For the final project, I am leaning towards examining ways and strategies in which to increase student voice and independence in the classroom environment. I am currently brainstorming ways to reorganize my classroom structure to use more digital tools that can encourage participation and increase student agency. The previous project, completed years ago to revamp the classroom space using Google Suite, piqued my interest. Google Classroom is already used at my school, but it is not utilized to its full extent. My current plan is to examine ways to revamp Google Classroom in preparation for next year, create an intro guide for students regarding best practices for using Google Classroom and Google Suite, research digital tools for student participation, and then prerecord my findings and attempts to prepare all said materials before the start of the school year in a Pecha Kucha format.
Switching gears, to AI and my relationship to it, I have a love-hate relationship with it. I have been using assistive technology since high school, including tools like Grammarly, which is an early iteration of AI technology. However, for a long time, that was my only interaction with Artificial Intelligence. The recent hype around AI platforms like ChatGPT piqued my interest, but I didn't really start experimenting with it until after college. ChatGPT's debut came after my collegiate experience. In many ways, I am grateful, given the dependence many undergraduates appear to have on it, which in some ways feels like cheating oneself out of a valuable education.
Having experimented with AI through platforms like ChatGPT and Magic School AI in my teaching practice, I have found it particularly useful for time-consuming tasks such as responding to difficult parent messages, creating rubrics, and scaffolding. It satisfies the need for an assistant to complete the mundane, time-consuming tasks that occupy so much mental space and energy. In a way, it is a tool that can, to extent, give the everyday person the same 24 hours in a day that members of the ruling class have as it trims the fat. However, the environmental impact of AI far outweighs its temporary benefits. While I understand the significance of introducing students to AI, as it's a groundbreaking technology that appears to be here to stay, it's also imperative that we critically examine its impact on the planet and how it has the potential to be harmful when introduced in educational spaces.
Destiny,
ReplyDeleteTwo things you mentioned about AI are almost my exact thoughts:
1. The environmental impact. I have been thinking about this a lot, especially because of how much I have seen of AI becoming a fun toy more than a tool for work. It reminds me of trucks that are modified to only partially burn fuel so you end up with a whole bunch of black smoke. Where I grew up we called it "rolling coal," but I don't know if that's a thing other places. Anyway, it's energy and resource use with absolutely no purpose.
2. You wrote, "it feels like cheating oneself out of a valuable education." This is what I talk to my students about all the time in regards to all kinds of cheating. If you copy from a friend's test or if AI writes your essay, you are the one suffering the biggest loss. As you teacher, I might be disappointed, but I'm not the one losing an opportunity to learn.