A school is either a place defined by its recipes or by its inspiration.
In one classroom, a student may learn exactly which hoops to jump through, do what's asked, receive the needed grade, and advance to the next set of hoops.
In another, students may encounter the unexpected, brainstorm possibilities that this next vista represents in the lives of others, and build confidence that they can launch what is needed to improve their communities.
What might typically distinguish the second classroom is the presence of an inspired teacher. For that teacher, the arrival of ChatGPT, Google Bard, Adobe Firefly, and similar may mean that we as technologists have the strongest tool yet to make that inspiration happen.
We recognize that there is also tremendous potential for generative AI tools to complicate teachers' lives. Fair. To do right by our students, though, we need to be able to assess the positive potential in order to more effectively use these tools to make great things happen on our campuses.
Every powerful technology has the power to both do good and wreak havoc. In our professional space, one can easily argue that with all the powerful technologies of the last few decades, none has more forcefully required a reexamination of teaching and learning like generative AI.
Are the assignments students are asked to do really helping them? If better assignments require more time from teachers, have we saddled them with so many students that we risk burn out? What does it mean for students to have a tireless tutor to provide feedback on what they write? Are we teaching young people to use these tools so that it genuinely strengthens their academic maturity, rather than convincing them the heavens have given them the ultimate cheating system?
There are any number of opportunities for educators to learn how ChatGPT and other generative AI tools can give ideas for lesson plans, simplify content to be more accessible to struggling readers, and suggest accommodations for those with learning challenges.
I suspect there is a growing group of educators who are comfortable with those and are now interested in how these tools might help students themselves raise their academic games. I'll describe two ways we can discuss these tools that bring together technology, pedagogy, and empowerment.
First, any student who knows what a teacher will do in the next class has the opportunity to spend a few minutes doing a simple preview. In the past, this might have involved skimming the first few pages of the next chapter of a textbook. This is still a good move. However, being able to turn to generative AI and ask for a summary of important points for the topic (cell division, democratic checks and balances, haiku poetry, integrals, etc.) can mean taking the answer and adjusting it for complexity or having it make a list of important terms. This is all to get some idea of what the topic involves. The key point is that the goal isn't to come to mastery, but to get the terms and basic ideas on one's radar. In the next class, while others are being introduced to the concepts for the first time, the student who previews is connecting dots, and likely coming to some productive understanding more quickly.
Second, once a class is actively exploring a topic, a student can use generative AI to ask for common misconceptions with that topic. Bard or ChatGPT will likely provide a helpful list, and the student can consider whether she or he has a common misunderstanding that is making the topic more difficult than it should be.
In both cases, students need guidance in order to be prepared for inaccurate information. Going to a teacher and saying, "I read that ~ is a common misconception with this topic. Is that right?" can not only get to understanding more quickly, but also develop comfort with approaching a teacher constructively.
Generative AI will mean different things for different subjects and settings. All of us engaged in the process of helping students see themselves in new and ever stronger ways can work to imagine what these and future new tools will allow for making that happen more effectively.