ai has now reached almost all areas of education. A lot of the focus seems to be on specific ai-based platforms, such as ChatGPTDall-E and Google Geminior whether and how school districts should allow and use ai in their classrooms.
One area that hasn't received much attention is how ai is addressed in teacher education programs. As future teachers prepare to instruct, assess, and support millions of students in the coming years, the instruction they receive on the use of ai in K-12 classrooms is critical.
Each teacher education program is different in its format and focus, and many of them align with individual state standards and requirements. Recognizing this, here are three areas of focus that teacher education programs should consider regarding the inclusion of ai in this curriculum. These general practices and tips for addressing ai in teacher education programs may be helpful as we all try to figure out the best way forward.
<h2 id="1-ai-in-teacher-education-train-the-trainer”>1. ai in teacher training: train the trainer
Since access to ChatGPT and other generative ai platforms was not widely available until late 2022, it is likely that most teacher educators have not even received training on ai and its use in the classroom as they have with others. learning technologies.
Teacher education programs should provide their teachers with training and professional development in ai technologies to develop the ai literacy of their teacher educators so that they have the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to support the development of fundamental knowledge of the ai of your future teachers and the use of ai. within teaching and learning spaces.
This includes providing teacher educators with an understanding of the potential harms of ai and ways to address them in their own teaching, as well as how to prepare their future teachers to recognize these harms.
<h2 id="2-develop-ai-methods-coursework”>2. Develop courses on ai methods
While it would be an unrealistic expectation to provide pre-service teachers with a solid computer science education, at a minimum they should be exposed to basic knowledge about ai.
Methods courses are essential to teacher education, providing authentic opportunities for students to learn how to teach core subjects such as science and mathematics. A similar ai methods course, or content within other methods courses, could be created to provide pre-service teachers with hands-on opportunities to use ai in K-12 lessons. Courses on ai methods could include field experiences in schools and/or ai simulation laboratories and developing future teachers' ai literacy skills as core content.
Google and Adobe, among other sources, offer Free basic ai literacy courses to help you get started.
<h2 id="3-model-ethical-and-responsible-ai-practices”>3. Model ethical and responsible ai practices
Practicing what you preach instead of “do as I say, not as I do” is the way to go. With the confusion and mixed messages about the dangers and greatness of ai, and the various bans on ai in certain school districts, future teachers need to look at how the teaching staff within their teacher education programs are using it in their own instruction.
Consider:
- Expose pre-service to diverse academicssuch as former Dr. Joy Buolamwini of the MIT Media Lab, who founded the Algorithmic Justice League and was named one of ai/” target=”_blank” data-url=”https://time.com/6311323/how-we-chose-time100-ai/” referrerpolicy=”no-referrer-when-downgrade” data-hl-processed=”none”>The 100 most influential people in ai according to TIME magazine in 2023. This will support future teachers' ability to be critical consumers of ai content.
- Demonstrating how rapid engineering works (hopefully a topic covered in the train-the-trainer sessions) and the potential outcomes of the ai depending on what and how you express and ask something.
- Place the use of ai technologies in a respected inclusive framework, such as Universal Design for Learning, so that pre-service teachers can see how ai technologies can be used to represent student content, engage them in learning, and provide them with different ways to demonstrate theoretical learning. This keeps the use of ai technologies in pedagogies focused on specific learning opportunities and outcomes.
If future teachers have not been exposed to intentional preparation on the use of ai in education, or if they have not had the opportunity to see how ai is used in classrooms, how can we expect them to address its use in education? K-12 education after? graduation? Teacher educators have the responsibility, duty and challenge to prepare pre-service teachers and certainly addressing ai in teacher education should be a priority.
