Leaving aside issues of copyright and related matters, two things strike me about this question. Firstly, if students can cheat by using AI to complete their assignments. does that not imply that the assignments were not fit for purpose in the first place (assuming the purpose was to assess students’ knowledge and understanding of the particular topic?) The challenge, surely, is to devise assignments that require more than answers based on probability.
For example, one thing that Al is pretty good at, notwithstanding its hallucinations, is searching the web and even documents on the web in some circumstances. So getting students to do the research in order to do something with the results, rather than getting AI to do the grunt work, seems to me like some teachers I’ve observed getting their students to enter data into a spreadsheet in order to carry out calculations and predictions. What tends to happen is that by the end of the lesson some students have not even finished entering the data. It’s a complete waste of everybody’s time. Much better to furnish students with a populated spreadsheet so that they can focus on what sort of formulae to insert in order to complete the task.
By analogy, I think getting AI to do the heavy lifting in terms of research makes sense. Yes, they will have to spend a bit a time evaluating AI’s results, but in my opinion it would still be a better use of time.
Or perhaps, as a compromise, they could carry out the research in the old way (!), or write down what they think might be the points that come up, and then use AI as a check. That’s what I did with my piece on objections to PISA (see below). I made a note of what was wrong with it in my opinion, and then asked At what the objections to it were. (I’m relieved to report that it came up with the same list!)
The other thing that strikes me about the question of whether it matters if students use AI is that it is similar to a question I liked to put to ed tech coordinators when Microsoft introduced wizards, My question was: if a student uses a wizard to, say, produce a leaflet, rather than create it themselves, does that suggest that they have a high level a digital literacy or a low level? It always led to a lively debate, but my own view was that getting a wizard to get something in place that you could then amend and adjust was a much better use of time than painstakingly creating it from scratch.
We all know that things tend to be cheaper per unit the more you buy. If you are the edtech co-ordinator for your school. undertake an audit of the software in use-which you should do anyway to check you have enough licences — and who bought it. You may discover, as I did when I took on the role of head of computing, that two departments had, unknown to each other, bought the same software. They had paid for 30 licences, but by renewing the licences centrally I was able to purchase 60 licences for less than double the cost of 30, so both the school and each of these departments saved some money.
Headteachers have a habit of making up shortfalls in some areas by taking the money from those departments that have managed to save some money in order to make a big purchase. It feels like a betrayal, it feels like robbery, and the long-term outcome is that either the head of department finds a job elsewhere or they adopt a policy of spend, spend, spend once they receive their capitation allowance at the start of the year. In my option, robbing Peter to pay Paul is, ultimately, a policy almost designed to give rise to perverse incentives.
Another unintended consequence, which follows on from this, is that if you manage to save a tidy sum of money the Head is likely to come to the conclusion that you clearly did not need that amount of money in the first place. The outcome will be that your careful financial management will be rewarded by being given less money next time.
In both of these scenarios the quite reasonable conclusion the head of departtment could come to is that the best policy is to spend as much money as possible, preferably the whole of your capitation allowance — if not more. Please note: I am not advocating this, just making the point that it is a likely outcome.
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.
Click the pic to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
The published review
A Little History of the Earth
(Woodward, Old Street, £16.99)
When you visit an unfamiliar city, one thing you can do is book yourself on a bus tour. The guide will point out the most important landmarks and where they are in relation to each other, leaving you better prepared to later explore them at your leisure, should you wish. Well, what bus tours do for cities, this book does for geology, covering as it does a vast breadth of material that takes in not just the Earth but also the Moon, as well as Homo sapiens' ongoing search for extraterrestrial life, science fiction, earthquakes, oxygen and even the siting of canals. For all that, it's a very easy read that contains lots of potentially useful material for a range of subjects beyond just geography, including physics, chemistry, biology and even creative writing.
Reviewed by Terry Freedman
bit.ly/Eclecticism
My original review
A Little History of the Earth
(Woodward, Old Street, £16.99)
When you visit a city with which you are unfamiliar, one thing you could do for a quick win is book a ticket on a bus tour. The guide will point out all the most important landmarks, and where they are in relation to each other. Then, at some time in the future, you can, if you wish, spend more time at one or two of the sights.
What the bus tour does for the city, this book does for geology. It covers a vast breadth of material, taking in not only the earth but the moon, the search for extra-terrestrial life, science fiction, earthquakes, oxygen and even the siting of canals. It is a very easy read and in a school context would provide material for geography, physics, chemistry, biology and even creative writing.
Of course, being "a little history" it lacks depth, but should whet the reader's appetite to explore further themselves.
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.
Click the pic to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
A Word For All Seasons
(Crystal, Bodleian, £20)
Published review
Mr Crystal has produced another richly fascinating book, this time focusing on the language we associate with different seasons. Much more than a mere dictionary of word meanings and idioms, it contains a wealth of information about how the meanings of 'seasonal' words and expressions have changed over time. Lavishly illustrated, with beautiful engravings by Eric Ravilious, it includes a number of explanatory excerpts from novels, reports and poems to help unpack the sometimes surprisingly dense meanings behind such common terms as 'season tickets', 'Easter eggs' and even 'mince pies'. Whether you're searching for coursework inspiration, ideas for a cross- curricular project or just a snippet of info to help enliven a class discussion, A Word for All Seasons won't disappoint.
Reviewed by Terry Freedman
My original review
A Word For All Seasons
(Crystal, Bodleian, £20)
Mr Crystal has done it again: written a fascinating and very rich book, this time of words associated with the seasons. Much more than a dictionary of word meanings or of idioms, it includes information about how the meaning of the word or expression has changed over time. Furthermore, it is lavishly illustrated in two respects. Firstly, through the beautiful engravings by Eric Ravilious, and secondly the inclusion of excerpts from novels, reports and poems. Season tickets, Easter eggs and even mince pies are just a few of the common terms covered.
Whether you’re looking for inspiration for some course work, a cross-curricular project, or simply a snippet of information to enliven a subject, A Word for all Seasons won’t disappoint. In some respects it reminds me of A Date With Language, even though it’s quite different.
