Artificial Intelligence for Teachers: Using AI in the Classroom
Artificial Intelligence for Teachers: Using AI in the Classroom
Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. Today's students will need to have an understanding of its uses in order to be ready for the work place of tomorrow. "Skills such as critical thinking, teamwork, and communication are common to both; however, it is clear that new graduates will also need AI literacy as a core job-readiness skill. They will need to articulate how well they use AI and what human quality enhancements they can provide" (Bowen & Watson, 2024, p.41). To accomplish this goal, it is imperative that teachers embrace new technology instead of shying away from it. This is certainly easier said than done. In this blog post, I plan to highlight some ways that teachers can begin to use AI as a tool. As the old adage goes, knowledge is power. The more we understand something, the less we are afraid of it. "Given that AI is increasingly prevalent in tech circles and is being integrated into everyday technological tools such as search engines, educators will need to adapt to its presence." (Clark & Van Kessel, 2024, para. 3). This video from ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) highlights why teachers and students need to get comfortable with AI. It also reiterates that our humanity, emotions, and empathy set us apart from AI and enable us to continue to play a valuable role in creating content in our world.
So, how can teachers use AI effectively? Generative tools like ChatGPT allow teachers to brainstorm quickly. If I can ask ChatGPT for an exhaustive list of Renaissance era painters for students to research, it takes a great deal of time off of my plate when planning a lesson. In this example, I haven't used AI to plan the lesson. It has simply done some of the background research that would take me significantly longer to compile. I have used it in this way in my own classroom. "More recently, AI-driven tools have become more teacher-focused
and help teachers identify efective pedagogies based on students’ learning data, automate
operational tasks, generate assessments, automate grading and feedback which greatly save
teachers’ time and enhance efficiencies" ( Ng et al., 2023, p. 138). Another cool use for AI in the classroom is the Text to Image feature that several programs like Adobe Express and Canva possess. "AIs that produce visual images from text can also create fifty or a hundred new designs for houses, your band's logo, or cities, and perhaps inspire you" (Bowen & Watson, 2024, p. 64). Students can type an original short story into these programs and have the AI text to image feature create a picture that can be printed and attached to their writing. I took a screen shot of the ChatGPT prompt and an example text to image writing project that I created below.
"To develop teachers’ competencies to adapt AI-driven teaching and learning tools and
approaches, educators need to timely update their skills and knowledge so as to create suitable learning environments for their students" (Ng et al., 2023, p. 138). Check out the following video from Education Week highlighting some additional ways that AI can be used. Hopefully, this content will inspire you to try out some AI tools in your classroom. Educators in 2024 and beyond must embrace technology in order to prepare out students for their future.
References
Bowen, J., & Watson, C. (2024). Teaching with AI: A practical guide to a new era of human
learning. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Clark, C. H., & van Kessel, C. (2024). “I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords”:
Using artificial intelligence as a lesson planning resource for social studies. Contemporary
Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 24(2). https://citejournal.org/volume-
Ng DTK, Leung JKL, Su J, Ng RCW, Chu SKW. Teachers' AI digital competencies and
twenty-first century skills in the post-pandemic world. Educ Technol Res Dev.
2023;71(1):137-161. doi: 10.1007/s11423-023-10203-6. Epub 2023 Feb 21. PMID:
36844361; PMCID: PMC9943036.
Kim,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! I would like to expand on your thoughts about it being necessary for teachers to embrace new technology. I would like to do this from the lens of what I learned regarding other new technology for educational purposes. The reason this catches my attention is that I still see some resistance from some, and sometimes, for completely valid reasons. For example, I have been reading about teachers undergoing training virtually and being accepting of it, but without wanting to completely eliminate in-person interactions. In one study, when asked, there were teachers who “suggested a primarily in-person conference with sessions recorded for those who were not able to attend on a specific day” (Murrill et al., 2021, p. 143). Within that context, I found another study that revealed that “technology issues are the other main drawback to virtual professional development. The educators in this study had all shared multiple instances when an aspect of technology had failed” (Montauredes-Kakalos, 2023, p. 15). I imagine it would be difficult to have actual technology issues happen while we are trying to learn virtually about new technologies for the classroom!
It seems that on one hand, yes, teachers must become more familiar with new technology basically in every aspect of our jobs. On the other hand, there are challenges when either technology fails, or teachers have not received the appropriate training on how to use it. In another study about using a variety of technology tools to teach English, DeCamillis (2023) found that “in order for teachers to effectively use these tools in the quickly transforming virtual and hybrid teaching world, research must be done to identify the best practices for offering training as well as technology access for educators…” (p. 7). Like you said, things are easier said than done, and I hope teachers learn manageable ways to become more tech-savvy and feel supported in the process.
References
DeCamillis, K. (2023). HyperDocs, GIFs, and collaboration boards: Online writing instruction supports for English learners. CATESOL Journal, 34(1). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1417119.pdf
Montauredes-Kakalos, M. E. (2023). A phenomenological study exploring teachers’ perceptions of virtual professional development through the lens of adult learning theory. Journal for Leadership and Instruction, 22(2), 13-17. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1419954.pdf
Murrill, L., Thomas, T. G., & Earp, L. (2021). Cultivating community in virtual professional development: A familiar goal/a new frontier. Teacher Educators' Journal, 14, 126-148. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1296523.pdf
Kim,
ReplyDeleteIt was great to read your blog on AI in the classroom. I was also intrigued to read that there are more and more resources of AI that are being more geared toward helping teachers in the classroom. We all know that teachers need all the help we can get when it comes to the everchanging world of technology. Like you shared, "More recently, AI-driven tools have become more teacher-focused and help teachers identify effective pedagogies based on students’ learning data, automate operational tasks, generate assessments, automate grading and feedback which greatly save teachers’ time and enhance efficiencies" ( Ng et al., 2023, p. 138)". These are great tools to think about when going into a new school year and all the data that we have to take on students. I am excited to explore all the new tools that are out there.
References:
Ng DTK, Leung JKL, Su J, Ng RCW, Chu SKW. Teachers' AI digital competencies and twenty-first century skills in the post-pandemic world. Educ Technol Res Dev.2023;71(1):137-161. doi: 10.1007/s11423-023-10203-6. Epub 2023 Feb 21. PMID:36844361; PMCID: PMC9943036.
Kim, I have always thought of using the AI tools more for the writing contents of English and Social Studies. However, you made me look into how it could benefit my math classroom using the ChatGPT tool. According to Koehler and Sammon (2023), "ChatGPT’s ability to generate realistic and contextualized math problems enables teachers to foster students’ number sense by applying mathematical concepts to real-world scenarios." (para. 7). I am always looking for ways to find those relevant real-world problems that support both the higher level of thinking along with my students interest. I have now bookmarked some resources to look into for this school year.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Koehler, T. & Sammon, J. (2023, June 16). How Generative AI Can Support Research-Based Math Instruction. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-ai-math-instruction