Facilitating AI-Powered Classrooms

Bridget Robinson, Technology Learning, Clear Creek Independent School District

Let's face it, learning and education is every changing industry. Ask any teacher who has been around for even five years, and they can tell you how many philosophies and practices they have gone through since their college pedagogy class. Looking back to 1983, many did not realize how the internet would disrupt the educational environment, and who could have predicted how Learning Management Systems would change the presentation of learning in 1990, not to mention the increased use of it with COVID-19.

Today's disrupter, artificial intelligence (AI), is here to stay and it is changing the way we live and work. Once again educators must embrace the change to see potential for learning and seek to harness its possibilities, or be left behind and labeled an artifact of their profession.

In education, AI has the potential to provide customized learning, offer dynamic assessments, and facilitate meaningful interactions in online, mobile, or blended learning experiences. With the growing number of users, teachers must harness this powerful learning tool and learn how to adapt and teach students how to use AI to prepare them for the future.

According to Rutgers, ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users in January 2023, just two months after its launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history. Because students have discovered this tool, teachers must embrace it or be left behind. By adopting AI, teachers can get ahead of the curve and use the technology instead of fighting it. AI can help students learn better and faster, and help teachers personalize instructions and assessments. Because ChatGPT was created to create answers quickly, they may not have the cadence a student would write with; however, quick answers can create more of a curiosity for the student to research more, thwarting the learning of key concepts forward.

“In education, AI has the potential to provide customized learning, offer dynamic assessments, and facilitate meaningful interactions in online, mobile, or blended learning experiences. With the growing number of users, teachers must harness this powerful learning tool and learn how to adapt and teach students how to use AI in to prepare them for the future.”

Teachers must address the use of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to generate text for their assignments and exams to combat plagiarism. These tools can produce appropriate and coherent rhetoric on any topic, but they may not be accurate or original. Additionally, these tools may not follow the academic standards and conventions of citation and referencing. Students must be taught to utilize the technology as a resource, and not as an alternative to doing the assignment.

However, to counter, AI can also be used by teachers help prevent and detect plagiarism. Most education institutions now use AI-powered plagiarism checkers to check the academic content submitted. These checkers can compare and flag content with sources online and flag any potential use of AI-generated text by analyzing the style, tone, and structure of the content.

Artificial Intelligence

Learning Management