According to a recent study by the textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, nearly 40% of teachers surveyed by the company said they plan to integrate artificial intelligence tools into their teaching by the end of the 2023-24 school year. This figure is only expected to increase as AI-powered programs such as ChatGPT, Claude, Bard and Adobe Firefly continue to improve – almost at breakneck speed – at functions such as scheduling assistance courses and content generation, according to Monica Burnsformer teacher and educational technology consultant.
Speaking Tuesday as part of a webinar series About new educational tools hosted by Verizon and Digital Promise, Burns said teachers should stay up to date with developments in AI to get the most out of new tools and understand their limitations.
“This type of technology has come a long way. We might have thought of AI as a science fiction movie, but it has been with us or behind the scenes for some time. …Generative AI like ChatGPT, Claude or Bard has gained popularity this year,” she said, noting that she is also “excited” to see how instructors use Adobe Firefly, which has released a beta version in March and claims to generate images. which can stimulate class discussions and help guide lessons.
Burns noted that improvements in AI technologies over the past few months will only continue, meaning teachers will have more and better tools to help them save time on menial tasks such as instructional design and grading, which will help improve teaching in and of itself. She said that as more teachers become familiar with AI in the classroom, it’s important for them to let each other know what works and what doesn’t for certain functions.
“This can have a big impact on our workflow as we prepare from an instructional planning perspective and give students different ways to succeed,” she said, adding that the tools AI can be used to come up with ideas to connect lessons and course topics to student interests to boost engagement.
However, even though AI tools have improved a lot for practical educational applications, she said it will still be important for educators to know the limitations of each, such as the potential to “hallucinate” or generate fake news. As other educators and experts in the field of AI education technology have warned in recent months, she said that AI tools still need a lot of human oversight to effectively foster student learning. . She said teachers may still need to check the results of AI tools from time to time to better facilitate learning, rather than hindering it with false or irrelevant content.
“As we talk about what you can do in this space and what’s new in the past year, it’s important to remember that this technology is far from perfect,” she said. “You might get inaccurate answers.”
