A mind-blowing tech revolution is bearing down on you as an educator. Open AI\u2019s ChatGPT and a hundred variations of artificial intelligence are about to delight and terrify you as they claim space in your professional life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though AI apps and products might worry or upset you now, future you will use them as routinely as you now use Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kirsten Thompson, president of the Manitoba Association of Educational Technology Leaders (MAETL), is deep into ChatGPT. She says artificial intelligence can help write lesson plans and class newsletters, craft grant applications, prepare slide decks, refine communication, and save you a ton of time in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whenever she demos ChatGPT to her colleagues, they recognize the possibilities instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThe response I usually get goes something like, \u2018My gosh, it would have taken me an hour to put together something like this.\u2019 So, one reason I encourage teachers to use chat is that it can replace or automate tedious tasks. That means more face time with students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that face time is critical. No amount of artificial intelligence will replace certified teachers, who do infinitely more than impart facts and figures to students. The countless professional judgements made by educators in the classroom every day are not the kind of tasks the technology can tackle. Still, there are times when AI can be more friend than foe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drafts Not Links<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thompson explains that while today\u2019s search engines call up pages of links for you to explore and eventually use to fashion a draft, AI platforms give you an almost immediate draft in response to your prompts. So ChatGPT responses can become the basic foundation for whatever project you\u2019re working on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe call it prompt engineering,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cAnd you can layer prompts on top of prompts to continue to refine the responses you get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd since all these platforms like ChatGPT, Microsoft\u2019s Bing and Google\u2019s Bard are language learning models, you can actually ask them for more information and get it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou essentially carry on a conversation. The machine is continually aware of the context of your previous prompts as you work toward getting what you need. You can\u2019t do that with a browser.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thompson says it\u2019s then up to you to review what it\u2019s given you and use your own judgement to fact check and edit it before using. It\u2019s like working with a partner who can retrieve and package information for you to vet and adapt for your own purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you would never pass off someone else\u2019s research or opinions as your own,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you are building a piece of writing, an exam, a rubric, anything, you know what\u2019s ethical and what\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thompson says the biggest fear in using AI is that the results can be passed off as someone else\u2019s work\u2014and that opens up a whole host of concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But she points to a massive open online course called ETMOOC 2.0 by University of Regina professor Alec Couros and colleagues. \u201cThe resources page is completely open to anybody and has lots of fantastic tools, including a specific section on online plagiarism checkers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus, Thompson has said for years that if students can Google the answers to your tests, then you need a better test. \u201cLikewise, if students can use ChatGPT for your assessment, let\u2019s face it, you need a better assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how does a teacher get their feet wet when it comes to ChatGPT and AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thompson says she\u2019s usually leery about recommending tech books because as soon as they\u2019re published, they\u2019re out of date. But she wanted to find an excellent AI primer she could recommend to her teacher friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She found that in Matt Miller\u2019s book AI for Educators. \u201cA big concept in the book is you cannot look at today\u2019s technology through yesterday\u2019s lens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fresh Tech Inspires Fear<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s natural that new technologies inspire trepidation. The calculator sparked fears of in-class cheating, the microwave oven would irradiate us by jostling food molecules, even the debit card had its detractors for scooping money directly out of our bank accounts, with no apparent opportunity for refunds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been watching the MTS #RealTeacherTalkMB series online and reading about how colleagues are stressed and burnt out. That\u2019s a real issue, a complicated issue, and AI is definitely not a cure-all. But one big benefit to using chatbots and AI is that you really can save yourself time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thompson says there\u2019s an art to building the prompt; it\u2019s not a matter of asking a single question and having AI spit out exactly what you need. \u201cThere\u2019s a learning curve. But just like anything else, you tackle it one step at a time. And you determine exactly if or how much you want to use in your professional life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curation Vs. Creation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In reality, we\u2019ve been using AI for years, says Thompson: in Google maps that show us retail outlets near us, in algorithms displaying our preferred topics in social media\u2014even in the autocorrect we take for granted. She says this first phase of artificial intelligence is classified as curation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creation, the second phase, is where AI is headed now. Here the application scans sources and intelligently selects information from them to build coherent conversational responses\u2014which may or may not be accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tom Tarrant, principal of Manitoba\u2019s online school InformNet, told the Winnipeg Free Press that, \u201cWhen used appropriately, AI helps to spur critical thinking and engage learners. Leveraging these tools also helps our students and staff stay on top of current trends and innovations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tarrant warned that some students are misusing the tools. When they do, they are affecting their own learning and are hurting themselves in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thompson says MAETL has been promoting chatbots while educating school staff about privacy and other ethical issues when using new AI tools. At last May\u2019s Riding the Wave conference, MAETL launched a free chatbot called BYTE along with its partner Code Breaker Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Specifically designed for Manitoba students and teachers, there is no account or fee required (MAETL pays for that). It includes profanity and suicidal ideation filters, has no user login or tracking, and the reading level never exceeds Grade 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChatbots and AI are not perfect,\u201d says Thompson.\u201c But given the advantages they offer us as educators, we would be remiss not to use them to their full capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kirsten Thompson will present a workshop on AI for Educators at this year\u2019s COSL Winter Conference in Feb. 2024. Use the free MAETL-sponsored Code Breaker chatbot at https:\/\/www.codebreakeredu.com\/chat\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matt Miller\u2019s book AI for Educators: Learning Strategies, Teacher Efficiencies, and a Vision for an Artificial Intelligence Future is an excellent AI primer to ChatGPT. To learn more visit https:\/\/ditchthattextbook.com\/ai-edu\/<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n