classroom ai homework

Embracing Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom

• Posted July 20, 2023
• By Elizabeth M. Ross
• Learning Design and Instruction
• Teachers and Teaching
• Technology and Media

Although there is a huge amount of interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the consumer world, particularly since the release of OpenAI’s free ChatGPT program last November, in the hallowed halls of academia the response has been more wary. Concerns abound about academic integrity. There are also worries about how AI-generated content can be biased , inaccurate, and sometimes contain entirely false information, dubbed “hallucinations.”  

The cautious response is to be expected according to Houman Harouni , lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a former elementary and high school teacher. He has compassion for educators trying to grapple with a rapidly shifting world shaped by machine learning.

“Technology creates a shock,” he explains. “This shock is sometimes of a magnitude that we cannot even understand it, in the same way that we still haven't absorbed the sharp shock of the mobile phone.”

Harouni has long wrestled with the impact of cutting-edge technology on education, including experimenting in his own classroom , and is convinced that when it comes to teaching  “the medium is part of the message.” He believes that getting school students and those in higher ed to engage with virtual worlds is essential. 

“Where we want to get to is a place where you’re dancing with it, dancing with robots,” he says.

If the idea of waltzing with a robot creates apprehension for educators, Harouni has some advice :

1) Stop pretending that it doesn’t exist

Educators must “help the next generation face the reality of the world and develop instruments and ways of navigating this reality with integrity,” Harouni says. Students are well aware that technologies such as ChatGPT exist and are already experimenting with them on their own, but they need guidance about how to use them responsibly.

Teacher education and professional development programs should not ignore generative artificial intelligence either. 

2) Use AI alongside your students

Engage with generative AI tools with your students in person, when possible. Otherwise, share AI-generated responses to questions during class time and ask students to consider them or have students experiment with the technology at home, document their experiences, and share them with the class. 

3) Teach students how to ask the ChatGPT tool questions 

“The educator's job is to understand what opportunities are left open beside the technology,” Harouni says. 

Teach students to do what artificial intelligence cannot do. For example, unlike robots, we can ask ourselves questions and that is what students need to be trained in: to know how to ask questions and to learn how to critique their own questions, frameworks, and the answers generated by AI, he says. 

Students can start with topics and questions that they are interested in and ask ChatGPT for answers, he suggests. The knack is then getting them excited about asking follow-up questions. Harouni uses a personal experience with his 10-year-old stepdaughter and his newborn baby to illustrate his point. When his stepdaughter asked him why he kept telling her to be careful with the baby, Harouni turned to ChatGPT to help her to get to the bottom of her question. 

“My creativity as the teacher or the parent at that moment is to say, ‘What is it that you're really trying to ask? What is it that you really want to know?’”

While ChatGPT churned out a “whole bunch of answers about the fragility of the baby,” with some patience, Harouni helped his stepdaughter discover the question that she truly wanted to ask which was what she could safely do with the new baby. “At the moment that the exploration [with AI] ends with the answer, you know that your work as a teacher begins,” he explains.

4) Use generative AI tools to spark the imagination 

One frequent concern about generative artificial intelligence is that students will use it to cheat and avoid the hard work of thinking for themselves, but Harouni says that tools like ChatGPT should really challenge teachers and professors to reassess the assignments they give their students. 

“You have to stop thinking that you can teach exactly the way you used to teach when the basic medium has changed,” he explains. If students can turn to ChatGPT or other AI language models for quick and easy answers then there is a problem with the lesson, Harouni believes.

“We have to create assignments that push [students] to the point where they have to question what is the framework that is being used here and what would it mean for me to radically change this framework,” he says.

Harouni recently wrote about how he used ChatGPT to spur higher-level thinking among his students at HGSE when he presented them with a challenging case study that had no easy solutions. The students’ initial responses were no better than the chatbot’s ideas. Instead “it was after ChatGPT reflected to the students their failure of imagination that they could begin to think of options that they, or any automatic language scrawler, would not have readily reached for,” he explained in a co-authored article for Wired .  

Additional Resources:

• "ChatGPT Is Unoriginal — and Exactly What Humans Need" by Houman Harouni and Dana Karout
• Harvard EdCast: Educating in a World of Artificial Intelligence
• Students: AI is Part of Your World
• Sal Khan on Innovations in the Classroom

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The Ultimate Guide to Classroom AI in 2024

Ausbert Generoso

In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to teaching is no longer sufficient to meet the diverse needs and learning styles of modern students. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) grows in prominence across industries, its transformative power in the education sector is impossible to ignore. More and more teachers are adopting readily available Classroom AI tools to stay ahead of the curve and cut down significant time spent on tedious and menial tasks. AI technology which was once confined to science fiction, is now reshaping the landscape of education at an unstoppable pace. 

Classroom AI offers various solutions to the problems in traditional classroom from providing personalised teaching experiences and real-time feedback, to instant classroom quiz generation and more. By leveraging the power of Classroom AI, teachers can break free from the constraints of time and resources, enabling them to focus on what truly matters – fostering a passion for learning and inspiring the next generation of thinkers, innovators, and leaders.

In this comprehensive guide, we will take you on a journey through the world of AI in education , exploring its various applications, benefits, and best practices. Whether you are a seasoned educator looking to revolutionize your teaching methods or a curious newcomer eager to embrace the latest Classroom AI technologies, this guide is your gateway to creating a future-ready classroom, powered by the cutting-edge solutions of Classroom AI. 

Classroom AI

Classroom AI refers to the use of AI technologies, algorithms and tools in various educational settings to increase teachers’ efficiency and enhance the learning experience for students. 

By leveraging classroom AI, educators can optimize their teaching strategies, cut down time on administrative tasks, and foster a more engaging and innovative learning environment for students. 

The primary benefits of integrating Classroom AI include:

• Personalized learning : AI technologies can adapt to each student’s unique strengths and weaknesses and customise learning materials based on individual learning patterns, and curate tailored content and recommendations for each student, unlocking their full potentials.
• Automated grading : Grading can now be streamlined through AI-powered systems, and these technologies can also provide real-time feedback to individual students, freeing up valuable hours for teachers to engage with their students on a deeper level. 
• Learning analytics : AI technologies are also capable to drive data insights offer invaluable support to educators in identifying students who may need extra attention, enabling early intervention and improved academic outcomes.
• Better classroom management : Classroom AI tools can be teachers’ best companion in assisting them to complete menial and tedious administrative tasks including scheduling and organising educational materials. 

When ChatGPT became and internet sensation overnight and a flurry of AI technologies started to take the world by storm, there was a huge resistance (there still is) of teachers towards these AI technologies, worrying that they may replace human educators or dampen the learning process. However, the following statistics may convince you otherwise, if you are currently team “AI is a threat for teachers”:

• 20%-40% of teachers’ workload can be automated using current AI technologies. (Source: McKinsey & Company )
• AI marking tools can save 30-60% of teachers’ time spent on grading assignments. (Source: Gradescope )
• Adaptative and personalized AI learning systems can improve student test performance by 40%. (Source: Harvard Digital Initiative )

In short, AI can be a valuable ally to help educators navigate the world of teaching with endless possibilities, thorough striking a balance between technology and human interaction .

What is Classroom AI?

Classroom AI refers to the use of AI technologies and tools in various educational settings to increase teacher efficiency and enhance the learning experience for students. 

10 Brilliant Ways You Can Transform Your Classroom Instantly With AI

1. classroom ai as a quiz question generator.

🤔 Where the problem lies:

Preparing assessment questions and quizzes for students is an inevitable part of teaching, as they help assess student performance and identify areas for improvement. However, traditional methods of question and quiz generation can be time-consuming . Teachers often find themselves wracking their brains to turn their teaching materials into effective questions that test students’ knowledge. Often times, creating quiz and assessment questions marks the beginning of a nightmarish process, as educators must also consider making the questions interactive, engaging, and aligned with educational goals and needs.

💡 The modern Classroom AI solution:  

AI-powered quiz question generators are the saviours to save teachers hours of time creating quiz and assessment questions for their students. With the current AI technologies, teachers can now rely on AI to generate relevant and accurate questions tailored to their teaching needs and goals in a few clicks without worrying about the AI returning with nonsensical questions unfit for teaching.

🚀 Classroom AI Tool you can try: ClassPoint AI

Enter ClassPoint AI – a quiz question generator which can help you generate quiz and assessment questions instantly, based on your teaching content. Powered by OpenAI, ClassPoint AI scans your PowerPoint presentation slides and curates accurate questions based on the slide content. These questions are fully customizable, allowing you to choose different question types, languages, and Bloom Taxonomy levels according to your teaching goals and needs.

The magic does not stop here. You can easily turn the questions you generated into a thrilling game or competition using the built-in gamification features in ClassPoint . With ClassPoint AI, you wield the wand of student engagement, and the power to create an immersive and dynamic teaching environment effortlessly!

2. Classroom AI as a smart classroom assistant

Teachers often find it challenging to cater to the diverse needs of their students , as each learner has unique strengths and weaknesses. It can be overwhelming to identify the right resources and materials that suit every student’s learning style, leading to potential gaps in understanding and engagement.

💡 The modern Classroom AI solution:

Smart classroom assistants are here to help! These AI-powered companions act as your virtual support system, leveraging data analytics and AI algorithms to provide personalized learning paths for each student. By analyzing individual performance data and preferences, smart classroom assistants recommend resources tailored to meet the specific needs of students, ensuring they learn at their own pace and in a way that resonates with them.

🚀 Classroom AI Tool you can try: Khan Academy’s Personalized Learning Platform

Khan Academy , a renowned online educational platform, is an excellent example of a smart classroom assistant. Their personalized learning platform utilizes AI algorithms to analyze students’ progress and proficiency across various subjects. Based on this data, it recommends a customized learning path for each student, offering relevant exercises, video lessons, and quizzes to address their individual learning gaps. The platform continuously adapts based on students’ performance, ensuring that they receive the right support precisely when they need it.

With smart classroom assistants in their corner, teachers can support their students more effectively, creating an engaging and dynamic learning environment that nurtures academic growth and fosters a love for learning.

3. Classroom AI as an AI grading assistant

🤔 Where the problem lies :

Grading stacks of assignments and assessments can be an overwhelming and time-consuming nightmare. The hours spent meticulously checking multiple-choice questions, essays, and short answers can lead to burnout, taking away precious time that could be better used for providing personalized feedback and guidance to your students.

Fear not, as there’s an innovative and efficient solution at your fingertips! Enter AI-Powered Grading —a groundbreaking technology that takes the grading burden off your shoulders. With the help of advanced machine learning algorithms, AI can accurately assess student responses, providing quick and precise evaluations for multiple-choice questions, essays, and even coding assignments.

🚀 Classroom AI tool you can try: Gradescope’s AI Grading Feature

A shining example of this modern marvel is Gradescope ‘s AI Grading feature. This incredible tool saves you countless hours by analyzing and grading various types of assignments with impressive accuracy. You can define rubrics and grading criteria, and Gradescope’s AI efficiently applies them to evaluate student submissions. As a result, you can dedicate more time to offering personalized feedback and one-on-one support to your students.

With AI-Powered Grading, bid farewell to grading nightmares, and embrace a new era of efficient and effective assessment. Reclaim your valuable time and devote it to nurturing your students’ growth, fostering a vibrant and inspiring learning environment that propels them toward academic excellence.

4. Classroom AI as a multilingual guide

Language barriers can be a significant obstacle to effective communication and learning in diverse classrooms. Students from various linguistic backgrounds may struggle to understand and participate fully in lessons conducted in a language that is not their native tongue.

Unlock multilingual fluency with AI Language Learning! This advanced method leverages the power of AI to facilitate language acquisition and make language learning engaging and effective.

🚀 Classroom AI Tool you can try: Duolingo’s AI-Powered Language Learning Platform

Say “Hola,” “Bonjour,” or “你好” to Duolingo ‘s AI-Powered Language Learning Platform! This exceptional tool offers an enjoyable and personalized language learning experience . Through AI-driven algorithms, Duolingo assesses learners’ proficiency levels and adapts the curriculum accordingly. Students receive bite-sized lessons, quizzes, and interactive activities that focus on their specific learning needs, helping them gain fluency in a new language at their own pace.

Break down language barriers with AI Language Learning, and step into a harmonious and inclusive classroom—a melting pot of cultures and ideas, where diversity is celebrated. Embrace the power of AI as a bridge that connects young minds across borders, inspiring global understanding and empathy.

5. Classroom AI as a 24/7 support bot for students

As a teacher, you understand the importance of providing timely and effective support to your students. However, it can be challenging to be available 24/7 to answer their questions and provide assistance, especially when they are working on homework or assignments outside of class hours. This lack of immediate support may lead to students feeling frustrated and discouraged in their learning journey.

💡 The modern solution now:

Fear not, for AI Chatbots are here to support you and your students alike! These virtual assistants act as reliable homework saviors, providing instant help when your students need it the most. With their vast knowledge and problem-solving abilities, AI Chatbots offer real-time explanations and step-by-step guidance , ensuring that your students receive the help they require, precisely when they need it.

🚀 Classroom AI Tool you can try : Socratic by Google

Introducing Socratic , an AI-powered chatbot by Google, as your ultimate homework savior! With Socratic, your students can snap a photo of a problem or type in a question, and the chatbot uses AI algorithms to deliver detailed explanations and solutions. Whether it’s algebra, physics, or history, Socratic covers a wide range of subjects, making learning more accessible and enjoyable.

With AI Chatbots by your side, you can provide extended support to your students beyond regular class hours. Empower your students to become independent learners, while knowing that they have a reliable resource to turn to when they need assistance.

6. Classroom AI as a personalized virtual tutor

Striving to provide individualized attention and support to each student has become a staple in every teacher’s must-do list. However, with large class sizes and limited time, it can be challenging to cater to the unique needs and learning styles of every student. Some students may struggle with certain concepts, while others may excel and need further challenges.

Enter Virtual AI Tutor—a personalized tutoring companion that addresses the unique learning needs of each student. Powered by advanced AI algorithms, virtual tutor technologies analyze student performance data, identifying areas where they need additional guidance and support. With personalized lessons and feedback, Virtual AI Tutor apps can help students grasp complex concepts while encouraging them to explore advanced topics based on their strengths.

🚀 Classroom AI Tool you can try : Knewton’s Adaptive Learning Platform

Say hello to Knewton ‘s Adaptive Learning Platform, your ultimate Virtual AI Tutor! Knewton’s platform utilizes AI to assess each student’s proficiency level and adapt the curriculum accordingly. Through interactive lessons and quizzes, it provides targeted content and practice opportunities, ensuring that each student progresses at their optimal pace.

With your Virtual AI Tutor by your side, you can create a dynamic and personalized learning experience for every student. No one is left behind, and no one feels held back. Embrace the power of AI in education , and witness how your Virtual AI Tutor transforms the learning journey, making it engaging, effective, and empowering for every student in your classroom.

7. Classroom AI as an admin and teaching assistant

Running a classroom involves juggling numerous administrative tasks that can consume a significant amount of your time. From managing attendance records to organizing lesson materials, these administrative responsibilities can leave you with limited room for focusing on what truly matters—your students’ learning and growth.

Here comes the power of a Virtual Classroom Organizer —an AI Administrative Assistant that streamlines and automates time-consuming administrative tasks. Powered by AI, emerging virtual assistants for educators take care of organizing lesson plans, tracking attendance, and managing assignments, giving you more time to engage with your students and deliver meaningful lessons.

🚀 Classroom AI Tool you can try : AI-Powered Google Classroom

All teachers are familiar with Google Classroom – the ultimate Virtual Classroom Organizer and Teaching Companion. The best part is, Google Classroom has introduced AI capabilities that make organizing and managing your virtual classroom a breeze.

Apart from creating and distributing assignments to providing real-time feedback, teachers can now also add interactive questions to YouTube videos and assign it to students, as well as turn existing teaching content into interactive assignments with personalised feedback through Google Classroom new “practice sets” feature.

Google Classroom not just simplifies the administrative aspects of teaching, it also empowers you to be more present and effective in guiding your students’ learning journey. So, leverage AI technologies in Google Classroom to streamline your teaching journey and make learning more interactive and engaging without breaking a sweat!

8. Classroom AI as a lesson planner

🤔 Where the problem lies:  

Crafting engaging and effective lesson plans can be a time-consuming challenge for educators. The process often involves extensive research, content alignment with curriculum standards, and creating activities that cater to diverse learning needs—all while striving to keep lessons exciting and fresh.

Step forward, AI Lesson Planning —your ultimate time-saving ally! AI-powered lesson planning tools utilize advanced algorithms to analyze curriculum requirements and student data, generating personalized lesson plans that align perfectly with learning objectives. With AI by your side, you can reclaim valuable time and focus on what you do best—inspiring and empowering your students.

🚀 Classroom AI Tool you can try : Planboard by Chalk

Take it easy with Planboard by Chalk , your innovative AI Lesson Planning partner! Planboard’s AI-driven platform assists you in effortlessly crafting engaging lessons. By suggesting relevant activities, resources, and assessments tailored to your students’ needs, Planboard helps you design dynamic learning experiences that ignite curiosity and foster meaningful understanding.

Unleash your creativity with AI Lesson Planning, where innovative ideas flow like a river, and each lesson springs to life with excitement and wonder. Take the power of AI as a muse that inspires fresh approaches to teaching, making learning an exhilarating adventure for both you and your students.

9. Classroom AI as a simulation magician

In traditional classroom setting, classroom teaching is often confined within the four walls of the classroom. As a teacher, you understand the need to provide practical and hands-on experiences for your students for their holistic development. However, arranging frequent real-life simulations and scenarios in the classroom can be challenging due to various constraints , such as time, resources, and safety concerns.

💡 The Classroom AI solution:

Introducing AI-powered Classroom Simulations—a powerful tool that brings real-world experiences directly into your classroom ! AI simulations allow you to create a wide range of scenarios, from historical events to scientific experiments, providing your students with immersive and authentic learning opportunities.

🚀 Classroom AI Tool you can try: VirBELA’s AI Classroom

Say hello to VirBELA ‘s AI Classroom—a groundbreaking platform for simulating classroom scenarios! This virtual environment offers a realistic and interactive experience for your students to engage in practical exercises. From conducting virtual science experiments to participating in historical reenactments, VirBELA’s AI-powered simulations empower your students to learn by doing, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Extend learning beyond the classroom walls where imagination knows no bounds. Watch as your students become adventurers, exploring new worlds of knowledge with boundless curiosity and enthusiasm.

10. As an analyst of student performance

Recognizing students who may be struggling or in need of additional support can be a daunting task. With large class sizes and limited one-on-one time, it’s challenging to identify those who may be falling behind or facing difficulties.

Make way for AI Detectives—an ingenious solution that harnesses the power of AI to identify students in need of extra support. AI-powered analytics analyze various data points, including academic performance, attendance records, and engagement levels, providing valuable insights to help you understand your students better and offer targeted assistance.

🚀 Classroom AI Tool you can try : Edsby’s AI Analytics

Meet Edsby ‘s AI Analytics, a comprehensive platform designed to support you in understanding your students’ needs. By leveraging AI to analyze student data and generate actionable reports, Edsby’s AI Analytics helps you identify patterns and trends, allowing you to intervene proactively and offer personalized support to each student.

Become an AI Detective, unlocking the potential of every student, ensuring no one is left behind, and paving the way for an inclusive and nurturing learning journey. Analyze student data down to the base and correct what needs correction, and continuously improve learning outcomes as you go.

For even more ways you can integrate AI in your classroom , from lesson planning and plagiarism checking, to creating teaching slides deck instantly, read these:

How Ai is used in Education & 10 Ways You Can Too

7 Best AI Tools For Teachers That Will Save You Time in 2023

The 11 Best Free AI PowerPoint Generators in 2023 Compared

46 Best ChatGPT Alternatives (ChatGPT is Not the Only Tool for Education!)

You can also get creative by fully utilizing the distinguished chatbot, Sir ChatGPT in your classroom Here we shared 100+ ChatGPT prompts and examples in classroom teaching you can copy and use right away!

Classroom AI Best Practices (You Can Never Go Wrong With Them!)

As you have seen so far, Classroom AI holds tremendous potential to transform the educational landscape, but to make the most of this technology, we have compiled this list of best practices and guidelines for using AI in the classroom effectively:

• Identify educational goals you want to achieve using classroom AI : Instead of rushing to try out all available AI tools in the market, thew wiser move is to first identify the goals you want to achieve using these AI tools. Whether it is improving student performance, personalizing learning, or streamlining administrative tasks, having clear objectives in mind is the first step to help you select the right classroom AI tools to be implemented.
• Small pilot testing : If you are unsure of the impact a classroom AI tool can bring, you can implement the tool in small pilot programs with smaller groups of students or with your colleagues before scaling it across the entire classroom. This allows you to assess its impact, gather feedback, and make necessary adjustments. 
• Review classroom AI performance : It is also important for educators to continuously evaluate the use of Classroom AI to identify areas for improvement and ensure that it is meeting your educational goals. You can monitor feedback from teachers, students, and other stakeholders to refine your classroom AI approach.
• Identify potential bias : Since classroom AI technologies are trained using large data set, it is possible that some of these tools can hold potential biases based on the data set they are trained on. So it is important for educators to ensure that the classroom AI tools they use promote fairness, inclusivity, and diversity by being mindful of potential biases in AI-generated content.
• Stay updated : Educators should also stay updated with the latest advancements and trends in AI not only to leverage the most innovative Classroom AI, but also to stay informed with the latest methodologies or debates in the realm, to integrating AI more effectively into their teaching practices. 
• Collaboration among teachers : If possible, teachers should also collaborate with other teachers to share best practices, success stories, and challenges related to Classroom AI. Open communication channels allow for continuous improvement and improvement of classroom AI practices for the best of our students. 
• Human grading and feedback : While AI can automate grading to save time, do not forget to review the AI-graded work from time to time and add your own input, as the element of human grading provides valuable insights on its own and allows you to foster a personal connection with students. 
• Classroom AI as an assistant, not a replacemen t: Remember that Classroom AI tools should complement human teaching, not replace it! Teachers should always treat Classroom AI tools as their assistants or companions, enhancing their instructional methods rather than letting AI take the driver’s seat and gradually removing their active role as educators. 

By following these best practices, and keeping in mind these potential risks of AI , you can harness the full potential of Classroom AI to create an innovate and future-ready learning environment and adequately prepares students for success in an AI-driven world.

Final Thoughts

AI paves the way for an exciting era in education, where classrooms become vibrant centers of creativity and personalized learning. As educators and teachers, you play a vital role in this transformation, and rest assured, AI is not here to replace you. Instead, it stands as a powerful ally, enriching your teaching practice and empowering you to provide the best possible learning experiences for your students.

So, teachers, instead of seeing AI as a threat – let’s embrace the magic of AI and shape an extraordinary educational journey . Maximize AI’s potential to its fullest, commanding it to meet the unique needs of your students and classroom as the main technology driver. With AI as your trusted partner, watch as your students grow, learn, and become empowered to navigate the ever-changing world with confidence and curiosity.

Chin up! We’ve got a a future of boundless possibilities in education to craft, where every student’s potential is unlocked, and learning becomes a captivating adventure for all.

For the latest tips, trends, tools and a comprehensive guide to AI in education, read our A-Z guide to AI in education !

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A new tool helps teachers detect if AI wrote an assignment

Janet W. Lee

Several big school districts such as New York and Los Angeles have blocked access to a new chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to produce essays. One student has a new tool to help.

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Challenging technology to serve the public good.

Teachers Are Using AI to Create New Worlds, Help Students with Homework, and Teach English

Machine Learning

Around the world, these seven teachers are making AI work for them and their students By Ross Teixeira

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Welcome to The Markup, where we use investigative reporting, data analysis, and software engineering to challenge technology to serve the public good. Sign up for  Klaxon , a newsletter that delivers our stories and tools directly to your inbox.

AI seems to be everywhere these days—and more and more, that includes the classroom. Teachers are racing to reckon with the kinds of AI tools, like ChatGPT, that let students breeze through assignments. But beyond discussions of what counts as “cheating,” what happens when teachers use AI?

Frequently overworked and underpaid, teachers are less often talked about as users of time-saving AI tools. This raises many questions: Can such tools be trusted to create curriculum? What happens to the student data that gets fed into any of the myriad new AI startups? Will human teachers one day be replaced?

In this article, seven teachers across the world share their insights on AI tools for educators. You will hear a host of varied opinions and perspectives on everything from whether AI could hasten the decline of learning foreign languages to whether AI-generated lesson plans are an infringement on teachers’ rights. A common theme emerged from those we spoke with: just as the internet changed education, AI tools are here to stay, and it is prudent for teachers to adapt.

Vincent Scotto

K-12 STEAM Coordinator at Pittsburgh Public Schools (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

When I first approached Vincent Scotto, a STEAM coordinator at Pittsburgh Public Schools, he tested me. Before honoring my request to interview him about how his district uses AI, he asked me to prove I was a human. Prior to this, I had never considered myself a robot, but here’s what I wrote in my initial message to Scotto:

As I read it over, it was humbling to realize how effortlessly an AI language model could have spit out my message. I braced myself for a conversation with someone I assumed would be a steadfast AI skeptic.

After I passed his challenge, however, I soon learned that he was not such a Luddite at all. Scotto’s views echo the views of many teachers I talked to: with the right safeguards, AI tools can save teachers enormous amounts of time while giving students new, creative ways to explore and practice material.

Scotto has worked in education for over 15 years, starting as an elementary school teacher focused mainly on math and science and working up to his current position as a STEAM coordinator. When he realized that his district did not have a plan for computer science education, he worked to help make one, turning it into a “big focal point” of his district. With the aid of a Pennsylvania state grant , Scotto has worked to make Pittsburgh Public Schools “more 21st century ready,” including readying the district for the coming wave of generative AI.

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“Most of my role is expanding teachers’ ability to serve students in the way that they always intended when they became a teacher,” he said. But the reality of being a teacher is often very different from how budding teachers imagine it to be. “I’m meeting with a teacher and I’ll ask them how things are going, and usually it’s ‘I’m swamped,’ you know. ‘I don’t have time to talk right now, I still haven’t submitted my lesson plans’ or something to that effect.”

Scotto said he is always looking for new tools to save teachers time, and generative AI is one of his favorite new recommendations—especially tools that are geared toward teachers who are less familiar with technology. MagicSchool AI, a suite of educational AI tools, is one of the most user-friendly tools that Scotto has found, and he frequently demonstrates it to busy teachers.

“I’ll ask them, ‘What’s the topic that you’re going to do for next week?’” he said. Then he plugs the topic into MagicSchool AI, along with his estimation of how much class time that teacher has to teach the particular subject, and lets the AI generate a set of lesson plans. “When a teacher sees how fast [the AI works], they immediately sign up.”

One of Scotto’s greatest fears is privacy, and he recommends that teachers not put any personally identifying information about students—even anonymous demographic information—into AI tools, unless the tool has been specifically approved by the district’s board of education. “For example, ‘My class has 7 Black students, 3 White students’… don’t even put information like that because eventually it becomes a collective of information that you’ve input and… they could make a profile on your students.” He said he worries that the data could be shared or sold to third parties which may use that data for different purposes, putting students at risk now or “50 years from now.” 

“We cannot rely on ‘the goodness’ of an organization that intentionally collects data,” Scotto said.

He also stressed the importance of AI policy in protecting students: “People on the ground level, without guidance, may make decisions that [break] policy or law unintentionally. Without AI policy at the federal, state, and local level, these accidents can happen and likely are happening in isolation,” he said.

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On the issue of copyright, his views were mixed: “Any teacher will tell you that they have borrowed and stolen every idea they’ve had for their classroom. Not a single teacher I know believes they have an original lesson plan.” 

He referred me to Teachers Pay Teachers, an Etsy-like online marketplace for teaching materials. “Kids just deserve the best education they can get, and if that means borrowing lesson plans from a bot, I’ll take it. If we’re just teaching lessons, it doesn’t really matter where we got it from. And if the large corporations such as, you know, Pearson, want to sue an individual teacher for copying their stuff with AI, good luck. We’re all in trouble. It is a battle they will lose in the end, because we’ll just stop purchasing their material all together. So it’s a double-edged sword in that way.”

His concerns from AI and copyright come not from the classroom, but on a personal level. “I’m into music and art, and there’s a big worry that artists will lose their jobs, their life blood, because we’re having AI create renditions of Andy Warhol, like, peaches, you know. So I personally don’t use those just because I have personal connections with people that it upsets.” 

However, Scotto said that he did not have a “moral qualm” for a couple reasons: “People who really care about art are not buying things that were created by, you know, pixels. They’re looking for a human-created thing with brush strokes and all these things.”

Second, Scotto frequently searches online for Creative Commons images to use in his presentations, and sees no harm in asking an AI to step in. “Could I use a graphics AI to come up with something really quickly, and it would serve my purpose? I sure could. In that instance, it would be innocuous.” Trying to sell AI art or pass it off as your own, however, is “where… it gets into a conundrum.”

Ultimately, just as the calculator revolutionized how students approach math, Scotto thinks AI will change education and teachers should start to adapt. “You’ve got to get in front of [AI] even if you don’t have the kids use it. You’ve got to know what this is, what it’s capable of.”

Sean Fennessy

Teacher at Olney High School, Philadelphia

Sean Fennessy, a geometry teacher, has been in and out of education for around 15 years, dabbling in IT, web design, and activism. His diverse teaching experience has led him to embrace an “unschooling” approach driven by exploration. He uses ChatGPT heavily in the classroom to teach students a lot more than just how to solve math problems. 

“So what I do with AI for example, in my classroom, is I have each class have a government, or each class is a country. And I vested them with resources.” Fennessy uses ChatGPT to create a fictional universe, “Fennlandia,” in which students hold elections, stage uprisings, and even purchase snacks in the classroom. He uses the paid version of ChatGPT, allowing him to create a custom chatbot that is confined to this fantasy world. 

What does this have to do with geometry? 

“The most important part [of geometry] is the application of logic, right? I mean, no one’s going on doing trigonometric functions in the real world… And honestly all of the ones who do, they’re gonna [use] a calculator, right?” 

Instead, Fennessy teaches students how to use ChatGPT to code their own small applications to solve problems by using clear, logical language: “AI is going to be really literal about what you’re putting in,” he said, so students must learn to be precise with their instructions. When he demonstrated this approach to his principal in an impromptu classroom observation, his principal was enthusiastic.

His motivations aren’t hidden: “I understand geometry is the end of the line for a lot of my kids. And so, what am I going to give them that’s gonna be useful when they leave here?”

Beyond Fennlandia, he’s used it for other tasks, like generating letters of recommendation for students. He likens ChatGPT to his own children and has watched its skills evolve at roughly the same pace. “It really felt like I was talking to an incredibly bright and amazingly knowledgeable version of my five-year-old for a little while. And then it kind of moved on and I’m like, oh this is like talking to my nine-year-old.” Today, he says, “It’s a college [level] or beyond.”

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Of course, not all of Fennessy’s uses for ChatGPT are fantasy. One thing he’s working on for the next semester is creating longer projects that students can complete concurrently with each unit of the geometry course. “One of the problems with projects, especially in math, is always like hey, here’s this project that’s supposed to be a capstone… but you haven’t learned half of [the material] yet.” Fennessy hopes to use ChatGPT to fix this problem by creating projects that unfold over time, to see the bigger picture of how to apply their skills.

Fennessy isn’t frustrated when students cheat with or without AI, but it “doesn’t look like a really good use of [students’] time,” he said. If he catches a student cheating, he asks them to solve new problems on the board to test their understanding.

As far as worrying about whether technology will ever replace him, Fennessy says he firmly believes the “emotional support of a teacher cannot be replaced.” If AI helps his ability to be a cheerleader for his students and spend more one-on-one time  with them, then he said he is all for it.

Kim Maybin

Tech Integration Specialist at Ozark City Schools (Ozark, AL)

Kim Maybin taught seventh-grade language arts for the majority of her career. When the opportunity to become a technology integration specialist opened up, she jumped on it. Now she oversees around 200 teachers in her district, training them on using emerging technology to be more effective and efficient with what she calls a “work smarter, not harder mentality… because you’re literally exhausted in that classroom,” she said.

When recommending tools for teachers, cost is one of her main factors: “I’m always looking for something free because we don’t have a lot of money to spend on tools.”

Maybin frequently mentors teachers on how to create custom material for different students using AI tools. As a middle school teacher, she often found herself creating additional structure or “sentence starters” to help struggling students complete their assignments and generating multiple versions of tests that target different depths of knowledge, depending on individual student needs. “Why not let [AI] make the two tests for me? Because now I have more time to focus on the bigger needs in my classroom.”

Maybin thinks it is imperative that teachers get familiar with AI and teach students how to use it appropriately. “If you don’t teach the students how to use it, they are gonna abuse it,” she said. Many of the teachers Maybin works with are initially afraid of the potential for students to cheat with AI, and so they try to stay away from AI in all forms. But if a teacher never mentions AI, she said, students might think they are getting the upper hand on an unaware teacher. “When the students are using it, [teachers are] like ‘They’re using AI!’ and, well, you didn’t mention it!”

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Instead, she feels teachers need to get more creative by creating “AI-proof” assignments. It’s less difficult than it may sound. Tools like ChatGPT are terrible, she said, at tasks like solving an AP English exam because they don’t have emotions or personal experiences that AP graders are looking for. Requiring students to thoughtfully decide which aspects of their own lives are relevant to the topic of an essay engages them in the subject in a uniquely human way.

Maybin’s district may be a barrier to the adoption of AI by students and teachers alike. Due to privacy concerns, her district initially banned all AI tools. It took convincing from Maybin for her district to begin opening access to AI for teachers, but even then, each application has to be explicitly approved. The tools are still off limits for students, who use locked-down Chromebooks that permit only a small number of education-related programs—both for privacy reasons and concerns about plagiarism. 

For teachers who are excited about AI tools, Maybin said they should be aware of being overly trusting of the tools’ accuracy. Maybin recalled that her colleague recommended teachers query ChatGPT about how comfortable it was with a certain topic on a scale from one to 10. “And if ChatGPT gives you nine or 10… it’s really comfortable. [If] it gives you three or four… you need to check it,” although she recommends verifying ChatGPT’s responses no matter the level of its claimed expertise.

Peter Amoabil

Executive Director, Rural Literacy Solutions (Tamale, Ghana)

Tamale, Ghana is one of the fastest growing cities in West Africa . It is also the capital of Northern Ghana, the region of Ghana with the lowest literacy rates across all ages. Peter Amoabil has been fighting to change that. A teacher for over 14 years, Amoabil balances his duties as a full-time teacher with directing Rural Literacy Solutions, a nonprofit he founded in 2019 to close the literacy gap by offering after-school English literacy programs in partnership with local primary schools.

Recently, Amoabil has been sharing new AI tools to help his teachers. I told him that when I tested an AI tool to generate an explanation of a random topic at a second-grade reading level, the text included words that a second-grade student would not be expected to know. As it turned out, Amoabil found the same thing. “The secret about AI is picking the right tool you need at the moment,” he said.

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Another challenge he sees with AI tools is their understanding of local languages. English is the national language of Ghana, so students are expected to read and write English, but the most widely spoken language in northern Ghana is Dagbani. Amoabil has used translation tools several times to translate textbooks into Dagbani, and he often needs to manually edit the translation afterwards to correct inaccuracies.

Despite the challenges, he’s a big fan of many of the tools, including Storybook AI , which generates stories based on a prompt. Amoabil’s teachers have found it to be a great way to create additional reading materials for students to practice reading, while also keeping students engaged by letting them generate stories on any topic they are interested in. He said his students are fascinated by AI and often ask how it works.

Amoabil’s teachers range in age from 26 to 59 years old—60 is the retirement age in Ghana—and most of them are excited about using AI tools. The benefits of Amoabil’s after-school programs are clear: he’s seen English literacy rise substantially for enrolled fourth graders. Amoabil credited AI for some of the improvement, saying that it has helped teachers with a large portion of their workload.

Aaron Shi

Training Coordinator in the Foreign Language Teaching and Resources Center, National Taiwan University

Aaron Shi taught English for over nine years before becoming a teacher training coordinator at the Foreign Language Teaching and Resources Center at National Taiwan University (NTU) in 2022. He mostly works with experienced professors and teachers who’ve been teaching English and other foreign languages, including many who have been teaching college for 10 to 20 years.

Among the teachers that Shi trains, he said he has found older teachers to be generally more interested in learning about AI tools than younger ones. Shi said that many young teachers were too busy fighting for tenure to consider new teaching methods or that they simply felt more comfortable experimenting with AI tools on their own.

One of the most powerful uses of AI, according to Shi, is to create free teaching materials. He envisions a world in which AI can provide personalized learning materials for each student without the prohibitive cost barrier of standardized textbooks.

About 60 to 70 percent of courses at NTU are taught in English, and that number is likely to increase as the Taiwanese government pushes for English to become a required language by 2030. Some of the greatest opposition to this policy has been from teachers: The National Federation of Teachers Unions (NFTU) has argued that teachers are not prepared to teach subjects in English when they are not fluent in English themselves, and students may suffer for the same reason.

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Shi said AI tools can help facilitate cross-cultural communication in ways that support and even go beyond the government’s goals for bilingual education. He said that even if a student does not learn English well, AI tools can help students interact with the English-speaking world. This is especially true for students who choose to stay in Taiwan after graduation and who may not use English frequently in the future compared to those who move abroad.

However, tools that remove language barriers also pose a threat to languages themselves, Shi said. Shi said that the rapid adoption of AI tools may accelerate the decline of Taiwanese languages. According to Shi, Taiwanese people don’t want to speak the same Mandarin language that people in China speak for political reasons, and mainstream AI language models don’t incorporate enough Taiwanese Mandarin sources for results to sound natural.

Along with the rapid adoption of TikTok by young Taiwanese—which he said features predominantly content from China—Shi sees a continuing decline in the standard for Taiwanese Mandarin, as people become less able to differentiate between “authentic” or “good” Taiwanese Mandarin and Standard Chinese.

The same is true for other Taiwanese languages, like Taiwanese Hokkien and the indigenous Formosan languages. “It is hard for AI to be proficient in these languages due to the very limited amount of data,” he wrote in a Facebook message after our interview. “I think the Hokkien dialect (or the Taiwanese language) can also be difficult for AIs to learn, but the number of active users of this dialect/language is, at least, much more than those of the Formosan languages.”

Shi said AI won’t support indigenous languages because it’s not commercially viable to use them. He also said some of these issues are baked into the education system. According to Shi, many parents think it’s O.K. for primary schools to teach indigenous languages in those areas, but in secondary school, students start competing to gain access to better colleges, so they need to learn Chinese and English in order to stay competitive.

Shi said that teachers remain essential to the classroom for the foreseeable future. Even if it is possible to generate teaching materials for an entire course with AI, two teachers might create entirely different versions of the same course simply because of how they prompt the AI. He said this highlighted the importance of educators: knowing how to plan and organize a course requires human insight.

Karle Delo

Curriculum Director and EdTech Influencer, Michigan

Karle Delo, a science teacher and curriculum director in Michigan—and edtech influencer as “CoachKarle” on TikTok —shares reviews of AI tools with teachers worldwide. She has personally tried and reviewed hundreds of AI tools for teachers, and she walked me through how a teacher might apply them in practice.

Delo had me imagine a teacher trying to find an exciting way to teach a lesson on volcanoes and earthquakes. There are five ways she describes AI tools as being handy for this lesson:

• They can be a brainstorming buddy for creative ideas. "Maybe AI could help me think of a 'Would you rather?' question or a real-world scenario." 
• AI tools can parse a video about volcanoes that the teacher might play for students, and generate a bullet point summary for students to refer to. 
• An AI could differentiate learning and reproduce an article about a real-world earthquake at different reading levels for different students.
• The AI can take real-world earthquake data and write an easily readable analysis. "Normally I'd have to purchase a really, really good curriculum, or I'd have to spend a lot of time putting [the data] in a format that my students can digest because if I just look up earthquake and volcano data, it's probably going to be not in a very student-friendly format.” 
• AI is great at generating review questions for students to practice the material.

While AI tools can be powerful for teachers, Delo reminds teachers that they need to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. “AI could be used to create busy work for kids and that’s not very meaningful,” she said, and teachers might end up with boring slide decks and low-quality multiple-choice quizzes. 

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Delo said that since the internet made just about anything a Google search away, science education has evolved from lecturing on rote facts to engaging students in a process of analysis. In the same way, she believes teachers should approach AI with honest conversations about its potential.

Some teachers see AI tools as closing gaps in access to quality education materials. According to Delo, there is a common misconception that all teachers at all schools are expected to create their lessons from scratch. In reality, it’s common for teachers and districts to purchase curricula from various companies. In the past, this has led to wealthier schools having access to better curricula, while less wealthy schools need to create more content on their own. But AI can help bridge that gap. “If I were a parent, I would want my kid to have a teacher that uses AI,” she said.

She cautions teachers, however, to adhere to privacy laws regarding the use of AI tools. “I know ChatGPT is not approved for use by anyone under the age of 13. When an AI tool has an age restriction, schools better follow it.”

Ultimately, Delo does not see AI replacing teachers anytime soon. “When you think about your favorite teacher, it’s usually a teacher who inspired you. I’ve never really been inspired by AI. I’ve gotten excited about it, but I’ve never been like ‘Wow, this ChatGPT really believes in me today, and that feels good,’” she said. “If technology could have been a replacement or a silver bullet for education, then students would [have] come out of the pandemic with flying colors. And we didn’t see that. We saw that a lot of students struggled with online learning. So I do think the human element of teaching is so important.”

Nathaniel Decker

Nathaniel Decker, an English, poetry, and public speaking teacher in Philadelphia, said he was worried that AI tools would change expectations of teacher productivity. “Teachers using these AI programs to be efficient and save themselves time is great,” he said. 

“I’m not anti-technology, anti-automation. I’m anti those things replacing the opportunity for people to make a living off of their work,” he said. Decker, who is involved in the school union, said that teachers should have control over their own use of AI. “I’m fine with teachers using AI, as long as we’re not forced to use AI.”

Decker also said teachers should be contractually in control of their IP, and that they should not be forced to give up their lesson plans to be used in an AI model. “I don’t trust that the people in charge are gonna have everyone’s best intentions at heart,” he said.

One useful area of AI tools for Decker is making sure that teaching materials hit certain mandatory standards from the district and discovering how existing materials might cover more standards than anyone realized. “I intend for this [lesson] to teach this skill, but [it] is also touching on these 12 other skills… That’s a cool way to use [AI] that I never would have thought to use.”

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When it comes to students using AI, Decker said, “Anything involving text, writing, or speaking is gonna be the trickiest” to handle as a teacher. When a student submits work to Decker that doesn’t make sense, he has a hard time telling whether the student is making a purposeful creative choice, struggling with the material, or using an AI to generate their work. He cares less about the end product than the creative process, so he does not want students using AI to skip this process. ChatGPT is still banned on Olney High School’s network.

Some teachers have begun to use AI to evaluate student work, but he said that teachers disagree on when it’s appropriate to do so. Decker said, “From an English teacher’s perspective, reading essays and poetry and giving feedback [with AI], I don’t think [teachers] should do that. I don’t know how they could do that in a way that’s differentiated to each students’ needs.” 

Decker said that he’d like an AI tool that could help find common problems across all student work for a topic. “If… AI could tell me, ‘This many students understood it, this many didn’t, here’s the issues that they had,’ that could be incredible,” he said. 

Eyeing the stack of papers that need to be graded over winter break, he said that he wished he could give feedback to students sooner, but he just didn’t have the time.

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Teachers Are Using AI to Create New Worlds, Help Students with Homework, and Teach English

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How to use AI to help with Homework

Homework is meant to reinforce classroom lessons and develop critical thinking skills. Yet stacked assignments with confusing concepts and tight deadlines often leave students overwhelmed and lacking deeply understood foundations.

This is where AI homework helper apps come in - your personalized tutor available 24/7 to explain challenging material conversationally until clarity clicks. AI capabilities transform homework from isolated frustration to engaging progression.

Let's explore top techniques for responsibly leveraging AI to master tricky homework across academic subjects. Say goodbye to late nights guessing answers alone!

Why Students Struggle Through Homework Alone

Attempting to power through homework solo often backfires due to:

1. Ambiguous Instructions - Remembering exact formatting needs or creative constraints can be tough. And complex academic language leaves guesswork for what a question is even asking.

2. Foundational Knowledge Gaps - New lessons build on assumed comprehended concepts from past courses. When fundamentals remain foggy, new material confuses further.

3. Fixed Resources - Attempting to teach yourself new material with just a textbook or sparse online searching provides limited perspectives. Some learning styles need alternate explanations.

4. Tight Deadlines - Getting stuck on one aspect delays completing further questions. And grading pressures magnify anxiety attempting new skills without sample applications.

"The assigned readings felt almost like a foreign language. I understood the overall topic but couldn't grasp key theories well enough to answer homework prompts correctly."

Thankfully AI advancement now provides students customizable support previously unavailable.

Why AI is a Game Changer for Personalized Academic Help

AI homework assistants excel by:

Explaining Concepts Conversationally - Using natural language interactions, AI helps break down confusing aspects into digestible steps while allowing iterative follow-up questions.

Meeting You At Your Level - AI assessment of knowledge gaps lets its explanations start basic before advancing to higher complexity tailored to you.

Providing Visual Examples - Rendering study aid graphics, idea maps, charts and more to suit different learning preferences with visuals assisting memory retention.

Recommending Related Resources - Suggesting complementary videos, textbook sections, online sources to dive deeper across diverse media.

Unlike one-size-fits-all paper textbooks, AI tutors adapt to individuals' pacing and trouble spots for true personalization. Students gain both autonomy and support exactly when needed.

AI technology has been a game changer for understanding the more complex concepts covered in my courses. Asking follow-up questions until a light bulb moment occurs with the AI tutor has led to huge academic confidence boosts and submitting homework on time without guesswork.

Now let's see step-by-step how leading homework helper platforms enable transformative assistance...

A Walkthrough of AI Homework Helpers in Action

Tools like Just Think make it simple to tap into AI knowledge without any app downloads. Here's how students can get homework clarity:

1. Submit Your Homework Question

Snap a photo of the question, copy/paste long-form text prompts into the app interface, or dictate queries aloud via voice notes. This initial input captures the assignment details to be solved.

2. Receive Detailed AI Explanations

The AI homework assistant then gets to work analyzing the question and your knowledge gaps before delivering personalized explanations to teach you step-by-step techniques for solving problems successfully.

Visual elements are incorporated where helpful to simplify complex processes through relationship mappings. Diagrams enhance memory and application for tricky concepts.

3. Ask Iterative Follow-Up Questions

Confused still? The AI allows back and forth dialogue through additional questions from you, then answering conversationally with tweaked vocabulary and examples tailored to the obstacles in your comprehension.

This interactivity removes feelings of being stuck on your own, instead building momentum towards that satisfied "aha!" moment.

Subjects Where AI Homework Help Excels

Here are academic areas where students gain the most from AI writing and comprehension support:

• Algebra, calculus, statistics concepts explained conversationally
• Step-by-step guidance on solving equations
• Personalized approaches if gaps in foundations
• Breaking down complex physics, chemistry, biology theories through diagrams
• Supplemental readings for enhanced understanding
• Math foundations refreshers relevant to scientific formulas
• Timeline visualizations for context around key events, people
• Primary source analyses
• Comparing biases and angles across historians

English Literature

• Summarizing themes across lengthy assigned readings
• Essay starter frameworks tuned to paper requirements
• Grammar and syntax error flagging for polished prose
• Real-time fixes for improving logic flow and efficiency
• Debugging assistance
• Code readability assessments

And many additional academic subjects are supported and expanding further as AI models continuously advance.

Responsible AI Usage for Optimizing Homework

With great power comes great responsibility. While collaborating with an AI homework helper unlocks huge efficiency gains, students should:

1. Use AI Explanations as Learning Springboards

The goal remains deeply comprehending material yourself, not just copying answers. Treat AI guidance as a tutor for unlocking clarity - master concepts explained to cement foundations.

2. Customize Guidance Around Your Strengths/Weaknesses

AI allows playbooks personalized for each student. Be transparent on knowledge gaps needing work so its approach targets areas precisely needing reinforcement.

3. Double Check AI Recommendations

As robust as underlying models may be, the chance of inaccuracies exists. Verify suggestions and fact check against other reputable sources when uncertain.

Following these best practices keeps your growth as the focus while responsibly optimizing academics.

Additional Homework Help Applications

While tackling challenging assignments takes prime advantage of AI powered homework assistance , students can utilize these personalized benefits for:

Studying & Exam Prep - Using conversational questioning to solidify understanding of core curriculum concepts across every subject.

Paper Proofreading & Editing - Getting objective feedback on draft coherence, grammar issues, and areas needing deeper analysis.

1-on-1 Lesson Support - Getting personalized tutoring from AI on topics you struggle most with via ongoing dialogue tailored to the obstacles blocking you.

Interactive Coding Environments - AI suggests tweaks for improving coding project efficiency, structure and offers industry best practice guidance relative to experience level.

The Future of AI & Education

As artificial intelligence research continues steadily improving machine learning models in areas like natural language processing, virtually every academic field will transform.

We're already seeing homework helper platforms acceleration due to capabilities like:

• Answering open-ended questions, not just formulas
• Lifelike dialogue vs rigid responses
• Faster processing of handwritten work
• Personalize guidance around dynamic knowledge

And in the coming years, increasing accountability around model transparency and ethical development will further cement AI assistants as trusted tutors. Soon getting stuck on assignments even in advanced courses will feel like a relic of the past.

Homework that once overwhelmed students attempting to teach themselves now has a personalized AI tutor reachable 24/7. Platforms like Just Think enable moving from confusion to clarity through natural dialogue tailored exactly to individual needs - no matter the academic subject.

With iterative Q&A sessions unlocking foundational comprehension at your own pace plus visual aids accelerating practical applications, homework levels up from isolated frustration to rewarding skill progression thanks to AI's expanded support.

So next time an assignment has you questioning abilities alone late into the night, empower yourself instead with an AI study buddy right by your side until that grades-boosting "aha!" moment. The future of learning looks abundantly bright.

AI in the Classroom: A Complete AI Classroom Guide

Home » Education Trends and Topics » Artificial Intelligence (AI) » AI in the Classroom: A Complete AI Classroom Guide

• By Vicki Davis
• April 6, 2023
• Subscribe to the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast

The conversation is about Artificial Intelligence. Is it helpful? Should it be welcomed in schools? Should it be blocked? Today's three guests are expert authors of the newly released The AI Classroom: The Ultimate Guide to Artificial Intelligence in Education .  We need to get practical, past the hype, and work to do that in this show.

This is also episode 800. We always celebrate when arriving at such milestone episodes so I have my son, John, share the stats for the first eight hundred episodes and we have a little fun. I hope this extended episode serves as a helpful addition to the AI discussion.

Also note, and ironically so, that due to the extended nature of this episode and that we have four speakers, the AI tools I use to write the transcript had a bit of a meltdown, and I've had to apply a significant amount of human intelligence to the transcript which delayed this episode to Thursday. This podcast does come out on Mondays and future episodes will be the ten minutes, but this conversation is so important.

Here are some great EVERFI courses I recommend:

• EVERFI HS Financial Literacy (high school)
• FutureSmart / SmartEconomics  (middle school)
• Marketplaces (high school)
• Accounting Careers: Limitless Opportunities (high school)
• Data Science Foundations (high school)
• SaveUp: Saving Money for the Future (middle school)

Check out EVERFI and its financial literacy resources today!

Dan Fitzpatrick, Amanda Fox, and Brad Weinstein

• Listen to the show on  Apple Podcasts  or  Stitcher
• Stream by clicking here .

Subscribe to the Show

Resources in episode 800.

• Curipod AI – generate lesson plans and classroom teaching materials using AI
• “ Prompt Engineering ” – a new term about writing the prompts to get useful and meaningful results from AI tools like ChatGPT. Read “ Best Practices for Prompt Engineering with OpenAI API “
•  Canva Classroom
• Canva Text to Image
• Funko Pop and AI – (See AI Generated Funko Pop with DALL E )
• Prep and Edit Prompting Framework – This technique is covered in their book, The AI Classroom
•   Google Bard – Google's product will automatically include citations.
•   D-ID – Digital people text to video
• Prof Jim – AI text to video to add to lessons

Speaker Bios as Submitted

Dan fitzpatrick.

Website: www.theaieducator.io  

Twitter: @ danfitztweets

Recipient of the 2016 ISTE Emerging Leader Award, recognized as a PBS Digital innovator for her initiatives in enhancing student learning with technology, Fox has also served as President of the Young Educator Network for ISTE, and received the President's Volunteer Award in 2018. She is the author of The Canva Classroom, The Quiver Classroom, Teachingland: A Teacher's Survival Guide to the Classroom Apocalypse, Zom-Be A Design Thinker, and Markertown. Learn more or connect with Amanda on Twitter @ AmandaFoxSTEM

Brad Weinstein

Brad is the co-author of The AI Classroom and the Washington Post bestseller Hacking School Discipline . He has been featured in numerous publications and podcasts. He is a co-author of two upcoming books, The AI Classroom, and The Discipline Code. He has spent the last several years working with schools across the world with the implementation of his work.

Brad has dedicated his career to empowering students with the skills they need for success in a rapidly changing world. He first carried out this vision as an elementary and middle school teacher before later becoming the principal of a high school on the east side of Indianapolis. Brad went on to be the founding Director of Curriculum and Instruction for a STEM-focused network of schools dedicated to authentic learning by tackling real-world problems.

Website: www.teachergoals.com

Twitter: @ WeinsteinEdu

Transcript - AI in the Classroom

00;00;00;03 – 00;00;03;16 John Davis This is the Ten Minute Teacher podcast with your host, Vicki Davis.

00;00;03;17 – 00;00;33;21 Vicki Davis Welcome to episode 800 of the Ten Minute Teacher Podcast. AI in the Classroom.

Everfi – Sponsor of this Episode

Today’s sponsor is Everfi . April is financial literacy month, and they have fantastic free digital lessons for K-12 students. Stay tuned at the end of the show to learn more about these valuable lessons.

Episode 800 Is a Special Episode!

As I usually do with these special milestone episodes, we've got a very special extended episode for you.

00;00;34;05 – 00;01;05;12 Vicki Davis But because I ran long on episode 798, this time, I'm interviewing the three authors of The AI Classroom: The Ultimate Guide to Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom for a deep dive into the topic everyone is talking about.

Thank you to my family for their support!

First, I want to thank my family my husband, Kip, for believing in me and, producing so many episodes, and always supporting me. And also, I want to thank my son John, who is an incredible editor and has an amazing podcast voice himself.

00;01;05;17 – 00;01;22;05 Vicki Davis John, I'm so proud that you learned to edit audio in such a way that lets us work together every day. I know it's a lot to have to listen to your Mom as much as you have to, but I'm very proud of you, John. In fact, I've asked John to give us some stats on the 10 Minute Teacher podcast and where we've come.

00;01;22;17 – 00;01;23;14 Vicki Davis Take it away, John.

Stats on the First 800 Episodes

00;01;23;21 – 00;01;45;21 John Davis Well, Mom, since you and Dad started the 10 Minute teacher back in February of 2017, this show has reached over 6.5 million downloads across the globe. Your top show has reached over 25,000 alone. I've edited 41 of those episodes for Dad, who holds the record at over 500. Now let's get this show started. This is supposedly the 10 minute teacher, after all.

00;01;45;22 – 00;01;58;02 John Davis And if you keep doing the extended episodes like this, Dad and I are going to have to suggest you change your name. And I will never finish college because this is going to be my full-time job. Anyway, congratulations, Mom. Now back to you.

The AI Classroom

00;01;58;21 – 00;02;20;07 Vicki Davis Today, we are talking with the three authors of The AI Classroom: The Ultimate Guide to Artificial Intelligence in Education . As my last show on AI and I was a bit excited, and I could guarantee that with these amazing experts, today will be an extended version of the 10 Minute Teacher. But it's one that you don't want to miss.

00;02;20;08 – 00;02;57;01 Vicki Davis So I'm going to introduce each of our guests as I pose them questions. I just want all three of you I really appreciate all of you coming on the show to talk about this important and very hot topic.

Introducing Dan Fitzpatrick

So we are going to start with Dan. So Dan Fitzpatrick is one of the co-authors. He was recognized with the Tech Champion Award at the 2022 Digital Industry Dynamite Awards and has been featured in the Ed Tech 50, and he is a director at ED Futurists and has a lot of credentials that we will list in the show notes.

00;02;57;01 – 00;03;15;15 Vicki Davis And you could see all the amazing things he’s done, including a Postgraduate Diploma in Design Thinking and Innovation from M.I.T. All of us should be pretty familiar with that amazing program.

Can AI Enhance Student Learning?

So, Dan, can AI be used to enhance student learning? Because many sure schools are immediately banning it, right?

00;03;15;24 – 00;03;33;16 Dan Fitzpatrick Absolutely. I think that's what excites me about this. And I think that's why the three of us got together and wrote this book because the potential of this new technology is absolutely amazing.

I think it was about three years ago that McKinsey said that over the next decade, we're going to see more technological progress than we have in the last 100 years.

00;03;33;16 – 00;03;53;23 Dan Fitzpatrick Now, that's quite a statement. Last 100 years we put humans on the moon, we created computers, we created the Internet, and we're going to see more progression than that in the next ten years. I think we can start to get a glimpse of what that's going to be like when we look at artificial intelligence and especially the new types of A.I. Generative A.I. that we're starting to see, it's going to have a massive impact on teaching and learning.

00;03;53;23 – 00;04;16;21 Dan Fitzpatrick And teachers all over the world are reporting back right now that it's absolutely supercharged learning within their classrooms. It's reducing teacher workload. It's helping them be more creative. It's helping teachers be more human with students as well.

So, yeah, it's the implications for teaching and learning are going to be absolutely vast. And I kind of compare this to like — Remember how they the Internet was in the mid-nineties?

00;04;16;21 – 00;04;40;17 Dan Fitzpatrick When you look at it now, it looks so outdated. There was email. A basic browser. Who could have known that Steve Jobs would have introduced the iPhone only ten years later? Just how much that technology had progressed. And I think we're probably in the mid-nineties version of AI at the moment, and how it's going to how is going to benefit learning and education as a system ultimately, I guess, is for anybody's guess at the moment.

00;04;40;17 – 00;04;57;12 Dan Fitzpatrick But I know we will have to drive this revolution with intent so that it's positive for our students and positive for our teachers. And hopefully, we can build a space, an education system, and develop it so that our students are fit for the 21st century and can go on to be successful in this new world.

00;04;57;18 – 00;05;19;21 Vicki Davis And we have to remind folks the big question I remember from the nineties, which is when I first started teaching technology, was “with all this search engine stuff, will kids still have to think?” But you know what? We've discovered that they did think, and they are thinking. They just think in a different way. And in some ways, it did supercharge, and now we're on the cusp of another revolution.

00;05;20;02 – 00;05;36;04 Dan Fitzpatrick Vicki This quote from when the Gutenberg press was invented about how Tim would read and was going to make our kids go blind like this, and any new technology has as broad fears and kind of get over as as a human race like we always have, and we'll find the benefits in it.

00;05;36;06 – 00;06;00;13 Vicki Davis So now we're going to turn to Amanda Fox. She's recipient of the 2016 ISTE Emerging Leader Award, recognized as a PBS Digital Innovator, served as president of the Young Educator Network for ISTE, received the President's Volunteer Award in 2018, authored many books, The Canva Classroom, the Quiver Classroom, Teaching Land and a Barker Town. And she's @AmandaFoxSTEM on Twitter.

AI Tools for Teachers: Meet Curipod, AI Lesson Plan Builder

00;06;00;13 – 00;06;09;25 Vicki Davis And so, Amanda, can you give us some examples of some AI powered educational tools and programs and how they've been effective in helping students learn?

00;06;09;26 – 00;06;35;02 Amanda Fox Absolutely. One of the tools that I think I've seen educators most excited about is Curipod . So Curipod is like Nearpod and Pear Deck , except that has the magic of generating your lesson plans for you. They have a wonderful lesson library that they've created as well. Curated content from the other educators have created. Just like Nearpod or Pear Deck has the interactive elements where you can do quick formative check ins.

00;06;35;02 – 00;06;52;21 Amanda Fox There's polling, Q&A, but what differentiates it is it has a word cloud. And then when you go to create a lesson, you type in your topic, you can put your learning objectives, and then you can pump in your standards, and it will generate like an amazing 15 slide presentation on that topic. And then, you can go in and edit it.

Prompt Engineering in Education

00;06;52;21 – 00;07;13;22 Amanda Fox You can change the background images, you can change the content to suit your students in the classroom. Because one thing that we've learned from prompt engineering , which is like teacher prompt engineering with lessons, is that it doesn't stop at the output. We have to go back in and continually edit, check for accuracy, check for bias, make sure it's meeting and serving the needs of our students.

Use Canva Text to Image for Literature Classes

00;07;13;25 – 00;07;37;12 Amanda Fox The other tool that I think is fantastic is Canva. I'm sorry Canva Classroom author . So I have to plug Canva Text to Image . Mainly. It's not as powerful or robust as Midjourney or DALL·E , but it's accessible to students. With the Canva for Education account, you can put it in the hands of students right now. You can use it to visualize character descriptions and literature.

Using AI to Write AI Funko Pop Poetry

00;07;37;21 – 00;08;04;02 Amanda Fox We just created an AI Funko Pop Poetry activity where students are creating like Funko prose, like Edgar Allan Poe, and then they actually used ChatGPT to go in and author a bio on Edgar Allan Poe.

Inside of our book, we have this wonderful “ Prep and Edit Prompting Framework ”. Dan developed Prep, which is all about how to prep the machine in prompt prompted to get the desired output.

00;08;04;02 – 00;08;23;26 Amanda Fox But I just did a session in Detroit for MACUL and the big question was like, “Well, what about plagiarism?”

And the thing is, is that if we're using it as a tool to meet the standards and we're focusing on the process instead of the product, the students are still learning by generating these outputs.

Writing Poetry with ChatGPT to Learn Rhyming Schemes

My daughter, she came home with an assignment.

00;08;23;26 – 00;08;49;17 Amanda Fox She had to write a sonnet and it had to be AB AB CD CD with rhyming couplets and GG at the end had include figurative language such as euphemisms, allusions and metaphors, and it had to have an overall theme. She didn't understand rhyme scheme, so we went to ChatGPT. We put in the rhyme scheme we put in include these figurative legends elements, and it spit out a poem. We analyzed the poem.

00;08;49;17 – 00;09;06;25 Amanda Fox We compared it to sonnets by Shakespeare. And I asked her, “Does this look like a sonnet?” She had to tag the ABAB. She met the standard of understanding that. Then we ran it back through and we had it analyzed the figurative language components inside of the poem, and it explained it to her Why This is a metaphor. She understood metaphor.

00;09;06;25 – 00;09;28;26 Amanda Fox And then at the end she had to take all the things that she learned by generating poems with ChatGPT. Seeing exemplars and examples in action compared to actual sonnets that exist historically and compose her own. After the fact, she had to have an image to accompany it. So we went, we actually went to MidJourney and we designed we put in a prompt of exactly what fit with the poem's theme.

00;09;28;26 – 00;09;46;28 Amanda Fox It spit out an image. We put that image in Canva, we added the poem on top of it, we doctored it up some and that in product she had a lot of scaffolding along the way because literature isn’t one of her fortes. But at the end of it, through that process, she hit all of the standards. All of the standards, she walked away with that understanding.

00;09;46;28 – 00;09;56;16 Amanda Fox So I think is how we're leveraging the tools and how we're making sure that the learning is still there and still it might be invisible, but it is happening.

Why Teachers Should Teach Prompt Engineering with AI Tools

00;09;56;19 – 00;10;06;21 Vicki Davis Well, don't you think teachers are concerned that at the point where she had ChatGPT generate that first sonnet that she was looking at, that most kids are just going to turn that in and sign their name to it?

00;10;06;21 – 00;10;28;20 Amanda Fox That's exactly why teachers need to begin using it and teach students that we can't trust the AI to give us an output that doesn't have inaccuracies. It doesn't have information that is false or there's unconscious or implicit biases either from our own input, from what we're asking, or from the datasets that the AI is trained on.

Plagiarism Concerns with AI

00;10;28;20 – 00;10;45;16 Dan Fitzpatrick I think we're going to have to get more creative with how we set assignments as well. So just asking students to hand in something that they could easily download off the Internet, I get ChatGPT, but we have to be smarter than that. As educators, we could start at that point. But then could the students come in and read the poems out?

00;10;45;16 – 00;11;04;22 Dan Fitzpatrick Could they? Could they analyze them? And we have to really get smart with this now, because unfortunately, I think you're right, Vicki, students will just hand bits of work in that they've gotten a AI to do, and course they will. I mean, if I was a student, I'd probably do exactly the same. But I think expect that as a teacher, if all you're asking students to do is work that an AI robot can do.

Preparing Students for Their Future Using AI

00;11;04;22 – 00;11;23;22 Dan Fitzpatrick And I think that's probably the one thing that gets me excited about the future of education is that actually, if we're teaching our students something that an AI robot can do, essentially, then we're probably not preparing them in the right way for the future because when they go out to employment, an employer is going to go for the AI bot every time because that's going to develop.

00;11;23;22 – 00;11;32;11 Dan Fitzpatrick It's going to be huge. So we have to focus on what are the skills that are unique to the human being here and really bring them back to the core of the education system.

Relationships Help Us Teach Better and Prevent Plagiarism, Especially in the Age of AI

00;11;32;12 – 00;11;49;29 Vicki Davis Well, I always say you have to relate to educate. And you know, those relationships between teachers and students are more important than ever. Classes that are huge, you're not going to be able to have that relationship, and it will proliferate the use of AI tools. And you know, we've got to get back to the core of what teaching is.

00;11;49;29 – 00;12;10;12 Vicki Davis I think all of your points are excellent and we're about to get to Brad because Brad is going to talk about the ethical consideration issues surrounding the use of AI in the classroom. So now we're going to talk to Brad Weinstein. He's a successful author, publisher and educator. He's a founder of Teacher Goals, as he's authored multiple books, including this one.

00;12;10;12 – 00;12;27;10 Vicki Davis And we've had him on the show before talking about hacking school discipline. On episode 473, he talked about restorative justice and school culture . So ethics is really an area of expertise for you.

Ethical Considerations of AI in the Classroom

Brad, so what are the ethical considerations of the use of AI in the classroom?

Consideration 1: Plagiarism

00;12;27;10 – 00;12;56;16 Brad Weinstein Well, there's a lot of things to consider when working with AI and students. And when you think ethically, you think, first of all, plagiarism. Is it copying?

Consideration 2: Bias

You know, when you're thinking about that is the work yours is the work being produced biased or not biased? It really when it comes down to when you're thinking about ethical considerations, you have to consider that the inputs that the machine is being fed by humans and human nature and human biases being input into systems is being learned by systems and then output it into Chat

00;12;56;18 – 00;13;19;06 Brad Weinstein GPT and other chat bots and other A.I..

Consideration 3: Effective Editing of AI Chatbot Output

So as Amanda mentioned earlier, you can't just trust whatever you're getting as fact as gospel. You always have to go through a process which we call the edit process, and that's, that's an acronym to actually check that out. And when you're thinking about something like plagiarism, you're thinking about things like that in the classroom and you're thinking about how that might impact education.

Ask Students to Explain What They Create in Their Own Words

00;13;19;06 – 00;13;37;27 Brad Weinstein When you take a work like I take a work, and if I can write it and I can put it in the chatbot and I can turn it in, it doesn't mean I know it. So I have one simple test. Explain this to me in your own words. Like literally have them explain to them in their own words, you know, and that that will tell me right then and there that they know it or they don't know it.

00;13;37;27 – 00;13;52;01 Brad Weinstein And that's always been the case, Right? You know, in education. So you could have always copied the paper off the Internet. You could have always found the research somewhere. You could have had a friend write the paper for you. It's just that now it's so much more in depth and so much more deep what we can do with this technology.

Feed the Rubric and a Paper into ChatGPT and Ask It to Pre-Score the Rubric and Offer Suggestions for Improvement

00;13;52;01 – 00;14;10;20 Brad Weinstein So you could take something that you've already written and then content and improve it. You can write this using, you know, a better voice, better tone. You can feed the machine, and the machine will pop out. You know, how it will score on this rubric out of four. And you can go back and you can improve your paper and make sure that it includes those things that you've been missing according to the criteria.

Questions Teachers and Administrators Need to Be Asking Because of AI

00;14;10;20 – 00;14;28;23 Brad Weinstein So when we're thinking about that, yes, it is plagiarism. You just copy something and turn it in as your own work, But it has to go much deeper than that. We have to think about, again, like Dan said, what we're assigning, how we're assigning it, what does mastery and success look like in the classroom? I'm just curious. You know, there's a lot more to that when it comes to the biases of the data and important things like that.

00;14;28;23 – 00;14;33;07 Brad Weinstein I was wondering if Dan or Amanda had anything to add. You know, when you're thinking about ethics from a classroom perspective.

What About the Lack of Data Transparency with the Data Sets Used by AI?

00;14;33;07 – 00;14;55;24 Vicki Davis Well, I wanted to ask a question that maybe one of you can answer. So the lack of data transparency really concerns me. For example, we've always said you can't quote Wikipedia because we don't trust all the sources and all the humans, but we allow these AI bots to produce all of this uncited text, no hyperlinks, no citations, and we're just quoting the AIBot

00;14;55;24 – 00;15;20;01 Vicki Davis I don't understand how we allow AI to have a different standard than we allow for humans when AI is perfectly capable of generating those citations automatically. Now I've been told that ChatGPT will generate citations. I haven't seen it do it yet, but I will try it when it's no longer overloaded.

But what thoughts do you have about data transparency in why we don't have that right now?

Ask ChatGPT for Citations. Have You Asked It?

00;15;20;03 – 00;15;35;03 Dan Fitzpatrick Got to ask it essentially. So one of the biggest types of questions is kind of do this, kind of do that. Wait a minute, it doesn't do this and the response is always the same. “Have you asked it?” Because remember, I think like Amanda said, it's a chat bot, so you've got to go back and you have to have a back and forth dialog with this thing and not just take.

Sometimes You Will Get False Citations So Always Check Them

00;15;35;03 – 00;15;49;23 Dan Fitzpatrick The first thing it gives you is the finished article. So yeah, you can go back and say what is citations for this, Where are you getting this information from. Now with this was more so in the last version of it rather than the current one, but sometimes it gives false citations, so you've got to be really careful with that.

00;15;49;24 – 00;16;06;22 Dan Fitzpatrick But there are lots of tools being developed at the moment. So Google Bard , which is like kind of the their version of ChatGPT is going to come naturally with citation. So everything at every information it gives you, it's going to have the citations at the bottom were very much on on day one of this technology. And I compare it a bit like, can you remember Napster?

00;16;06;28 – 00;16;07;07 Vicki Davis Yeah, I.

00;16;07;07 – 00;16;08;17 Dan Fitzpatrick Do. Yeah.

00;16;09;02 – 00;16;11;23 Vicki Davis But all this stuff we're showing our age, aren't we, Dan?

Understanding the Principles of Change: You Have to Start Somewhere

00;16;11;26 – 00;16;29;07 Dan Fitzpatrick I compare it to Napster because like Napster, not many people realize. But Napster revolutionized how we consume media and the Internet. Now, a lot of people remember Napster as a peer to peer music share in a movie sharing sites that then quickly got closed down because it was it was copyright infringement. Of course it was. It was people's sharing in other people's work.

00;16;29;17 – 00;16;51;21 Dan Fitzpatrick However, the principles of Napster are what we see now in Apple Music. We see in Netflix, we see it in Spotify. It morphed into something new. I don't think ChatGPT is going to be the final version of this technology. We’re at Napster stage. Okay. It could get sanctioned by government. There are law cases going up against some of the image generators at the moment.

00;16;51;21 – 00;17;11;02 Dan Fitzpatrick But what's going to come out at the end is what we're going to see. And that's why I kind of say when we're in the mid-nineties Internet era, in the wild west of the Internet, we're in the Wild West AI. What's going to come in the next few years. We'll refine that. And we're so lucky because the world is getting to take part in the very early seeds of a new technology here.

00;17;11;02 – 00;17;30;15 Dan Fitzpatrick Not very often do we get to do that, but because it's generated such interest. But we're doing this and we we're writing this book and we've written this book because we believe it's not perfect yet, but educate as can stop benefiting from it straight away. And if we can start benefiting from it straight away, then let's get ahead of the game and let's start transforming the classroom for our students.

00;17;30;15 – 00;17;33;08 Dan Fitzpatrick Now, instead of waiting for that polished version.

00;17;33;08 – 00;17;41;07 Brad Weinstein And there are a few out there that will give you some sources right now, I can't name it off the top of my head, but there are a few that are generating some sources for people.

Thank You to Sponsor: EVERFI

00;17;41;23 – 00;18;25;05 Vicki Davis We're taking a short break from this extended episode to talk about today's sponsor EVERFI . You know, we all remember that teacher that study hall teacher who walked you through your first college application or the social studies teacher who taught you what taxes were and how to file them. The math teacher who used student loans to show you how interest worked. You can be that teacher and today's sponsor EVERFI wants to help you make that kind of impact with free digital lessons for K-through-12 students from budgets in banking to credit and savings, you'll find a financial literacy topic that's right for your classroom, and especially during April, Financial Literacy Month, there's no better time

00;18;25;05 – 00;18;51;04 Vicki Davis to equip students with smart decision-making around finances. Learn how you can share these free resources with students and give them a financial foundation that lasts a lifetime. Just go to Everfi.com/coolcat . Now back to the show. Excellent.

How Do You Report Bias or Issues with AI?

So one other question related to ethics.

00;18;51;07 – 00;19;13;18 Vicki Davis What about the fact that, you know, if you go in there and something said that you're like, okay, this is not okay. I've had that happen a few times. There's no easy way it seems whether you're testing the initial version of the being disaster, which seems to have gotten better and you get something inappropriate, it just did seem like there was a way to report that or to say, Hey, this shows bias.

00;19;13;18 – 00;19;20;03 Vicki Davis You know, how do you with a chatbot report bias or flag something? So that somebody can look at it?

00;19;20;06 – 00;19;35;15 Dan Fitzpatrick I use ChatGPT a lot, as you can probably tell. So there are ways to kind of to feed back on the responses that you get there. And I think I think on all on all the platforms that I've played with anyway, you can report you can report kind of if something is coming back and it's inappropriate.

00;19;35;16 – 00;19;58;06 Dan Fitzpatrick But I think some of these tools would also say that maybe it's the maybe it's the job of kind of the tools that come between them and the users job to do that. So, for example, I know of an ed tech company in the U.K. who have built a platform using ChatGPT, where they they filter out certain information before it goes to ChatGPT , and then they filter out that information when it comes back from ChatGPT.

00;19;58;06 – 00;20;13;14 Dan Fitzpatrick And it's kind of solving a lot of issues around data protection and and potentials for any kind of misuse there as well. So I think there's a big role for kind of those those third party companies say we're going to build applications around this. Yeah, I think we'll solve it. I think it's a major problem at the moment.

00;20;13;14 – 00;20;31;19 Dan Fitzpatrick And I think the concerns that you've got and that teachers have got the same concerns. I work with businesses, I train businesses and marketing teams with AI as well as teachers, and they've got exactly the same concerns because, obviously they don't want to put content out that could potentially be biased. But there are companies out there who are working on this right now and I think we will get there.

Humans Are Still a Vital Part of AI’s Usefulness

00;20;31;19 – 00;20;48;19 Dan Fitzpatrick But I think it's really important to say, like Brad and Amanda of emphasize as well, the human is still essential in this process. The human still has to edit. It still has to read it, I suppose just like a teacher picking up a textbook, they will read through it. They're not just going to give it straight to the student, get to see if it's appropriate, if it's relevant for their students.

00;20;48;19 – 00;20;53;03 Dan Fitzpatrick And in the same way, you have to do that with the generated content that comes from how

AI, the Internet, and Smartphones Have Many of The Same Ethical Issues

00;20;53;03 – 00;21;11;07 Brad Weinstein you're thinking about all this. You know, as Dan was saying, you can't just trust it when it puts it's gospel. As long as like I was saying before and you can get in trouble with the Internet, like our kids can search inappropriate things on the Internet and get themselves in trouble, They can pick up a phone and do something they should do with their phone when they call a peer, there's going to be things that are not perfect with the system for a while, right?

“It’s a Whole New World But Nothing New”

00;21;11;07 – 00;21;28;18 Brad Weinstein So it's going to be a new way of monitoring things, a new way of looking at discipline, a new way of, you know, our school policies and procedures and handbook. I mean, it's a whole new world, but it's nothing. It's nothing new. The kids with technology are maybe, you know, looking at things or getting inappropriate responses or, you know, searching pictures.

00;21;28;18 – 00;21;47;28 Brad Weinstein They shouldn't online, you know, those other things. And again, as we are saying, like you look at the algorithmic bias and what is input into the machine, they can further perpetuate inequalities and biases and things like that. So we always have to be careful of that because there might not be as much information, inputed from certain groups of people, ethnicities, cultures and things like that.

00;21;47;28 – 00;22;03;29 Brad Weinstein So who's writing this content that's getting fed to the machine? So when you're thinking about that, it's always important. And also, when you get something that's outputted, you have to prove it. Like you can't just like take a sentence like this. What's the definition of social emotional learning? Like you have to actually go and verify, you know, that that's actually legit somewhere.

00;22;03;29 – 00;22;16;11 Brad Weinstein You have to find a source and attribute it to that and make sure that it still makes sense. So that's why we're really big on the Prep and Edit process in our book. It's not just using ChatGPT, but it's using it with fidelity to enhance learning and what we already do.

Writing Code with AI

00;22;16;12 – 00;22;34;12 Vicki Davis I'm teaching Python in my CS class when I had them go in and and asked ChatGPT to write in Python tic tac toe game, all ten students got ten different tic tac toe games. Only eight of them would run, and we had to tell them what platform and how we're running, but eight of them would run. And so they were all different.

00;22;34;12 – 00;22;48;12 Vicki Davis So it was unique. But that just shows that, you know, you sometimes you get unique, that works and sometimes you don't.

The Impact AI Has on the Role of Teachers in the Classroom

So let's shift for a second. And Amanda, let's talk about the impact I will have on the role of teachers in the classroom and how teachers can adapt.

00;22;48;14 – 00;23;20;29 Amanda Fox First and foremost, when we have classrooms of 30 students and the accountability of teachers keeps rising over the years. So, you know, we're responsible for addressing student learning gaps at grade level, holding students behind.

Using AI to Meet the Needs of Diverse Learners in the Classroom by Using It With Lesson Planning

When you have platforms and I just demoed this in Detroit that help with pedagogical frameworks like UDL and DOK, you can take your standards and you can plug it in and ask What complexity do students need to understand a standard at?

00;23;21;07 – 00;23;43;09 Amanda Fox It'll tell you, and then you can design a lesson for that, like again with Curipod. And the beautiful thing is, is it will spit out a lesson in under a minute. And if you have ten kids that need that multi-tiered instruction, that have IEPs, that have different components to help them learn at grade level, you can generate ten different lessons on the same topic.

00;23;43;17 – 00;24;04;23 Amanda Fox You can alter the grade level, you can alter the tone, the reading level, and and use it really to struggling learners and address all the different types of learners in your classroom.

AI Video Generators For Students Who Struggle with Speaking and Presenting

I know when I was teaching last year, I had a student who was a volunteer and would not speak in class and presentations weren't something that were in his wheelhouse.

00;24;04;23 – 00;24;32;28 Amanda Fox But if I would have had like D-ID AI video generation platform where students can put in a script and have an avatar speak for them, I'm pretty certain that would have empowered him to be able to present his information and give him a voice.

When we're looking at how it's going to help teachers, it's going to help us become more efficient, is going to help us address the needs of our students and get some of our time back that we've lost with just the insurmountable tasks that are put on us.

Using AI for Parts of Lessons

00;24;32;29 – 00;24;44;13 Vicki Davis You can hear some administrators saying, “Amanda, I want to make sure that these teachers are actually doing the lesson plans that they've written automatically.” And you said to it's like Curipod, how do you spell it?

00;24;44;14 – 00;25;06;23 Amanda Fox Curipod. So for example, I generated a lesson on figurative language. You don't have to generate whole lessons. You can do lesson hooks, you can do exit tickets, check ins. There's even an SEL component to where you can check in where they are in terms of mental health and emotional well-being. This isn't just spitting out text, it's a lesson.

00;25;06;23 – 00;25;30;19 Amanda Fox It's actually spitting out content. So the figurative language lesson that was created actually went through and laid out slides for what a metaphoric is, what a simile is. And like NearPod, you have a pin code, students join in, they participate and you're able to see in real-time their understanding of the content and their understanding of the topic through polls.

00;25;30;25 – 00;25;54;29 Amanda Fox Word clouds, Q&A’s, open-ended discussions and there's a bunch of strategies that they have, we think, pair share having them team up, even using these text generative A.I. platforms to create project-based learning and genius hour activities for students and even leveraging it in their own research and their own direction. Creating chat bots that solve problems in local communities would be a great one.

New AI Tools Will Give Teachers The Capability to Create Content Faster and More Efficiently

00;25;54;29 – 00;26;21;00 Amanda Fox Thinking of Shark Tank and my STEM background, the future where I see it going. And there's another platform called Prof Jim and it kind of does the same thing as Curipod, but it has an AI avatar. You can have Socrates or Archimedes come in and actually talk and teach these principles through interactive 3D models where they can click on a heart, they can turn it and they can see all the pieces.

00;26;21;00 – 00;26;54;02 Amanda Fox So I think what it's going to do is it's going to give teachers access to tools to create content faster and more efficiently, especially new teachers that are coming in for the first time. And not all the content is perfect. Just like ChatGPT and students, we're worried about them generating something and running with it.

Encourage Teachers Using AI to Edit Things Generated for Them by AI

Administrators, you know, we need to talk to teachers about using these tools but going back in, editing it and make sure that it's meeting the needs of the students in the classroom, that it's hitting the standards and that the students are learning with it.

00;26;54;14 – 00;27;17;00 Brad Weinstein And Amanda, I think adding to that is that the generation of the lessons is step one. But the differentiation of instruction, the ability to use, you know, UDL in what we do and reach all learners, I think that's the game changer. You know, we all have made lessons before, but differentiation writing different lesson plans, having tools that can be accessible for our learners is also huge.

Instant Feedback on Student Essays

00;27;17;00 – 00;27;37;10 Brad Weinstein In addition to that, students can now get input almost instantly on some of the stuff that they're working on. Because how long does it take a teacher to grade an essay? You know, how long does it take a teacher give them feedback in class when there's 35 other kids in that room? So when you're looking at giving some feedback on what you're doing and asking ChatGPT or another Chatbot, you know, to look at this and how would you rate this?

Parents Can Use It for Homework Help

00;27;37;21 – 00;27;57;09 Brad Weinstein And even parents at home, I mean, do all parents know how to help their kids? You know, write an essay or write a persuasive essay or do these certain types of math problems? And so I'm looking at this and then you were talking about this on our select group. You know, when we're thinking about the parent input and, you know, acting as almost a tutor sometimes and to be able to help kids do things that they couldn't do before.

Using AI to Get the Feedback They Need on Essays

00;27;57;10 – 00;28;15;11 Brad Weinstein That's why one of the reasons I'm excited is not just the teacher usage. It's also how we can reach our learners and how the students themselves can use that technology to get the feedback they need. Because I've got and I've got an essay that was like three months or a month old from a teacher before right? Like, what use is it now that I turn in my paper and a month later I finally got a grade on it.

00;28;15;11 – 00;28;25;26 Brad Weinstein And the teachers, you know, give them some credit. You takes 20 minutes to grade an essay times 175 students at the high school level. It's going to take weeks if they want to sleep or eat.

00;28;25;28 – 00;28;44;19 Vicki Davis But if the student could just run it through and say, this is my rubric and how can I improve my writing? And it gives them feedback. They can do that first pass of a feedback from chatGPT or whatever tool they're using.

How Does AI Impact Our Humanity

So howm Brad, does AI impact our, you know, being human, our humanity?

00;28;45;04 – 00;29;05;10 Brad Weinstein Well, I look at it in a couple of ways. I look at, you know, there was just an article that came out the other day about how people that were just really good at technology are kind of not the best in the office, the most well liked. They kind of have are pompous attitude are kind of out of place now because the technology is doing some of the things that maybe they were doing or maybe they were in charge of.

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in a World of Artificial Intelligence

00;29;05;14 – 00;29;30;19 Brad Weinstein So when it comes to the future, I look at, you know, I'm thinking about emotional intelligence as the key emotional intelligence, you know, has been proven to be probably the most important thing in the workplace success . It's this and, you know, furthering your career and all of those other big factors. So when you think about emotional intelligence, it doesn't matter what technology you have, You're going to always have a need for self management, self, self awareness.

00;29;30;19 – 00;30;00;29 Brad Weinstein You're always going to need to have empathy for others. You're always going to be working with other people and in teams and collaborating. So I think the differentiator will be that emotional intelligence, but it's also applying that emotional intelligence and that humanity to artificial intelligence as well.

Because how would you know if the tone of the output is going to come across to your audience in this tone of voice or, you know, it's going to be empathetic or it's going to be something that the humans receiving your messages and communications are going to resonate with.

00;30;01;14 – 00;30;20;18 Brad Weinstein So you can't lose who we are as humans. The machine tries to mimic, you know, emotions and tries to mimic tone of voice. But the reality is, is that we can't lose who we are in this. We still have to have human intuition. We still have to have, you know, our judgment. We still have to apply, which what ChatGPT put to our beliefs, morals and values as humans.

00;30;20;24 – 00;30;39;08 Brad Weinstein So when I'm thinking about, you know, the future and what skills we're going to need, it's what we've always needed. Now we can spend even more time with our students because I'm spending less time doing some of the other tasks that are more monotonous. Now I'm able to spend more time talking to my students, going around building relationships and working with my kids and spending time with my own family.

00;30;39;19 – 00;30;46;29 Brad Weinstein So if this makes my job even quicker, I have more time at home. I'm more energized. When I head back into school that next day and I got to spend some quality time with my family.

Concerns with Mental Health Counseling from AI Bots

00;30;47;00 – 00;31;07;29 Vicki Davis We're talking about humanity. There's two more pieces we need to kind of cover. One is a lot of students and adults are starting to ask mental health-type questions of these AI bots. So what are the challenges with this phenomenon that's going on in? You know, for example, one of my concerns is that AI bot doesn't have the same reporting requirement you or I have.

00;31;07;29 – 00;31;14;14 Vicki Davis If a student came and talked to us. So what needs to be done with the student mental health needs as they converse with AI chatbot?

00;31;14;14 – 00;31;31;06 Dan Fitzpatrick Yeah, it's a really interesting one. This I did a bit of kind of research into this back in January, so back on the older version of chat JPT and kind of just almost just pretended to be a student and kind of interacted with it and kind of recorded what it was coming out with. And I think I did a Twitter thread on it at the time.

00;31;31;06 – 00;31;54;13 Dan Fitzpatrick It's really interesting. It's very controversial. I think if students are using it, which they will do to ask questions. Personally, I think when I tested it, it came out with some great answers for students, and it always kind of ended the response by saying speak to somebody about it. Now, I think one of the running themes that we've talked about here is that you can't always trust this and we shouldn't.

00;31;54;26 – 00;32;12;08 Dan Fitzpatrick But if a student on their own is accessing it, I think it's probably it goes back to kind of why banning the technology is so counterproductive because the student can go home and use it. We can't stop them using it in their own time. So I think what we need to do as educators and as schools to educate really is tell them about this technology.

00;32;12;08 – 00;32;38;13 Dan Fitzpatrick Tell them that it's probably not the best place to do this at the moment and to keep drilling that message with our students if they if they're in help, if they need that need to talk to somebody that might be a school counselor or somebody in the school who can help. I do think, though, that this side of the technology will develop, and I know that there are some companies at the moment twho are doing a lot of research and investment into this of how tools like this can help the elderly who are lonely and can help.

00;32;38;13 – 00;33;04;02 Dan Fitzpatrick Yet just generally people who are lonely and can be kind of a bit of a first stop for kind of somebody who needs to talk to someone who about their well-being and about their mental health. I think what excites me about this, I think, is that someone’s mentioned this already.

Organizations Can Create In-House Bots Using the ChatGPT AI and Their Own Data

You can actually train this technology on your own data so you don't just have to talk to ChatGPT and get out from from chat to you can train GPT on your own set of data.

00;33;04;02 – 00;33;24;08 Dan Fitzpatrick So let's say for example, you or a school and you've got your policy around wellbeing and mental health, who to talk to when you need to talk to them. You could have an in-house bot that uses the GPT technology and you could promote that to students and say, So if you do need to talk to somebody and the bot would be trained to direct the student in the direction you need them to go in.

00;33;24;08 – 00;33;34;01 Dan Fitzpatrick I think it's like anything isn’t it if our students are using something that we don't think is going to be 100% safe for them, then we need to do two things. We need to offer them an alternative and we need to educate them .

Administrative School Leadership in the Age of AI

00;33;34;01 – 00;33;55;00 Vicki Davis We do. And so that really leads us to our final conversation, which is leadership. Dan, what kind of leadership do we need from administrators, from those in education as it relates? Because when you have upheaval like this without leadership, things just happen on their own, and the new policies, new thoughts, new uses, new pedagogies all need to emerge.

00;33;55;00 – 00;34;17;07 Dan Fitzpatrick Yeah, 100%. And I think we've got a lot of lessons to learn from how we've kind of dealt with social media over the last ten years. I think what we did was, as a society in general, kind of went up here social media let’s use it, but then didn't kind of learn any lessons or safeguard. And I'm talking about from a government level all the way down to a parental level, really in certain circumstances.

00;34;17;08 – 00;34;34;22 Dan Fitzpatrick I'm being very broad there. But I think especially from a government level, I think as you can tell by Max and I'm over in the UK, and our government have literally just put together a policy on social media, talk about trying to support the stable after the horses escaped. I think we've got to learn those lessons and I think we've got it comes down to intent.

We Can’t Pretend Change Isn’t Happening

00;34;34;22 – 00;34;50;08 Dan Fitzpatrick We can't just I think we can't bury our heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening because we're just going to cause a larger digital divide for our students, which is going to cause more problems for them down the line. And we can't just pretend we'll just let it happen, because I think that's the other side of this, and I think we've got to use it with intent.

00;34;50;08 – 00;35;09;27 Dan Fitzpatrick So we're going to need leaders who have got vision . We can't have the types of leaders that just let things take on as they always have been. They're not going to be able to lead our educational institutions into this new era.

The Leaders We Need

We're going to need leaders who are brave, who can collaborate, who are inclusive, who are adaptable, who are ethical.

00;35;10;04 – 00;35;35;02 Dan Fitzpatrick And that's going to, and we've talked about ethics so much in this podcast, we need them to have a grounding of what ethics is and also our learners themselves. Because again, as we've talked, this technology is going to transform so fast, and we need to be agile. We need leaders who are agile, who can who can take their teachers, their students, their institutions with them on a journey that's going to be quite fast, it's going to be quite bumpy, but is going to be quite exciting as well for for learning.

Leaders Who Innovate with Teachers and Students

00;35;35;02 – 00;35;55;10 Dan Fitzpatrick So I think we need to start innovating. I mean, you mentioned at the start that I did the design thinking innovation course at MIT, and one of the things that course taught me was that we, as institutions and as educators, we need to spend some time in innovation space and looking at what's coming in developing strategies. Otherwise, we're going to we're going to be kind of bunkered down in the school building.

00;35;55;10 – 00;36;12;15 Dan Fitzpatrick And all this innovation is going to be is going to be banging on the door. And we can't just ignore it because it's going to make our schools irrelevant . After a while. We're going to have to move with the times and it all comes down, I think, to and this is where my Amanda and Brad's heart are,

00;36;12;15 – 00;36;26;16 Dan Fitzpatrick With this book. It's how do we give our students the experience, skills and knowledge that's going to prepare them to be successful in the world. And it all comes down to that. And good leadership should make that happen, especially in turbulent times.

00;36;26;16 – 00;36;48;25 Vicki Davis Excellent. The AI Classroom: The Ultimate Guide to Artificial Intelligence in Education is the book. This is a quadruple episode of the Ten Minute Teacher. Probably the longest it will be the longest one I've ever released, but I think it's also one of the most important. Thank you, all three of you, for helping us talk all around the topic of AI.

00;36;48;25 – 00;37;09;05 Vicki Davis It's worth having extended conversations, and I just want to encourage everyone listening that we need to be part of the conversation really, in many ways, we're all newbies at this. I know a lot of people think the term newbie is negative, but we're all there. You can either join in and learn with all of these experts who are learning too, or you can just wait a couple of years and.

00;37;09;05 – 00;37;28;17 Vicki Davis Let it pass you by. It's very exciting to be part of change. My students have been helping me form my own opinions about AI because A.I. is changing so rapidly, but we haven't talked about it. I use the AI inside my notebook app Notion and it's fantastic. Maybe I don't know if it's pushed forward by Chat GPT or what's the API, but it's pretty impressive.

00;37;28;17 – 00;37;59;26 Vicki Davis So again, the book is the AI Classroom and thank you, Dan, Amanda, Brad, all of you for coming on the show.

Thank you. To today's sponsor EVERFI . We've talked about how everyone remembers that teacher and everybody's lesson to help you become that meaningful teacher who really helps students understand real world skills. From budgets in banking to credit and savings, you will find a financial literacy topic that's right for your classroom, especially now during April Financial Literacy Month.

00;37;59;28 – 00;38;14;06 Vicki Davis There's no better time to equip students with smart decision making around finances. So go to everfi.com/coolcat .

00;38;14;24 – 00;38;34;11 John Davis You've been listening to the 10 minute Teacher podcast. If you like this program, you can find more at coolcatteacher.com if you wish to see more content by Vicki Davis, you can find her on Facebook and Twitter under @coolcatteacher. Thank you for listening.

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “ sponsored podcast episode .” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

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Educators and students now have a secure AI ‘scaffolding’ to support them in the classroom

Clare Prowse needs ideas for a “medical mystery” course for her 10 th -grade biology students and has turned to AI. As the sample curriculum it created scrolls down her screen, she gushes over its bullet points and ready-to-use formatting — not to mention its suggestion of exploring a famous historical case she hadn’t thought of in years.

“Oh, the mystery of Phineas Gage , that would be a fascinating one,” says Prowse, who’s been using Microsoft Copilot for the last few months to help with “the work that adds to a full day of classes” as she teaches at Seattle’s O’Dea High School. “I might not use all of this, but it gets me thinking. It gave me the scaffold, and now I can go off and do this.”

From helping to draft course plans to inspiring homework ideas to jump-starting recommendation letters, teachers worldwide are reveling in the time savings they’re seeing with new AI tools such as Copilot . The technology is helping them focus more on their classrooms — and on the paradigm shift underway for learners as those same tools are rolled out to students. Educators of students from children to adult researchers are starting to change the way they teach, focusing more on the fundamentals of each subject and less on the clerical aspects of assignments.

“The impact of AI in education is huge,” Prowse says.

Ge Yan, a professor at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, began using Copilot for Microsoft 365 last November to take advantage of its assistance with various administrative tasks.

Yan likes to know his audience to help him tailor his teaching approach, so before every new class begins, he securely downloads the roster into Excel and breaks out demographics such as ages, genders, grade levels, majors, where students are from and more.

Even though he has a computer science MBA and more than two decades of experience creating spreadsheets and pivot tables, Yan found that Copilot in Excel could handle the job more efficiently. Being able to simply ask questions in the tool, rather than having to manipulate columns and cells between each query, helped his thought process flow more smoothly and naturally, Yan says, giving him a better picture of each incoming class.

Yan realized the same benefits could extend to students.

Educators have already begun piloting Copilot for Microsoft 365, and starting in April, higher education students 18 and older will be eligible, too.

So Yan started shifting his lessons to focus on the data insights his students should be contemplating instead of how to create pie charts to show what they find.

“Even for business majors,” who ostensibly do need to know how to build spreadsheets, Yan says, “we’re transitioning to teach them more of the what and why rather than the how to do that stuff.”

Yan was curious what his 8-year-old daughter, Tanya, would think about Copilot. She doesn’t share his interest in data or technology, but she likes birds, and was excited about a bird-watching assignment for school. So he downloaded a dataset from a national avian association.

“I said, ‘Do you know what’s the most observed species in Indiana?’ She said, ‘I don’t.’ I said, ‘OK, let’s type it in and ask.’ And boom, it’s the red cardinal,” Yan says. “There were a thousand observations in that file, and she was able to see the top three and their colors and sizes, and then I said, ‘OK, let’s go to the park and see if we can find those birds.’”

Instead of being given information and instructions, Yan was able to help Tanya extract knowledge from the database herself, unlocking new awareness as she saw the full context of where a falcon fits among the hundreds of birds in their state, he says. And instead of spending the afternoon in front of a computer learning how to create a pivot table, the father and daughter got to spend more time outside, pondering concepts such as why purple martins might prefer the climate in Indiana.

“It wasn’t spoon-fed to her by a parent or teacher,” Yan says. “It’s a learner-centric model. If I’m the one designing the pivot table and I’m interested in the color of the bird, then guess what, what the kids are seeing first is going to be the color of the bird.

“But now, as long as someone knows how to type and can translate the insight they’re looking for into a prompt,” Yan says, “they can do data analysis with Copilot in three seconds.”

Anne Leftwich uses the word “phenomenal” a lot when she talks about how AI has helped her reduce “the laborious minutiae tasks” that come with her job as associate vice president for learning technologies at Indiana University.

Leftwich started out using Copilot in Teams to provide transcripts, summaries and action items from meetings with faculty, staff and students. If she was late, got distracted by an urgent email, or had to step away to walk her kids to the bus stop, she’d prompt Copilot for a summary of the timeframe she’d missed and then could jump into the discussion without having to interrupt the flow by asking fellow participants to catch her up.

“I have too many tabs open in my brain, so this is helpful in keeping track of all those things,” she says. “And the nice part about Copilot (for Microsoft 365) is that it’s all staying within your unit’s data cloud.”

Before long, Leftwich started to “play with all the buttons and try all the things” — and that’s when the time savings really started adding up.

Being a teacher is never just about teaching. There’s planning, developing assignments, making rubrics, creating quizzes, writing recommendation letters, communicating with students and parents, researching, writing papers and presentations, and more. Leftwich says AI tools now help her complete administrative tasks in minutes that used to take hours.

For the self-described design-challenged professor — “I’m a former elementary school teacher, and everything I do tends to turn into rainbows and sparkles” — who has to create hundreds of presentations every year, Copilot in PowerPoint has made a big difference. Leftwich can pull an outline into the app, type in a few guiding prompts, and within moments Copilot crafts a polished, professional, cohesive design that she says she never could have come up with on her own, even if she’d spent hours working on it.

Clerical assistance aside, it’s the chat function with AI tools that causes the most consternation in education circles. New technology such as Copilot is based on large language models that have been trained by running huge amounts of data through algorithms, or sets of instructions, that helps them learn patterns and relationships in language so they can respond the way a human might when they answer questions and solve problems. But the systems can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s fake, so they can give inaccurate responses.

Prowse says her students started using AI in their schoolwork as soon as it became widely available through ChatGPT at the end of 2022. While she readily knows whether something is accurate or suspect when she asks it a biology question, she says, her students don’t, and need to be taught how to fact-check the results.

“But it’s my job to prepare them for life, and this is going to be part of their lives,” Prowse says. “Copilot will be one of those things everyone has. So I thought, I’d rather take this bull by the horns and get in there and talk to them about what it can do well and what it can’t.”

To make sure she’s assessing a student’s grasp of the material, rather than an AI program’s knowledge of it, Prowse gives the kids clear parameters for when and how they’re allowed to use the tools. She has certain assignments done in the classroom without devices, for example. Once O’Dea students get Copilot on their school accounts, she plans to ask them to share their tutoring chats so she can see the follow-up questions they ask and if those demonstrate they’ve understood the information.

Most exciting for Prowse, she plans to have Copilot help students with one of her favorite assignments: creating podcasts about ecological systems. It’s a popular project, but Prowse finds it frustrating to spend a biology class talking about intro music, the best Q&A format, or how to structure an episode so it’s less than two minutes long.

“They do the research, but then it can take them four whole class periods just to write the script,” she says. “So I’ll use AI to shorten up the time it takes on the podcasts and let me teach them more science — and they’ll have a really nice product at the end that they can be really proud of.”

Educators and students 18 and older can use Copilot with their school accounts , giving them commercial data protection and a secure chat service. And Microsoft is expanding that option with a private preview program for younger learners in coming months.

While Prowse and others are cautious about the new technology, they say its impact on both sides of the education equation — teachers and students — is providing a springboard for more creativity and a framework that frees up time from organizational tasks to focus on the subjects being taught.

“And once the students learn how to use AI and get enough practice,” Prowse says, “the scaffolding thing will work for them, just like it works for me.”

Top photo: Clare Prowse, a teacher at Seattle’s O’Dea High School, helps students Hutton Leverett, Hugh Lear and Moriah Abner. (Photo by Dan DeLong)

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A New Class Has Students Use AI To Do Their Homework

Lecturer Matt O’Donnell’s course “Talking with AI: Computational and Communication Approaches” encourages undergraduates to play with AI.

By Hailey Reissman

O'Donnell helps Communication major Nancy Miranda during class. Students each kept a blog during the class, chronicling what they did with AI and what they learned.

Increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI) is able to generate content with astonishing human veracity. ChatGPT can write emails that sound like any real office memo. Web apps can create the perfect headshot without any posing whatsoever. AI-generated images regularly fool people to believe they are watching explicit private videos.

In lecturer Matthew Brook O’Donnell’s new course at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, undergraduates are testing the boundaries of this emerging world of AI tools, exploring their ability to create accurate, trustworthy, and coherent content for research, media, and everyday life. 

In the course, students examine large language models (LLMs) and use programming to “look under the hood” of generative AI tools and practice. The course emphasizes the human-technology partnership — using LLMs as collaborators to enhance their own human thinking. The students also spend significant time engaging in human-like conversation with LLMs to understand what these models can and cannot do well.

O’Donnell — who has a background in communication, computational linguistics, and data science — wants students to not only understand how generative AI tools work, but also to question the ways in which humans communicate with these tools and how humans will use generative AI in the future.

“The dominant voices in the generative AI space are those with highly technical backgrounds,” he says, “but there’s room for a humanistic and social science viewpoint.” 

Health Communication Research

Step into the class — COMM 4190: Talking with AI: Computational and Communication Approaches — and you’d recently have found groups of students writing and rewriting prompts for AI assistants, attempting to get these tools to create public health campaigns. It’s surprisingly difficult.

One pair aims to promote the health benefits of eating insects. They have been using text-to-image generator DALL·E to produce a slew of promotional posters. Many come out covered in incomprehensible text.

“DALL·E is still very inconsistent with language,” says sophomore Communication major Sean McKeown, co-creator of the campaign. “Sometimes the text makes sense and other times it’s pure gibberish. It’s hard to know which prompt will give you which.”

Other teams of students have been having similar problems, but also breakthroughs.

After lines and lines of prompts, a group working on an anti-drunk-driving campaign has success guiding Microsoft Copilot toward creating an image with the tone they are seeking.

These campaigns are inspired by the work of Professor Andy Tan, Director of the Health Communication & Equity Lab at Annenberg, whose study Project RESIST is dedicated to creating anti-vaping campaigns aimed at LGBTQ young women.

Tan hasn’t used AI in his own research and is interested in how the students’ work will compare to health campaigns created the conventional way. 

Playing with AI

One element of the students’ assignments is to simply experiment with AI and keep blogs about their progress.

"The idea of the blogs is for the students to try out different ideas and experiments using LLMs and then to write those up," O'Donnell says. "However, there is no restriction on them not using an LLM to write some of the text. We are going to try an experiment to see if given the 16 blogs written by each student, an LLM could generate a new one in their style."

Their experiments have included asking advice on how to comfort a friend with an unrequited crush , sussing out whether AI can understand Jean-Paul Sartre , creating a storyline for a new season of the television show "The White Lotus," and testing AI’s ability to solve riddles.

For one of her experiments, sophomore Emmy Keogh decided to play a game of broken telephone with an AI tool, curious to know how much an image would change after a few iterations of generating an image, turning the image into text, and using this text to create a new photo.

After four iterations, the image morphed from the original prompt of “a selfie of a dog wearing sunglasses, an upset cat, and a horse who is just happy to be there” to an image of a hand drawing three dogs, a cat, a horse, and a person.

Senior Leesa Quinlan ran into the limits of ChatGPT when she attempted to get the tool to write a 200-word love story . It was only after seven tries that the AI produced something close to Quinlan’s request — a 199-word story. She’s not sure what prevented it from adding an additional word.

“It just goes to show that even some of the tasks that we think ChatGPT might be best suited for are still difficult,” she wrote .

In order to play with AI’s image generating ability, she had DALL·E create images of the recent solar eclipse as seen from cities that were in the path in totality and those that were not. 

There were some hiccups — Atlanta was not in the path of totality, but initially DALL·E showed it was, for one — but after playing with prompts for a while, she received “good enough” results.

Junior Kendall Allen decided to explore gender bias in AI and see if ChatGPT addressed her differently if she told the AI she was a boy or girl . It did, using different examples to explain topics like algebra and addition. For the latter, it used cookies for girls and toy cars for boys.

Human Communication

Sophomore Jason Saito says that he appreciates the way that O’Donnell’s course provides context on how AI affects society as a whole. As a coder, he’s used to hearing about AI’s effect on technology, but not about its impact on communication.

Through experimentation, students have gathered that generative AI tools are not as good at communicating as humans are — for now.

“We effortlessly manage conversation in ways that current LLMs completely fail at,” O’Donnell says. “I hope students come away from the course with a better appreciation of their own amazing human intelligence, particularly when it comes to using language in a range of social contexts to build relationships, develop knowledge and solve problems.

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Using AI for Assignments & Homework: Strategies for Students and Teachers

Ross thorburn.

“How can I stop my students using AI or ChatGPT for homework?” That was the one question I was bombarded with in 2023. It’s understandable that teachers are, or were, worried about AI . Every time a disruptive new technology comes along, there is a fear that some students will use it to gain an unfair advantage. Over time, things change. No one today would expect their students to research something by visiting their local library instead of using the internet. It’s highly unlikely any teachers would ask their students to handwrite an essay instead of using a word processor. And, in time, most teachers will expect and encourage their students to use AI in their homework.

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We’re not there yet, but in this blog post we’ll look at taking the first steps towards this future. We’ll look at the potential that AI has to benefit learning outside the classroom , as well as the drawbacks. I’ll share with you some simple ideas for AI-assisted homework tasks. I’ll end the post by discussing what you need to consider before assigning your first AI homework task. 

AI Adoption

Unlike a lot of other tech, adoption of AI in education isn’t being driven by governments, schools, or even teachers. It’s being driven by students. It doesn’t matter whether you think AI is the best thing since sliced bread or an evil apparatus that will destroy education. Your students are already using it. There are only two options for educators. Allow students to use AI however they want or teach students how to use AI responsibly . To show you what I mean, let’s look at a couple of examples. As you read, think about which of these is more beneficial for learning.

Example 1: A primary school student gets an assignment to research a topic and write a few paragraphs about it. She starts by brainstorming. Then, she asks Chat GPT to add more ideas. She chooses the best, and fact checks them using a variety of websites. Then, she writes her essay. After completing a draft, she shows it to Chat GPT and requests feedback. She edits the assignment based on the AI’s comments, and hands it in.

Example 2: Another primary school student gets an assignment to research something and write a few paragraphs about it. She spends ten minutes crafting a prompt to ask Chat GPT to write the essay for her. She asks the AI to use short simple sentences that look like they could have been written by a nine-year-old. She then copies the answer onto paper, to make it look like she wrote it herself. She then hands the assignment in.

I would say that more learning is happening in example 1 than example 2.

In example 1, the student:

• practices brainstorming
• uses critical thinking to select ideas
• sorts ideas into paragraphs
• practices typing
• asks for feedback
• and edits a draft.

That’s quite a lot of learning. The learning is different to what we’re used to, but it is still learning.

In example 2, the learning is lower level. The student practices handwriting, but not much else apart from crafting a prompt. These were probably not the skills that her teacher wanted her to practice when the homework assignment was set.

You might be thinking, “What about Example 3, where the student doesn’t use AI?” Sorry, that doesn’t exist anymore. Your students are already using AI. And if they aren’t, then they will be soon.

Why Set AI-Powered Homework?

Let’s look at some of the reasons why you should encourage your students to use AI outside of class.

• Independence. For years educators have banged on about learner autonomy. Has there been a better tool for self-directed learning than AI?
• Preparing for work. Learning to use AI prepares students for education and working environments that will increasingly rely on this technology. Not being able to use AI in 2035 will be like not knowing how to use the internet in 2005.
• Equality. Traditional homework activities can widen inequalities between students. Learners who get assistance at home get ahead of their classmates who can’t get help. But now, if you can access AI outside the classroom, you stand a better chance of keeping up with your more privileged peers.
• Feedback. AI allows students to get customised support. AI can provide personalised assessments, recommendations, and coaching. Teachers can do this too, but unlike teachers, AI doesn’t need days off and is happy to help at 11pm the night before a deadline.
• Preparation. With the flipped classroom, students get input at home before practicing in class. AI takes this a step further. Language learners can now practice having a conversation at home with AI. This  allows students to build confidence in a safe space free from judgment before speaking in front of their teacher and classmates.

AI-Integrated Homework Activities

Next, we’re going to look at homework activities that encourage students to use AI.

Essay Writing 

Students can use AI to help write an essay. As we saw earlier, leaving students to their own devices can mean they get AI to write their essay for them. Instead, using the following activities (in order), either together or separately to encourage students to use AI, without it taking over.

• Brainstorming:  Students can use text-to-text AI like Chat GPT to brainstorm ideas and generate a topic outline. Students can select their favorite AI-produced ideas and add their own. Encourage students to generate ideas with more than one AI (e.g. Bard, Claude, Chat GPT and Hugging Chat). This will add complexity to the selection process.
• Fact-checking:  Get learners to conduct research using AI-powered search engines like Perplexity . Perplexity helps users find information from the internet. Students can use hyperlinks to read the information in its original context. Fact-checking can also be done using web searches.
• Overcome writers' block:  It isn’t unusual to work on an essay and struggle with some areas. Students can use text-to-text AI to fill in blanks left by writer’s block. They can then edit these to make them fit their own writing style.
• Feedback:  Encourage students to use analytics tools like Hemmingway Editor to measure their essay's readability. Students can rewrite difficult to read sections to make them clearer. Students can also use text-to-text AI, like Claude to generate feedback on an essay. This can be general feedback or feedback based on the grading criteria from the school.
• Read aloud:  Read aloud: Students can listen to their writing being read aloud using text-to-speech AI, like Natural Readers . This can help find any awkward phrasing or unclear sentences. This also makes typos, misspellings, and missing words stand out.

Personalised Assignments

With AI, homework doesn’t need to be one-size-fits-all anymore. Each of the following activities gets students to practice the same thing in a slightly different way. This allows for assignments to be personalised to students’ interests and to their ability level.

• Vocabulary in Context

Students can use AI to test them on using new vocabulary in context. In a traditional assignment, every student would be tested on the same words. AI lets every student choose the list of words they get tested on. Stronger students can choose harder lexis, weaker students can choose easier words, and everyone can add vocabulary which they are personally interested in. Students start by asking a text-to-text AI to create a short passage which includes words they want to be tested on. The AI can create two versions: one that is complete, and one with missing words. Students then fill in the blanks.

Personalised vocabulary test from HuggingChat

• Interactive Grammar Practice

Students can create their own exercises to help them practice grammar they learned in class. Students can change the question types they generate depending on the type of question they want to answer. As grammar can be used to talk about different topics, students can ask AI to create questions on subjects which are interesting to them. After a first-attempt, students can ask AI to repeat but with harder or easier examples depending on how well they did in the previous round.

Personalised grammar practice on the passive voice from Monica

• Interactive Accuracy Practice

To take this a step further, students can try using new grammar accurately in sentences and ask AI for feedback on this. If they make mistakes, they can try again and improve based on the feedback from AI. This allows students to experiment with new grammar outside of class without worrying about being wrong.

• Conversation Role Play

Using a plugin , ChatGPT and Gemini can both simulate a spoken conversation. While this may not be as authentic as talking to a teacher or a classmate, it allows students extra practice outside of the classroom without the anxiety that some students feel when speaking in class. ChatGPT does not get frustrated when waiting for a response. It does not make students feel bad when they make a mistake. And it doesn’t correct you unless you ask it to.

Conversation role play with Gemini

• Personalised Dictation

Students can create their own dictation exercises for homework. Unlike regular dictations, students can choose the topic of the audio that they will listen to. The language for the dictation can include specific grammar or vocabulary from class. Students can create the text using an AI text generator, before copying and pasting this into a text-to-speech AI, like Natural Readers. They can further personalise the dictation by choosing an accent and selecting the speed of speech.

Personalised Dictation from Google Gemini

Principles for Using AI with Homework Assignments

Before changing the homework that you have planned for your next class, consider the following principles for making AI part of your homework tasks.

• Start small. Introduce AI gradually into homework rather than changing all your assignments at once. This lets teachers, students, and parents to get comfortable with the technology. Begin by using AI for simple tasks like checking grammar or vocabulary.
• Compliance. Before asking students to use any AI tools, check with the school administration. They may have suggested AI applications which adhere to privacy regulations, safeguarding students' information. Check the policies before setting assignments.
• Readiness. Before asking students to use AI in a homework assignment, demonstrate in class how to use the technology. Prepare students by giving them some simple but useful prompts which can allow them to access useful feedback or other information.
• Transparency. Communicate to students, parents and school administrators why you have made AI part of your homework assignments. Make sure that everyone knows which tools students will be using, and what is expected of them in terms of engagement and critical thinking.
• Monitoring. Check that students are using AI responsibly in their homework. Encourage parents of younger students to become part of the process, monitoring students’ AI use at home.
• Critical thinking. Ensure that your students do not treat AI outputs as infallible. Push students to critically evaluate the content generated by AI tools. Set the expectation that learners might spend less time typing, but more time fact-checking.
• Engagement. Ask students to use AI tools that make learning enjoyable and interactive. This should encourage students to actively participate in their homework.
• Accessibility. Ensure that the AI applications chosen are user-friendly and accessible to all students. If some of your learners cannot access AI at home, find out where they can. If some of your students cannot access AI anywhere, include a non-AI homework option.
• Reflection. After students have used AI to assist with homework, set aside time in class for reflection on this. Ask students to share how they used AI, what they learned from the process and what they might do differently next time. This will encourage shared learning and more thoughtful use of AI in the future.
• Get better. Continuously assess how effective AI is in homework assignments. Ask for feedback from students, parents, and colleagues to find areas for improvement. Refine your activities and makes sure that AI integration improves learning outcomes over time.

Conclusions

AI is rapidly entering the mainstream for students of all ages. As educators, we cannot squeeze the toothpaste back in the tube. Students are already adopting AI for unsupervised learning beyond our classroom walls. Rather than an outright ban, the solution lies in setting clear policies and adapting assignments for the AI age. Teachers must guide students to use AI responsibly and ethically, designing activities that encourage critical thinking over blind AI reliance. Homework needs to change to take advantage of AI's strengths - personalization, interactivity, rapid feedback and creativity. With the right prompts, the right preparation and the right attitude, AI can revolutionise homework and expand opportunities for learning. Our students are already using AI. If we wait, students’ habits, good or bad, will become engrained. If we ban AI entirely, our learners will fall behind their peers. The first step is changing the question. Not, “How can I stop my students using AI for homework?” but “How can I get my students to start using AI for homework?”

Ross Thorburn is a teacher trainer, materials writer and consultant based in Shanghai. Ross started his career in language teaching in 2006. He holds a Trinity DipTESOL, a Trinity FTCL TESOL, an IDLTM from the University of Queensland and a Master’s Degree in Language Education from NILE. Ross is also a keen researcher and has published research articles on teacher training, teacher motivation, task-based learning and young learners. In 2020, Ross published his first book, Inside Online Language Teaching. He also is the host of the TEFL Training Institute podcast .

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Should schools ban or integrate generative AI in the classroom?

Subscribe to the center for technology innovation newsletter, regina ta and regina ta research intern - the brookings institution darrell m. west darrell m. west senior fellow - center for technology innovation , douglas dillon chair in governmental studies.

August 7, 2023

• The advent of generative AI tools creates both opportunities and risks for students and teachers.
• So far, public schools have followed one of three strategies, either banning generative AI, integrating it into curricula, or placing it under further review.
• Moving forward, schools should develop guiding principles for the use of AI tools, provide training resources for educators, and empower educators to implement those principles.
• 10 min read

The start of a new school year is soon approaching, but there is a major question left unresolved: What are schools going to do about generative AI? Since ChatGPT’s release on November 30, 2022, educators have been slow to address questions regarding whether to allow its use in the classroom and how the tool affects pedagogy, student learning, and creativity. Debates have been intense among stakeholders—including teachers, parents, students, and edtech developers—about the opportunities for personalized learning, enhanced evaluations, and augmenting human performance against the possible risks of increased plagiarism and cheating , disinformation and discriminatory bias , and weakened critical thinking .

In this post, we review current responses to generative AI across K-12 public school districts and explore what remains to be done. Right now, public schools have varied between banning or integrating generative AI and reviews are ongoing without any definitive guidelines. After sharing how public schools are addressing these options, we suggest a path forward in which schools establish guiding principles, provide training resources, empower educators to implement those principles, and help over-burdened districts that already are struggling with instructional, infrastructure, and financial challenges.

Three paths of action from public schools

Colleges and universities are largely deferring to faculty to determine policies on generative AI, so a lot of higher education is moving on an ad-hoc basis that varies by classroom, course, and professor. There is neither a common approach across universities, nor agreed-upon policies on how to move forward.

In the case of K-12 public school districts, most administrators generally are taking institutional action and implementing decisions for entire school districts. They are not delegating the decisions to teachers but are enacting across-the-board decisions that affect every teacher and student in their jurisdiction. Their efforts fall into one of three categories: banning, integrating, or reviewing generative AI.

Banning generative AI

By the end of May 2023, ChatGPT joined YouTube, Netflix, and Roblox on lists of websites either banned for school staff and students among various large U.S. school districts, where access would require special approval. The controversial movement to widely ban ChatGPT began when the two largest school districts in the nation—New York City Public Schools and Los Angeles Unified— blocked access to ChatGPT from school Wi-Fi networks and devices. Other districts soon followed suit.

Citing the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia restricted access to ChatGPT, since the chatbot may not be appropriate for minors. Texas’s Austin Independent School District cited similar concerns about academic integrity and child safety in its decision. Seattle Public Schools banned access to not only ChatGPT, but also six additional websites that provide AI-powered writing assistance, including Rytr , Jasper , and WordAI . While these were not full bans, student use restrictions affected teacher adoption and use.

However, one problem with the approach to ban or restrict ChatGPT is that students can always find ways to circumvent school-issued bans outside the classroom. ChatGPT and other such chatbot tools are accessible from home or non-school networks and devices. Students could also use other third-party writing tools, since it would be impractical to ban the growing number of websites and applications driven by generative AI. Besides, bans may only be band-aid solutions, distracting from the root causes of inefficacy in our school systems—for instance, concerns about ChatGPT-enabled cheating might instead point to a need for changing how teachers assess students.

But the biggest problem, by far, is that this approach could cause more harm than good, especially if the benefits as well as the opportunities are not weighed. For example, ChatGPT can enrich learning and teaching in K-12 classrooms, and a full ban might deny students and teachers potential opportunities to leverage the technology for instruction, or lesson development. Instead of universally banning ChatGPT, school districts should recognize that needs in adoption and use may vary by teacher, classroom, and student. Imagine using ChatGPT for a history vs. an art class, for students whose first language is not English, and for students with learning disabilities. Different issues can pop up in various use cases, so across-the-board bans, and even restrictions for that matter, could limit the ability of students and instructors to take advantage of relevant learning benefits, and in turn, have effects on adoption and use during postsecondary opportunities, or in the workplace.

Integrating generative AI

New York City Public Schools—the first school system to block access to ChatGPT—was also the first to reverse its ban. Within four months of the initial ban, the reversal came after convenings of tech industry representatives and educators to evaluate emerging risks and understand how to leverage ChatGPT’s capabilities for the better. To support teachers, NYC school district leaders have promised to provide resources developed by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), along with real-life examples of successful AI implementation from classrooms in the district that have been early adopters of technology. The district also plans to create a shared repository to track each school’s progress and share findings across schools.

Schools like Peninsula School District in Washington had already been working to integrate AI into their curricula, so when ChatGPT arrived, they were prepared: digital learning teams visited classrooms across different grade levels to share how language models work, as well as how to identify and leverage AI-generated content. Alliance City School District in Ohio is also embracing ChatGPT’s potential, resolving to proactively set boundaries on its usage to prevent misuse. In Lower Merion School District, students from Pennsylvania will hone their critical thinking skills by analyzing and editing AI-generated writing. In all the above cases, responsibly integrating generative AI as a teaching tool will require school districts to invest in proper oversight procedures and professional development for educators.

As such, Garden City Public Schools in New York has held training sessions for educators to demonstrate the capabilities of different generative AI tools, along with how to incorporate them effectively and tailor materials to students’ needs. Schools like Norway-Vulcan Area Schools in Michigan also plan to provide professional development opportunities for teachers, as well as strengthen the school community’s understanding of its honor code and plagiarism policies. The district has encouraged teachers to use Turnitin’s AI detector to check for cases of plagiarism, as they prepare to teach with generative AI in the fall.

There are some schools that are being more cautious as they integrate generative AI. In Texas, Mineral Wells Independent School District has adopted a more cautious approach, testing generative AI use in an experimental set of classrooms, and sending those instructors for general training in AI. Elsewhere in Texas, Eanes Independent School District is similarly focused on helping teachers make the most of generative AI, as they first try ChatGPT for administrative use cases, like scheduling or lesson planning.

Placing generative AI under review

While districts like Prince George’s County (MD), Jefferson County (KY), and Chicago (IL) have not banned ChatGPT, they have placed the chatbot under review . School districts that haven’t acted yet are watching and waiting, and most fall into this category. A recent survey by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) found that less than 10% of schools have implemented guidance on generative AI, and of the schools with policies in place, 40% reported that the guidance was only communicated verbally—not in writing.

Just as we demand transparency from developers on how AI is built , we need to provide transparency for students and teachers on how AI can be used . Not enough schools have issued formal guidance on generative AI. A nationwide survey of K-12 teachers revealed that 72% have not received guidance on generative AI use. Generally, the longer schools delay their deliberation of bans or integrated use of new generative AI technologies, the higher the stakes—especially with a new school year on the horizon. As one of many generative AI tools being used for education, ChatGPT is increasingly accessed by students and teachers, and the absence of institutional policies may enable counterproductive use cases. Without an educational sandbox for generative AI usage, schools run the risk of having students deploy these rapidly developing technologies in unplanned ways with unintended outcomes affecting safety, equity, and learning.

School districts also have a critical opportunity to govern the use and misuse of generative AI tools before the academic year begins. Districts can shape its use and role in the future of education, instead of letting generative AI write it for them. In California, education policy researchers have made a similar call to action. More important, national concerns around the digital divide in education can make technology more useful in bridging learning gaps created by the lack of home internet. But that also means that schools must support the equitable distribution of generative AI’s benefits. Being proactive about the adoption and use generative AI now will prepare school districts to set precedents about using future technologies in the classroom.

Recommendations for moving forward

Many classroom policies thus far are too narrowly focused on one tool: ChatGPT. Right now, there are thousands of generative AI products that are on the market, and more are being developed every week. School districts need to consider the use not just of ChatGPT, but other generative AI applications, like Llama 2 or BARD , as well as the widespread educational tools, like PowerSchool , Kahoot! , or Khan Academy .

In closing, we recommend strategies below for how school districts can approach generative AI governance, regardless of the product.

Establish guiding principles

In collaboration with edtech specialists, teachers, and students, school districts should develop a set of common, guiding principles for students and teachers around generative AI use. These guidelines should define the purpose and scope of generative AI in the classroom, along with acceptable use cases. These may also serve to establish privacy protections for students and formalize procedures for how teachers can supervise student usage, give feedback, and handle misuse.

Provide training resources for teacher professional development

Whether administrators and/or teachers fear generative AI may disrupt their classrooms or instead welcome its potential, school districts can offer accessible training that will equip all teachers to meet the present moment. These training opportunities may not have to be developed from scratch – districts can adapt online resources, like the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)’s resource library and TeachAI , who also offer some guiding principles. When educators gain a robust understanding of generative AI, they can apply it productively in their classrooms, as well as support responsible use and understanding among their students.

Empower educators to implement principles

Recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all policy on generative AI, districts should empower educators to implement institutional recommendations and enforce academic integrity within their classrooms – while applying the technologies in ways that serve their students. This approach models that taken by Department of Education’s recent AI Report , which provides general guidance for learning and teaching with AI—without commenting on specific generative AI tools, due to their rapid progress. Teachers can reference district-level principles as a guiding framework, upon which they can design transparent, well-defined expectations for their students.

Help overburdened districts

Finally, we need to help overburdened and under-resourced districts that already are struggling with instructional, infrastructure, and financial challenges. There remain sharp inequities in public school resources, and modern technologies often accentuate those disparities. Some schools have good digital infrastructures, while others do not. The same also applies to the equitably available financial means to integrate new teaching tools in the classroom.

As schools consider how to utilize generative AI, we should be cognizant of these disparities and provide help to make sure marginalized districts are not left behind. Federal and state officials could earmark money to public school districts who receive minimal assistance on using generative AI to help teachers, students, and administrators deal with its utilization. In the end, for districts to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion in the deployment of these tools, school leaders ought to level the playing field for their use, especially before its unyielding adoption and use.

The proposed strategies are not required of school districts in any order. Rather, they are the beginning of both immediate and future conversations for how to understand how to leverage generative AI tools in educational settings.

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Helping Students Use AI Creatively Without the Temptation of Cheating

Designing school-friendly chatbots with firm guardrails can spur students toward creative AI use that doesn’t do their work for them.

When ChatGPT was introduced to the public in late 2022, it sparked a significant divide in the education community. On one side, teachers recognized the potential of this tool as a means of personalizing and democratizing learning. On the other, some educators expressed concerns that it would become an ultimate cheating tool, leading to a decline in authentic and creative thought. 

In the last year, I have worked hard to take a less dichotomous view of artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom and have looked for ways that AI might support and foster personalized learning and help educators rethink AI as just a “cheating tool.” Finding that middle ground was made easier when I was introduced to customized chatbots for the classroom , designed specifically for student use. It didn’t take long to recognize that these bots have the potential to introduce a whole new dimension of assistance for students who may be stuck or struggling. After all, we know that students may resort to cheating when they don’t know how to get started or what to do next.

So how do we find this middle ground? It starts with rethinking AI—seeing it less as a threat to critical thinking and objective truth, and more for its potential as a supportive resource to help students produce better, more meaningful work.

Support System

From the outside, interacting with a custom chatbot looks a lot like having a conversation with ChatGPT or any chat-based AI tool, but with some important differences. Teachers who create them using tools like SchoolAI and Mizou can build in firm guardrails to safely support each student, while keeping them focused. Both tools offer students access to customized AI assistants without jeopardizing their data. What sets them even further apart from other chatbots lies in the teacher’s ability to see students’ detailed interactions. 

Teachers can precisely control what the student can or cannot do while using them, making it easier to keep students focused on a specific task. It’s important to note that bots do not replace teachers, but instead offer additional assistance to students in a timely manner, helping them get started or progress effectively on their own. At any given time during the writing and brainstorming process, some students might be using AI while others are working independently.

Goodbye, Blank Page

To see how this works, let’s head into a busy middle school language arts classroom where a diverse group of learners are tasked with writing a persuasive essay. The teacher wants to let the students have “voice and choice” in picking their subject and getting started, but as we know, each student needs a different support to help get them on the right track initially. Before the lesson today, the teacher and I set up a chatbot as a student assistant to help personalize the learning experience for each student. 

When we sat down to create this chatbot, the teacher explained that one of her biggest frustrations was not being able to devote as much time to helping every student as she’d like. Invariably, during independent writing time, part of the class was often left staring at a blank page, getting little accomplished, while they waited for her to check in with them directly. To help solve this age-old problem, we created a customized bot using SchoolAI to help students start the writing process on their own. We opened up the AI assistant, called Sidekick, and input our guardrails, prompting it to help students pick a topic, get started with research, and uncover some of the angles of their persuasive essay. 

Afterward, I point out that she can use the information provided in the teacher dashboard to better understand where each student is in the process, even seeing their conversations with the chatbot itself. This way she can deliver a more tailored experience as more of a writing coach, to each student as needed.  

As I look around, the students begin quickly interacting with the chatbot, and the engagement is palpable. We hear comments like “Oh, this is so cool” and “Where has this been all my life?” and “This is helping me so much!” Another student approaches me to say, “Thank you for this. I always needed this help but didn’t want to ask.” 

The teacher, who was slightly skeptical at first, is now bouncing around the classroom from student to student, and I can see in her eyes that she has become a convert to using AI in the classroom. The students are diligently working with the help of the chatbot, and each is moving through the task of choosing an idea that they are passionate about, diving deeper into possible topic nuances, while others are getting advice on research, and still others are digging into possible counterarguments. 

On the teacher dashboard, we begin to get a summary of what is happening with the student interactions and their individual progress.

At no time during this process will the chatbot write the essay for them, as it was initially created with specific guardrails to make sure this doesn’t happen. This experience was crafted to provide just the right amount of personalized support, so that students can stay on task and not fall behind. Think of this experience as the chatbot being there to get a student unstuck. And while it was helpful for all students, it proved especially valuable for those with dyslexia and English language learners. 

Over in another classroom, students in kindergarten are using a customized chatbot to come up with sentences for sight words, and after hearing many different examples, they pick their favorite to share with their partner. In this scenario, the student eventually writes this favorite sentence, full of new and interesting words, into their notebook. 

Both of these classrooms of students will grow up knowing that chatbots can help them in more powerful ways than simply cheating or writing an essay for them. They will inherently understand how it is you communicate with AI to get lots of different information, to seek additional help, and to move past not knowing what to do next. These students aren’t left to the Wild West of AI at home with virtually no guidance. This is a huge win for education.

A More Productive Future

We know students need support not only to develop their autonomy and agency in learning but also to achieve specific learning goals. Sadly, students who struggle to grasp concepts at the exact time they are presented in class or fail to get started on time often fall behind, which leaves them frustrated and with learning gaps as the class moves on without them. When this happens, learning gaps begin to accumulate over time and can lead to learning difficulties that shouldn’t exist. This could be massively impacted with just a little targeted and timely assistance.

While still in the beginning stages, these tools offer a glimpse into a future where teachers and AI collaborate to unlock each student’s full potential. The more we work with these tools and the more powerful they get, the more helpful they will be for learners.

April 17, 2024

AI Can Transform the Classroom Just Like the Calculator

AI can better education, not threaten it, if we learn some lessons from the adoption of the calculator into the classroom

By Michael M. Crow , Nicole K. Mayberry , Ted Mitchell & Derrick Anderson

Moor Studio/Getty Images

The rapidly expanding use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools has fired up a fervent debate in academia. On one side of the debate, professors and teachers are concerned over the future of postsecondary learning and threats to traditional disciplines, especially within the humanities , as headlines warn of “The End of the English Major.”

Nevertheless, AI is here and about a third of teachers, from kindergarten through high school, report using it in the classroom, according to a recent survey . While many of our colleagues in higher education policy, science policy, and university design criticize or dismiss generative AI, we are instead decidedly optimistic it will follow a pattern seen in other technologies that have enhanced educational access and success. We believe that when new technologies are embraced, core aspects of learning, including curriculum, instruction and assessment, can be revolutionized. We are optimistic about AI, but we don’t see it as a hero. Students and instructors are still the heroes of human learning, even when AI is involved.

History supports this view. From the Gutenberg press to online math classes, technologies that improve access to quality learning opportunities are routinely dismissed by critics and skeptics, especially by those who hold the reins in the classroom.

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Consider the calculator. A survey in the mid-1970s carried out by Mathematics Teacher magazine found that 72 percent of respondents—mainly teachers and mathematicians—opposed equipping seventh graders with calculators. Highlighted in 1975 in Science News , this survey mirrored the broader discourse of the Sesame Street era concerning the introduction of calculators into classrooms, just when costs were approaching the point that some schools could afford to have up to one calculator per student.

Calculators met resistance from educators who feared an overdependence on technology would erode students’ math skills. As one professor observed of students and calculators, “I have yet to be convinced that handing them a machine and teaching them how to push the button is the right approach. What do they do when the battery runs out?”

It is easy to see how the case of the calculator mirrors current concerns about generative AI. The College Board made a similar argument in an article published last spring that mused about the “ Great Calculator Panic of the 1980s and ‘90s. ” Critics of AI in the classroom argue that students might never learn to write or respond to written prompts independently if they can simply ask an AI to do it for them. The hypothetical scenario where the Internet or servers are down raises fears that students would be unable to write a simple sentence or compose a basic five-paragraph essay.

Narrow arguments over essay integrity and potential declines in learning quality miss the broader perspective on how this technology could positively reshape curriculum, instruction and assessment.

In classrooms, technology, curriculum, instruction, and assessment evolve together to reshape education. We see this historically with calculators and are now witnessing it unfold in real time with the emergence of generative AI tools.

The introduction of calculators into classrooms didn't set in motion the demise of mathematics education; instead, it significantly broadened its scope while inspiring educators and academics to rethink the educational limits of mathematics. This shift fostered a climate ripe for innovation. Looking at today’s math landscape and what existed in the 1970s, we would be hard-pressed to consider the past superior to the present, to say nothing of the future. Today, high school students use (and more importantly, comprehend) graphing calculators and computers better than undergraduate engineering students in university labs could only a generation ago. Today’s math learning environment is observably more dynamic, inclusive and creative than it was before ubiquitous access to calculators.

In a parallel vein, generative AI promises to extend this kind of innovation in critical thinking and the humanities, making it easier for students to grasp foundational concepts and explore advanced topics with confidence. AI could allow for customized learner support —adapting to the individual pace and learning style of each student, helping to make education more inclusive and tailored to specific needs. Generative AI can better the humanities by making reading and writing more accessible to diverse students, including those with learning disabilities or challenges with traditional writing methods.

Just as calculators led us to reevaluate legacy teaching methods and embrace more effective pedagogical approaches, generative AI calls for a similar transformation in how we approach assignments, conduct classes and assess learning. It will shift us from viewing the college essay as the pinnacle of learning to embracing wider creative and analytical exercises, ones facilitated by AI tools.

The successful integration of calculators into math education serves as a blueprint for the adoption of generative AI across the curriculum. By designing assignments with the expectation that generative AI will enhance rather than shortcut them, educators can foster learning that values creativity, critical thinking and efficient study. This shift necessitates a broader, more adaptable approach to teaching and learning, one that recognizes the potential of technology to elevate educational standards and broaden access to knowledge.

This history points to broader questions over the efficiency and fairness of long-standing educational mechanisms. Take, for example, college admissions essays , which are known to perpetuate bias in university admissions . What if AI allowed us to reconceptualize the tools for students to demonstrate their aptitude and college preparedness? What if AI could allow students to match their intended college major more accurately to the most supportive and corresponding place of higher learning? In academia, we shouldn’t focus solely on AI’s potential for misuse but also on its capability to revolutionize curricula and approaches to learning and teaching.

Far from fearing technological progress, history teaches us to embrace it to broaden and democratize learning . The greater challenge lies not in resisting change, but in leveraging these innovations to develop curricula that address the needs of all learners, paving the way for a more equal and effective education for everyone. Looking ahead, generative AI is not so much a problem to be solved, but instead a powerful ally in our efforts to make education meaningfully universal.

This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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How to manage ai in the classroom.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already impacting every area of life and culture — including education. For many teachers, this can create a sense of anxiety. Emerging technologies such as generative AI (GenAI) are fast-moving and unpredictable. “There’s a lot of nervousness about what it means and how to utilize it,” explained Dee Lanier, educational technology consultant for Samsung. “Right now, educators have more questions than answers.”

Blocking AI from school systems might feel like the safest approach right now, but it’s important to realize that the technology is here to stay. Furthermore, students need to be prepared for a world where AI is part of the landscape. And many teachers — 62%, according to a recent EdWeek survey — want to learn how to teach students to use it responsibly and effectively.

Narratives about AI in K-12 education

Two narratives dominate right now around AI in education: One celebrates the potential to automate monotonous tasks for teachers, such as grading homework and creating assessments. The other expresses concern about what access to GenAI means for students who use it to write essays and complete assignments. Let’s take a closer look at both issues.

• Empowering teachers. Unfortunately, many teachers are saddled with menial tasks such as paperwork and data entry, draining their energy and keeping them from teaching the way they want to teach. To those nearing burnout, AI’s potential to save time and simplify tedious work is highly promising. School administrators should provide training and guidance, so teachers can learn how to harness GenAI to optimize their efficiency. Some free resources to check out include Code.org’s online course, AI 101 for Teachers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Education for Teachers from Macquarie University.
• Guiding students. While schools are eager to help teachers harness AI, they might be less thrilled to see students use it, especially to produce their homework and essays. “I look at that dichotomy as a power dynamic,” said Lanier. “You’re going to empower teachers to utilize these tools well and then restrict power for students to use it for cheating.” While some restrictions may be necessary, especially in the early days, schools should take a more open approach to student use of AI. Schools can give both guidance and guardrails for students and teachers, encouraging them to learn together. “They can be in conversation together as they explore these tools and establish rules about their ethical use in the classroom. These students will grow in their digital citizenship and awareness — and build skills that are necessary for the future.”

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Considerations for AI adoption

How can AI help teachers in the classroom? GenAI is a disruptive technology with the potential to change the way teachers teach and students learn. Anytime an innovative shift of this magnitude occurs, there’s an adjustment period — and a learning curve.

As school leaders recognize the permanence of AI and its ubiquitous availability, they must think about ways to embrace the technology and manage its use, while contemplating its shortcomings. Here are some considerations to keep in mind as you build a strategy for AI in education:

• Prepare students to compete in an AI-saturated world. If your students graduate with no exposure to AI tools, they will have a hard time competing with graduates from other school systems that embraced AI and prepared their students to use it well. If they are up against someone else who’s able to wield it effectively, they may be at a significant disadvantage.
• Consider potential value contrasts and biases. Most AI tools are developed by corporations, whose bottom line is financial profit — an important value contrast to keep in mind when you’re choosing to use AI in the education setting. Bias is another issue to consider. GenAI tools rely on algorithms, which are based on human-developed data sets. And those humans, like all humans, have biases. This means it’s important to identify bias when it appears in AI output, while at the same time recognizing your own. “How effective are we at identifying bias in general in our own life and decisions?” he said. “You can’t identify something if that is not a personal practice as well. We have to build skills to see the AI biases as reflective of the involvement of other humans. It’s really about gaining those skills personally and then applying them to digital outputs as well.”
• Encourage experimentation. There’s no one right answer to the question, “Which AI tool is best for education?” Instead, try different tools and see how they work for different tasks. ChatGPT is known for its creative capacities, for example, while Gemini and Claude are better at retrieving current data from the web. Rapid uptake and integration of AI also means new tools will become available quickly, so be sure to experiment with those, too.

Incorporating GenAI in the classroom

We are in learning mode when it comes to the use of AI in schools. It’s important to consider the ways in which AI can add value and not replace key learnings. A smart method is jumping in with students to experiment together. Use your Samsung Interactive Display to pull up Microsoft Copilot and show students that it’s actually a free version of ChatGPT 4. Then, open other AI tools, such as Gemini and Claude, and experiment with prompts. Use the note tool to annotate and highlight differences between results. After you gather and compare data, practice crafting prompts until you get the results you’re after. “Learning to create effective prompts is a little like learning to code,” said Lanier. “Students and teachers need to understand the language that works best, and variables they can adjust to create different outcomes.”

Educator Paul Ketko offers several free resources for learning to write effective GenAI prompts. Also, check out AI for Education’s free presentation Prompt Engineering for Educators . Otherwise, experimentation is a great way to learn. Let students work in groups and report on what they discover. Then, start creating community rules about how AI can be used for student work. Talk through the ethical questions and find solutions. “It becomes an interactive conversation as you learn about these tools,” Lanier said. “Students see, hey, we’re going to do this together.”

Learn more about how simple, scalable and secure display solutions empower educators to take control of the curriculum in this free guide . And discover the full range of Samsung Interactive Displays , all designed for more engaging and visually enhanced collaboration.

Jessica Leigh Brown

Jessica Leigh Brown is a freelance writer and former high school English teacher who covers the intersection of technology and education. Over the past decade, her work has appeared in EdSurge Higher Ed, Education Dive, EdTech Magazine, University Business, and District Administration.

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An In-Class AI Exercise to Help Your Students Get Hired

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O ur students are entering an ever-more-cutthroat job market, in which the competition not only includes highly qualified candidates with in-demand hard and soft skills, but also applicants who are using AI to finesse their resumes and cover letters and excel at their interviews.

To have a fighting chance, our students need to know how to do the same—and we can help.

Research suggests that recent graduates and students making their first formal entry into full-time employment are more likely to experience employment anxiety —and job interviews are a prominent source of that stress . With the help of generative AI, we can guide our students through a practice interview process in class, reducing their angst and strengthening their employability. After all, we’re experts in our fields and our perspectives and feedback can add value to this process. (If you think this work is out of your job description or not a possible fit for your course, consider that your students may not expect your help, but getting a job is the main reason they’re seeking a college degree.)

Through an in-class exercise, you can have students use AI as a practice partner to help them better prepare for and ace future interviews. Here, I offer a four-step process for getting this right, from researching whether potential employers are a good match to holding mock interviews.

Note: The following exercise is best conducted in a live class, with the educator circulating throughout the room to answer students’ questions and further engage them in the AI outputs. But if you’re teaching asynchronously or would prefer to have this exercise, or some of its steps, be a homework assignment, have students document their experience and make sure to offer feedback so they can capitalize on your expertise.

Before jumping into any generative AI exercise, it’s important to first acknowledge—both out loud and in writing—a few caveats. Consider including some of the following in your assignment guidelines:

Don’t assume that all information the AI tools provide is accurate. Generative AI is trained on vast amounts of data, which means the probability of contaminated, noisy, inaccurate, and incorrect information corrupting its content production is substantial. Take anything you learn with a healthy degree of skepticism. AI’s outputs will be significantly more helpful if they are vetted by a human expert (such as an educator, like you: The more expertise you have, the quicker you can spot errors and identify what is usable).

Remember that human behavior is never fully predictable. No person or tool can tell you exactly what a job interviewer is going to be thinking, let alone doing. This will depend on their individual backgrounds, preferences, implicit biases, professional trainings, personality traits, and even their mood, among other factors. AI will provide advice based on general trends, occurrences, and probabilities, but it’s not a perfect proxy for what your students will experience in their interviews.

The point with AI—and any technology—is not perfection. Rather, it’s giving us an incremental improvement over the status quo. It’s allowing us to do better than we could do without it. In that sense, treat AI as another tool in students’ toolkits. They should use it to the degree that it is useful, even if it is simply to ease their anxiety and become more familiar with the interview process. AI’s value will be significantly lower if students are already good at managing job interviews.

For general AI guidelines you can use in your classroom, see Wharton educators Ethan Mollick and Lilach Mollick’s Inspiring Minds piece, “ Student Use Cases for AI .”

As I illustrate in my latest book, I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique , the generative AI age has democratized access to information on both jobs and company culture. Sites like Glassdoor now function like Yelp for employers, and rankings on great places to work are widely available. These types of resources are now fueling AI engines.

By engaging with a chatbot, your students can get quick and easy intel to assess the employee experience at different firms—going beyond the corporate boilerplates they’d find through search, and without having to scour various sites for employee reviews.

As an example, here’s what you get when you ask GPT-4 about the culture at a large global technology company (this is a lightly edited excerpt of my interaction with this tool):

Prompt: What kind of culture should I expect if I join [Company X]? Response: Joining [Company X], you can expect a company culture that emphasizes several key aspects: recognition and reward, empowerment and self-development, teamwork and collaboration, empathy and growth mindset, evolution of performance management, internal mobility and talent development, continuous feedback, and adaptation. Prompt: What are the downsides/negatives of [Company X’s] culture? Response: Aversion to conflict, toxic management, and a lack of diversity and inclusion.

Remind your students that there’s no point in being accepted for a role at an organization they won’t like. To perform to their full potential , it’s generally beneficial to land a job that aligns with their preferences, values, interests, and dispositions.

2. Work with the AI to unpack keywords in job descriptions

Just like AI can scrape data on company culture, it can gather valuable information across numerous job boards and job listings. Namely, it can quickly consolidate and surface the main skills, attributes, and values associated with certain jobs.

To help students prep for their mock interviews, have them choose a few keywords or skills highlighted in real job descriptions at the companies they’re interested in. Make sure they ask the AI to tell them more about how companies generally assess applicants for those specific traits. For instance, if your students are applying for a role that requires someone to be savvy at business development, they could use the following prompt:

Prompt: Name the top three personality traits, values, and skills associated with people who are great at business development. Response: Personality traits: relationship building, strategic thinking, adaptability. Values: integrity, persistence, collaboration. Skills: communication skills, analytical skills, project management.

With this insight, your students can plan to focus on some of these attributes in their answers to interview questions. For example, when asked about overcoming a challenge, they may think about stories that demonstrate their ability to adapt quickly. When asked about a great accomplishment, they may choose one that demonstrates their communication and project management skills.

3. Get guidance from the AI on how to answer potential interview questions

Many recruiters are using AI to source interview questions, so it makes sense for your students to use AI to better prepare, too.

For instance, students can ask AI what kind of interview questions are most common, how to best answer them, what mistakes to avoid, and what a hiring manager would typically try to assess.

Here are some generic prompts (and illustrative answers) students can use:

Prompt: What are some of the most common questions asked in job interviews? Response: Tell me about yourself; why do you want to work in this company; what are your greatest strengths and weaknesses; tell me about a challenging situation and how you handled it; where do you see yourself in five years? Prompt: How should I answer the dreaded question about what my greatest weakness is? Response: Identify a genuine weakness that is honest and relevant for the job, but not a critical job requirement. Show self-awareness, explaining how you became aware of it. Discuss actions taken to address it, including personal training and learning initiatives to mitigate it. Highlight progress and results, and end on a positive note. For example, “One of my greatest weaknesses has been my public speaking skills. I realized this during a presentation at my previous job when I noticed I was feeling anxious and struggled to convey my ideas effectively. To address this, I enrolled in a public speaking course and joined a local Toastmasters club. Over time, I’ve seen significant improvement in my confidence and ability to engage an audience. I recognize that communication is crucial in this role, and I’m committed to further honing my public speaking skills to contribute more effectively to team discussions and client presentations.” Prompt: What are some examples of bad behavioral etiquette to avoid in job interviews? Response: Arriving late, inappropriate attire, lack of preparation, interrupting the interviewers, not making eye contact, showing nervousness, neglecting the question, bringing up sensitive topics.

But note that the real value of using AI for this prep work (over what students get from a generic online search, for example) is the tool’s potential for personalization. The more details your students add to their prompts—context about their background, studies, experience, and skillsets, or specifics about the job, company, and requirements—the more useful the AI’s outputs will be.

4. Partner with the AI to hold a mock interview

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and perplexity.AI are particularly good at facilitating mock interviews, simulating a company’s hiring manager, and providing honest, critical feedback on how students can improve their answers to typical and not-so-typical questions. These tools can also reverse roles and show students how a good interviewer might answer the questions managers (i.e., the students) pose.

Here are some sample prompts students can use to begin a mock interview exercise:

Imagine I’m a job candidate answering the below question during an interview. I will provide some answers and you can tell me what job interviewers are likely to think, and what I can do to improve.

I’m applying for an interview in [Role X]. Pretend you are the interviewer and ask typical questions in this context.

Follow-up questions could include:

Tell me what you think of my answers and how I can improve them.

Tell me how you would answer these questions if you were a top candidate.

Let’s repeat this with other questions/answers.

Here’s a sample exchange with ChatGPT so you can see how a mock interview may play out for your students. (Although your students will likely have a more sensible answer than the one I include below, I wanted to highlight the tool’s ability to pinpoint problematic responses. But it’s also capable of picking up on more nuanced issues.)

Prompt: Imagine I’m a job candidate answering the below question during an interview. I will provide some answers and you can tell me what job interviewers are likely to think, and what I can do to improve. Response: Do you enjoy working with others? Prompt: Sometimes. It’s easier when they agree with me and share my values. However, when they think differently, I tend to find them somewhat obnoxious, so I prefer to work alone. Response: Here’s what interviewers might think and how you can improve your answer:

Lack of teamwork : Your response suggests a preference for working alone and a potential difficulty in collaborating with colleagues who have different perspectives. This could raise concerns about your ability to function effectively in a team-oriented work environment. Closed-mindedness : Stating that you find people “obnoxious” when they have differing opinions or values could be perceived as closed minded and intolerant. Employers often value diversity of thought and expect employees to work well with colleagues with varying viewpoints. Negative attitude : The overall tone of your response is negative, which may not leave a favorable impression. Interviewers typically seek candidates who are positive, adaptable, and open to different working styles and personalities.

A more positive and effective response might be, “I do enjoy working with others. Collaboration can lead to innovative solutions and a richer work environment. I appreciate diversity in thought and perspective because it often brings fresh ideas to the table. While I may have my own opinions and values, I believe in open communication and constructive discussions to find common ground and reach our goals together. In the end, I believe that working as a team allows us to achieve more than we could individually.” This revised response demonstrates a more open and adaptable approach to teamwork, which is generally more appealing to potential employers.

Even in this simple example, it’s clear that AI has a great deal of expertise—not to mention common sense—on how to improve a student’s interview performance.

Keep in mind that it’s important to debrief this experience with your students. Take time in class for a discussion or have them write a reflection paper analyzing their interaction with the AI and sharing what they learned. Offer tips for how they could better prompt the AI, and ask them to focus on the aspects of their interaction that need practice before they have a real job interview.

Help students identify and amplify their strongest qualities

While generative AI is not perfect, it can help your students recognize and enhance the qualities that can set them apart during a job interview. Its value will only increase the more students practice using it.

The same applies to you; the more you experiment with AI , the more valuable the tool becomes in helping you instruct and teach your students.

If you truly want your students to leverage the full potential of this technology to improve their interview performance, there’s no better way than to have them interact with it, experiment, and practice.

After all, everybody has access to AI tools, but those who are more curious, creative, and diligent in using them will gain a competitive advantage. This may just be the ultimate reason for incorporating this exercise into students’ educational experience.

This article was adapted by the author from a piece originally published by HBR .

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is a professor of business psychology at University College London and Columbia University, the Chief Innovation Officer at ManpowerGroup, cofounder of deepersignals.com , and an associate at Harvard’s Entrepreneurial Finance Lab. He is the author of Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (and How to Fix It) , upon which his TEDx talk was based. His latest book is I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique . Find him at www.drtomas.com .

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