Dear Schools, AI can tell you how you should be adapting to it. Should you listen?
I asked Chat GPT how schools should be adapting to its powers. Its response was impressive. Also, a counterpoint to Chat GPT and insight into the science of learning.
Hello Bar-Setters,
I’ve often begrudged the failure of schools to understand and/or address major issues. For example, over 57% of youth between 2 and 19 are expected to be obese by the time they are 35. Yet, our schools serve Cinnamon Toast Crunch, pancakes, and chocolate milk for breakfast, they sell cookies in the hall, and they only give elementary kids PE twice per week. It’s a tremendous oversight.
Another public education oversight:
I’ve never heard of a teacher professional development that taught teachers about the science of how humans learn.
We are in the business of helping young-adults learn. There is ample science about how learning and retention takes place and what methods are most effective for promoting retention. If teachers applied what they’d learned about the science of learning and retention, it would radically alter the way most courses were conducted. This information is so important, in fact, that we should teach it to every student.
But, it never seems to occur to most that such knowledge is worth teaching to teachers.
Those are just a couple examples.
The latest shocking oversight comes in regards to AI.
Like it or not, Chat GPT is here…
Perhaps you’ve heard, but Chat GPT and many other large language models are capable of summarizing articles, writing papers, answering your emails, and, even, passing the bar exam?
To say this changes education is an understatement. The AI revolution will change everything, and then it will change it again, and again...
Which is why I was shocked that AI was never mentioned in my back to school meetings this year. I’ve reached out to a number of high school teachers and admin from other districts and they report the same.
No mention of cheating, necessary changes in lesson design, or even how teachers could use AI to save hours of time.
In the future, I will do a much larger post on good vs. bad use of tech in schools—everything from chromebooks and iPads to Chat GPT. But today, I wanted to look at what Chat GPT had to say about all of this.
In the absence of any direction, I decided to ask Chat GPT 3.5 how schools should be adapting. Its response was impressive…
My question:
How should schools adapt to the presence of AI to reduce cheating, to optimize student learning, and to take advantage of its capacity to lighten teachers' workloads?
Chat GPT 3.5’s answer:
Integrating AI into schools can bring several benefits, including reducing cheating and optimizing the learning capacity of AI, as well as lightening teachers' workloads. Here are some strategies schools can adopt to achieve these goals:
1. **Anti-Cheating Measures**: AI can be used to detect and prevent cheating in various ways. For example:
AI-based Proctoring**: Implement AI-powered proctoring software during exams to monitor students' activities and identify suspicious behavior in real-time.
Plagiarism Detection**: Use AI-powered plagiarism detection tools to identify copied content in assignments and projects.
Adaptive Assessments**: Leverage AI to create personalized assessments that adjust difficulty levels based on students' capabilities, making it harder for them to share answers.
2. **Personalized Learning with AI**: AI can help create personalized learning experiences for students:
Adaptive Learning Platforms**: Employ AI-driven adaptive learning platforms that analyze students' strengths and weaknesses to tailor learning content accordingly.
Recommendation Systems**: Use AI algorithms to recommend relevant educational resources, books, and online courses based on individual students' interests and learning styles.
Intelligent Tutoring Systems**: Implement AI-based tutoring systems that provide instant feedback and guidance to students, allowing them to progress at their own pace.
3. **Automating Administrative Tasks**: AI can assist in streamlining administrative tasks to reduce the burden on teachers:
Grading Automation**: Use AI to automate grading for multiple-choice questions and simple assignments, allowing teachers to focus on more complex aspects of evaluation.
Scheduling and Planning**: Utilize AI to optimize class schedules and manage resources efficiently, saving time and effort for school administrators.
Attendance Management**: Employ AI-based systems to track and manage student attendance, minimizing manual record-keeping.
4. **AI as Teacher's Assistant**: AI can serve as a virtual teacher's assistant, supporting educators in various ways:
Personalized Feedback**: AI can analyze student performance data and provide teachers with insights, allowing them to provide more targeted feedback and support.
Lesson Planning**: AI can assist in creating lesson plans and suggesting appropriate learning materials based on curriculum requirements.
Language Translation**: AI-powered language translation tools can help bridge communication gaps with students from diverse linguistic backgrounds.
5. **Professional Development through AI**: Schools can use AI to facilitate continuous teacher development:
AI-based Training**: Offer AI-driven professional development courses to help teachers enhance their skills and keep up with the latest educational trends.
Data-Driven Insights**: Use AI analytics to assess teachers' performance and identify areas where additional support or training might be needed.
6. **Ethical Considerations**: Schools should be mindful of ethical concerns related to AI usage, such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and ensuring transparency in AI decision-making processes.
7. **Continuous Evaluation and Improvement**: Regularly assess the effectiveness of AI implementations in reducing cheating and optimizing learning. Gather feedback from teachers, students, and parents to make necessary improvements.
It's important to note that while AI can be a powerful tool in education, it should not replace the role of teachers. Instead, AI should be seen as a valuable complement that enhances the overall learning experience for students and supports teachers in their critical roles as educators and mentors.
A Little Push Back
I learned a lot from Chat GPT’s response, both about what I should be concerned about and what tools were out there.
Still, I don’t agree with everything Chat GPT suggested. In fact, I think the development of AI makes the capacity to learn skills without the interference of AI more important than ever. Our students must learn to read well, write well, and navigate complexity apart from AI, or the AI crutch may prevent them from ever cultivating essential cognitive skills.
My father, a doctoral philosophy professor, and I had a great email exchange about this. After watching Sal Khan’s Ted Talk about how AI could save (not destroy) education, I sent it to my father and asked for his thoughts, which I’ll share:
I'm skeptical about the claim that this tool will raise all ships. Some will seek ways to game it to achieve shortcuts and avoid effort; others will utilize it for its assistance in learning. Both groups will succeed, and the gap between them will widen—or so I fear.
Overall, I'm just weirded out by how sanguine everyone seems to be about practically eliminating human contact from learning. For me, anything that increases screen time should be met with skepticism and require a major burden of proof. On the other hand, some tools may well meet that burden of proof. Using the really powerful stuff, while eliminating the negative stuff, would probably result in much-enhanced learning through AI, with a net overall decrease in screen time. But that ain't gonna' happen. Once a crutch is found, it will be retained with ferocity.
Lots to think about. I share my father’s intuitions, but I also find Khan’s work fantastic enough that I donate to Khan Academy every month.
Still, my main point today is just that our response to AI needs to be much more complex than just banning Chat GPT and pretending it doesn’t exist. Much more to come on this, I am sure!
Thank you for reading and sharing with anyone you think would find this valuable!
Also, I began today’s musing by referencing the research about how people learn best. If interested, there are a few great books on this subject:
Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
Ultralearning, by Scott H. Young
Limitless, by Jim Kwik
Range, by David Epstein (chapter 4 in particular)
Carry the fire!
Shane