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How Students Can Use Artificial Intelligence As A Learning Partner
5 ways to get started
AJ Juliani
October 26, 2023
We are facing one of the biggest changes in recent education history with the majority of students now having the ability to use artificial intelligence tools to answer and complete any compliance-based work.
Math problems in the book for homework? I’ll just use Photomath.
Five-paragraph essay due tomorrow? I’ll use ChatGPT and Quillbot.
Discussion questions or quiz inside my LMS (Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom). I’ll use Coursology to answer those questions in seconds.
Slide presentation must be finished this class period. I’ll use SlidesGPT or Canva Magic to finish it quickly.
The list could go on…
This change in our learning environment has many challenges, but one I keep seeing in my own teaching/learning experiences and in those in schools around the country is this: How do we get kids engaged and learning, instead of simply compliant?
For the learners, it must be meaningful and relevant. They must actually “care” about what they are learning, the assignments, and assessments—or AI will be used just to complete and finish what must be done.
For us as educators, the answer may be simpler than I originally thought. It goes back to what we value. If we value compliance, then our students see that and play the compliance game, and realize what is most important to us and the system. If we value learning, then our activities change, our grades/assessments look different, and our conversations and interactions shift.
Simply put, in what ways can we (as teachers, parents, coaches, and leaders) show we value learning over compliance?
In the second part of this series, we’ll be focusing on ways that artificial intelligence can be used as a learning partner, instead of a tool to do the work.
If this is the world our students (and us) are living in, then we must focus on using AI to further learning, while keeping academic integrity.
The AI (Learning) Revolution Is Here
When the industrial revolution ushered in massive changes to the way we worked, maybe folks didn’t see it coming.
With the AI revolution, we’ve seen it all along. We discussed how to handle these changes and what we would do “if” this happened.
And while artificial intelligence has been permeating many parts of our lives for a few decades now, it has ramped up at warp speeds over the last few months.
ChatGPT is an AI platform that we ALL can use so easily and quickly to learn and create. It has brought the future to the present and many outdated practices that we’ve been doing in education and work (because that’s how we’ve always done it) are going to fade away fast.
As George Couros has said, “We can use change as an opportunity to make learning better”.
Sure, we can be worried about the future, our jobs, and everything else that artificial intelligence may threaten.
But, right now is the perfect time to adopt, embrace, and use this technology to its fullest learning potential.
Our students (and all of us) have not only a wealth of information at our fingertips but also the creative output and potential that the world has never seen.
It doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. Of course, we should, now more than ever. A recent study came out saying 96% (yes, you read that right) of school tech exposes student data...
So, when folks say this is something we have to look into with ChatGPT and AI Tools, I agree. I also would say look at what you are currently using just as much as any new technology that comes out.
However, we know that since this tool can be used at home, on personal devices, and on phones -- that it will be used. I loved this perspective from Garnet Valley Superintendent Dr. Marc Bertrando in an email/letter to the community.
If it is going to be used, then let's use it for learning purposes as much as we can. Check out the video as I go into detail on some specific ways to do that right now:
In the video we break down seven (really, eight) ways you can use AI right now to benefit learning:
What About Deeper Learning Experiences?
In both Genius Hour and Project-Based Learning, students will begin with a challenge, continue with sustained inquiry, document their learning process, connect to standards, and demonstrate their learning in some type of creative product, presentation, or performance.
These type of experiences drive deeper learning and is what I’m most excited about when looking at AI tools for educational purposes.
This guide below serves as an overview of those steps in the deepr learning process, and how artificial intelligence tools can be used effectively to support students on their creative journey.
1. Start With A Problem/Challenge/Inquiry
Here's where we begin: A reason for learning.
Many folks will tell you to start with the curriculum, or with the standards, or with an enduring question/understanding; however, the best PBL experiences I've been a part of did not start there, but instead started with a reason.
When my students helped design Project: Global Inform, it was out of a need to actually DO something about current human rights violations. When Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay created the Flat Classroom Project it was out of a need to have global collaboration while students were in school. When teachers at my district created CentennialX it was out of a need to give students authentic opportunities to solve problems.
Great PBL experiences come from a place of need and interest. What problem can students solve? What challenge can be presented as an opportunity to create something of value? What curiosities and inquiries do students already have that can lead to a PBL experience?
As BIE outlines in their definition of PBL:
Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.
Let's work backward by thinking about the reasons (and the WHY for PBL) that connect to a problem, challenge, or inquiry. This ultimately allows you as a teacher to start from a place of meaning and relevancy before going into any other areas of planning.
Artificial Intelligence Implications:
In PBL the teacher can often start this process with a shared problem or challenge for the class. In Genius Hour, students will choose this problem, challenge, or interest on their own.
In either case, AI tools can play a big role in coming up with the challenge, problem, or inquiry/interests.
I’ll give you a few examples to highlight how this works.
Example #1: Student Is Choosing the Problem/Challenge/Interest
In this case, the student may have many different interests to pick through or feels like they don’t have any. They can prompt ChatGPT to give them pros and cons of their different choices or share some things like doing and what other interests may be connected.
They can have a conversation about a local or global problem, see the overview, and begin to process whether it is an issue they would like to tackle.
Example #2: Teacher Is Choosing the Problem/Challenge/Interest
Here the teacher has picked the problem or challenge, and students may want to find authentic connections. Teachers can quickly pull up a Curipod lesson to introduce the problem, and then run a design sprint to get the kids interested in the problem/challenge and what it means to them!
2. What Are Students Going to Learn? What Skills Will They Acquire and Master?
The second step of this system is to identify what the students are going to learn during this PBL experience. This is when you look at the curriculum, standards, and skills that align with the content area information that is going to be a part of this process.
While it may seem a bit difficult at first, I want to provide an example.
Let's say you are teaching 4th grade. Your students are excited to tackle the challenge of getting kids in the cafeteria to actually recycle with regularity! That is a great challenge and problem to tackle, but how does it connect to your standards and curriculum?
Here is where you can unpack the standards and current curriculum that you have. The research to find best practices for recycling connects to many standards. Reading, writing, and viewing also connect to standards. The designing, prototyping, and creating of a new recycling can or system connects to standards.
Maybe you can link this PBL experience to a Social Studies unit that talks about the rise of recycling. Maybe it links to a non-fiction part of your Language Arts curriculum. Maybe the scientific process can be used to connect to your Science or STEM curriculum. And of course, the planning and creation can be linked to a piece of the Math curriculum.
Every school and district is different, but if we are going to make the switch to PBL and Genius Hour, we must not forget that our focus is on what skills and knowledge students can acquire and master in order to help prepare for their future.
Artificial Intelligence Implications:
Using the example above, I prompted ChatGPT the following: Create a 4th grade cross-curricular project-based learning activity on recycling.
Here is the output:
Title: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! A Project-Based Learning Activity
Grade Level: 4th grade
Subject Areas: Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Math
Duration: 3-4 weeks
Overview: In this project-based learning activity, students will explore the importance of recycling and learn ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste. Students will engage in hands-on activities, research, and collaboration to create a presentation on recycling.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the importance of recycling for the environment and human health.
Identify different types of waste and materials that can be recycled.
Develop strategies to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste.
Use research and critical thinking skills to investigate the impact of recycling on the environment.
Develop communication and presentation skills to share information about recycling with others.
Materials:
Recycling bins
Art materials (scissors, glue, construction paper, etc.)
Books and online resources on recycling and the environment
Laptops or tablets with internet access
Presentation software (e.g. PowerPoint, Google Slides)
Activities:
Introduction to Recycling: Students will be introduced to the concept of recycling, the different types of waste that can be recycled, and the benefits of recycling. Students will also learn about the three R's of recycling: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Waste Audit: Students will conduct a waste audit in their classroom or school to identify the types of waste produced and estimate the amount of waste that can be recycled. Students will use recycling bins to sort the waste and record their findings.
Research on Recycling: Students will work in small groups to research the impact of recycling on the environment and human health. Students will use books, online resources, and other materials to gather information and present their findings to the class.
Creative Recycling: Students will use art materials to create a project that demonstrates ways to reduce, reuse, or recycle waste. Students will use critical thinking skills to brainstorm ideas and create their project.
Presentation: Students will create a presentation on recycling that includes information on the benefits of recycling, different types of waste that can be recycled, strategies to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste, and the impact of recycling on the environment. Students will use presentation software to create their presentation and practice their communication skills by presenting their work to the class.
Assessment: Students will be assessed on their participation in the waste audit, their research on recycling, their creative recycling project, and their presentation on recycling. Students will be evaluated based on their ability to demonstrate an understanding of the importance of recycling, their ability to identify different types of waste and materials that can be recycled, their ability to develop strategies to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste, and their ability to communicate their ideas effectively through their presentation.
I then asked it to connect this PBL activity to 4th grade PA State Standards and NextGen Standards:
Here are some connections between the project-based learning activity on recycling and the Pennsylvania State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for 4th grade:
Pennsylvania State Standards:
3.1.4.A: Know that the natural world includes rocks, soil, and water that can be observed in cycles, patterns, and systems.
3.2.4.C: Know that recycling materials can help to conserve natural resources.
3.4.4.A: Know that energy is needed for all activities and is derived from natural resources.
3.4.4.C: Identify and explain human impact on the environment.
3.6.4.C: Understand how to access and use electronic information resources to gather information.
Next Generation Science Standards:
4-ESS3-1: Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.
4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
4-ESS3-2: Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.
4-PS3-4: Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.
The project-based learning activity on recycling addresses the Pennsylvania State Standards by helping students understand natural cycles and patterns, the benefits of recycling materials, the impact of human activities on the environment, and how to access and use electronic information resources. The activity also aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards by addressing the importance of natural resources, the structures and functions of living things, the need to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans, and the design and testing of devices that convert energy from one form to another.
3. What Will Students Make, Create, Design? Who Are They Creating For and Why?
Now that we've got the major problem students will be solving, and the connection to curriculum and standards, the focus of our planning moves to what students will be making and who they will be making it for (as part of their authentic audience).
For this, I turn to authors Ross Cooper and Erin Murphy, and how they describe the variety of option for PBL in their book, Hacking PBL:
PBL can unfold in a variety of ways. Teachers should choose a track based on the needs of their students, their readiness as facilitators, and the demands of the curriculum. While it would be unrealistic to detail every possible track, below are the three we find are most common:
Product Track (most restrictive) - In a project completed with fourth-grade students, each group was expected to produce a pinball machine. The difference between this experience and a traditional project is that the journey to the product looked different depending on each group’s creative decisions and trials and errors. Students learned about electricity & magnetism and force & motion through their work.
Problem Track (medium restrictive) - In this scenario, the project is initiated by presenting students with a problem, or in some cases, the students may identify the problem themselves. Examples may include how to tackle the dilemma of subpar cafeteria food, or students being asked to identify a problem of importance to their age group. Student work would then revolve around identifying the cause of the issue and proposing or enacting a remedy.
Open-Ended Track (least restrictive) - Here the project begins with the teacher sharing the High Impact Takeaways / enduring understandings and possibly the Umbrella / essential question with the class. Students then design a project that is truly medium agnostic. In other words, they can demonstrate their knowledge however they choose. For example, a high school physics teacher may share the High Impact Takeaway / enduring understanding: An electric current can produce a magnetic field and a changing magnetic field can produce an electric current. Students, with teacher guidance, then design a project that will support this understanding. Simply researching and sharing information would not be sufficient.
In each track, the students own the problem and can solve it in many different ways. Yet, depending on the class, the age, the subject, and the time constraints a teacher can set up and plan for a PBL experience that will align with the reality of their situation.
Artificial Intelligence Implications:
Here students can use artificial intelligence tools for the creative process. They can use AI tools to document their learning (Notion.ai), share their learning journey with video or podcast (Synthesia.ai), and even take notes as they are interviewing or talking with an expert mentor (Otter.ai).
Teachers can support the learning with tools like Diffit, that allow kids to take any research text and paste it in the app to get a leveled reading resource they can use.
Want to create an app or game? ChatGPT can help you code and deploy your idea.
Need to learn something your teacher may not be an expert in? AI tools can have conversations as that expert answering your questions and sharing learning suggestions.
The possibilities are endless for creating and documenting.
4. How Can You Scaffold and Structure the Experience?
In Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning, authors John Larmer, John Mergendoller, and Suzie Boss present a framework for the Gold Standard PBL, that includes Essential Project Design Elements and Project Based Teaching Practices.
In planning for PBL, the teacher must take an active role in not only looking at these elements but also acknowledging that it is going to be challenging work for the students that needs to be structured and scaffolded along the way.
We've already planned for what they are going to solve, how it connects to standards and skills, and what they will be making. But, a major piece in the planning process is putting together a structure that gives students voice and choice, while also holds them accountable with checks for understanding, benchmarks, and opportunities to iterate.
I'm a bit biased towards using the Design Thinking process to structure and scaffold PBL (check out The LAUNCH Cycle for more on this), but Design Thinking is one of many ways we can structure a PBL experience.
You may use the Engineering process, the scientific method, the inquiry cycle, or a process that works specifically within your content and with your students.
The key here is to have this planned out before students get started, and present them with a timeline of the project. You may be flexible throughout the project, but these guidelines will help students plan out their work, and give you spots to check for understanding along the way.
Artificial Intelligence Implications:
I would use Notion.ai and Trello to manage and track all student projects. See below:
5. When Will Students Self-Assess, Revise, and Reflect?
During Project-Based Learning, we can all fall into the trap of trying to race to the finish line at the last moment. The first few PBL experiences with my students went something like this:
I gave my students free reign over when they did their work, with only a final deadline for the completion of the project. Only to find out that most of them procrastinated till the last night, and finished the day before the project was due.
How could I blame them?! You could find me doing the same thing when I was in school and especially when I was getting my Master's degree in grad school. Procrastination is an easy trap to fall into, and it is also a powerful motivator.
Above we talked about a structure for PBL. But, I would go a step further in your planning and build in specific times for students to self-assess, to reflect on their work, and revise. Don't wait till the end of the project to do these extremely important learning tasks.
While we aren't going to dive into assessment in this post, I'd also say that a big piece of planning out PBL is realizing that we are going to have to assess not just the final product, but also the process, and most importantly the learning.
Planning for these times before the project begins will only help you as the teacher (and help the students) when it comes time to assess their work.
Artificial Intelligence Implications:
I still think this is done best in person. Reflecting, having round-table conversations, and assessing in real-time person-to-person always has more of an impact.
Yet, we don’t often have that time built into our schedules. Here is where I think AI can help. It can speed the other parts of the content delivery and curriculum, so we DO have time for these important in-person sessions.
We will always need learning to be human, social, meaning-centered and language-based. Yet, some parts of the process right now take more time than others - that is ok, and we can plan accordingly to make this happen!