EdTech Inquiry

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Hello everyone! Welcome to our educational technology presentation. Today we’re going to be talking about artificial intelligence in education.

Here is an overview of our table of contents for our presentation. We will start off with our inquiry question, then we will move on to workload after that will come subjects with writing, and then other subjects. Lastly, we will touch on privacy and plagiarism. So let’s get started!

Our Inquiry question is “What implications will AI, specifically Chat Gpt have on education? What are some strategies teachers can use to incorporate AI as well as ensure assignments are authentic?

So how does AI affect Teacher workload?
Well, it automates routine tasks, like grading and feedback. It can aid teachers in creating these things but of course, it doesn’t mean teachers won’t need to make adjustments and personalizations.
It provides personalized support by answering student questions and providing guidance on assignments. It can reduce the amount of time teachers spend answering the same questions and allow them to focus on more complex issues.
It enhances teaching materials by generating examples, explanations and summaries. It can also create lesson plan ideas and outlines and incorporates the BC curriculum if you ask it to.
This can help teachers provide more effective and engaging lessons, and ultimately improve student learning outcomes.

But how does it affect student workload?
It provides support and can improve efficiency by quickly identifying areas where students need more help.
It can give students ideas, expand on their existing ideas, and help with research. If used responsibly, Chat GPT can aid students in creating more in-depth projects and assignments using feedback, ideas and more. Of course, this is something that may need to be monitored which is why AI detectors have been made.

So, I am going to be touching on the implications Chat GPT has on subjects with writing. These are subjects such as English, social studies, french, and other languages. I started off with two prompts, the first being “How could Chat GPT assist students in subjects with writing?” And the second being “How can Chat GPT assist elementary aged students when learning writing?”

For the first prompt Chat GPT provided some good responses such as assistance with generating ideas for writing assignments, improving grammar, providing feedback on writing, showing examples of well-written work, and proofreading assistance. Of course, this makes Chat GPT appear to be an excellent helper when it comes to any subjects that require writing, but it’s important to hold off on the assumption that Chat GPT won’t make any mistakes. I’ll touch on some concerns with this topic in a couple of slides but first, let’s head over to the next prompt.

Chat GPT’s main points for the second prompt were that it could assist teaching Grammar and Spelling, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts, Editing and Revising, Writing Techniques, and Practice Exercises. All of these were pretty similar to the first prompt answers. Again, remembering that Chat GPT is not perfect and makes mistakes sometimes. Let move on to some concerns with using Chat GPT for writing and language learning.

I asked Chat GPT how it could assist students in learning another language such as french, and it claimed it could help with pronunciation which sounded almost too good to be true so I asked for a trial run!

Here’s how that turned out. Chat GPT actually messed up and provided incorrect pronunciation of “Merci.” Oopsies . . .

They said that the “C” was silent making it pronounced as “Mehr-eh,” I’m pretty sure this is incorrect and a quick check on google confirmed this for me. Merci is in fact pronounced “Mér-si”

Don’t worry I made sure to correct Chat GPT on it’s mistake too.

So to quickly run through some pros and cons of using Chat GPT with writing these are some that Chat GPT listed. For the pros, I think the most important is definitely the 24/7 assistance. This means students can get help with homework from home if they have access to the internet. For cons, I like the mention of overdependence! This response really got me thinking and visualizing Chat GPT being used in the classroom. It would be really cool to see a ChatGPT model designed specifically to be used in classrooms by students and teachers! If It could be designed strictly to assist children with certain subjects but not give away too much info to the point where it is doing the work for them then I think it would be more considered. Think of it almost as safety limits or controls. I think this would make for an extremely helpful tool in classrooms because the students would have access to all of the pros of the AI models, but avoid the over-dependence that often seems to be a big worry.

Moving beyond Chat GPT and to other Moving beyond Chat GPT, we have this AI that Chloe found called Beta Character AI. With this AI you can talk to different characters, even philosophers. You can ask them questions about themselves, ask them what they think about certain things, and get them to share their beliefs. This could work great for a research project. Any mistakes caught in the responses could be used as a learning moment for students to question and evaluate AI models.

Other subjects in school that do not have as much writing are the sciences, math, music, art, physical and health education and computer science.

For science, it can be used to explain scientific terms, generate examples of science experiments, provide feedback on experiment results, simulate experiments, help with problem-solving and summarize scientific articles.
For music, it can be used to provide feedback on your playing if you input a link, generate written examples of different compositions, styles and techniques, explain musical terms, help with composition by providing guidance on chord progressions, melody creation and structure, recommend listening materials and simulate performances through text.
For physical and health education, it can be used to provide feedback on fitness and nutrition, generate personalized workouts, recommend healthy recipes, explain health-related terms, provide guidance on injury prevention and rehabilitation techniques and simulate physical activities in text like yoga.
For math, it can be used for explaining math terms, generating examples, providing feedback on solutions, summarizing math articles and helping with problem-solving.
For computer science, it can be used to recommend learning resources, provide feedback on code, generate code snippets, explain computer science terms, help with problem-solving and simulate programming scenarios in text.
For art, it can be used for research on techniques, generating ideas and inspiration, and critique and providing feedback on artwork.

We were curious about how ChatGPT can be used in these subjects to further students’ understanding and support their learning. For all of these subjects, it can be used for answering questions related to the subject to help further understanding. With all of these benefits, it is still important to be critical of the responses that are provided and check other sources.

Prompt: what are the privacy risks of using ChatGPT?
“As an AI language model, ChatGPT raises several privacy concerns that are typical for any technology that processes personal data. Here are some potential privacy concerns related to ChatGPT:

1. Data privacy: ChatGPT requires access to large amounts of data to generate its responses, and this data can include personal information. This raises concerns about how this data is stored, processed, and secured.
2. User identity: ChatGPT does not verify the identity of its users, which means that it is possible for someone to impersonate another user and access their data or manipulate the responses of the model.
3. Sensitive information: ChatGPT may process sensitive information during conversations, such as medical or financial information. This raises concerns about how this information is stored and whether it is secure from unauthorized access.
4. Misuse of data: ChatGPT could potentially be used to generate responses that violate privacy laws or ethical standards. For example, it could be used to generate responses that discriminate against certain groups of people.
5. Data breaches: Like any online service, ChatGPT is vulnerable to data breaches, which could result in the exposure of personal information and other sensitive data.”
   (ChatGPT, 2023)

Prompt: What can educators do to protect their privacy when using ChatGPT?

“It is important for users to be aware of the potential privacy risks and take steps to protect their personal information when using any online service.

1. Be cautious about the information shared: It’s important to be mindful of the information shared with ChatGPT and avoid sharing any sensitive or personal information that could be used to identify you.
2. Use generic or fictional information: When asking questions or providing information to ChatGPT, you can use generic or fictional information instead of personal information. For example, instead of asking “What is my address?”, you could ask “What is the capital city of France?”.
3. Report any suspicious activity: If you notice any suspicious activity or behavior related to the use of ChatGPT, it’s important to report it to the appropriate authorities or platform administrators.”

(ChatGPT, 2023)

Prompt: How can students use chatGPT in a way that isn’t plagiarism?

“As an AI language model, ChatGPT can be a helpful tool for students to gather information and expand their knowledge on a topic. However, it’s important to use the information obtained from ChatGPT ethically and responsibly to avoid plagiarism. Here are some ways students can use ChatGPT without plagiarizing:

• Use ChatGPT as a starting point: ChatGPT can provide students with a good starting point for research. Students can use the information they receive from ChatGPT to guide their research and explore further on their own.

• Paraphrase the information: When using information obtained from ChatGPT, students should paraphrase it in their own words. This means expressing their ideas and concepts in a unique way without copying or quoting the text verbatim.

• Cite the source: If a student is directly quoting information from ChatGPT, they should make sure to cite the source. This means including the name of the AI model, the date, and the URL or other identifying information.

• Use ChatGPT to check for plagiarism: Students can also use ChatGPT as a tool to check their own work for plagiarism. By running their written work through the AI model, they can identify any text that may be too similar to existing sources and make appropriate revisions.

Overall, ChatGPT can be a valuable resource for students as long as they use the information obtained from it ethically and responsibly.” (ChatGPT, 2023)

Prompt: How can teachers prevent students from using ChatGPT for everything?

“To prevent students from relying too heavily on AI tools like me, teachers can implement the following strategies:

• Set clear expectations: Teachers can communicate to students that AI tools like me should be used as a supplement to their learning, not a replacement for it. They can also set guidelines on when and how AI tools can be used in assignments and assessments.

• Assign tasks that require critical thinking: Teachers can design assignments and assessments that require students to think critically and use higher-order thinking skills that cannot be easily accomplished by AI tools. This can include tasks such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

• Provide feedback and guidance: Teachers can monitor students’ work and provide feedback and guidance to ensure that they are using AI tools appropriately and not relying on them too heavily. They can also provide resources and support to help students develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

• Encourage collaboration: Teachers can encourage students to work collaboratively on assignments and projects, as this can help them develop important communication and teamwork skills that are not easily replaced by AI tools.”

(ChatGPT, 2023)

Prompt: How can teachers tell if their students are using ChatGPT to do all of the work for them?

“If a student is using ChatGPT to do all of their work for them, there are a few signs that teachers can look out for:

• Lack of originality: If a student is relying solely on ChatGPT to complete their work, the content may lack originality and creativity. The text generated by ChatGPT may not be well-integrated with the rest of the student’s work, or it may be too advanced for their level of understanding.

• Inconsistencies in writing style: Each student has their own unique writing style, which may be reflected in their work. If a student is using ChatGPT to do all of their work, the writing style may be inconsistent or may not match their previous work.

• Unusual answers: If the answers provided by a student using ChatGPT are unusual or do not make sense in the context of the assignment, it may be an indication that they are not doing the work themselves.

• Time management: If a student is able to complete assignments very quickly or without apparent effort, it may be a sign that they are not doing the work themselves and are instead relying on an outside source like ChatGPT.”

(ChatGPT, 2023)

Prompt: Do the apps Turnitin, Grammarly and Copyscape tell educators that students are using ChatGPT?

“It is highly unlikely that plagiarism detection tools such as Turnitin, Grammarly, and Copyscape will flag content generated by ChatGPT as plagiarism, simply because the language model produces original content based on its training data and algorithms. However, if a student were to copy and paste content generated by ChatGPT into their work without attribution, plagiarism detection tools would likely flag the text as unoriginal, as the text itself would have been copied from an external source (ChatGPT).

Therefore, while these tools may not specifically identify ChatGPT as the source of the copied text, they can still detect the lack of originality in the work and alert the teacher or professor to potential plagiarism.” (ChatGPT, 2023)

Here are the resources used for the presentation!

Thank you all for joining us for our presentation today!