As my Opinion colleague Jessica Gross wrote in a recent series of newsletters, it’s understandable why parents are frustrated by the proliferation of computers in schools. In one of her articles, she wrote, “Somehow, we have allowed Big Tech’s tentacles into every aspect of our children’s education, with little oversight and their devices and programs improving educational outcomes.” There was no real evidence that this was the case.”
But I’m optimistic that artificial intelligence will turn (some) haters into fans. AI can customize lessons based on each student’s abilities, learning style, and even external interests. For example, imagine teaching the Yankees ratio to show his fans how to update Aaron Judge’s batting average. AI can also provide teachers and parents with the detailed information they need to more effectively help children recharge.
As I wrote last month, there is a risk that AI will replace human labor and ultimately render us all redundant. It would be great if we could let AI teach us, develop our strengths, and allow AI to complement, rather than replace, human labor.
Of course, there is no guarantee that this great vision will work out. At worst, AI could become just a more advanced drilling machine or an electronic babysitter. My conclusion is the same as Gross’s: the use of devices and apps in schools “should be driven by educators, not technology companies.”
Since I have never taught, I checked out this newsletter with my two nieces who are science teachers. One teaches at a middle school in Connecticut, and the other teaches at a high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Please see later for details.
I admit that AI is probably more of a headache than a boon for educators at this point. Generative AI that can write perfectly grammatical essays on any topic in seconds is perfect for cheating. However, AI is very good at detecting AI-generated material, so it won’t matter much in the long run (it takes a thief to catch a thief).
Another problem with AI in education is that it can sometimes get the answers wrong. When a Wall Street Journal reporter tested Khan Academy’s AI-powered tutor, Khanmigo, earlier this year, the software miscalculated subtraction problems such as 343 minus 17.
Or consider this puzzling response from ChatGPT when asked how a man and a goat with a boat could cross a river.
The man first took the goat across the river and left the boat on its original side. The man then returned alone in the boat. He leaves the goat on the other side and takes the boat back to his original side. Finally, he crosses the river with the cabbage.
This farcical paragraph reveals that the large language model is actually just an enhanced autocomplete feature. This person clearly ate a lot of puzzles involving boats, goats, and cabbage.
But it’s okay. Just as wrenches, hammers, and screwdrivers are useful without replicating human capabilities, AI can be useful without replicating human intelligence.
“AI is not going to answer your questions,” Jonathan Grayer, who founded the education technology company Imagine Learning in 2011, told me. “What that does is change the process of teachers teaching, children learning, and parents helping.”
Emma Braaten, director of digital learning at North Carolina State University’s Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, said the lesson of the past 20 years in education technology is to focus on augmenting, not replacing, teachers. This was unthinkable before. ”
This goes back to Gross’ idea that educational technology needs to be built around the needs of teachers. Often this was not the case. “Edtech is often introduced into classrooms on a whim or by word of mouth, saying, ‘Hey, let’s try this,'” said Stephen Ross, director of the Center for Educational Research and Innovation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. myself.
When I wrote about Khan Academy’s Khanmigo a year ago, I had no idea it had mathematical challenges. This week I spoke to Kristen DiCerbo, the company’s chief learning officer, about that and other challenges. He said the company has come up with four measures to get the calculations right. One is that when the software detects that math is being done, it sends the problem to the calculator for an answer. (How humane.)
She also said Khan Academy tries to remind students that Khan Migos may be friends, but they are not humans. It’s not just because you can be wrong sometimes. “As a society, we need to grapple with what it means for people to start building relationships with technology,” she says. “It seems like a slippery slope.”
Finally, here are some thoughts from my wonderful nieces. Abigail from Los Angeles isn’t all about technology. “I would like to teach in a low-tech school where smartphones are not allowed in the classroom,” she told me via email.
Still, she has found some uses for AI. “AI is very helpful in speeding up the most time-consuming and tedious preparation tasks for me. For example, I created a list of new stoichiometry practice questions for my students to practice at home. “Assessments” that will help you prepare for the exam,” she wrote. She also finds it useful in “paraphrasing scientific papers to support students with disabilities” and helping Advanced Placement students “brainstorm topics and research questions.”
Amy, from Connecticut, told how she was teaching a plate tectonics unit featuring Everest when she came across a Times article that was beyond her students’ reading levels. “ChatGPT helped make text more accessible,” she writes. ChatGPT also helped her concoct a treasure hunt for seventh graders complete with rhyming clues. “What would have been a tedious task has turned into a task that can be completed in just a few minutes.”
My nieces understood how AI could help, not just be a hindrance. If they can do it, so can others.
written by the reader
Considering the systems individually, it definitely helps to keep the top benefits down. But I like to look at things from a macro perspective. The federal deficit crowds out people’s savings and investments. One wonders if the benefits paid to the top tier are cut, will that group spend less? Otherwise, and I think the effect would be quite small, the effect would simply be a transfer of savings from households to the government (in the form of lower budget deficits).
charles steindel
glen ridge new jersey
I’m very surprised that you and others who work on this issue don’t think that taxing only the first $168,600 of annual income is a gift to those receiving very high salaries. Ta. Instead of benefiting from the rich, let’s make them pay for Social Security in full.
virginia orenstein
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
Peter here: Dozens of readers have pointed this out. Applying payroll taxes to all income would result in significant tax increases for high-income households.
quote of the day
“But the age of chivalry is over; the methods of the sophists, economists, and calculators have succeeded; and the glory of Europe will disappear forever.”
— Edmund Burke, “Reflections on the French Revolution” (1790)
