In the ever-changing field of education, incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) sets the stage for a fresh approach to how we teach and how students learn. (Walter, 2024). In his book AI for Educators, Matt Miller (2023a) says, "If AI is going to change the world in the near future, we need to prepare students for that world. That means we'll need to change too" (p. 7). This quote really resonated with me because I admit that AI in general is fairly new to me, even though I know it has been around for a while. It seems that AI technology is advancing faster than we can keep up with it. This book study has really helped me grasp a better understanding of the numerous advantages that AI provides to teachers and students. In Miller's book, he spends a good amount of time discussing thirty ways AI supports teaching and learning.
One of those ways is to ask AI to do teacher tasks for you. Recently I used ChatGPT to help me write an informational letter that I was sending out. I am still fairly new to using ChatGPT. Before reading Miller's book, I did not even know why it was called ChatGPT. The GPT stands for generative pretrained transformer. "It's generative because it creates a new response every time. It's pretrained because it has learned from a massive dataset. And it's transformer because it transforms its results into language that feels natural to the user" (Miller, 2023a, p.44). I typed in the basis of what I wanted to say and ChatGPT generated a letter for me that I was then able to customize. I was excited to see how easy it was to have a completed piece of writing in no time at all. ChatGPT truly is revolutionary and I think it offers so many possibilities for teachers and their students. "ChatGPT in education can be a significant stride towards created a more personalized, inclusive, and effective learning experience, preparing students not only for current academic challenges but also for the evolving demands of the future" (Walter, 2023, p.3). Teachers can use it to create leveled text for their students, individualized education plans, and differentiated formative assessments.
I think one of the best things we can do as teachers is to keep up with our advancing world. While it may seem overwhelming, we cannot allow ourselves to let that feeling keep us from exploring and learning about what AI has to offer ourselves and our students. It is okay to start small. One thing that I started doing was following Matt Miller's blog, Ditch that Textbook. His blog is regularly updated with great information and free resources for teachers. Another thing teachers can do is to experiment with online tools and websites like Canva and Quizziz. Their AI features truly do help save teachers time while creating engaging instructional resources. "If we're going to do our best work, support our students, and fulfill our teaching dreams, more time will help us realize that dream faster and better. AI can give us that time" (Miller, 2023a, p.117).
References
Miller, M. (2023a). AI for educators: Learning strategies, teacher efficiencies, and
a vision for an artificial intelligence future. Ditch That Textbook.
Miller, M. (2023b). 30 AI tools for the classroom.
https://ditchthattextbook.com/ai-edu/#tve-jump-186cc04809e
Walter, Y. (2024). Embracing the future of artificial intelligence in the classroom:
The relevance of AI literacy, prompt engineering, and critical thinking in
modern education. International Journal of Educational Technology in
Higher Education, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-024-00448-3