Schools and universities responded quickly and decisively.
ChatGPT was dropped by OpenAI in November 2022. It was widely denounced for being a chatbot that allowed users to write essays and take tests. This made it easy to cheat on assignments.
Los Angeles Unified is the second-largest US school district. It immediately blocked OpenAI's website access from its schools network. Others soon joined. The software was banned by school districts in English-speaking countries, including the United States, Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Alabama, Washington, and Virginia.
Many universities, including Imperial College London, warned students not to use ChatGPT for cheating.
Jenna Lyle, spokeswoman for New York City Department of Education told the Washington Post that the tool can provide quick and simple answers to questions but does not develop critical-thinking or problem-solving skills which are vital for academic and long-term success.
It was understandable that the education sector initially panicked. ChatGPT is a web-based service that allows the public to ask questions and generate well-structured text blocks several thousand words in length on nearly any topic, from string theory to Shakespeare. It produces unique essays, even when given the same prompt twice, and it is almost impossible to identify its authorship. ChatGPT seemed to be threatening the foundation of education, which is how students learn.
Three months later, however, things look a lot brighter. Chatbots like ChatGPT are being reexamined by educators and teachers. ChatGPT is not a cheating tool, but many teachers believe it could improve education.
Chatbots can be used to make lessons interactive, teach media literacy, create personalized lesson plans, and save time for teachers.
OpenAI's chatbot has been integrated into educational-tech apps by Duolingo, Quizlet and Quizlet. These companies make digital flashcards and practice assessments that are used by half the high school students in the US. OpenAI also collaborated with educators to create a factsheet about ChatGPT's potential impacts on schools. OpenAI claims that it also consulted educators in developing a free tool that can spot text written by chatbots (though it is not 100% accurate).
Niko Felix, spokesperson for OpenAI, stated that "we believe that educational policy specialists should decide what is best for their schools and districts when it comes to using new technology." We are reaching out to educators all over the country to tell them about ChatGPT's capabilities. This conversation is important to have with educators across the country to inform them about AI's potential uses and pitfalls, as well as how they could apply it in their classrooms.
It will take time and resources to invent this way, but educators have to be patient. Many educators are under-resourced and overworked. They also have to meet strict performance metrics in order to seize any chatbot opportunities.
ChatGPT is still in its infancy so it's impossible to predict what ChatGPT's lasting impact will be. It has only been available for one semester. It is certain that chatbots for essay writing are here to stay. They will become more accurate and harder-to-detect when standing in for students on deadlines. Banning them is counterproductive and futile. "We need to be asking what we need to do to prepare young people–learners–for a future world that's not that far in the future," says Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a nonprofit that advocates for the use of technology in teaching.
The potential of tech to transform schools has been hyped before, and it is easy to get lost in the excitement surrounding ChatGPT's transformational potential. This is bigger than that: AI will be in every classroom. It is crucial that we do it correctly.
From ABC to GPT
ChatGPT's ability to test take was the basis of much of its early hype. This was actually a major point OpenAI highlighted when it launched GPT-4 in March, the latest version the large language model that powers its chatbot. It could even pass the bar exam! It got a score of 1410 on the SAT! It passed the AP tests in biology, art history and environmental science as well as psychology and US history. Whew!
It's no surprise that school districts are so freaked out.
In hindsight, however, it was a stupid reaction to some very intelligent software. Jessica Stansbury from the University of Baltimore, is director of teaching excellence and learning excellence. "We had the wrong conversations, instead of thinking, "Okay, it is here." "How can we use it?"
David Smith, a professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, said that it was "a storm in a cup". Smith claims that the chatbot was not used to cheat. He says many of his students had never heard of it until Smith mentioned it to them.
Teachers see technology as a game-changer, even though this is true. Large language models such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, its successor GPT-4 and Microsoft's Bing Chat are expected to make a huge impact on the world. This technology is being used in business and consumer software. Many teachers are now aware that they have an obligation and a responsibility to educate their students on how this technology works and the possibilities it offers. Smith says, "They don’t want it to become vilified." They want to learn how to use it."
Change is hard. Stansbury says that there is still fear. "But we do our students disservice if it gets stuck on that fear."
Stansbury helped organize workshops at her university for faculty and other teaching staff so they could share their experiences and voice concerns. Some of her colleagues were worried about cheating and others worried about losing their jobs. Talking it out helped. She says that some fear faculty felt was due to the media. It's not due to the students.
A survey of 1,002 K-12 educators and 1,000 students aged 12-17 in the US, conducted by the Walton Family Foundation, in February found that over half of the teachers had used ChatGPT. Only a third of students reported using ChatGPT every day. Nearly all of those who used it (88% and 79% respectively) reported a positive effect.
The majority of students and teachers who were surveyed agreed with this statement: ChatGPT is another example of why schools can't continue to do things the old-fashioned way in today's world.
Helen Crompton is an associate professor of instructional tech at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. She hopes chatbots such as ChatGPT will improve school learning.
Crompton, who worked as a teacher in K-12 for 16 years, believes that schools have become stuck in a rut. ChatGPT is bringing a critical debate to a system that places too much emphasis on grading but not enough on learning. She says, "We have long wanted to transform education." "We've been discussing it for years."
Cheating is a problem. Crompton believes that if ChatGPT makes cheating on assignments easy, teachers should ban ChatGPT rather than ban it.
Culatta says that we need to change the way we assess learning. "Did ChatGPT destroy assessments? They were likely already dead and had been in zombie mode for quite some time. ChatGPT called us to report that.
Critical thinking
Emily Donahoe is a University of Mississippi writing tutor and educational development developer. She noticed a shift in classroom discussions since ChatGPT was released. ChatGPT may be able to help teachers move away from a focus on the final result. She believes that if teachers can get students to think critically about AI, and engage with it, teaching will feel more human.
This idea isn’t new. This idea is not new. Generations upon generations of teachers have used Bloom's taxonomy. It was created in 1950 by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist. Basic knowledge of facts is the foundation on which all other learning forms, such as analysis or evaluation, rest. Chatbots may be able to help teachers like Crompton and Donahoe.
Donahoe used to assign her students writing assignments that required them to argue for something. She would then grade them on what they submitted. She asked her students to use ChatGPT in order to create an argument. Then, they had to annotate the text according to how relevant it was to a particular audience. They then submitted a revised version based on their critique.
This helps students to focus on the important skills and not get sidetracked by the task. ChatGPT was used to create a draft. Donahoe discovered that students were able to focus on the important phase of the assignment and not worry about the blank page. She says that ChatGPT can be used to help students move past certain pain points, even if those pain points are not part of the assignment's learning goals.
Smith, a bioscience professor is also trying ChatGPT assignments. It reminds Smith of the panic many teachers felt during the pandemic. Teachers had to figure out how to assign assignments to students who were not able to search the internet for solutions. He discovered that Googling, and the skills of asking for information and making sense out of the results, was a valuable skill.
Smith believes chatbots could work in the same manner. His undergraduate students may use ChatGPT for their writing assignments. He will evaluate the prompt and even the essay. He says that it is crucial to understand the prompts and the output they produce. We need to show how to do this."
The new education
Stansbury says these changing attitudes are a reflection of a larger shift in the role teachers play. Information once available in classrooms is now accessible online and via chatbots. Teachers must show students how to find it and also how to distinguish between what and what information they should trust. She says that teachers are not anymore gatekeepers of information but facilitators.
Teachers are actually finding ways to use the misinformation and bias large language models can produce. Crompton says that these flaws can lead to productive discussions. "The fact it's imperfect is great.
Teachers ask students to use ChatGPT for text generation on a topic, and then get them to highlight the problems. Stansbury shared an example of how students used ChatGPT to create essays about the history and development of the printing press. The teacher started a discussion about bias when the US-centric response did not include any information about origins of printing in Europe and China. Stansbury says, "It's an excellent way to focus on media literacy."
Crompton is currently working on a study about how chatbots could improve teaching. She outlines a range of possible applications that she is excited about. These include generating test questions, summarizing information for students at different reading levels, and helping with administrative tasks like drafting emails to parents and colleagues.
She loves the ability to add more interaction into the classroom using technology. She says that teaching methods that encourage students to think critically and to be creative are more effective than traditional memorization. ChatGPT, for example, can be used to play the role of a debater and provide counterarguments. Chatbots can help students see the weaknesses in their thinking by exposing them to a wide range of viewpoints.
Crompton notes that chatbots are great for students who don't speak English as a first language. They can help with paraphrasing and drafting text, helping to even the playing field. Chatbots can also be used to assist students with learning disabilities. ChatGPT can explain Newton's laws to students who prefer images to words. It will then generate an explanation with balls rolling on a table.
Learning made-to-measure
Culatta says that personalized materials can be beneficial for all students because everyone has different learning preferences. To meet the needs of all students, teachers might create several versions of their teaching materials. Chatbots might be able to generate customized material for 50-100 students, Culatta believes. This could make personalized tutors a common practice. He says that he believes that in five years, the idea of a tool giving us information that was written by someone else will feel very strange.
This is already being done by some edtech companies. Quizlet's app was updated in March with Q-Chat. This feature uses ChatGPT to tailor material to the needs of each user. The app adjusts how difficult the questions are based on how much students know the material and what learning style they choose. Lex Bayer, Quizlet CEO, says that Q-Chat offers students a similar experience to one-on-one tutoring.
Some educators even believe that future textbooks could include chatbots that are trained to understand their contents. The bot could have a conversation about the contents of the book with students, or they could read it instead. To help students understand more difficult topics, the chatbot could create personalized quizzes.
Of course, not all of these methods will work immediately. Donahoe and her students created guidelines for ChatGPT together. However, she states that "it might be that we reach the end of this course and I believe this absolutely failed to work." "This is still an ongoing experiment."
ChatGPT should be used to promote learning, not get in the way. This is something she has discovered. It can be difficult for some students to go beyond the output of ChatGPT and make it their own. She says that it should be a point of reference, not a crutch.
ChatGPT is still used by some students to cheat. It makes the task much easier than ever. It's tempting to be tempted by the deadline and want to have your assignment done in a matter of seconds. Crompton says, "It equalizes cheating." You don't need to pay. Hacking into school computers is not necessary.
There will be some types of assignments that are more difficult than others. ChatGPT is great at summarizing information. Cheating is an acceptable concern when that is the purpose of an assignment. Donahoe says, "It would almost indistinguishable form an A answer in this context. This is something that we need to be aware of.
None of the educators I spoke with had a solution. Not all fears can be overcome. Donahoe recalls attending a workshop at her university where faculty were asked their thoughts on what they would do differently after discovering ChatGPT. One faculty member replied, "I think that I will retire."
Teachers are not as concerned as the initial reports suggest. Cheating is not a new problem. Schools have survived Google, Wikipedia, calculators, essays-forpay websites, and other tools.
Teachers have been given a new challenge. Teachers need help to find the right way, including government funding, training, and regulation. This is not the end for education. It's a new beginning.
"We must withhold some quick judgment," Culatta says. "That's not helpful at the moment. This thing needs to be allowed to go.
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By: Will Douglas Heaven
Title: ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it
Sourced From: www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/06/1071059/chatgpt-change-not-destroy-education-openai/
Published Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2023 10:13:15 +0000
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