Reflections of a Teacher About Generative Artificial Intelligence: How Can Students Use AI to Change the World (Part 2)

(Part 2 of 3)

Special thanks to Dr. Thomas Uhle, Jr., professor, Miami Dade College School of Education

In my educational journey studying Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), I have learned much about what AI offers teachers. AI is a “brainstorming partner” that can aid teachers in refocusing their time from planning to truly concentrating on students and their cognitive and social-emotional needs.

But how can AI support student-learners? To answer this question, I asked a talented colleague and friend, Dr. Thomas Uhle, Jr., professor of teacher education at Miami Dade College, for his insights.

Dr. Uhle invited me to listen in on his classes as he led a discussion on AI. One preservice teacher course was an introduction to the teaching profession, and the other was an upper-division course on general teaching skills. It was a fascinating and eye-opening experience.

Several themes arose from the classroom discussions. There was a general recognition of the potential of technology: that it is pervasive, eternal, and will be enhanced with time; and that it is a powerful tool that can improve learning. However, they all recognized that AI is a tool and only provides foundational knowledge.

Some were concerned that technology is “dummying down” human capacity just as digital clocks preclude young children from telling time on an analog clock. One student observed students in schools using ChatGPT to find the answers to math problems. Although the students earned passing grades in their classes, they did not understand the concepts and required tutoring.

When the question of personalizing instruction arose, the reply was, “Use technology and then use your noodle.”  Students must own their learning and achievements because true learning changes the brain and provides cognitive transformation. In the age of accountability, scores on standardized tests and grades are the only indicators that gauge learning success. High scores and good grades can only be achieved by the student's sweat equity; AI cannot provide that grit.

When the importance of social-emotional support arose, students said that the “feeling aspect of learning is going away.” Technology has played a prominent role in losing human connections and vanishing interpersonal intelligence. Students noted that relational capabilities and the ability to converse, discuss, and communicate are dying.  Great urgency was placed on using AI correctly, ethically, and appropriately.

Dr. Uhle indicated this as well. He said he knew his students were using AI for their term papers on Down Syndrome, but he could not check it. Truthfully, any term paper can be downloaded from the Internet, not just from AI. So, we discussed how to alter the assignment and make it more beneficial for a preservice teacher. After the learners had introductory knowledge, we decided that each should generate original questions that remain and then observe in a classroom with students with Down Syndrome. Observations would provide personalized and authentic learning and extend the learner’s understanding.

I sensed a generalized fear of AI in the classroom and a lack of understanding of the change in the role of the teacher in the age of AI. I was surprised how few had heard of AI other than what was discussed in class. I was also very surprised that teacher preparation programs do not incorporate ChatGPT as a planning tool in their programs. 

Based on my experience in teacher preparation, preservice teachers should learn how to plan with all the elements of instructional design, the learning environment, delivery, and assessment incorporated. Then, and only then, can they use ChatGPT to differentiate curriculum and assessment, deepen students’ understanding, integrate varied subject matter, include knowledge of diverse cultures and global perspectives, manage students’ Individual Education Program (IEP), keep records, etc.

Still, I wanted firsthand information, so I became the student and tried prompts from various standards, such as Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (BEST), to test ChatGPT from the student’s perspective.  ChatGPT complied with my prompts with tremendous information, examples, charts, and diagrams. It counseled me on how to improve my grades. It defined goal setting and outlined short and long-term goals. In some cases, ChatGPT provided clarity when I did not understand. However, just as the information provided to teachers, so, too, this was foundational knowledge that already exists and has been programmed into ChatGPT by the education community. While it was more focused than Google, it was basic.

Nevertheless, AI assisted me as a student in the executive functioning skills: organizing and prioritizing tasks; maintaining cognitive flexibility; engaging in self-directed learning​; starting and completing tasks timely; self-monitoring; supporting on-task behaviors; taking on challenges​; increasing self-respect and self-esteem; regulating emotions; perspective taking​; and communicating effectively and efficiently.​

I reflected on the information I gathered from students and as a student. I then reflected on this knowledge as a teacher. As an experienced educator, I appreciated the plethora of ideas and suggestions, but I wanted my students to intensify their thinking at higher levels. The real challenge in using AI is training students to use ChatGPT to acquire foundational knowledge and then create original knowledge contributions.

Inasmuch as AI changes the role of the teacher from “sage on the stage” to one that fosters creative thinking, inquiry, reasoning, and problem-solving, it also changes the role of the learner.

In 2001, Bloom’s Taxonomy was revised and included Create as its highest level of cognitive behavior. We no longer want students to merely analyze and evaluate. Rather, we want them to take that “in-the-box,” convergent information and generate divergent new thinking. The astute learner always looks for original thought and innovation.

Albert Einstein once said, “All creation waits with eager, longing for the revealing through the sons of men.”  Perhaps AI will enable us to reach the next level of intelligence, ask questions we do not yet know how to ask, and expose us to knowledge that already exists, but has yet to be discovered. It is up to us, education leaders and educators, to enable our students to do so.

The true scholar seeks an original approach to examining wisdom, looking at things in ingenious and novel ways, seeing something in an inventive new light, combining two ideas to form a new interpretation or concept, and using emotional insight to advance thoughts and beliefs. That should be the aim of teachers in the age of AI.

This radical change in the Taxonomy addresses the essence of what it means to be human and the core of human existence. People seek self-actualization through cognitive growth, questioning, and curiosity. Encouraging new, unique, transformative thoughts and ideas through true deep learning will electrify classrooms and begin to address the achievement gap constructively and productively. This is what advances society! It’s a great idea! But how do we inspire creativity and innovation, hallmarks of what it means to be human?

The truth is that there are no theories, best practices, or studies showing the impact of AI on learning or the brain yet. Nevertheless, we can create and develop strategies that prepare the next generation of educators to interact positively with AI so that it is a useful tool, assists with their productivity, and supports student learning and engagement.  These include (1) developing and refining useful prompts, (2) analyzing prompt results to assess their value, (3) selecting and deselecting information, and (4) determining what to do with AI information.

Once AI is used in the format above, educators can practice creative thinking, brainstorming, and innovation in their classroom through how they teach and what they teach, using AI as a support. Teachers can cultivate the curiosity in their students spawned by AI by allowing them to engage in imaginative play, individualized learning, open-ended questioning, problem-based learning, competency-based learning, the flipped classroom, hands-on experiments, and inventive exploration.

Educators must allow students to collaborate with others who have diverse perspectives and seek inspiration through experimentation and investigation. They must provide opportunities for students to choose how to learn, what to learn, and how to demonstrate their learning. Educators should aspire to be reflective practitioners and encourage this in their students. Great advances like electric cars, smartphones, learning platforms, and even AI itself came from intellectual playfulness and ingenious thinking.

Time is of the essence as AI technology continues to evolve at a lightning pace. We cannot predict how the future will look, so we must prepare our students to be ready for any situation.  AI empowers educators to inspire students to create and design the future!!  Will they use it?

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