School’s all over the United States are starting to see an influx and students that use artificial intelligence to complete their homework and classroom assignments. These days most kids have a smartphone or access to a Google Chromebook and there’s a classroom which means they have an easy way to use artificial intelligence no matter where they are when they’re doing school work.
While some people want to compare the use of ChatGPT vs Gemini in how it helps students curb the hard work that’s required of them for school work, it doesn’t matter what students are using. The fact of the matter is that we do have students using AI to complete their school work, and The Department of Education has taken notice.
A new initiative has been created that is aimed at reducing the rise of artificial intelligence and classrooms and this includes colleges all over the United States. Teachers all over the United States have started to provide feedback to the Department of Education citing the students are increasingly using AI to write essays, complete research papers, and even complete their homework for them.
This is creating a community of students who don’t know how to use critical thinking skills, their own opinion or even how to write something from their own voice using their mind and past experiences within their class work. Oftentimes, schools assign essays based on personal experiences, and when students start using AI to generate such content, they’re not completing the assignment as instructed.
Artificial intelligence is taking over so many aspects of Our Lives it’s no wonder the students are using AI to complete their school work. These programs allow students to harness the entire internet of information within one application that is, quite frankly, free to use for most people. Students are starting to hand in assignments that are lacking in grammar, have poor creativity and are just not what the teachers assigned to the student to do; such as the case with personal essays based on personal experiences.
Artificial intelligence is not a human being and cannot have personal experiences to bring to an essay which is why teachers are concerned that students are starting to become more robotic and what they write and share within the classrooms. The more students who use artificial intelligence to write for them the less skills these students will learn.
Students are no longer required to use books or data on the internet to research information to formulate their own opinion, rather they are using ChatGPT or Gemini to create the opinion for them and then write the paper to submit to a teacher. Some schools are reporting that 12 to 28% of their students are using AI to create essays, write research papers, and complete class work.
Since the percentage of students using AI in classroom work and homework is increasing, the Department of Education is outlining their plans to try to create an authentic learning environment In the age of artificial intelligence, the Department of Education needs to update the academic policies regarding integrity, the guidelines for ethical use of artificial intelligence and invest in a way to use AI detection software to make sure students are following the guidelines. Along with this comes a time and place to try to educate our students, and train our teachers on how to see if a student is using AI and how to approach the conversation if you feel they are.
As with any technological advancement in the world there always comes a time when we have to learn what our boundaries are and set the guidelines in place while learning how to enforce the guidelines before it becomes too late. This is all still a work in progress as the dialogue has been opened up to see how we can work together to rebuild what authenticity looks like in the classroom in a world where everyone is using artificial intelligence.
Teachers will have to address the situation with their students in each class setting up their own ethical standards around what they expect from their students. Students will have to agree to not use AI or only use it in a way that is allowed within the class, or risk failing the class altogether. What AI guidelines look like from classroom to classroom will be different because each teacher will have their own guidelines and rules and what they expect from their students in each class.
At the end of the day it is important that we have one solid guideline which is set forth as a framework for most educators to abide by. Knowing what the overall guidelines are for use of artificial intelligence in education allows schools to train their teachers in a way that allows them to enforce the guidelines, adjust them as they should apply in the individual classes, and then open up a dialogue between the students. This entire process will help ensure that everybody knows what is expected of them on a regular basis within each classroom.
Photo: congerdesign via Pixabay
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