How AI is affecting both students and teachers in the classroom
By Averie Grace-Hayes
Picture of AI robot touching human hand taken from Adobe Stock
Since 2023 Artificial Intelligence has been everywhere, with the creation of ChatGPT and OpenAI— AI is in every corner of the internet. That being said, there have been occurrences of AI being used as replacements for writers and artists. And that has undoubtedly been controversy on the creation of AI generated art, writing and how quickly AI technology has been invented.
When using ChatGPT or any AI system, all one has to do is put a simple prompt into the text box and the system generates what is asked. No work or research required. However, AI has its downfalls. Since the popularization of AI, students have been using it as a way to cheat and plagiarize, which has caused a disconnect between students and teachers. So, I investigated this disconnect between teachers and students using AI.
Mrs. Asia McCammon, an AP European History and U.S history teacher. McCammon includes lots of diverse types of writing in her class. McCammon states, “It comes down to knowing your students for sure, because if I’m like ‘okay, I’ve known this kid since August, I know what his writing looks like, and I can genuinely read something… it just doesn’t seem right.’” McCammon continues, “[the students relationship] is a big part of it for sure. Because you know, you kind of get down their niches, you get down their word uses… how they format their writing style… I feel like if you build that [relationship] that’s least likelihood that it [AI usage] would happen.”
McCammon prefers to focus on her relationship with her students rather than the imminent threat of AI. However, McCammon also believes that being able to do your own work is very important.
McCammon explains, “If we struggle to handwrite a paragraph in highschool, thats not going to be good for you going forward, you know, like you get into college and that is going to be detrimental to your academic achievement.”
AI generated picture of teacher and students generated by Deep AI
Evidently, a person needs to know how to write a paragraph and essay correctly without AI, especially if they want to succeed in the future. However, Mrs. Shalon Reynolds who is a Junior english teacher and english as a second language for Freshmen, has been exploring a way to ethically use AI with her students.
“I view AI as a tool,” states Reynolds. “I don’t view it as something that kids should be using to cheat. But just like anything, when teachers got smart boards or projectors… A lot of teachers had reservations on it, or even a Google search.”
With this said tool, Reynolds has actually let her students use AI for an assignment at the beginning of the year.
“We [Reynolds and the classes] attempted it as a pilot project this year with their [the students’] argumentative essays,” Reynolds explains. “First they received a full presentation on the ethical use of AI and how to use it. Its important to know about how colleges are using it. So I was showing them [the students] how to cite AI for MLA format,” finishes Reynolds.
Reynolds is hoping to help expand AI in schools and classrooms, so she will be continuing to support this type of use of Artificial Intelligence.
AI generated picture of teachers and students generated by Deep AI
In another light, I also talked to several students and was able to get a different perspective on this issue. Naomi Lopez, a senior at OHS told me exactly how she felt.
“I don’t think AI should be used for any literature or historical information… But I do think it could be helpful on a science or stem route… I think for me, it really helped me learn more about math when I was struggling in physics,” expresses Naomi.
Monty Roberts, a junior at OHS had a similar opinion as well.
“I think it pushes the education system in a really negative direction and it takes a lot of the life out of our schools… it discourages critical thinking and makes people more reliant on their technology.” Roberts argues, “But I think it’s a very delicate balance. It can benefit a teacher when it’s used to grade papers, which gives the teacher more time to teach rather than spend all their time grading papers. So it’s a little bit of both sides.”
Artificial Intelligence is inescapable, there is no way to stop it from evolving and growing. Therefore, this information shows us how AI could look for the future. That being said, AI could be seen as dangerous for students as it doesn’t require critical thinking skills. Even though,there seems to be a way to ethically use AI in school— Overall, there seems to be concepts to look forward to in the world of AI and education.