AI-Led Education Innovation by a High School Teacher: Boosting Learning Efficiency
In the bustling New Milford High School in Connecticut, history and psychology teacher Kevin Hudson is making waves by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into his teaching methods. Specifically, he is using the AI tool, Class Companion, to provide immediate, detailed feedback on student assignments.
Class Companion is designed to identify specific elements in each student's response to an article about the Silk Road, for instance, helping them to revise their responses based on AI feedback. This real-time interaction encourages improvement in writing and reasoning skills. However, concerns have been raised that students might rely too heavily on AI tools like Class Companion. Kevin Hudson acknowledges these concerns, comparing the use of AI in education to teaching kids to wash dishes in a world with dishwashers. He emphasises that not all tasks can be done by AI.
Hudson is also aware that educators and society are still learning to navigate the use of AI in education. He suggests that teachers should figure out where AI is useful and where it is harmful. He encourages his fellow educators to start using AI tools in their classrooms to get familiar with them.
However, Hudson is not blind to the potential dangers of excessive screen time in education. He expresses concerns about the medical and social dangers of too much screen time, and agrees with those who argue that AI tools should not be overused, as they may become a crutch for students.
In addition to Class Companion, Hudson is also experimenting with Google's New AI Tutor, LearnLM, in his classroom. The use of these AI tools has led to better quality submissions and enables one-to-one instruction that is logistically impossible for most teachers. Hudson believes that AI tools can be positive in the classroom when used in the right way, and can help with differentiation.
In a world where AI is increasingly prevalent, Hudson hopes to continue finding productive ways to use AI and to guide his students against unethical and counterproductive AI uses. He encourages his students to approach AI as a service, to be taught to use it or to be critical of its use.
But how can one detect AI-generated writing? Experts suggest 13 ways to do so without using technology:
- Repetitive Patterns and Phrasing
- Overly Formal or Robotic Tone
- Lack of Personal Insight or Experience
- Mechanical Syntax and Grammar
- Unnatural Sentence Complexity Variation
- Keyword Stuffing or Over-optimization
- Lack of Emotional Depth or Nuance
- Presence of Hallucinated or Inaccurate Facts
- Inconsistent or Odd Use of Language and Idioms
- Difficulty Handling Complex or Abstract Topics
- Lack of Contextual Awareness or Coherence
- No Spontaneous Errors or Typos
- Differences from Known Writing Samples
These clues, when used in combination, can help identify AI-generated writing. However, it's important to note that none of these signs alone is definitive, and careful judgment is needed as skilled human writers or editors may also vary style in similar ways.
As the integration of AI in education continues to evolve, teachers like Kevin Hudson are at the forefront of this change, navigating the benefits and challenges of this technological shift to provide the best possible education for their students.
- Kevin Hudson advocates for teachers to identify the usefulness and potential harm of AI tools in education, encouraging their adoption in classrooms.
- Hudson is using AI tools such as Class Companion and Google's New AI Tutor to enhance student learning, enabling more effective feedback and one-to-one instruction.
- By using AI tools, Hudson hopes to guide students in ethical AI use and to help them develop critical thinking skills towards AI-generated content.
- Experts suggest that repetitive patterns, overly formal tone, lack of personal insight, and other signs can help detect AI-generated writing, but careful judgment is necessary.
