Invite participants to ask questions and provide feedback on the session

Overall, this session aims to provide participants with a deeper understanding of mental health, stigma, and discrimination, and to empower them to challenge and reduce stigma and discrimination in their daily lives. By using a combination of didactic and interactive methods, this session provides an engaging and thought-provoking experience for participants.

You may need to ask follow-up questions or provide additional information to ChatGPT to refine the response it gives you further. After reviewing the content, you might feel the group activity suggestions weren’t appropriate. For example, you might feel that “Facilitat[ing] a group discussion on personal experiences with stigma and discrimination” isn’t suitable, in which case you could prompt ChatGPT to give you some alternative options for discussions. Instead, you could ask it to include a group discussion around how mental health is represented in the media to keep the conversation away from personal experiences.

6. Create the content of the lesson

Once you are happy with the lesson plan, use this as your outline to support you in developing the content for the lesson. You can prompt ChatGPT to generate this for you, or write it yourself. For example, a prompt could be:

Prompt: Provide a definition of mental health that is appropriate for students aged 16-18.

7. Organise and finalise the content

Once you have your content, it is important that you review it in terms of its relevance, accuracy, and whether it includes any biased statements. Always use ChatGPT’s suggestions as a starting point, and not a finished product. It should be used as a tool to enhance, not replace, your own ideas and knowledge. Integrating your own expertise and perspective into the lesson is key.

Edit and revise the content as needed, making sure to cross-check any facts or references, and be mindful of plagiarism.

8. (Optional) Pilot the lesson 

Conduct a dry run or share the lesson with your peers for feedback. This will help you identify any areas for improvement and ensure that the content generated by ChatGPT is effective and suitable for your intended purpose.

9. Implement the lesson
Deliver the session with your target group and collect feedback from participants to refine the content and your approach further. This will help you continuously improve your lesson plans, and/or update the written prompt you use with ChatGPT when asking it to generate future lesson plans.