Last week I shared some of the things that I have been learning about AI and education in my research and practical applications with students. I did not want the post to be too long and overwhelming, so I split the list into two segments. Therefore, it is time to publish Part Two:

Transparency

Vicki Davis is a long time educational technology blogger, researcher, and educational practitioner. I have regularly read her work and admired her approach to thoughtful and intentional uses for technology in the classroom. When public versions of generative AI first emerged in November of 2022, she immediately started preaching the importance of transparency in our use of AI, expecting this from her students as well. We still have so much to learn about the proper role of AI in education and our own personal lives, but simply using the word “transparency” and setting that standard in our schools opens the door for some great conversations about what we are doing and why. This also directly connects to the next learning item….

Conversation vs. “Gotcha”

Have you detected AI generated text that was used to complete an assignment? I am sure most of us have at this point. So how did you address that? One method would be to slap the plagiarism charge, a “gotcha”, against the student and deal with this from a disciplinary perspective. And based on the academic honesty policies that most of us have in place, we would certainly be justified in doing so. However, this is NOT my preferred approach. I have intentionally chosen to engage students in a conversation, mention that the created text really did not seem like his/her typical writing, ask why that is, open a discussion about transparency, and asking how the student intended to show that true learning was taking place through that process. I believe that only talking about plagiarism would be a lot opportunity when instead we can talk about the nature of learning and its importance, and encourage the student to take responsibility for their own learning by planning out their next step in the learning process. Which leads to the final element I have learned with AI and education….

Shortcuts vs. Authentic Learning

A student who uses AI to pass writing off as his/her own to complete an assignment quickly is taking a shortcut, and shortcuts do not lead to authentic learning since the process of learning has been bypassed. I am finding it to be very effective when talking with students to emphasize that we are an institution of learning, and that AI must be used to enhance the learning process, not to bypass it. What is challenging is that in the larger world of work, shortcuts are acceptable, and even expected, because they can lead to greater productivity. They are not in the learning process, however. I expect students to explain and describe how their transparent AI use has led to greater and accelerated learning instead of skirting that process.

Please feel free to reach out to me at any time to share what you are learning about AI in your school or classroom. As I have mentioned before, it is important that we all work together to better make sense of what the impact is with these new tools and services to the glory of God and His mission.