ChatGPT and the future of teaching
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Alleyn’s School, one of the top private schools in the UK, recently announced plans to stop assigning written homework in English classes, claiming the advent of ChatGPT has made the practice obsolete.
👩‍🏫 More details… In a blog post, Alleyn’s Head Teacher Jane Lunnon said instructors began moving to eliminate written homework, after a blind test involving the head of the school’s English department resulted in an essay written entirely by ChatGPT receiving an "A" grade (between 90% and 100%).
Lunnon said that instead of requiring English students to write essays or answer questions for homework, Alleyn’s School – which costs upwards of $28,000/year to attend and is ranked as one of the top-30 schools in Britain – will transition to a new teaching style called “flipped learning.” Under this regimen, English students will be asked to prepare at home each night for discussions and assessments in class the next day.
🇺🇲 Across the pond… Many US teachers, professors, and administrators are also starting to overhaul classroom learning protocols in response to ChatGPT.
- Some are redesigning courses to avoid AI chatbots entirely, with changes that include more oral exams, increased group work, and handwritten assessments in lieu of typed ones.
- Others are actively integrating ChatGPT into lesson plans by using the chatbot to create study guides and practice tests, or devoting class time to critically reviewing and evaluating ChatGPT’s responses.
📰 And in other recent news: OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, unveiled a new tool yesterday aimed at helping teachers detect whether an essay or homework problem was written by an AI. Though in an accompanying blog post, OpenAI said its new tool “is not fully reliable” – especially with texts under 1,000 characters – and sometimes incorrectly but confidently flags human-written content as created by an AI.
📊 Flash poll (long-form): Calling all 15,000+ classrooms using the DONUT: How do you plan on addressing ChatGPT, if at all? The best answers will be featured in tomorrow’s newsletter.
See a 360° view of what media pundits are saying →
Sprinkles in favor of incorporating ChatGPT into the classroom
- Some commentators argue that teachers should thoughtfully embrace ChatGPT as a teaching aid – one that could unlock student creativity, offer personalized tutoring, and better prepare students to work alongside AI systems as adults.
- Others contend that banning AI chatbots is shortsighted; instead, school districts must find a way forward in which such technologies complement – rather than substitute for – student thinking, similar to the role calculators play in calculus.
- “Don’t Ban ChatGPT in Schools. Teach With It.” –Kevin Roose, NY Times
- “Don’t ban chatbots in classrooms — use them to change how we teach” –Angela Duckworth and Lyle Ungar, LA Times
- “Schools Shouldn't Ban Access to ChatGPT” –Joanne Lipman and Rebecca Distler, TIME
Sprinkles in favor of banning ChatGPT from the classroom
- Some commentators argue that school districts should implement blanket bans of ChatGPT for students, since the chatbot makes it far too easy for struggling students to lean on AI-generated writing in place of what comes out of their own heads.
- Others contend that in order for English teachers to ensure their students don’t cheat using ChatGPT, classes will need to return to having students write essays in the classroom, where teachers can observe their process.
- “Did your kid write that essay? Or did ChatGPT?” –Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
- “Will ChatGPT Unflip the Classroom?” –Rick Hess, Education Week
- “ChatGPT is not a tool for learning. It must be banned in class.” –Ravi Panguluri, The Diamondback
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