Stop using AI to replicate outdated teachings: get creative

Key points:

In the year and a half since ChatGPT launched, ai-powered edtech tools have flooded the market, but most, if not all, of these products may be missing out on the most exciting and creative ways to use ai in the classroom.

While 89 percent of teachers reported in a recent survey who believe generative ai will have an impact on teaching, according to recent reports in the tech/ai/ai-is-tutoring-students-but-still-struggles-with-basic-math-694e76d3″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The Wall Street Journal and ai-tale-why-ibms-dazzling-watson-supercomputer-made-a-lousy-tutor/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The 74 They have correctly identified some of the limitations of ai in education, questioning the technology’s ability to serve, for example, as an effective tutor. But is asking generative ai to do math or engage in a tutoring relationship with students really the best way to use this incredibly powerful technology? We are overlooking simpler but more effective ways to use ai in the classroom.

As an educational technology researcher and designer who has spent the last 15 years studying how technology can bridge the gap between learning and play, I am amazed by the ways generative ai can bring creativity and fun into the classroom – a notion I know contradicts some of the current criticisms.

Expanding creativity and collaboration with ai

My former colleague and professor at MIT ai-and-creative-learning-concerns-opportunities-and-choices-63b27f16d4d0″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Mitch Resnick He laments current uses of ai in education, which aim to replicate conventional teaching methods by focusing on problems that have one right answer. For example, the answers provided by generative ai chatbots can sometimes be misleading when it comes to subjects like math, where a student's solution to a problem is either right or wrong. “Asking ChatGPT to do math is like asking a goldfish to ride a bike: that's not what ChatGPT is designed to do,” tech/ai/ai-is-tutoring-students-but-still-struggles-with-basic-math-694e76d3″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>observed Yale professor Tom McCoy.

Rather than replicating current instructional methods and tasks, there is enormous potential to leverage generative ai in scenarios where students can creatively solve meaningful problems that have no known answer. EITHEREnny Ulloa, a curriculum support specialist at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, told me on ISTELive 24 that part of this creative learning process should require students to explain as They used ChatGPT or other ai tools. For example, rather than banning tools like ChatGPT for essay writing, teachers can encourage students to use ai in their work, but clearly document how their essays evolved through multiple drafts. Students then engage in “intelligence augmentation,” or the improvement of human Intelligence through ai tools.

Resnick calls for more opportunities for students to collaborate by using ai systems to support real-world team projects. This could happen, for example, when students work together as a team but ask questions of the ai ​​to prompt their own brainstorming on a topic. Students can then evaluate the ai ​​tool’s suggestions and brainstorm with each other to build on the ai’s suggestions. In this type of exercise, ai provides a scaffold for student collaboration, not a replacement.

When used creatively and collaboratively, ai can help students learn more than just data. It can teach them important skills for the future, such as working well with others and using new technologies effectively.

The next generation of playful learning

A creative and collaborative approach to ai aligns with “playful learning” teaching methods, where students can explore, experiment, be curious and try new things in a low-risk environment. Research shows that playful learning It helps students work together and share ideas more effectively. Using ai in a playful way in the classroom helps students understand technology while developing interpersonal skills.

What might playful learning with ai tools look like in practice? On the one hand, it can involve students experimenting with ai in a hands-on way. In my graduate education course, I gave students the opportunity to create their own ai applications and test them with teachers or students. The students used the ai ​​tools. ai/”>Gaming Lab A platform to experiment and iterate on their ideas, with projects like a research-based guessing game for students and a tool to make lessons more culturally relevant for teachers. By creating new tools with ai, rather than using existing ai tools, my students had a deeper learning experience, improving their understanding of not only what ai can do, but also what teaching and learning means to them.

Future-proof learning through playful ai

Imagine a history class where students use ai to generate images of historical figures or events and then work together to analyze the accuracy and biases of these depictions. Or a science class where ai helps students visualize complex molecular structures, allowing them to manipulate and explore these models in ways that were previously impossible. These examples show how ai can enhance learning experiences, making them more engaging and interactive.

While ai-based features already built into edtech tools are certainly useful, they often hide ai technology behind an interface and focus on the product rather than the process. A more hands-on approach would allow students to directly experiment with ai and learn through trial and error. For example, students could try to “outsmart” ai by finding creative ways to ask questions that challenge its limitations, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of both the technology’s capabilities and its flaws.

While it’s difficult to change the way teachers think about education, this playful approach is part of a much-needed rethinking of what education should be and how it can best prepare students for a rapidly evolving future. The combination of playful learning and ai tools has the potential to empower students and develop future-ready skills, putting them in charge of their own learning now and throughout their lives. Let’s get creative instead of focusing on the conventional.