Embrace ChatGPT and reap the benefits of AI technology in the classroom

Kris Hagel, Executive Director of Learning and Innovation, Peninsula School District

At the end of 2022, OpenAI released a new tool called ChatGPT. The beginning of 2023 saw educators sharing their panic over the potential for students to use the tool to quickly create essays and homework answers without putting in their effort.

While many school districts have considered blocking and banning this new tool from their schools at the Peninsula School District (PSD), we considered how we could innovate with ChatGPT to create more educational opportunities.

ChatGPT is a fine-tuned conversational AI model that uses Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) as an interactive chatbot that responds to users' prompts. Ask ChatGPT to create a persuasive passage about the importance of recycling, and within a minute, the chatbot will have multiple paragraphs arguing its benefits.

While ChatGPT is supposed to have an age restriction, the tool is currently free to use and easy to access for anyone with a cellphone number. Students have access to this tool, and work produced in concert with ChatGPT will most likely not be flagged accurately by plagiarism flagging tools such as TurnItIn for some time. Our district chose not to block ChatGPT from district devices because it will not prevent students from using the tool on personal devices.

“While many school districts have considered blocking and banning this new tool from their schools at the Peninsula School District (PSD), we considered how we could innovate with ChatGPT to create more educational opportunities.”

Instead, the PSD Department of Learning and Innovation chose to embrace this new tool, began training teachers on how to use the AI chatbot, and provided lesson plans incorporating ChatGPT into their classrooms. We view ChatGPT and AI-assisted technology as tools that can benefit teachers and students. This is a reality of the world we live in and should be addressed in honest human terms.

Some of the things we have encouraged our teachers to do with ChatGPT include the following;

● Create content about specific subjects on ChatGPT or features for students to review, critique, annotate, revise, improve, and work with in some way.

● Create content educators don't have access to otherwise, such as science content for a specific reading level or language, written samples demonstrating a specific point-of-view, or quiz questions based on class discussions.

● Utilize ChatGPT as a productivity tool to help reduce some of the minutiae of the profession to allow teachers to spend more time on things AI tools will never be able to do, such as building relationships with students and spending more time one on one with learners.

As the second half of the 2022-2023 school year begins, Department of Learning and Innovation Staff are visiting classrooms to co-teach lessons on AI using ChatGPT at multiple grade levels. We work with content provided by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). A Gig Harbor High School English class will spend a week in January working on "developing a critical eye" by using ChatGPT to learn about how AI learns human language, how to spot AI-generated misinformation, how to identify deep fakes online, and how to use AI for beneficial purposes.

When new technology comes onto the education scene, many teachers' and leaders' first instinct is to avoid disruptions and ban tech use until it is better understood. But the opportunities presented by embracing new technology, such as ChatGPT, can create a lasting benefit for teachers and students who will become professionals in a technologically advanced world

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