ChatGPT's release has caused a stir in the halls and colleges of higher education. Universities have released guidelines for how to use it in the classroom. Professors are using social media to spread a range of AI policies. Students, whether they admit it or not, have cautiously tested the idea of using AI in their academic work.
The idea of a measured reaction to the rise of this powerful chatbot has barely made it into the K-12 world. High schoolers in the United States have faced a silent coup by blocked AI websites instead of clear expectations. 1
It's a pity. If educators engage students in a discussion about the capabilities and limitations of technology, and work with them to develop new academic standards, ChatGPT and generative AI could democratize K-12 education and revitalize it on a unprecedented scale.
It's a bold claim. After a few months of testing generative AI (a nerdy version of senioritis if you like), I am optimistic. Exhibit A? College applications
As I worked on my supplemental essays, ChatGPT's promise to act as a real time editor was appealing. It served as both a productivity boost and a distraction.
ChatGPT graded my writing based on a 0-10 score (the results were unpredictable and frustrating) 2 and I even role-played as an admissions counsellor. The advice it gave was incompatible with what is required for a modern college essay. I ignored most of it. The very act of talking about my writing, even if it was with a computer, helped me to figure out what I would say next. Using ChatGPT to verbalize the space of possibilities–from the scale of words to paragraphs–strengthened my own thinking. It has been a similar experience in every domain that I have used it, from explaining the French pluperfect at a fifth-grade level to deciphering Latin names for human muscles.
This all adds up into a simple, but profound truth: Anyone with an Internet connection can now have a tutor without having to pay the fees associated with private tutoring. It's a tutor. A tutor who is easily fooled, slightly delusional, but still a tutor. It is difficult to overstate the impact of this, which is equally relevant in public school classrooms with large numbers of students who struggle to get individual attention and in impoverished and underserved communities lacking adequate educational infrastructure. Benjamin Bloom, a psychologist in the 1980s, demonstrated that one-on-one teaching until mastery enabled almost all students outperform their class average by 2 standard deviations.
ChatGPT can't replace human interaction but even its most ardent critics must admit that it is a step forward in this regard. Even if only 1% use it this way and it is only half as good as a tutor, the potential to democratize educational access with ChatGPT is immense. I'd even say that many fewer children would have been left behind if ChatGPT existed during the pandemic.
ChatGPT is a bot that will amplify the laziness of academic habits developed by students over the pandemic. I've had enough experience using the tricks and tips that high schoolers use on a daily basis to know this is a valid worry. It shouldn't just be dismissed by calling ChatGPT the latest technological innovation in the classroom.
ChatGPT is just as useful in the classroom for improving educational outcomes as it is to improve individual education. English teachers can use it to rephrase notoriously confusing answers to AP questions to help students better prepare. Students could be given an essay that is the opposite of what they submitted and asked to pick out these opposing arguments in their next draft. A chatbot could do the job of a teacher who would not have time to spend explaining pages and pages of reading comprehension questions, or writing hundreds of five page essays.
Teachers can use ChatGPT to teach students about disinformation by using its tendency to lie, falsify and misrepresent. Imagine writing essays with ChatGPT that hide subtle logical errors or offer scientific explanations which are almost but not quite correct. The pinnacle in critical thinking is to be able to distinguish between the convincing mistake and the correct answer. This new academic assignment will help students prepare for a world filled with political correctness, deepfakes and other shady practices.
There are less optimistic future visions. The only way to avoid them, the only way for this technology to be normalized and regulated along with its similar disruptive predecessors, is through more discussion, guidance, and understanding. It's not like there is no time to catch-up. ChatGPT is not going to be able to handle AP English classes any time soon. With the release of GPT-4 we have already seen an explosion of edtech companies who are reducing the effort required for students and teachers in order to use the bot.
Here's what I want to say to the people in charge. Unblock and unban, regardless of what policy you decide to implement at your school. Trusting your students to try out the tool and teaching them how, where, and when it can be used is the first step. It's not necessary to redesign your entire curriculum around this tool, but blocking it would only push it underground. This will only lead to confusion, misinterpretation and abuse.
ChatGPT represents the beginning. It is impossible to stop all generative AI. This would send the wrong message. We need a direct dialogue between students, educators, and administrators. I am fortunate to work at a school which has already taken steps in this direction.
- I'm not sure if this is the case for everyone, but in my case it seems that openai.com as a whole has been blocked. It's a bit annoying when I need to access the fine tuning docs.
- One of my essays was rewritten by ChatGPT, and I thought that was the most impressive thing. I used personification to hide the identities of two world leaders. ChatGPT added their names to "make my essay 10/10" as well as "increase clarity". It's amazing that it can do this!
Rohan Mehta, a senior in high school at Moravian Academy Bethlehem Pennsylvania.
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By: Rohan Mehta
Title: Banning ChatGPT will do more harm than good
Sourced From: www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/14/1071194/chatgpt-ai-high-school-education-first-person/
Published Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000
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