What Do Educators Need to Know to Adapt and Use AI to Support All Students?
Educators cannot hide from a growing collection of Artificial Intelligence resources, so the question becomes how can we adapt and use AI to help students learn?
It literally seems like AI is everywhere. I find it in my email, I find it in resources I've used for years and of course, it's mentioned on just about every site connected to teaching and learning.
Today I wanted to share:
- A collection of AI resources we've explored.
- Perplexity AI's thoughts about the future of artificial intelligence in education.
- Some of my thoughts about AI in education. (Best for last?)
Collection of AI Resources
Let's start with some resources. My PLN has helped me put together a collection of our favorite AI resources. This is not an exhaustive list and new tools appear almost daily, but I believe it is a good place to start exploring the potential of AI.
AI Resources for Teachers and Learners Doc
Exploring the tools is one of the best ways for teachers to start to adapt some of these tools to all we do. I know my PLN most days is brilliant.
Perplexity AI's response to the question, "What is the future of ai in education?"
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform education in many ways, including personalizing learning experiences, automating administrative tasks, improving accessibility, and providing real-time feedback to both students and teachers[6]. AI is already helping teachers design courses and analyze data of student performance to engineer learning interventions and new lesson plans[1]. In addition, AI can help educators develop curriculums and course materials by analyzing student interactions with apps and programs[2].
The future of AI in education looks promising. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Education, AI may improve the adaptivity of learning resources to students’ strengths and needs, provide teachers greater support, and enable teachers to extend the support they offer to individual students when they run out of time[3][4]. AI can also help teachers adjust their teaching strategies to improve students’ learning outcomes[6].
However, there are also challenges to adopting AI in education. One concern is that AI may undermine the authority and status of teachers[5]. Another challenge is creating effective public policy on AI for educational foundations[6].
In conclusion, AI is already being used in education and its presence in the classroom and in schools is only going to increase[2]. The potential of AI to transform education is clear, but it is important to approach the deployment of AI in education in a way that is centered on real human flourishing[1].
Citations:
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/vickiphillips/2023/06/07/intelligent-classrooms-what-ai-means-for-the-future-of-education/?sh=24a50069effb
[2] https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/ai-in-education-where-is-it-now-and-what-is-the-future/
[3] https://www2.ed.gov/documents/ai-report/ai-report.pdf
[4] https://tech.ed.gov/ai-future-of-teaching-and-learning/
[5] https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/generative-artificial-intelligence-education-what-are-opportunities-and-challenges
[6] https://thedatascientist.com/the-future-of-ai-in-education-opportunities-and-challenges/
Some of my thoughts. I was tempted but did not use AI to improve my response.
The one constant in education is change. Change leads to growth and this helps teachers and learners to explore and adapt learning to new tools and methodologies. While change can be challenging, most change leads to positive outcomes for learners. One of the fastest-moving changes I’ve seen in a long time is the growth of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI in education will surely challenge us to grow as educators and learners. I believe we are ready for the challenge and I am excited about the possibilities AI brings to support all learners.
AI has been working behind the scenes on many education platforms for years, but the newest generative AI tools can now generate text, translate languages, suggest tasks, create images, and more. They are literally popping up everywhere. The last year has witnessed an amazing expansion of these tools for students and teachers.
While many educators are excited to explore the potential of these new tools, there are others who view these with trepidation. The elephant in the room of course is that students will use generative AI to cheat. Some educators want to hide from AI using filters and plagiarism tools but don’t think this is a sustainable path. AI is not something we can run from, so it’s time to start exploring how AI can help.
If we shift our thinking and get creative with AI, the sky’s the limit for its potential to support all learners. Similar to the growth of the 1 to 1 classroom over the last decade, AI has the potential to revolutionize some of the ways we teach and learn. It’s time for educators and students to start exploring how AI can enhance learning experiences. It’s time to revise some of the ways we engage and assess students. It’s time for us to get creative and take advantage of these new tools.
Here are a few examples of how generative AI could be used to enhance student learning experiences:
Creativity
AI image generators and editors can help students reflect on class content and share essential takeaways connected to a lesson or activity. AI generators can help students create images, graphics, summaries, and more.
AI writing tools can be adapted to become part of the writing process. I imagine activities that start with students responding to a prompt and then asking an AI tool to rewrite or generate a unique response. Students can then explore and reflect on the differences between their response and the AI response.
Critical Thinking
Formative assessment should be an essential part of learning. AI generators and AI formative tools can help teachers and students evaluate what we’ve learned and adapt future learning to help build understanding and correct misunderstandings.
AI can also help us engage students as we explore digital literacy. AI can become part of digital literacy programs as we explore AI tools. This can lead to additional topics including ethics, copyright, and fair use. AI can also be used to evaluate news and images.
AI can also provide critical feedback for students to revise and improve written responses.
I used TinyWow recently to help my students reflect on a paragraph response to an AP Free Response prompt. If you are curious here is the activity.
Communication
Images and text can be great prompts for student discussion. AI generators can help students explore new ways of designing and sharing information.
Artificial intelligence can do much more than write papers for students. AI text generators can help teachers and students generate and revise text. Let’s think about how these tools can help revise structure, grammar, voice, and more as students write.
Students can even practice and build conversation and questioning skills with generative AI.
Collaboration
I think the simplest way we can use AI is as a learning partner or research assistant. AI can support students as they explore ideas and resources. Imagine a student who is struggling with a project or idea. Maybe the teacher or a partner is not available or doesn’t have an answer. Generative AI could help struggling students move forward.
Generative AI can also be a collaborative partner for teachers. There are some amazing AI tools that can help educators generate prompts, lessons, assessments, and more.
I’ve been an educator for almost 30 years and I’ve seen some pretty significant changes, but I can’t think of anything that has created more stir than the emergence of generative Artificial Intelligence as a tool for teaching and learning. The potential of AI is only limited by human imagination and creativity. My challenge to all educators is to start exploring AI today! What AI tools will you find and how can they be used to engage students?
I don’t know where AI is going to take us, but I am excited about the journey.
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