Five ways to leverage AI in your classroom
And why we must train students to use AI
Will AI benefit students? Let me give you the answer:
These tools can be a huge blessing to students, but they will not be an automatic blessing.
As teachers, we must be on the front foot in educating our students about the risks and rewards of generative AI.
We are setting up our students for failure if we leave them to figure it out on their own.
Let me tell you why:
AI is a tool, but it is less like a set of screwdrivers and more like a $40,000 lathe. Like a lathe, AI tools have immense creative potential but require training and practice to avoid serious injury.
Learning to use a lathe by trial and error is bad pedagogy, to say the least. This was the approach I took with the wood lathe we had in our backyard shed in my childhood home. Three minutes into my first session, as the chisel came flying back past my head, I decided it was time to get some help.
The scary thing is that if students misuse AI, there is no chisel-flying-past-the-head wake-up call. There is simply the long slow degradation of their education as they outsource their critical thinking and creativity to machines. While less graphic and more gradual, it is the intellectual equivalent of a chisel to the eye.
We can’t let this happen.
Blessings
From my travels
Why AI won’t replace teachers - Simple
I’ve said it a thousand times, but those who say AI will replace teachers have never set foot in a classroom.
Useful tips for ChatGPT use - Simple
Many educators struggle with getting bland, boring results out of ChatGPT. The problem lies with their prompts, not with the tool itself.
Remember the GIGO principle: garbage in, garbage out. If you put in garbage prompts, you get garbage results.
The graphic above comes from Melvin Bolt; he shares great AI-related content.
ChatGPT teaching time-savers - Intermediate
This graphic contains a bucketload of good advice.
Todd Finley shares great information about AI and education more broadly.
Five ways to use AI tools to meet student needs - Intermediate
Every teacher realises that the ‘educational gap’ is widening.
The gap between the gifted and the academically challenged students in our class is growing greater by the year.
Well, cometh the hour, cometh the tool.
I encourage you to spend some time this week investigating how you can differentiate your resources using AI.
Seven ways to use AI in class - Advanced
Ethan Mollick provides a clear-headed and inspiring account of how educators can leverage AI in their classrooms.
Click the table to read the full article.
Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority artificial intelligence guidance documents - Advanced
The QCAA has produced guidance documents on AI for schools as well as parents and carers.
They are heavy going but they are well worth a look.
From my practice
I often give students an article to read in class. This is the easy part; the hard part is making sure that the reading is a rich educational experience.
The reading should take about 15 minutes, but differentiating the text into different reading grade levels takes much longer! Before AI, I simply didn’t have the time to differentiate texts.
ChatGPT has unlocked the door for quick and easy differentiation.
I also use ChatGPT to create summaries and comprehension questions for my texts.
Here is the basic prompt I use:
Act as a [role]
[paste in the text]
Reproduce this text at [reading level, can be multiple depending on class needs]
Provide a two-sentence summary of the text at the bottom under the heading ‘summary’
At the end of each text, create four comprehension questions that can be answered from information in the body of the text.
Let’s have a look at that prompt in action:
Act as a year 10 History teacher
[paste in the text]
Reproduce this text at grade 9 and grade 7 reading levels.
Provide a two-sentence summary of the text at the bottom under the heading ‘summary’
At the end of each text, create four comprehension questions that can be answered from information in the body of the text.
From your practice
I would love to include reader submissions! So many teachers are saving time and benefiting their students with AI; if that’s you, I’m eager to hear from you.
You can contact me on Twitter or LinkedIn or comment on this post.
I look forward to hearing from you!
As someone who has used and who owns a lathe, I understand the importance of training to unlock the teaching value of Chat GPT, and to get on the educational fast lane.