Demystifying Generative AI for Educators

The development and use of AI has been steadily growing in various sectors for a number of years, but its recent explosion into mainstream attention is as hard to ignore as it was to predict. Generative AI, particularly in the form of chatbots, is sparking discussions and debates worldwide. For educators, this disruptive technology poses unique opportunities and challenges. It has already exposed us to possibilities in enhancing imagination, supplementing tired minds and assisting learning.

Yet, continued and unabated developments in the availability and performance of this technology are exacerbating struggling education systems strained by the likes of the pandemic, teacher shortages and student disengagement. Challenges must also be acknowledged around the issues of plagiarism and the potential for thinking or creativity to be outsourced to AI.

The Need for Educators to Understand Generative AI

It is possible to provide a simple explanation for generative AI: large models trained on extremely large amounts of existing data that can generate text, images or other media based on the content they have in the model. However, that does not tell the full story of how it actually functions. Here's why this deeper knowledge matters:

• Beyond the magic: Generative AI might seem like magic, but with core understanding, teachers can help students move past marveling at the results and toward critical analysis of the output.
• Impurities in the training data: Knowing how the models are trained and their sources of data reveal inherent limitations and potential for bias. Knowing this leads educators to guide students to treating output with skepticism.
• The hallucinations and vagaries: AI's strengths can be leveraged while mitigating its weaknesses with awareness of its behavioral tendencies, knowing the significance of clear prompts and how to keep it from veering off topic.

Generative AI in the Classroom: Potential for Teaching

Generative AI offers a wealth of opportunities for educators to enhance the overall teaching process through the streamlining of tasks, assistance in ideation, communication and many facets of professional development. Teachers can leverage these tools to:

• Generate new or improve existing unit and lesson plans, formative and summative assessments
• Differentiate teaching and assessment materials
• Provide or assist with feedback in assessing student work
• Explore ideas for augmenting the teaching practice in the areas of engagement, specific pedagogical approaches and cross-curricular focuses, aligning with specific curriculum
• Support language learning
• All manner of administrative tasks that teachers are expected to undertake

Generative AI in the Classroom: Potential for Learning

Generative AI tools are just as powerful for learning as they are for teaching. Some would argue, even more so. They offer the ability to quickly and easily tailor content, receive instant explanations and feedback and new avenues for experimentation. This level of personalization of the learning experience offers the potential for enhanced levels of engagement and independent learning for students. Among the types of simple ways learners can use generative AI are:

• Improving knowledge and understanding through prompting interfaces that facilitate questions to be asked repeatedly until satisfactory explanations are received
• Enhancing creative expression in writing (e.g., stories, poems, songs), in visual arts (e.g., exploration of artistic styles, subjects, themes) and in sound and music production
• Supporting research, helping students quickly discover and summarize information on practically any topic
• Enabling self-directed learning through bespoke and varied interactions via a largely natural language interface
• Being exposed to simulations, scenarios and virtual “experts,” facilitating immersion experiences around historical events, scientific experiments and literary worlds

Often with a little more investment of time, learners can realize the potential of chatbots to support learning through:

• Simulated peer-to-peer collaboration: Chatbots can be prompted to generate discussions on given topics, providing different perspectives on a topic or even acting as a debate partner to help students refine their arguments
• Metacognitive support: Chatbots can help students reflect on their own learning through prompts that insist on students explaining their thinking processes or analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of their work
• Accessibility and inclusion: Chatbots can provide support for students with learning needs or those struggling to access content. They can read text aloud, offer summaries in simpler language and provide translation support

Conclusion

Generative AI presents a powerful tool for educators and students alike. The tools that we have been exposed to and the realities of what they can offer have only provided us with the embryonic stages of how and where this technology will develop. It is their impact on education that society needs to concern itself with.

Those who have embraced this technology know that its true benefits are realized when it is utilized as part of a toolkit for teaching and learning. Championing the technology as a complete solution does little to help any user. Generative AI is a tool with the potential to transform the educational landscape. Only through proactive engagement by educators can the ways in which this transformation unfolds be influenced.

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