It has been almost two years since ChatGPT launched in late 2022. Since then, educators around the globe have been considering what generative artificial intelligence could mean for classrooms and learning.
ChatGPT was met with each concern and optimism. While there was much discussion about what is going on in universities, less attention has been paid to varsities.
We checked out trials of AI in schools in South Australia. Here's what we found.
What has happened in Australia to date?
Most Australian states ChatGPT was initially banned and other generative AI tools in public schools (many private schools use the technology).
In a unique approach, the South African government began testing AI in schools in 2023 with its own tool. EdChat.
Other jurisdictions have since reconsidered their stance. For example, New South Wales began testing its own system in early 2024 AI tool.
In November 2023, the federal government also published a framework for generative AI in schools, stating that AI “great potential“to assist teachers and students and reduce administrative burdens.
Last month, a A federal parliamentary investigation is beneficial Generative AI in schools ought to be a “national priority” because the advantages of AI outweigh its significant risks and challenges.
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What happened in South Australia?
EdChat is a generative AI tool Property of the SA Department for Education developed with Microsoft. It will be utilized in classrooms and at home. According to the department, it has “additional security measures” to guard students’ privacy and forestall them from accessing inappropriate content.
In the first phase of the methodEdChat was deployed in eight public high schools in South Africa for eight weeks. An additional eight schools were included within the second phase.
We evaluated the experiment using survey data from roughly 90 teachers and 700 students. A journal article on this work is currently under review. In this text we speak about our teacher findings.
“It reduces time pressure”
Teachers told us they felt safer using EdChat than other tools like ChatGPT because student data is just not used to coach generative AI models.
However, teachers desired to know more about how students' data is stored and who can access EdChat records.
Teachers also reported significant advantages of the tool. They said it helped save time in developing lesson plans and learning materials, allowing more time with students within the classroom.
A teacher told us how the tool was received by the category.
We nicknamed her “Eddy” as a category and Eddy is now a part of our class culture.
Teachers also used EdChat to offer students with personalized learning activities and “reduce the time pressure and brain power required to create (teaching examples) and plan fun activities.” EdChat also allowed students to receive personalized feedback or support when teachers weren’t there.
Iarisa Stefanjuk/Shutterstock
“We must watch out”
Teachers noticed problems with hallucinations (when the AI makes up nonsense) and false information. This implies that students will need to have the talents to acknowledge this.
As one teacher told us:
I feel we have to be careful because students can treat AI the best way they treat the whole lot on the web, without pondering critically and taking it at face value.
They also said students have to learn to write down higher prompts and develop their critical pondering skills for working with AI.
They said content filters is also a challenge. Although intended to maintain students protected, they often interfered with learning, particularly on sensitive topics similar to history, reproductive health or politics. For example, a history teacher said that “censorship is difficult to get around.”
Teachers also said it was harder to work out whether students' work was plagiarized or not.
What happens now?
The SA government is search for opportunities to expand the usage of EdChat in schools.
Our research suggests we’d like to do more work in several areas.
The first is to specifically teach students the way to use AI critically and effectively.
We also now need more research into how AI is getting used in several schools. There aren’t any large-scale studies in Australia yet, but there may be increasing evidence from other parts of the world, similar to:
EstoniaThe United States And United Kingdomwhich show that AI is significantly changing the best way teachers teach. This includes spending more time on students' critical pondering skills and using AI to generate ideas.
We also have to be sure that all students have access to AI (not only those that can afford the technology) and that AI itself doesn’t drawback minorities.
In the meantime, teachers need more support and skilled development, and schools need assistance planning and implementing changes. This includes broader community awareness of the profound impact of those recent technologies on the teaching occupation and student learning.
