Jason Smith understands that those first few minutes of a lesson are critical for keeping his 8th grade students’ interest the entire period. In other words, he knows he needs to sell science. And with twenty years of experience, Jason has a strong handle on what will and won’t capture their attention. So what does he do when he suspects that an opening activity outlined in his new curriculum doesn’t have that spark? He turns to artificial intelligence.
To be clear, Jason is a big fan of the new science curriculum. However, with any robust set of materials, there are limitations. Here is how Jason has been using the MagicSchool Lesson Planning tool to enhance OpenSciEd.
Jason can tell when kids are overelying on tech tools. For example, students recently engaged in a medical detectives exercise. He presented them with a fictional character, M’Kenna, who was suffering from a list of symptoms. The students’ goal was to identify the ailment. Jason became suspicious when everyone came back with the same wrong answer. Instead of digging into the materials, students turned to AI and Google to diagnose M’Kenna. Jason believes we need to learn how to use AI to identify when kids use it. Because, as he points out, the kids are going to use AI no matter what.
Blended Learning Coach
* I Used to Think … Now I Think is a core routine within the Harvard Graduate School of Education Project Zero Thinking Routines Toolbox.
- Adjust driving questions
- Create more opportunities for face-to-face discussion
- Add more student-centered activities
- Find places to add more hands-on experiences
Jason can tell when kids are overelying on tech tools. For example, students recently engaged in a medical detectives exercise. He presented them with a fictional character, M’Kenna, who was suffering from a list of symptoms. The students’ goal was to identify the ailment. Jason became suspicious when everyone came back with the same wrong answer. Instead of digging into the materials, students turned to AI and Google to diagnose M’Kenna. Jason believes we need to learn how to use AI to identify when kids use it. Because, as he points out, the kids are going to use AI no matter what.
“I used to think AI was a way for students to cheat or get around the curriculum. Now I think there is a way to implement it so we can use it to help the kids organize their thoughts.”Kristin Patrick
Blended Learning Coach
* I Used to Think … Now I Think is a core routine within the Harvard Graduate School of Education Project Zero Thinking Routines Toolbox.
I would like to see some professional development on this. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI am not signed in- Delcia Mendez for comment above.
DeleteThank you for reading, Delcia! I'll pass your feedbck on to the Department of Learning.
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