What’s Old Is New Again

I seem to have taken a bit of a hiatus from writing as of late, so I thought I’d get a little help coming up with a topic. Since it’s built into my Android, I began a chat with Gemini. It’s strange/funny/weird to me that with all of the randomness on the Internet these days, I overthink everything and don’t feel like anything I have to write about will resonate with anyone…or just be any good. I deal with people every day, but when I sit down to write, I draw a blank. It’s probably more that I don’t want to think about work when I get home anymore than I have to.

At any rate, what Gemini and I came up with was…interesting, which I guess was the point. The AI didn’t write anything for me. I refuse to allow that. But the back-and-forth “discourse” helped me think of angles and parts of my life in a way that actually made me sound somewhat interesting. Somewhat. I guess it really is all about how you look at things…or how you spin it. I’m saving the topic we came up with for later, but my own use of AI got me thinking about its use (and technology use in general) in education. We are definitely into blessing vs. curse territory here.

Or a different analogy, technology is a double-edged sword for educators. It’s so very convenient to have so much knowledge available to use, but there’s a problem when students use the tech to do the thinking for them. This has become an even bigger issue in the Age of AI. So many kids don’t want to think. They never have. AI allows them to plug the question/problem in and do the “thinking” for them. That’s an issue that needs to be addressed.

That said, if used properly, AI can be really useful. I watched a few weeks ago as my daughter used AI to help her with math homework (that I was unable to assist with). She didn’t have AI just solve the problem for her. She had it show her one step at a time so she could learn. Once she completed the step, she plugged in what she got. AI either told her she got it right and showed her the next step, or it told her she did not do it correctly and showed her where she went wrong. The dad (and teacher) in me was glad to see her trying to get help from AI instead of having it thinking for her.

There was a teacher on a message board a while back that likened kids being given AI with no training as being the same as giving them a Formula One car without teaching them how to drive it. They both have so much power, but with improper use, they can both be very dangerous. I know exactly nothing about Formula One racing, but the analogy works. The kids have had these powerful tools thrown into their laps without anyone teaching them how to use the tools properly. The problem is, the people available to best teach them how to use AI (parents and teachers) are often also in the dark about just how to properly use it.

As much as I like technology in general, in my own classroom, I’ve backed off of tech use when and where I can. The State of Texas banned cell phones (and other personal electronics) during the school day, and I tend to keep my Chromecart locked on days when students won’t need the Chromebooks. Without the technology readily available, this has forced my students to think through their assignments, primary source analysis, writing, etc. instead of just plugging the questions into computer and having an answer pop up. Next year, I’m seriously thinking about breaking out my set of dusty old textbooks for them to use for responses instead of letting them look up anything on the Internet. You know, like I had to do back in the day.

When Wikipedia first became popular, we told the kids not to use it for assignments because it wasn’t reliable. Over time, safeguards were put in place, and now Wikipedia is a much more reliable source of information. My guess is that’s likely what will happen with AI. In education, we’ll have to adapt and possibly train students (and teachers) about appropriate use, and safeguards will likely be implemented to help curb inappropriate use in schools. Once that happens, AI could absolutely become a very useful tool.

Until then, I’m just going to keep chatting with Gemini so it can help me make my life sound more interesting than it feels.

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