In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, the education landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. Artificial Intelligence (AI), once confined to the realm of science fiction, is now a tangible force reshaping the way students learn and teachers instruct. From personalized learning paths to innovative classroom tools, AI is opening up new horizons in education. In this blog post, we’ll explore the exciting intersection of AI and the classroom, shedding light on the numerous ways, both good and not good, in which this technology is revolutionizing education as we know it.
Here are a few different examples of biases we see in the AI world that are important our students are aware of. While AI is a great tool it needs to be used as a tool and be sure we are not reliant on it.
Reinforcement of Stereotypes: AI systems that are trained on biased or unrepresentative data can reinforce harmful stereotypes. This can happen in areas such as hiring, lending, or predictive policing.
Lack of Accountability: Determining responsibility for biased AI systems can be challenging. Is it the responsibility of the data provider, the algorithm developer, or the end-user? This lack of accountability can make it difficult to address biases effectively.
Data Biases: Biases often stem from the data used to train AI models. If historical data reflects existing societal biases, the AI model will learn and replicate those biases. Cleaning and curating training data is a complex task.
In Miss Wilson’s class this week:
I get to spend 45 minutes a day with a small group and work on intervention. This is an additional period I have to spend time planning each day. I had been overwhelmed with this additional planning. With the introduction of AI in my graduate class I have been playing around with using AI to plan different activities. This week I chose to use Magic School to create choice boards of different practice activities. This intervention time takes lots of time to plan for because it needs to be specific to each student. While it is small group it is still about 10 kids over five days a week adds up. I enjoyed Magic School. It is taking some time to learn how to use the tools. I was able to create the choice board easily but then I still had to find the resources. I wish Magic School could also help put the practices together.
TCE Threshold concepts:
- Education is not neutral/Teaching is political. Concept has a lot of questions to consider. The one that stood out to me is how to prepare our students for their future. The role of education is to prepare our students to be successful in their lives. If AI is always going to be around it is going to be important for our students to learn how to use it and how to be smart about it.
- Students and teachers engage in critical consciousness. As I stated in the first concept, teaching students to be responsible while using AI is important. I do believe this to be true but with AI being so new (Chat GPT coming out within the year, last November) teachers also need to learn to use it responsibly.
PROS
- Personalized learning: AI can tailor educational content to the individual needs and learning styles of each student. This personalized approach can lead to better outcomes and improved engagement.
- Access to Resources: AI can provide students and teachers with access to a wealth of educational resources, including online courses, interactive simulations, and digital libraries.Data-Driven Insights: AI can analyze data on student performance to help educators identify areas where students may be struggling, allowing for targeted intervention.
CONS
- Bias and Fairness: AI can inherit and perpetuate biases present in the data used to train it, leading to unfair or discriminatory outcomes.
- Dehumanization: Overreliance on AI can lead to reduced human interaction in education, potentially impacting the social and emotional development of students.
- Lack of Creativity: AI can excel in repetitive and data-driven tasks, but it may struggle with fostering creativity and critical thinking.
- Depersonalization: There is a risk that overreliance on AI could lead to a one-size-fits-all approach, neglecting the unique needs and qualities of individual students.
The introduction of AI into the teaching profession offers numerous opportunities for improved education but also brings challenges and concerns that need to be addressed carefully. Striking the right balance between the advantages of AI and the potential downsides is essential for leveraging this technology to enhance the learning experience while safeguarding the interests and well-being of students and educators.
I agree that there are many ways that AI can be useful, but using it for creativity is definitely not one of them! I have tried the lesson planner a few times and although it spits out some very formal plans, they are often just straightforward plans that do not take diverse learners into consideration. I tried asking Magic School to “make the lesson multi-sensory” and it did make some small changes to the lesson plan to include sensory activities, but nothing that I wouldn’t have already thought of before. It may seem more creative to a newer teacher or even helpful for creating easy to follow lessons for a paraprofessional to execute in a small group, as it gives really specific step-by-step directions. Thanks for your post!
Hi Delaney!
You had a lot of great thoughts in your blog post. I agree with much of what you said, especially in regards to teachers also knowing how to use AI responsibly. One of the points I touched on in my blog post was about the importance of educators knowing what AI tools are available to our students and testing them out on on ourselves first so we could see what biases it has and detect if there are any forms of discrimination embedded in its makeup. As teachers, we want our students to know they can be successful but also know that they can do that still being their true selves. Because some AI platforms are known and have been proven to have partial biases in its software, I would want to be aware of what those sources are before I put the resources in the hands of my students.
As teachers, we have to be careful that we don’t expose just any and everything new and fascinating to our students because it may end up causing more harm than good. We want to protect their privacy but also support them taking pride in their identities which AI does not prioritize nor seem to show compassion towards. AI doesn’t know our students as we do so we can’t become too comfortable and allow it to replace us/our jobs or else education will never be the same.
I’m linking a blog that explains more of the pros and cons of AI in classrooms, and ironic enough, the blog, itself, also has aspects of AI within it! Many of the blog’s thoughts align with yours, so I think it will be a good read. https://www.perfectessaywriter.ai/blog/ai-in-education-the-pros-and-cons
Enjoy(: