A practical use of AI in my History Class
A worked example in 6 simple steps
We’re hungry for practical examples
Over the last 18 months I’ve had the pleasure of presenting to over 4,500 teacher about AI use in education.
We’ve discussed
theology
principles
philosophies
future predictions
However, that’s not what gets most teachers really excited.
The most popular sessions are those that explore practical applications of AI in the classroom.
They’re answering the question “what can I actually do with these tools?”
So over the next few weeks we’ll be focusing on how teachers can use AI wisely in the classroom to
save time
be more creative
have a bigger impact
How I used AI in this lesson:
Here's a simple, practical use of AI within my class.
It covers content, AI skills, retrieval practice, and critical thinking:
I came to my usual 9th grade History lesson on the gold rush.
It’s a 40 minute lesson where we work through a reading and do some comprehension questions.
This time I took the opportunity to cover the same content, but also teach my learners about the strengths and limitations of AI.
The 6 steps we followed
Step 1: Warnings and encouragements
I prefaced our task with a brief spiel about using AI for its intended purpose. I call this the "don't write a sonnet about your dog" talk. t's just a general encouragement to stay on track. Sometimes I’ll also remind the learners about the fact AI can make things up.
Step 2: Direct the students to a generic AI tool.
None of my students have a paid subscription. I don’t mind this. There’s a lot of talk about how free vs paid can widen the digital divide. While I’m not sure that applies in my case, it’s nice knowing everyone is on the same playing field. Most students wound up on ChatGPT or Grok. For what it’s worth, I think Grok’s free version is the better of the two at the moment.
Step 3: Get them to read the prompt out loud
Most students have no idea how to prompt. Reading and thinking through a well written prompt helps them understand what a good prompt looks like. Think of it like an exemplar or a WAGOLL.
Step 4: Paste the prompt into the AI and hit enter.
Step 5: Complete the questions (see attached picture).
Step 6: Debrief with a discussion.
I’m a big believer that discussion and reflection is what turns experience into wisdom. During our class discussion, we covered questions like:
what can we learn from the fact that different people got different output?
how engaging was this compared to a textbook, reading, or video?
was the AI generated comprehension quiz useful for you?
did the feedback from the quiz help you in your learning?
is this the sort of thing you'd like to do again?
Let me know how you go!
Why not give this a try?
It’s a creative way to cover content, do retrieval practice and get your learners thinking about the strengths and limitations of Artificial Intelligence?
If you try it, I’d love to hear how you go.
Reply to this email or get in touch on LinkedIn.
Until next week,
Happy teaching!
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