Okay, so my title is an exaggeration. As of yet, in 2023, there are no “robot teachers.” (Though I’m sure someone, somewhere, would contest that.)

HOWEVER.

How much of teaching are we really leaving up to the Internet? How much of teaching are we leaving up to AI? Are teachers really still in charge of the teaching that’s happening in schools?

(On another note… were teachers ever in charge of the teaching that’s happening in schools?)

One of the tools recommended by the teacher I worked with for my field placement was “Magic School“. This is the tool I tried out this week. I didn’t like that it made me go through a really long and annoying walk through, but I digress.

I chose to create a multiple choice quiz, just for fun.

I gave it an excerpt from Lord of the Flies that I found on the Internet (because why not? I used Lord of the Flies in another post already) and told it to make a multiple choice quiz for grade 9s, to check their comprehension.

I was honestly pleasantly surprised by how good this AI is at it’s job. It even named the assignment for me based on what I stuck in the prompt and using the names of the two characters…

Now, to be fair to the AI, I gave it a poor passage to work with, and that’s why it kept calling Piggy “the fat boy.”

Out of curiosity to see what it would do, I told it to add two short answer questions to this quiz.

It did.

Here’s the prompt I gave it:

To assess the comprehension of the following passage:

“Ralph —-”
The fat boy lowered himself over the terrace and sat down carefully, using the edge as a seat.
“I’m sorry I been such a time. Them fruit —-”
He wiped his glasses and adjusted them on his button nose. The frame had made a deep, pink “V” on the bridge. He looked critically at Ralph’s golden body and then down at his own clothes. He laid a hand on the end of a zipper that extended down his chest.
“My auntie —-“
Then he opened the zipper with decision and pulled the whole wind-breaker over his head.
“There!”
Ralph looked at him side-long and said nothing.
“I expect we will want to know all their names,” said the fat boy, “and make a list. We ought to have a meeting.”
Ralph did not take the hint so the fat boy was forced to continue.
“I don’t care what they call me,” he said confidentially, “so long as they don’t call me what they used to call me at school.”
Ralph was fairly interested.
“What was that?”
The fat boy glanced over his shoulder, then leaned towards Ralph.
He whispered.
“They used to call me ‘Piggy’.”
Ralph shrieked with laughter. He jumped up.
“Piggy! Piggy!”
“Ralph – please!”
Piggy clasped his hands in apprehension.
“I said I didn’t want —-“
“Piggy! Piggy!”
Ralph danced out into the hot air of the beach and then returned as a fighter-plane, with wings swept back, and machine-gunned Piggy.
“Sche-aa-ow!”
He dived in the sand at Piggy’s feet and lay there laughing.
“Piggy!”
Piggy grinned reluctantly, pleased despite himself at even this much recognition.
“So long as you don’t tell the others —-“
Ralph giggled into the sand. The expression of pain and concentration returned to Piggy’s face.

Here’s the whole thing it came up with:

Comprehension Assessment: “Ralph and Piggy”

Question 1:
What did the fat boy do when he arrived at the terrace?
A) He sat down carefully.
B) He started running around.
C) He climbed a tree.
D) He jumped into the water.

Question 2:
What did the fat boy do with his wind-breaker?
A) He folded it neatly.
B) He threw it away.
C) He put it back on.
D) He pulled it over his head.

Question 3:
Why did the fat boy suggest having a meeting?
A) He wanted to discuss their names.
B) He wanted to plan a game.
C) He wanted to go swimming.
D) He wanted to eat some fruit.

Question 4:
What did the fat boy reveal about his nickname?
A) He didn’t care what others called him.
B) He wanted to be called “Piggy.”
C) He was embarrassed by his nickname.
D) He hated his nickname from school.

Question 5:
How did Ralph react when he heard the fat boy’s nickname?
A) He started laughing uncontrollably.
B) He felt sorry for the fat boy.
C) He ignored the fat boy’s confession.
D) He joined in teasing the fat boy.

Answer Key:
1) A
2) D
3) A
4) C
5) A

Short Answer Questions:

1) How did the fat boy arrive at the terrace?
2) What did the fat boy want to discuss during the meeting?

Pretty impressive, hey? And it’s SO EASY TO USE. Literally tell it what you want, revise it a bit, and copy and paste your final result.

Now, because I’m a bit cynical about AI, I’m going to tear this thing apart.

Despite my high praise, and don’t get me wrong, I’m very impressed, I see problems with this generator.

Firstly, the actual quiz I got kind of sucked. I’m still amazed that it gave me a quiz. It gave me the right kind of output with the input I gave it. Very cool. But the questions were shallow and some answers were too similar for my preference.

I decided to try again. Maybe I’m just expecting a higher grade level? Maybe telling it to test comprehension was what made it too shallow?

Same excerpt from Lord of the Flies.

New prompt: Grade 12, assessment on comprehension and deeper thinking about themes, characters, and mood in this excerpt.

Assessment Title: Deeper Thinking in “Lord of the Flies” Passage

Multiple Choice Questions:
1. What does the passage reveal about Piggy’s appearance?
A) He has a button nose and wears glasses.
B) He is overweight and wears a windbreaker.
C) He has golden hair and a pink frame on his glasses.
D) He has a zipper on his chest and messy clothes.

2. How does Piggy feel about being called “Piggy”?
A) He finds it amusing and laughs along with Ralph.
B) He is completely indifferent and doesn’t care.
C) He is embarrassed and doesn’t want others to know.
D) He gets angry and confronts Ralph about it.

3. What is Ralph’s initial reaction to Piggy’s suggestion of having a meeting?
A) He agrees and expresses interest in knowing everyone’s names.
B) He ignores the hint and doesn’t respond to Piggy.
C) He laughs and mocks Piggy for his idea.
D) He gets annoyed and tells Piggy to stop talking.

4. How does Ralph behave immediately after learning Piggy’s nickname?
A) He apologizes to Piggy and promises not to use the nickname.
B) He starts laughing uncontrollably and teasing Piggy.
C) He feels sympathetic towards Piggy and tries to comfort him.
D) He becomes curious and asks Piggy about his nickname.

5. What is the overall mood of the passage?
A) Light-hearted and humorous
B) Sad and melancholic
C) Tense and suspenseful
D) Serious and philosophical

Answer Key:
1. A
2. C
3. B
4. B
5. A

I still thought the questions were very shallow, especially now for a grade 12 level. Maybe I gave it too many things to balance. Too many instruction words, like theme, character, and mood. It really like to ask surface-level questions like “is this character wearing a jacket?”… like, really? Come on, AI, I thought you’d be smarter than this.

I asked Raina to fix it by giving her specific prompts.

I was sort of sad when I had to put in this prompt: Use the whole thing again, and add a question on the theme of the whole passage (not Piggy’s appearance).

That time, however, it finally understood me.

Assessment Title: Deeper Thinking in “Lord of the Flies” Passage

Multiple Choice Questions:
1. What does the passage reveal about Piggy’s appearance?
A) He has a button nose and wears glasses.
B) He is overweight and wears a windbreaker.
C) He has golden hair and a pink frame on his glasses.
D) He has a zipper on his chest and messy clothes.

2. How does Piggy feel about being called “Piggy”?
A) He finds it amusing and laughs along with Ralph.
B) He is completely indifferent and doesn’t care.
C) He is embarrassed and doesn’t want others to know.
D) He gets angry and confronts Ralph about it.

3. What is Ralph’s initial reaction to Piggy’s suggestion of having a meeting?
A) He agrees and expresses interest in knowing everyone’s names.
B) He ignores the hint and doesn’t respond to Piggy.
C) He laughs and mocks Piggy for his idea.
D) He gets annoyed and tells Piggy to stop talking.

4. How does Ralph behave immediately after learning Piggy’s nickname?
A) He apologizes to Piggy and promises not to use the nickname.
B) He starts laughing uncontrollably and teasing Piggy.
C) He feels sympathetic towards Piggy and tries to comfort him.
D) He becomes curious and asks Piggy about his nickname.

5. What is the overall mood of the passage and what theme does it explore?
A) Light-hearted and humorous, exploring the impact of nicknames on one’s self-esteem.
B) Sad and melancholic, exploring the challenges of fitting in and being accepted by others.
C) Tense and suspenseful, exploring the power dynamics and conflicts among the characters.
D) Serious and philosophical, exploring the nature of human behavior and civilization.

Answer Key:
1. A
2. C
3. B
4. B
5. A

We have a winner. And it is question 5. However, it is ONLY question 5. Every other question is still shallow.

Now I just have to contend with AI’s interpretation of this passage. I wouldn’t call anything from Lord of the Flies light-hearted.

At this rate, I should make my own quiz.

You know, I’m starting to sound really down on AI here. I’m still quite impressed that it works. That it does what it does. And the rubric generator (which I’m not going to go into details about due to the length of this post already) is very cool and possibly better than this multiple choice tool.

Although I’m impressed at how we can now interact with technology, the teacher in me is disappointed in this tool. Really, AI is just a first-year college student, making up random stuff to get passing marks.

*Sigh.*

Also, as an afterthought, check out this post by Charlie Sebastian.

Bernice