Last week, the University of South Dakota School of Education hosted Compass, who led an outstanding “AI in Education” workshop for area teachers, administrators, USD faculty, and students. Much has changed in the AI landscape since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. Here were my main takeaways from the workshop:
Educators Need AI Policies… Or Maybe Not?
One week ago, parents of a Massachusetts teenager sued their child’s school for imposing a punishment for using AI. The parents state that the consequences were too severe – the teenager received detention, a lowered grade, and was expelled from the National Honor Society. The lawsuit states that the school does not have an AI policy and the teacher did not expressly state that AI was prohibited. Furthermore, the lawsuit states that the teenager used AI to generate an outline, not to write the paper.
Upon learning about this story, I read the Education Week article for the full details. It seemed the only appropriate response was to have AI read the same article I did, and ask it to generate a podcast for me. Please enjoy this AI Generated Podcast created using Google NotebookLM.
AI Detectors Aren’t Great
The current AI detection technology is not keeping up with AI generators. Working around AI detectors is as simple as typing “write this so it can’t be detected as AI generated” in the prompt. AI detectors also can yield false positives, and are more likely to do so with the writing of those for whom English is a new language. Additionally, low income students are more likely to get in trouble for using AI because they use school-issued devices, although there is nothing to suggest that they are using the technology at higher rates than their peers.
While one quarter of teachers self-report that they are ‘very effective’ at determining if something is AI generated, I am not among them. In the Compass workshop, the presenter gave multiple opportunities to determine if something was human created or AI generated. I was wrong every time. Yes, I know the basics – too many fingers on people in photographs, the word “delve” in a paper, the tin-sounds of a “keyboard” in a song – but high quality AI? It’s impossible for me to tell.
AI Tools for the Classroom
There are many AI tools to help teachers streamline and expedite their work in the classroom. AI bots can grade assignments, create lesson plans, differentiate instruction, write reading passages, generate quizzes and tests, and design images, and more. MagicSchoolAI seems to be the current favorite among the K-12 teachers I know. Microsoft Education, specifically Copilot, in higher education appears to be the AI of choice (it is free and if your institution has Microsoft Office, you have Copilot). Canva Magic Studio is loved by all.
I’ll end this blog post with an AI generated Teacher Talk Theme Song, created using Suno.
The views and opinions expressed on SDPB’s Teacher Talk are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of South Dakota.
