12 Ways for Educators to Use Genmoji in the Classroom

Apple’s new Genmoji feature, part of its broader Apple Intelligence system, allows users to create custom emojis on demand. By simply uploading a photo and/or typing a description, you can design a unique, personalized emoji. This powerful tool opens up exciting possibilities for classroom use—far beyond just adding emojis to text messages.

Note: To use Genmoji and other Apple Intelligence features, your device must have an Apple silicon M-series chip or the A17 Pro chip (or newer). This includes devices like the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Why Genmoji is Great for Educators and Students

Genmoji offers several features that make it ideal for both teachers and students:

• Photo-Based Generation: It can quickly generate an emoji based on a photo of a person, providing multiple options so you can choose the one that best matches facial features.
• Custom Enhancements: After creating your emoji, you can add details using text prompts, such as objects, emotions, or actions, to personalize it further.
• Creative Combinations: You can generate emojis entirely from text, even combining two unrelated objects into one image, and add backgrounds for context.
• Student-Safe Filtering: Genmoji includes strong content filtering, which is especially helpful when working with students. Keep in mind that copyrighted names, characters, and styles are blocked by default.

How to Use Genmoji

Genmoji is available within the Messages app and can be saved to Stickers or Photos. Since Genmoji images have transparent backgrounds, they’re easy to insert into digital documents and presentations.

You can also access Genmoji in other Apple apps like Notes, Pages, Freeform, and Keynote. When you open the emoji keyboard, Genmoji appears above the emojis in the top right corner, next to the search bar.

Some apps may also offer access to Apple’s Image Playground, which provides additional creative features for visual content.

12 Creative Ways Teachers and Students Can Use Genmoji in the Classroom

Apple’s Genmoji feature unlocks fun and functional ways for educators and students to enhance learning, spark creativity, and personalize digital content. Here are some engaging ways to bring Genmoji into your classroom:

For Teachers:

1. 👩🏼‍🏫 Custom Emojis - Create a Genmoji version of yourself to use in documents, newsletters, presentations, or digital feedback. Customize it with subject-specific props or classroom instructions.
2. 🐯 Class Mascot Avatars - Design a Genmoji character based on your school or class mascot. You can create different versions showing it participating in learning activities, holding items, or celebrating classroom wins.
3. 📌 Directions & Labels - Use Genmojis to catch students’ attention and provide visual cues for directions, schedules, or classroom expectations.
4. 👀 Visualize Concepts - Add Genmojis to graphic organizers, concept maps, or diagrams—especially in Apple’s Freeform app, which is ideal for interactive visual layouts. (Below is an example of a graphic organizer I made in Freeform for my Apple Learning Coach Certification.)  
   
5. 📊 Data Representation - Incorporate Genmojis into math problems, graphs, or charts to help students visualize data or numerical concepts in a fun, relatable way.
6. 🏅 Digital Stickers - Create custom emoji stickers to give digital feedback on student work. If you have a Cricut machine, you can even print and cut physical stickers! (Check out my article in the Apple Education Community for more sticker ideas: Creating and Using AI Stickers)

For Students:

1. 👤 Personalized Emojis - Students can create emojis that look like themselves and add elements that reflect their interests, hobbies, or personality traits.
2. 📇 Vocabulary Illustrations - Challenge students to create a Genmoji that illustrates the meaning of a new vocabulary word—great for language arts or ELL support.
3. 📈 Diagrams - Use Genmoji in Freeform or Keynote to visualize academic concepts like the water cycle, animal habitats, or historical timelines.
4. 🎯 Exit Tickets - Have students create a Genmoji at the end of class to reflect what they learned or how they felt about the lesson. It’s a fun way to check for understanding or mood.
5. 📚 Story Inspiration - Encourage storytelling by having students generate unusual Genmoji combinations—like a pizza-person or a skateboarding skunk—to spark character creation and plot ideas.
6. 📖 Digital Storytelling - Students can insert Genmojis into slides, documents, or comics. With their transparent backgrounds, they work especially well in Keynote where they can be layered with shapes and even animated.

Final Thoughts

While Genmoji isn't perfect, (it may sometimes produce strange results or offer limited creative styles compared to other AI art generation tools) it shines in its simplicity, speed, and ease of integration into Apple’s ecosystem. Its built-in filters make it student-friendly, and its creative possibilities are endless when used with imagination.

Whether you're reinforcing vocabulary, visualizing science concepts, or just adding a little fun to classroom routines, Genmoji offers a new and engaging way to connect with students and enhance digital learning. 🎨📱

(Note: AI tools were used to edit this article for spelling, grammar, and clarity.)

One Best Thing:

This post is a part of my One Best Thing Project "AI Art for Inspiration, Creativity, and Learning." I am collecting my AI Art project ideas and resources at this website:

https://sites.google.com/view/creativeapptitude/ai-art