How can we approach AI technology with curiosity, rather than anxiety?

‘NYC education department blocks ChatGPT on school devices’

As you might be aware, AI has been a hot topic in the world of education. 

There are some people who are concerned about AI’s negative impact on education. They wonder whether ‘students will no longer use their own ideas to write an essay’ or ’students will lose their creativity if they use AI as a crutch.’ 

So, how are the teachers at Canadian Academy reacting to AI and the changes it potentially brings? Ms. Clark, our education technology coordinator, suggests that we use AI with curiosity and explore ideas for using it in teaching rather than being afraid of its negative impact. For example, we could think, ‘how can I use this tool to engage my students?’ or ‘how could this tool help our students share their ideas regardless of their English language ability?’ 

In fact, we have already been using AI as a tool in our everyday lives, such as search engines, automatic language translation, and facial recognition. So it’s essential for us to think of how to use AI as a tool to extend our ideas and creativity.

Ms. Clark organized a session for our teachers to discuss how we make good use of AI for teaching and learning. The teachers were engaged and actively enjoyed brainstorming. One teacher suggested having students grade an essay response produced by AI, so that they could better understand the rubric when it came time for their own assignments to be graded. Another teacher suggested using AI-generated responses as an opportunity to discuss its bias. Notably, AI responses do not cite sources, so we cannot completely rely on the information it produces.

New technology is sometimes unpredictable and can be scary. That is why it is important for us to engage with these tools rather than try to block them, so that we can be ‘good friends’ with them. Our teachers have been open-minded and enjoyed learning how to use it creatively. This way, Canadian Academy will continue incorporating new tools in our teaching and ensure a good quality of learning.