Tough job, Nick, but someone has to do it:) Your effort to put some shape to a whole school approach is balanced on the fulcrum of risks vs payoff, and you implicitly advise schools to focus their attention on the details, weighing everything from the ethics of use to the mandates of learning and teaching. I think you are getting closer and closer to your goal. One theme that might be emphasized a bit more is your insistence that students are brought into the discussion. I’d say get some student reps on the ethics committee to draft an honor code of use, and emphasize that this is an honor code of learning—not a code of heroism or battle where life and death are at stake. Students might object to your giving teachers the right to surveillance of their chats. Reasonable students will understand that teachers already have the right to monitor students work habits, in fact, the moral obligation. AI is not like talking with peers or texting—it’s more like a library. Student voices are paramount in discussions of ethics that govern their learning.
Speaking of voice, I’d want to open this topic up for students. How do they interpret its meaning? What is the relationship to style and word choice? How do these aspects of writing link to the bot? This discussion circles back to the code of learners, not heroes, not villains. Maybe an orientation to voice task?
You are absolutely right. Making these decisions over the summer makes for little student input. And I am pretty certain they would not want their chats monitored. My school is moving ahead with the pilot as the discount is hard to debate with. I will see if I can sell the upsides, particularly by giving them the opportunity to use AI on all their assignments. I made a few changes above to reflect your feedback. It was getting a little teacher-centric.
You ARE a teacher, Nick. You’re a teacher above all. It’s hard to find that sweet spot but you keep rebalancing as you go along. Too many in the classroom have lost their balance during this postCOVID time with a bot thrown into the mix. That’s partly why you’re going to be an effective leader over the next several years helping the profession through this rough patch.
I wish you the very best success in this endeavor, for it won't be easy.
Would be great if Principal's and Teachers agree to document the progress of using A.I. in the classroom, just to compare the level of aptitude of students and their progression in education. If A.I. does accelerate student' learning (assuming still in the hypothesis stage), what else can be expanded in the education system with A.I.? (Examples, like manufacturing with 3d printers, Legos, possibly adding more trips to expand student learning.)
Then, I wonder, will schools offer students to craft what matters to them? Let's say creating films, painting or sculpting art, create music and have the students monetize their work to have a step ahead in the "job economy", giving students the advantage to work and add value to the economy based on what matters to them?
Thanks, Ramon, for subscribing and commenting. Yes, still in the hypothesis stage. Very much so. You have your finger on the pulse of my proposal. At the point, schools barely have the bandwidth to select appropriate tools, let alone commit to the extensive work that is needed to make sure that those tools have actual benefits, etc. I really like your third paragraph. My friend Terry talks alot about how teachers like to control all aspects of curriculum design. What you suggest is nothing short of revolutionary. Allow students to use the tools to complete projects and pursue interests that are important to them. I will hold onto this notion as I prepare my assignments for the fall.
I think the fact that starting from Substack theoretical frameworks informed by practice are published is a very important phenomenon for real-world inspiration for research. Thanks Nick for being one of the pioneers of this trend!
Nick, where and how do you pull IT, financing the licenses, and the privacy, security, equity, and other ethical concerns into this process? I suppose that you could argue they are understood in the process, but given how little many faculty and administrators may know about them, I think they should be included explicitly.
This is really interesting Nick, can I ask how you began to narrow down which tool to use? There is just so much out there it seems an impossible task.
Thanks, Riccardo. Thanks for noticing!!! Let me tell it has been amazing to have you on Substack. You really get how amazing this place is. Hold onto the joy!
Tough job, Nick, but someone has to do it:) Your effort to put some shape to a whole school approach is balanced on the fulcrum of risks vs payoff, and you implicitly advise schools to focus their attention on the details, weighing everything from the ethics of use to the mandates of learning and teaching. I think you are getting closer and closer to your goal. One theme that might be emphasized a bit more is your insistence that students are brought into the discussion. I’d say get some student reps on the ethics committee to draft an honor code of use, and emphasize that this is an honor code of learning—not a code of heroism or battle where life and death are at stake. Students might object to your giving teachers the right to surveillance of their chats. Reasonable students will understand that teachers already have the right to monitor students work habits, in fact, the moral obligation. AI is not like talking with peers or texting—it’s more like a library. Student voices are paramount in discussions of ethics that govern their learning.
Speaking of voice, I’d want to open this topic up for students. How do they interpret its meaning? What is the relationship to style and word choice? How do these aspects of writing link to the bot? This discussion circles back to the code of learners, not heroes, not villains. Maybe an orientation to voice task?
You are absolutely right. Making these decisions over the summer makes for little student input. And I am pretty certain they would not want their chats monitored. My school is moving ahead with the pilot as the discount is hard to debate with. I will see if I can sell the upsides, particularly by giving them the opportunity to use AI on all their assignments. I made a few changes above to reflect your feedback. It was getting a little teacher-centric.
You ARE a teacher, Nick. You’re a teacher above all. It’s hard to find that sweet spot but you keep rebalancing as you go along. Too many in the classroom have lost their balance during this postCOVID time with a bot thrown into the mix. That’s partly why you’re going to be an effective leader over the next several years helping the profession through this rough patch.
I wish you the very best success in this endeavor, for it won't be easy.
Would be great if Principal's and Teachers agree to document the progress of using A.I. in the classroom, just to compare the level of aptitude of students and their progression in education. If A.I. does accelerate student' learning (assuming still in the hypothesis stage), what else can be expanded in the education system with A.I.? (Examples, like manufacturing with 3d printers, Legos, possibly adding more trips to expand student learning.)
Then, I wonder, will schools offer students to craft what matters to them? Let's say creating films, painting or sculpting art, create music and have the students monetize their work to have a step ahead in the "job economy", giving students the advantage to work and add value to the economy based on what matters to them?
Just a thought ...
Thanks, Ramon, for subscribing and commenting. Yes, still in the hypothesis stage. Very much so. You have your finger on the pulse of my proposal. At the point, schools barely have the bandwidth to select appropriate tools, let alone commit to the extensive work that is needed to make sure that those tools have actual benefits, etc. I really like your third paragraph. My friend Terry talks alot about how teachers like to control all aspects of curriculum design. What you suggest is nothing short of revolutionary. Allow students to use the tools to complete projects and pursue interests that are important to them. I will hold onto this notion as I prepare my assignments for the fall.
I think the fact that starting from Substack theoretical frameworks informed by practice are published is a very important phenomenon for real-world inspiration for research. Thanks Nick for being one of the pioneers of this trend!
Nick, where and how do you pull IT, financing the licenses, and the privacy, security, equity, and other ethical concerns into this process? I suppose that you could argue they are understood in the process, but given how little many faculty and administrators may know about them, I think they should be included explicitly.
Absolutely right. I got locked into my teacher perspective. I made a few changes above.
This is really interesting Nick, can I ask how you began to narrow down which tool to use? There is just so much out there it seems an impossible task.
Elizabeth, I have already written the post for you: https://open.substack.com/pub/nickpotkalitsky/p/the-elusive-quest-for-safe-affordable?r=2l25hp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Perfect, thank you 😊.
Thanks, Riccardo. Thanks for noticing!!! Let me tell it has been amazing to have you on Substack. You really get how amazing this place is. Hold onto the joy!