Well, you know… we’d all love to change the world!
This week’s first debate led to a lively, thought-provoking discussion that had mequestioning everything I thought I knew about the role of AI in education. My pre-vote for this topic was “disagree,” simply because at this point in time I cannot see it making education better. Maybe that’s because AI is still extremely new and we haven’t worked out the kinks yet, or maybe it really is going to give easy answers and lead to more issues with cheating in class. Regardless, hearing my classmates thoughts and perspectives and reading the information they provided this week gave me a lot more to think about.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Sheila and Teagan were off to a strong start in this debate, providing us with a lot of valid points when it comes to just how AI technology is revolutionizing education for the better. The most crucial point to me was that it can allow students to achieve success no matter where they are at through adaptive practice. Why is this, in my mind, the most important point? According to this article from the Gates Foundation, “Students may struggle to learn from their starting point and at their own pace, receive timely and constructive feedback, or struggle to find motivation and support for their learning goals. If they fall behind, they are likely to stay behind and drop out, failing to acquire important life skills.” (Kamzi, 2024) Now obviously I became a teacher because I was always a pretty good student and enjoyed learning… I can’t imagine being a few steps behind my classmates in every subject and still being motivated to learn. We want students to see what they are capable of by providing them with that adaptive practice and meeting them where they are at.
Something else that stood out to me in Sheila and Teagan’s opening argument was when they said that history tends to mirror itself. Going on to say that “Despite initial panic, innovation and progress follow.” I also completely agree with this point… it’s human nature to fear the new and unknown; fear is what keeps us safe. In this fascinating article, former middle school teacher and author John Spencer clarifies that “We often overreact about certain elements of a new technology and fail to understand the larger social implications of other areas.” (Spencer, 2022) We might think we know the long-term implications that Artificial Intelligence will have on our society, but there is no way to know for sure.
Which brings me to the disagree side of the debate. Jessalyn and Daegan raised a lot of valid points on this side, citing privacy concerns for students, biased algorithms and students feeling the need to “dumb down” their work so that they aren’t falsely accused of using AI to cheat. Emma Thompson says in her opinion piece titled AI is Harming Education that technology this powerful and easy to use “…encourages students to rely on it instead of developing their own writing and thinking skills.” (2022) She goes on to explain that when it comes to writing a structured essay, summarizing notes and correcting grammatical errors, “The more students rely on AI, the less effort they put into learning these essential skills for themselves.” (2022) While I do agree that I have concern about students (and myself) becoming a little too reliant on AI technology, it also makes me wonder what Emma means here by the phrase “essential skills.” With the direction we are headed in, what really are essential skills?
Zhai et al. takes this a step further in their review of the effects of over-reliance on AI dialogue systems on students’ cognitive abilities when they bring up the “dual nature of AI in academic writing,” mentioning concerns regarding “…overreliance, reduced originality, and potential ethical changes, such as plagiarism and biases, within higher education.” (2024) There is a lot of fear that students will use artificial intelligence to cheat, never putting in the time and effort it really takes to understand what they are learning. Along with this come my own fears of teachers using AI too much when it comes to assessment and giving feedback to learners. I know that when I send an e-mail to my supervisor asking for their opinion, I want THEIR opinion, and not the opinion of generative AI.
Emma Thompson refers to this assumption of plagiarism as a “culture of distrust.” The problem with this argument is that cheating has always been an issue in classrooms. I would argue that before computer technology came into the picture, it was incredibly easy for students to plagarize out of a book they found and change the language to keep from being caught by their teachers. At least with computers, we can set up some sort of program to see if a student is cheating, or better yet, ask ourselves WHY they feel the need to cheat? Maybe this is the beginning of a massive shift in what skills we view as valuable enough to teach our students.
And this is where I start coming back around to AI. Dustin brought up a great point that Artificial Intelligence almost forces us to think more critically about the information we are consuming, regardless of where it comes from. This is an extremely valuable life skill… instead of believing that someone else always has the right answer, using a critical lens to view the world is essential.
So… What Do We Do?
Our first instinct is to employ what John Spencer refers to as the “lock it and block it” approach (2022). The problem with this approach is that pretending AI doesn’t exist isn’t going to prepare our students for the real world. So John suggests we rethink the type of learning that students need to engage in to develop human skills that cannot be employed by AI and machine learning. Things like growth mindset, determination, grit, taking chances, kindness, respect, and humility. THIS is what makes us human.
Post-Debate Vote: still no.
At the end of this debate, although I can see how artificial intelligence COULD revolutionize education for the better, I still wasn’t convinced that it WILL… yet. As Priton Shaw mentions in The Principal’s Handbook podcast, “… there is an enormous amount of learning that needs to take place before educators can feel comfortable using [Artifical Intelligence].” In other words, we still have a long way to go.
I just hope ♫it’s gonna be alright♫…
Thanks for reading!
Hi Jenni,
Thank you for such a thought-provoking post. I actually was pro AI before this debate, and I ended up leaning a little bit against once we had finished because of the point you shared in your conclusion. While I do think eventually AI will revolutionize education for the better, right now, there is still so much unknown, and there is not enough support for us to utilize it effectively in the classroom.
Right now in our division, the focus is on getting rid of AI as much as possible. Every professional development seminar is dedicated to learning how to detect it and address it once we do and teaching students strategies so that they do not feel the need to use it. As much as I think AI could make things better for students and teachers when we do not have support from “higher-ups” such as superintendents, admins, division coaches, and even our director, it is impossible to implement. I feel as though some of the AI I use in my classroom is me “gone rogue.” I am very nervous to use it even though I know it is used widely outside of education.
I think if we had the support and the training, AI could be very beneficial, but I am just seeing so much reluctance from not only my school divisions but academic institutions elsewhere. So far, this course is the only one I have encountered where the use of AI (responsibly and within guidelines) is permitted. It can be quite frustrating, especially when expectations are so high. In a way, it is a full circle moment; we have almost done this to ourselves, especially in post-secondary studies. The standards are set unbelievably high. I use AI a lot of spell check and grammar issues in my writing because I do not have the ability to see a tutor or have a peer review it for me in a way that would be timely or efficient. However, especially in condensed courses, you do not get a lot of time to pre write, write, revise and edit to produce a polished copy. How are we supposed to meet the requirements necessary if we do not use AI as an assistant? There simply is not enough time. I think this is where awareness plays a big role. Instructors and teachers need to be aware of what they are demanding of students and that AI may be the only tool available for them to make sure they are meeting the high quality standards they demand in the time frame they alotted. I feel as though students, especially in high school are feeling this as well. If they want good grades, but are juggling 5 classes, they do not have the time to seek resources to polish all their work if not for AI.
One other thing I wanted to mention was the use of AI for generating feedback. I knew a principle who observed some of his teachers, he took jot notes of what he noticed and then had AI type up their feedback so they got it immediately after their observation (within seconds). He was transparent about this and told them so and asked if it was okay or if they wanted him to take more time and do it on his own. All of the teachers he observed looked at his notes and then what AI had typed out and they all said they were content with the feedback because it still was personalized to them. I also think I would be okay if the same had been done to me. Perhaps other teachers would not, but I do think we can find a balance somewhere!
Hi Jenni! I enjoyed reading your mixed thoughts on AI in education here. Although I spoke for the ‘agree’ side, I also feel conflicted with AI’s ability to revolutionize education for the better or for the worse. I agree that there are many incredible benefits to AI use, but also many valid concerns, and due to its newness and unpredictability, who really knows the long term implications of AI in education? While I did waver in pros and cons, I ultimately believe that yes, AI will revolutionize education for the better, although I acknowledge it will take lots of time, effort, learning, unlearning and growth from all involved, especially the teachers leading the charge.
I especially appreciate your question: what really are essential skills? I think this is important to ask ourselves. Maybe ethical AI use is now an essential skill. If so, wouldn’t we be letting students down if we didn’t embrace responsible AI use so they can grow up as competent AI users?
I also thought Dustin’s point about AI forcing us to think more critically than ever before was interesting. AI challenges everyone to be better critical thinkers to ensure we aren’t victim to misinformation or fall into habits of plagiarism. I do think the idea of the ‘culture of distrust’ is a tricky issue to navigate as well. How do we combat this? AI being free, easy to use and accessible to all is a pro…but also a con, considering we don’t know who is using it, for what purposes and how often? I’m not sure where the balance is between having a deeply critical lens and being too distrusting when it comes to AI use and AI detection. You gave me lots to consider here – thanks!
PS. Love to Beatles reference – how fitting. I, too, hope it’s gonna be alright!
-Teagan
This week’s debate was a struggle for me because, like you I initially feared the concept of AI in the classroom, not because I felt like my job was in jeopardy but because it seems like such a blatant form of cheating. It also presents a ton of work to navigate with extremely mixed results, which I feel could be better spent teaching and using other forms of technology to support the various learning needs. Why would we waste precious time trying to learn a ton of different AI options?
However, that all changed post debate when I jumped into my own debate project research! Yes, it took forever to navigate some of the AI programs (hours and hours in fact) but, wow, what an amazing world of options! I was so excited to create an anime video for our opening statement but realized, after about 8 hours of learning/exploring video creation with the software, I would need two weeks to fully create what my vision was seeking.
I suppose I have now indeed been swayed to promote AI usage, within reason, in the classroom. At first, I was sceptical because of the cheating aspect that seemed to promote laziness and the easy way out; however, I have been converted! So many options for animation, projects, video creations, and more. Will it create a huge learning curve? Yup. However, as someone who considers herself a life-long learner, I am up to the challenge!