The ChatGPT Debate

Teach Better TeamBlog, Differentiate Better, Engage Better, Grade Better, Innovate Better, Lesson Plan Better, Manage Better, Tech Better

TL;DR:

  • AI has been around for a while. The use of ChatGPT is just another evolution in the classroom.
  • Takeaways from the Teach Better Ambassador Voxer group are shared.
  • Learn how ChatGPT answered this question: How can we use this tool to help us with teaching and learning?

The ChatGPT Debate: How can we embrace AI without feeling like we are encouraging dishonesty?

The EdTech world has been a flutter the last few months about the rise in a free AI bot called ChatGPT. These bots have been around for a while. I am sure many millennials can remember Chatbot or the AIM bot of the direct message days. You may be familiar with the AI that asks to help you through chat on several companies’ websites when you contact customer service. There are 50+ sites out there that will use AI to blog and create an internet presence. A recent Teach Better blogger, Betsy Springer, brought up one of the most used, Grammarly, which helps people sound better in their writing.

This is the first time that an open-use completely free tool has been available. It has limitless possibilities!

Still, students need to be able to discern information, speak their ideas, and comprehend what they are being told. If anything, an AI bot will make those skills more valuable. Click To Tweet

ChatGPT Debate: AI Evolution

Bloggers, educational leaders, and districts are debating and training. Educators are trying to find out all they can about how they can prevent this AI from being the next devious thing that students use to cheat in the classroom. Teachers are collectively saying, “Give us a break!” It is bad enough that students are copying Wikipedia pages, putting them through a synonym bot, and telling us the “righteous exploits that behooved George Washington.” It is just one more evolution in the classroom.

Views on AI Shared

So, naturally, our Teach Better Ambassador Voxer group debated this one recently. We shared all of the things. Here are some of our takeaways:

  • Students need to be taught how to use any digital platform. Some still struggle with Google and email.
  • Teachers need to be familiar with a student’s ability and give authentic assignments to help their skills.
  • Give students the chance to articulate their thoughts and exercise those “soft skills” to determine true learning.
  • Be familiar enough with the AI as a teacher, that you can choose prompts that the AI can’t effectively answer. One Ambassador cited a university that looked at ways to use certain prompts.
  • Sometimes for basics, steering away from technology is OK. Having days where students work on paper and pencil will allow students to reset and apply their learning in different ways.
  • AI can be applied in many ways. Students can use AI platforms for revision to explain why certain choices were effective or ineffective in their original work.
  • Use AI devices to apply a different literary lens. Ask it to make an informative text into a fairy tale or a song. Perhaps turn an essay into iambic pentameter.

Restricting something just makes it more exciting. The more we adopt things the less desirable they become. Look at Kahoot!

[scroll down to keep reading]

Ask ChatGPT How to Help with Teaching and Learning

The issue remains: How can we use this tool to help us with teaching and learning? The best way to see how the AI bot could be used in the classroom would be to ask it. This is what ChatGPT wrote about the application of ChatGPT.

“ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize education in a variety of ways, from providing personalized learning experiences to automating grading and assessment. However, it is important to use this technology in conjunction with human teachers and mentors, and to be aware of its limitations.”

Still, students need to be able to discern information, speak their ideas, and comprehend what they are being told. If anything, an AI bot will make those skills more valuable. Even the robots understand you cannot replace a good teacher and those meaningful experiences.

About Meghan Wells

Meghan Wells is a high school teacher in the DFW area. After spending almost a decade in retail management and the financial services industry, Meghan has enjoyed education for the last 14 years putting a tech spin on all secondary levels of Language Arts. Inspired by her 10 year old son, she has coached First Lego League, high school Esports, and continues to cultivate the (non ELA) interests of her young engineer. When she is not geeking out on edu or ed tech, you can find her reading a book, watching hours of home improvement shows, listening to true crime podcasts, or what she likes to call “serial crafting”.