Today鈥檚 post is the latest in a two-year series on artificial intelligence in the classroom.
鈥楾hese Tools Aren鈥檛 Magic鈥�
Jane Rosenzweig is the director of the Harvard College Writing Center, writes frequently about AI and education in her newsletter and elsewhere, and publishes a newsletter written by high school and college writing instructors about teaching writing in the age of AI:
There鈥檚 a lot of discussion鈥攁nd disagreement鈥攁bout whether and how students should be using generative AI tools in the classroom. But as these tools become more and more widely available, what we do know is that our students are going to be using them and that we need to be able to talk to them about the role of generative AI in their education.
I鈥檓 wary of making grand pronouncements about how to talk to students about using generative AI tools when things are changing so quickly. But I do think there are some guidelines we can follow when deciding to use these tools in the classroom鈥攐r outside the classroom.
1. Teachers should understand the basics about how generative AI tools like ChatGPT actually work
I鈥檓 not suggesting that every teacher has to become a tech expert鈥擨鈥檓 certainly not one. But if you鈥檙e going to use these tools or encourage your students to use them, it鈥檚 helpful to understand how these tools are trained and how they generate output.
Here鈥檚 an example from my own class: On the first day of class in the fall, one of my students mentioned that she really liked using ChatGPT because it鈥檚 more objective than humans. If you believed that, it would definitely shape how you use ChatGPT. But it鈥檚 not actually true: AI tools like ChatGPT can only answer questions based on what鈥檚 in their training data, and that data is drawn largely from what鈥檚 available online鈥攏ot from some objective or all-knowing source.
AI tools also 鈥渉allucinate鈥濃�攎eaning they sometimes just give you inaccurate information. Students find it interesting to learn how these tools generate output, and you can explain this in ways that are grade appropriate. Here are some resources that I鈥檝e found helpful for learning how generative AI tools work.
explains how large language models work with helpful examples.
If you want to take a deeper dive, try this article,
2. Talk to your students about what you want them to learn, not just about what tools like ChatGPT can do or whether they are allowed to use them.
I think it鈥檚 helpful to look at the use of generative AI tools in terms of what problems you鈥檙e trying to solve in the classroom. (In fact, I teach a writing course called To What Problem is ChatGPT the Solution.)
I鈥檝e found this framework to be helpful for myself鈥攂ut also for my students. I talk to them about what problems they鈥檙e solving when they use AI: Is it the problem of not having time to do the work? Is it the problem of not having an idea? Or is it an interesting, knotty problem that鈥檚 hard to solve that generative AI might help them solve in a cool way?
I also tell them that I鈥檓 not asking them to write papers because the world needs more papers; I鈥檓 asking them to write papers because it鈥檚 one way of thinking through a problem鈥攁nd then we talk about how using AI at different points in the writing process may or may not get in the way of that thinking.
There鈥檚 a big difference between telling students to use or not to use generative AI and telling them why what you want them to do matters in the first place. Framing things this way may not always stop students from using these tools in ways you think are counterproductive鈥攂ut it will help students understand where you鈥檙e coming from.
3. Be aware of the difference between useful and not useful ways of using these tools.
We鈥檝e heard a lot about how AI tools like Khanmigo can provide personalized tutoring. But some teachers are finding that some students using these tools are not engaging with them or learning from them鈥攁nd that sometimes the way Khanmigo helps students is different from what you鈥檇 do in your own classroom.
If you鈥檙e asking your students to use AI tools, it鈥檚 going to be helpful to be aware of how the same tool you鈥檝e set up to enhance learning could get in the way of that learning. Dan Meyer
4. Don鈥檛 remove the friction from the learning process.
Tools like ChatGPT are being marketed as efficiency tools鈥攖ools that will save us time so that, as OpenAI says, we can focus on other things. But learning requires time, and it requires friction.
If you鈥檙e going to use AI tools with your students, it鈥檚 useful to consider how you鈥檙e setting up assignments to allow for that productive friction.
When I made a chatbot to help my students practice counterargument, some of them were surprised that the chatbot didn鈥檛 enable them to do the work more quickly. But I wasn鈥檛 trying to help them be efficient; I was trying to help them learn something complicated.
I鈥檝e written more about This is a great overview of the conversation about friction and AI, with a focus on Magic School.
5. Beware of the hype.
It seems like new tools are being released every day, and I鈥檓 the first to note that tools like which turns any text into a podcast, are pretty cool! But they were not designed to solve problems that we鈥檙e trying to solve in the classroom. They were designed to get people to use them.
I鈥檝e found over the past few years that when I question the role of these tools in the classroom or express concerns about the hype, some people tell me that I must be anti-technology. But that鈥檚 not true at all鈥擨 was an early experimenter with GPT and I鈥檓 very interested in all of these tools.
However: It鈥檚 not our job as educators to adopt technology because it鈥檚 cool; it鈥檚 our job to ask hard questions and think about what will help our students learn. Which brings me back to my earlier question: When thinking about how to teach your students about AI, it鈥檚 useful to start by asking what problems you鈥檙e trying to solve in your classroom and how AI can help solve those (or whether it will create new ones).
We鈥檝e entered an era where there will be new generative AI tools regularly that come with promises to magically solve all the challenges we face as teachers. But it鈥檚 worth keeping in mind that these tools aren鈥檛 magic鈥攁nd that the way you choose to use them鈥攐r not鈥攕hould always be based on what you鈥檙e trying to do in your classroom.
Thanks to Jane for contributing her thoughts!
Today鈥檚 post answered this question:
What are guidelines teachers should follow when teaching students to use or not use artificial intelligence?鈥�
Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it鈥檚 selected or if you鈥檇 prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.
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