How ChatGPT Can Supersize Learning
#TIPS4FAMILIES | Word has it ChatGPT (and similar) are shortcuts to kids doing the work of learning. On the contrary, AI bots are a remarkable tool for thinking more critically if you let them be...
While families, teachers and kids are still trying to consider what AI tools are and how they will impact life and school, the speed of development has continued to accelerate unabated. For instance, Google is rapidly integrating AI into its suite of tools available via Google Classroom and on Chromebooks as we speak.
When you consider the numbers — 170 million teachers and kids using Google Classroom & 40 million Chromebooks in schools — the impact of Google’s AI alone is considerable, especially if we aren’t clear about how it’s being integrated, nor the benefits and/or pitfalls to using the technology.
But for today I want to share some of the ways my family have been successfully using chatbots such as ChatGPT for writing assignments. Now when we talk about AI in schools, the universe of possible applications is much broader than just AI chatbots. But because ChatGPT, and similar, are the most buzzed-about, and present the most concern related to plagiarism, cheating and/or a general lazy-way-out of doing homework, this is where we’ll begin…
Ways Chatbots Can Help Kids Learn Better
First, to state the obvious, if your child is simply asking ChatGPT to write a paper and they hand it in as is…well, they are asking for trouble 🤦♀️. The end result can include inaccurate info, missing attribution, and/or just overall scream “lazy.”
But kids are clever little things and with a bit of prompting can turn the idea of a shortcut into something much more rewarding. So if we start with this fact and work with kids to use and refine the technology, great things may result from the effort.
Five Ideas for Using a Chatbot🤖 to Help With a Paper
Ask for Topic Suggestions
Often the most stressful part of an assignment is just in getting started. My kids freeze when they have to come up with a subject to write about. So why not ask an AI bot for some help?
My daughter, for instance, had to pick a poem to write about and we took it as an opportunity to give ChatGPT parameters around her interests. The result was digging into a poem should could get excited about instead of endlessly asking us “please can you just give me a poem to read…I can’t think of anything at all.”
Get Support With Creating an Outline
Again, instead of our kids focusing on getting the information popped in and getting the job done, consulting an AI chatbot along the way can make it more interesting and educational.
Just give any of the available chatbots the details of an assignment from the teacher, the topic you have chosen, and ask for help in creating an outline. Again, this is a simple way to help kids take the time to think about the bigger picture of what they are working on and how to best organize.
Fire Up Those Questions
Now ChatGPT and the like are not magic 8-balls (and can be wrong) so what kids should be asking is for is guidance not facts.
For example: “can you give me an example of an allegory” or “can you check my math work” or “what are the best resources for learning about the history of the Mona Lisa.” These are all more than legit ways to bring in a chatbot into an assignment. I
Focused and directed questions can help avoid mindless Googling too. If we shift our thinking from chatbots as “cheatbots” and instead turn them into tutors, things start to look up.
Get Feedback on Your Answers
Have your friendly bot provide feedback on an argument a child is making in their assignment. Is it defensible? Is he or she missing anything? Then talk with your child about what the response received was and dig in. Do you agree? Did ChatGPT highlight something that was missing? Are there tweaks to be made?
Summarize Documents and Long Research Papers
Often when trying to understand a topic, issue, or idea there is research available that may be very long, a bit complicated or beyond a kids’ comprehension. But if it’s helpful content, have a chatbot summarize. You can even attach a PDF and ask for a summary…and even add directions like “summarize in language a 12 year old can understand.” The ability of generative AI tools to summarize content is a lifesaver adults too.
The most important thing to consider is by asking probing question, challenging the answers received, and even considering a chatbot answer’s validity, kids….well, learn.
Think of the potential as you would a tutor and the world of generative AI starts to open up.
Need more ideas? Let me know.