Is AI good for a classroom? That’s the question many teachers are wondering as the 2023-2024 school year begins. There has been a lot of uncertainty if Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be used in middle schools, high schools, and colleges. Many students resort to AI to write their essays and do their homework, but that can affect them in the long run.
As advanced AI apps and websites have been around for about a year, their negative effects are being exposed to teachers and society. This is the first year where AI is available as a resource that students have access to for their college essays and applications.
Jenny Rickard, the chief executive of the Common App says that “[t]his is the first full application cycle where students have the ability to use ChatGPT, and this technology is constantly changing.”
This brings up concerns for college admissions workers as applications open up. Lee Coffin, the director of admissions at Dartmouth, stated in a university podcast that “[t]he idea that this central component of a story could be manufactured by someone other than the applicant is disheartening.”
People who work in admissions may be accepting people that morally don’t fit into their school, or people who aren’t qualified. Using AI will decrease your chances of being accepted to a college as it’s not personal and doesn’t tell an interesting story about your life. Furthermore, admissions people now more than ever are on the lookout for AI.
AI has been a concern in high school and middle school settings for a while now. In an anonymous survey of Cathedral Catholic students, 78.6% of students said they have used AI to do their assignments, and 50% of people said they have used AI for an essay or test. It is easy for students to take advantage of AI and do all of their work for them. Students involved in other activities like sports, drama, and clubs can get very overwhelmed by work, and turn to AI to do it for them. This is one of the biggest concerns regarding AI in the classroom.
As technology advances, we have to be able to see the positives of using it in classrooms. Sasi Pilay, the VP of Information Technology at ABC says “it’s important to acknowledge challenges when using new technology in the classroom, but it’s also vital to adapt to the ever-changing digital world”. Pilay says that instead of putting barriers around AI we should embrace it and use it in useful ways. We can incorporate technology into the classroom in small ways that would help with schoolwork, but don’t do a whole assignment.
In a CCHS poll, 78.6% of people said they would want teachers to incorporate AI into classrooms to help with brainstorming and writing. Others said they want it in school because we have to learn how to adapt with new technology, and we should know how to use it because it’s going to be incorporated into business and companies you could work at.
AI can also give useful help to students with individual learning paths. In an article by LeewayHertz they explain that students learn at different paces and, “AI can help bridge this gap by providing students with adaptive and personalized learning experiences”. AI can find the areas in school where students are struggling, and need improvement. Based on the results students can focus on the areas they need to improve in.
Overall, students can struggle in the “real world” if they are too reliant on AI, but it also brings opportunities for enhanced learning to those who need individual paths in school, and go at their own pace.
