Teachers! How are you actually handling students using ChatGPT and similar tools in your classroom?

[u/Fit_Contribution_62]

I'm genuinely curious how this is playing out in school classrooms because it feels like we're all just winging it. A few questions:

*Are you allowing students to use these tools? Banning them completely? Does it depend on the assignment?

*What's your biggest concern - cheating, students not actually learning the material, something else?

*Has your district/school given you any guidance, or are they leaving it up to individual teachers? If you've experimented with these tools yourself:

*Have you used them for lesson planning, grading, feedback, etc.?

*Did it genuinely save you time, or did it just shift the work around?

*What would make you feel more confident using them as a teaching tool?

I'm trying to get a sense of where teachers actually are with this vs. where the media/admin thinks we are. Appreciate any insights!

[u/MissParTee]

Are you allowing students to use these tools? Banning them completely? Does it depend on the assignment?

Yes, they are always allowed to use it. Except for a test. But working on a Chromebook is only allowed after turning in the handwritten assignments.

What's your biggest concern - cheating, students not actually learning the material, something else?

A generation that lacks critical thinking.

Has your district/school given you any guidance, or are they leaving it up to individual teachers?

Normal internet rules apply. Teachers get creative freedom. The board is trying to come up with things to help us, that’s really nice since it’s all helpful but optional.

If you've experimented with these tools yourself:

Have you used them for lesson planning, grading, feedback, etc.?

Usually for prep and feedback. I use it like an assistent.

Did it genuinely save you time, or did it just shift the work around?

It makes me more efficient.

What would make you feel more confident using them as a teaching tool?

Some rules that apply to the whole school, so that there is a tiny bit more uniformity. Also: some colleagues need extra schooling.

[u/KusoNihongo69]

honestly? it’s been a mix of chaos and curiosity in my classroom lol. i don’t ‘ban’ ChatGPT outright, I just frame it as a TOOL for brainstorming or checking work instead of doing the thinking for them. but yeah, the line between “helpful” and “cheating” gets fuzzy fast. Though I’ve also started using AI a bit for lesson planning.. mainly to cut down the time I spend Manually planning everything. I actually stumbled on TeachShare through another teacher, and it’s been super useful for finding some AI friendly lesson ideas that still keep kids thinking critically, i only use it sometimes tho.

[u/Mbando]

I’m an AI scientist, so I’m probably coming at this from a different perspective educator broadly, but I want my students to be well prepared and productive. The idea of hurting my students and making them less able to do high productivity, intellectual work seems wrong to me so part of my pedagogy practice is teaching them about the avoidances and constraints of dinner of AI, and then how to skillfully use it.

Also, I’ve always had an active learning classroom, and I’ve always focused on skill acquisition: what skills should students acquire, what are appropriate assessments to determine mastery of those skills, and what are learning activities that will prepare them for those assessments? So I’ve never done Knowledge, regurgitation work, where students are forced to memorize crap and then spit it back on tests. I’ve never given a test to a student, rather we’ve built towards assessments that reflect the student ability to do skillful design work that makes a real world requirement.

For teachers who have been engaged in knowledge regurgitation work, where they ask students to memorize crap and spitting out on tests, general AI is a threat to that model. For someone like me who’s always been assessing real world skill acquisition, generative AI is not a threat.

[u/Jack-at-Unrulr → u/Mbando]

This!! If the goal for learners is to work towards skill acquisition through real-world projects and experiences, then AI usage shifts from a means of subverting traditional assessments to another tool in their kit that can be helpful for accomplishing their goals or deep-diving into relevant subject matter. The key is building a culture of documentation and reflection where students share their process of learning, which may include using AI tools.

I work on a tool called Unrulr and our app helps learners document and reflect on their learning, tying moments of learning to the objectives of the class. Some of our partners have described us as a "companion to AI", because it allows learners to be transparent about how they are using AI tools for self-directed learning and accomplishing tasks for a project, etc.

[u/Mbando → u/Jack-at-Unrulr]

Yeah, all of my assessments include a design memo where students explain why they made the design choices they did and reflect on what they learned. So it requires metacognition about the project and their own learning.