Veteran multimedia producer and teacher Lynn Rogoff has long experimented with ways to bring history to life for young people. So when he saw the rise of ai tools, he rushed to try them.
In her latest film, “Bird Woman: Sacagawea,” viewers not only see the story of Sacagawea, the young woman from the Soshone tribe who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, but they also get to talk to her and ask her questions. questions about her. life.
At least they get to chat with an animated version of Sacagawea, as well as a number of other historical figures depicted. The film, which began as an audio documentary, is also animated with ai-generated characters.
The animation style is meant to look like something that could be in the latest consumer video game. “We wanted to go where the kids are, where they are on the computers with their games or on their PlayStations,” Rogoff told EdSurge.
Rogoff maintains that, just like in a video game, viewers will be more interested when given the opportunity to interact with the animated versions rather than simply sit and watch. “That's why gaming became such a big genre, because you're in it. “It is an interactive experience,” he adds.
But the movie and the chatbots also raise questions about whether ai chatbots are ready for the classroom, or whether they risk perpetuating stereotypes or stating incorrect facts because of technology's tendency to “mindwave.”
And some educators worry that as more companies offer chatbot substitutes for historical figures, students will spend less time diving into the raw materials of history to draw their own conclusions.
“I want to see people looking at primary resources. I don't want it to go through a filter,” says Jared Ten Brink, a doctoral student in education at the University of Michigan and a member of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi. “If this is for a high school audience, I definitely want them to read magazines and look for more primary resources, and not interact through the filter of a chatbot.”
For Rogoff, however, the goal is to inspire young people to care enough about the subject to want to interact with primary materials.
“He Lewis and Clark Magazines “They're not easy to read,” he says, noting that the language may seem forced or out of context to today's readers. “If you can capture a student's imagination and get them interested in discovering the stories of American history or any history, then I think you have a lifelong learner.”
Hear more from Rogoff and Ten Brink about the pros and cons of chatbots in teaching on this week's EdSurge podcast.
Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or in the player below.
