Ms Jacinda Euler, Principal of Brisbane Girls Grammar School, discusses of the pros and cons of the introducing ChatGPT into the classroom.
Since its launch in late 2022, ChatGPT has, expectedly, drawn criticism, and evoked fear across many sectors, including education. Concerns range from practicalities such as the accuracy and validity of data and possible spread of disinformation, to philosophical ponderings such as ‘how do you attribute plagiarism to a robot?’
When any new potentially threatening technology is released, there are often immediate calls to restrict it—‘block or ban’—and contain the problem so that it will disappear. Some schools have moved swiftly to ban access to ChatGPT until the technology can be ‘fully assessed’. The effectiveness of this approach, however, will certainly be challenged given humans, particularly young ones, are quick to find ways to access anything ‘banned’.
Rather than ban, is the solution instead to find ways to use this technology responsibly and harness its abilities to assist teachers and students alike?
While the media interest surrounding this new development stokes our desire for immediate answers, the truth is that we need time to understand ChatGPT and this new evolution of AI technology, before we can discuss how to manage and potentially, in time, utilise it.
Having engaged in many lively discussions about ChatGPT in the classroom with her students and in the staffroom with colleagues, Ms Meghan Parry, Head of Literature at Brisbane Girls Grammar School, is hopeful about the possibilities and timesaving benefits that ChatGPT and other generative AI models may deliver. However, she believes that they won’t ever be a true replacement for student work.
“In the English and Literature classroom, novel summaries and generic analytical arguments might now be replicated in seconds, but ChatGPT’s answers read like those of someone who hasn’t actually cracked the spine of the novel,” she says.
She explains that while student use of ChatGPT may result “in fewer Google searches and editing time,” the result will never be better than original thought and work.
“In the end, it’s very likely ChatGPT will be another implement in every educator’s toolkit, but the ability to teach and use cynicism, precision, and thought (whether that’s alongside or without AI) will be the marker of difference between the artificial amateur and the master craftsperson,” says Ms Parry.
Suggestions for how ChatGPT can help teachers include its ability to
- Build individualised lesson plans for students based on their unique learning and where they sit academically.
- Generate classroom activities based on subject and syllabus matter.
- Conduct a first review of student homework and assessment responses to flag potential grammatical errors, style issues, or offer guidance on transitions.
These tasks could all help to give back time to our teachers—the most treasured of all our resources—and allow our educators to focus on higher-level activities.
Managed carefully, ChatGPT has the potential to be another tool our teachers can use to enrich our students’ experiences, but this will be contingent on us all agreeing on an essential principle—that it is through the process of creating, producing, and individual effort by which we learn.
If our emphasis as educators is on the rigour and joy of learning, ChatGPT’s power diminishes—when curiosity is sparked, the desire to learn more, to expand our knowledge, usually follows.
For more information, visit the Brisbane Girls Grammar school website.
