What is ChatGPT and what can I do with it?

What is ChatGTP and what can I do with it?

 

To start, why not ask ChatGPT that very question? I did, and here's what the chatbot said.

I know, pretty cool right?

We’ve all heard about artificial intelligence and the predictions that it will revolutionize how we learn and interact with computers. With that in mind, I believe it’s important for us to embrace new technologies like AI chatbots and figure out how best to use them in the classroom.

If you’ve not used it before, check it out. Trust me, your students will if they have not already. To sign in, just navigate to their website at https://chat.openai.com/auth/login create an account and make some requests in a conversational way.

So then the question is, how can we use it in the classroom?

In addition to what was listed above, here are some practical ways you could use GhatGPT to make your life a little easier.

 

• Create lesson plans and learning materials. Check out how ChatGPT did when asked to plan a lesson for 6th graders on the causes of climate change

• Write an email to a student or parent. ChatGPT may not get everything spot on, but it could give you a good framework to build on

• Write a rubric. I asked ChatGPT to write a rubric for an oral presentation for 6th graders, including the use of a visual. It generated a 100-point rubric with four categories: presentation content (40 points), delivery (30 points), organization (20 points), and attire and materials (10 points)

• Write a letter of recommendation

• Again, give ChatGPT a few details and you'll get a good framework that you can build on. 

• Translate text from one language to another

• Design an outline for a class syllabus

• Writing learning objectives

• Design quiz/test questions

• Write scripts for a podcast or a video

• Provide directions for a learning activity

Sounds too good to be true? ChatGPT does have some limitations.

ChatGPT is not always trustworthy, it is using data written by humans that was pulled from the internet. Some responses can reflect bias.

ChatGPT is not connected to the internet and the data used to train it was collected prior to 2021. Therefore, it has limited knowledge of the world and events after 2021.

ChatGPT has been known to make stuff up. To make up for knowledge gaps ChatGPT will provide a response to the best of its ability.

What about students? How might they use ChatGPT? Here are some potential ideas:

• Design (and attempts to solve) math and science word problems.

• Role play class scenarios

• Remix work

• Provide writing examples

• Give feedback on their writing

• Provide tips on how to personalize/differentiate learning

• Provide one-on-one tutoring or coaching

• Write essays & poems

Now that we have some basic understanding of what ChatGPT can and can't do, what should we do next?

Block ChatGPT? We could, but we all know that our students have mobile phones and other devices they can use. We may need to consider how ChatGPT might force us to rethink some of our lessons. Here are a few suggestions.

Talk with students about the value of doing their own work. ChatGPT can be a good tool to start the creative process, they just can't let it do all the heavy lifting.

 
Redesign some of your assignments

Try assigning multimodal, higher-order thinking and learning activities (see creative activity examples), challenge-based learning, Shark Tank in the classroom, experiential learning, makerspaces, revising and designing new Wikipedia pages (see Teach with Wikipedia), and other assignments that cannot be completed by ChatGPT or other AI tools. 

Be transparent about assignments.

 

Why do students need to write or do research, when ChatGPT and Google can do that for them? Explore “Teaching History/Social Studies in the Era of AI Writing Tools” and consider how you might talk with students about the relationship between writing/research and learning.

Andy Swickheimer
Director of Technology

References: (formatted by ChatGPT)

"We Gave ChatGPT 5 Common Teaching Tasks. Here's How Teachers Say It Did." Education Week, 26 Jan. 2023, https://www.edweek.org/technology/we-gave-chatgpt-5-common-teaching-tasks-heres-how-teachers-say-it-did/2023/01?M=5968895&T=8042593&UUID=7e8adb443f672e6d2b9facb3351abb8b&utm_source=pocket_reader

"Unlocking the Potential of K-12 Students with ChatGPT: How AI Could Transform Education." Shake Up Learning, 26 Jan. 2023 https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/unlocking-the-potential-of-k-12-students-with-chatgpt-how-ai-could-transform-education-suls0184/

"AI in Education: The Future is Here." Ditch That Textbook, 26 Jan. 2023 https://ditchthattextbook.com/ai/

“ChatGPT & Education.” Torrey Trust, Ph.D., 26 Jan. 2023 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Vo9w4ftPx-rizdWyaYoB-pQ3DzK1n325OgDgXsnt0X0/edit#slide=id.p