There is no doubt that artificial intelligence, or AI, continues to dominate the news. You could even say it writes its own headlines.
And, following the Prime Minister’s recent proclamations on the need for the UK to take a more aggressively proactive approach to investing in this technology, it is clear that AI is here to stay. So, anyone clinging to the more pessimistic predictions about its potential effect on the human race may have to buckle up.
Most people, though, agree that AI does hold the promise of undeniable and possibly innumerable benefits, not least in the secondary school classroom. But that does not mean that all the fears are unfounded. There are definitely questions to be answered. Many questions.
It also seems likely that one of the growth areas will be the development of tools to limit the threats to privacy and copyright.
“As effective teachers throughout history have correctly asserted, copying is not learning.”
Some of these issues will have profound implications for all of us, and the education sector is no exception. Yes, it is amazing what information technology can do to accelerate learning and place the world of knowledge on a plate for students, but students still have to learn.
And, as effective teachers throughout history have correctly asserted, copying is not learning – especially if the student is not even the one doing the copying.
It has been suggested in some quarters that generative AI will mean the end of homework as we know it. And it’s true that when it comes to learning, platforms such as ChatGPT do have the potential to not only do the research for the student but also write it up in a way that imitates a human-written essay, for example.
But before you frantically unplug every device in your school, it is important to recognise the substantial opportunities that generative AI can deliver to the classroom and the tools we can employ to control its more negative aspects.
AI advantages
Research is, and will always be, an essential skill for young people to master. In this regard, this new technology can be an immensely powerful learning tool.
After all, if you’re looking to teach the importance of doing broad-based research before summarising it efficiently and presenting it effectively, what better teacher could you have than a system that can trawl the entire internet, then concisely craft the information into a report that mimics the best examples in the genre?
Furthermore, this technology is not going to go away. Within a few short years, each student inevitably leaves secondary education to carry on with their lives, and schools therefore have a responsibility to equip students with the skills to harness it in a way that meets the needs and expectations of further education, higher education and future employers.
AI pitfalls
At the same time, the potential pitfalls of generative AI are undeniable. The aforementioned predictions of homework’s demise highlight a significant problem for teachers.
In some respects, teenagers are not that complicated. If the technology exists to help them avoid the effort of homework – or any other schoolwork, for that matter – the temptation to use it will be hard to resist.
It would be too much to expect the students themselves to establish a culture of academic integrity within the school. That means the onus is firmly on secondary school leaders to do it for them.
“The reputation and possibly the continued existence of a school will hinge on its academic integrity.”
This is no small responsibility. The reputation and possibly the continued existence of a school will hinge on its academic integrity. Therefore, it is essential that any secondary school hoping to survive, let alone thrive, in the AI era has clear academic integrity guidelines.
Inevitably, that means writing and implementing a fair, realistic, schoolwide AI writing policy. That, alone, might not be enough, though.
This is where a little extra assistance could prove invaluable. Once you have your policy in place (if not before), consider employing technological support to help identify misuse instances, such as a specialised, student-focused AI detector like the one created by Turnitin.
High-tech support
Trusted by educators around the world, Turnitin has shown itself to be highly proficient at rooting out AI-generated content from that written by humans.
Imagine the workload and peace-of-mind benefits that would bring to teachers. Not only will they be spared the effort of trying to track down evidence of inappropriate AI usage, but it will also help them have open conversations with students about the originality of their work and creating learning opportunities.
Of course, none of your students would ever dream of using something like ChatGPT to do their work for them. But, just in case they were in danger of being led into temptation, wouldn’t it be a good deterrent for them to know that you have an effective AI detector at your disposal?
If you still have doubts, look at it this way: teachers have more than enough to cope with, thanks to the increasing demands and continuously changing nature of education, often in response to cultural and political shifts beyond their control. Perhaps, then, it’s okay to ask for a little support with this knotty AI problem.
After all, isn’t asking for a reasonable amount of help what any responsible teacher would expect from their students?
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