BACK TO SCHOOL: Artificial intelligence in the classroom
The state of Minnesota recently recognized Bloomington Public Schools for leading the way in using artificial intelligence in the classroom. The district’s program focuses on teaching students to use the technology to supplement their education and also teach them about the pitfalls of the programs which can give incorrect information.
We talked with Rowen Elsmore and Jodi Bang who are Digital Learning Specialists for Bloomington schools.
“Depending on the classroom and the individual assignment it can be used in lots and lots of different ways,” Elsmore said.
And when it comes to concerns about students using the technology to cheat?
“We want to teach students how to use the tool to support their learning,” Bang said.
Bang and Elsemore also work with teachers to incorporate artificial intelligence into their lesson plans; however, the district does not require teachers to use it. They focus on finding appropriate and productive ways of using the free online artificial intelligence platform Chat GPT.
They gave examples where students have had success asking the program to help them study for a test in a particular subject by asking it to give them a series of true or false questions.
In another example, a family and consumer sciences class used artificial intelligence to ask what kind of recipe they could make with the ingredients they had left over a the end of the school year. In some cases, the recipes didn’t work out — and students had to troubleshoot what went wrong and why.
“Regardless of what you are using AI for the most important thing is to evaluate whatever output it gives you,” Elsemore said.
A recent nationwide study of teachers by Forbes Magazine found that 60% of teachers said they’ve used artificial intelligence in class and 55% said they believe it helped improve educational outcomes.
“AI will never replace teachers our teachers do phenomenal work and what we are hoping is teachers as well can use AI to elevate what they’re doing and innovate,” Bang said.