Published by Dafa Education Spreading positive energy in education and good voices in education
Recently, ChatGPT has caused a public opinion storm and has become popular worldwide.As a generative artificial intelligence software, ChatGPT can generate text on any topic, completing various tasks including answering questions, writing articles, papers, and poetry. It has been praised by all walks of life for its “significant historical significance, comparable to the birth of the Internet or personal computers.”
What challenges will ChatGPT bring to education? How should education respond to the challenges posed by ChatGPT? How can schools and teachers make use of ChatGPT? This article provides a systematic overview. Let’s take a look—
What challenges will ChatGPT bring to our education?
The emergence of ChatGPT is a landmark significance for AI development, the rapid development of technology is, to some extent, “forcing” the education sector to initiate deeper reforms, and we must rethink the impact and challenges that AI brings to education and teaching systems. The main points are as follows:
1 Challenges to our talent perspective
What kind of people should we cultivate in the future? In contrast to AI’s mechanical efficiency, what advantages do humans need to develop? In the future, many jobs may be replaced by AI, so the direction of talent cultivation is the primary issue that education needs to clarify, and we must ensure that students have sufficient “future survival ability.”
2 Challenges to our curriculum perspective
Looking towards the future, what do children need to learn to adapt to challenges? How to guide students to reasonably use artificial intelligence in the learning process to improve learning efficiency while also stimulating their creative thinking? Education needs to help students set creative learning goals, and promoting creative learning is a significant challenge.
3 Challenges to our teaching perspective
How should educators teach? The rapid development of AI brings more technical challenges to education, and educators need to seize opportunities to use artificial intelligence technology to update teaching methods, enhance teaching experiences, and improve education quality.
4 Challenges to the evaluation perspective of education
Artificial intelligence has caused a certain impact on the assessment of learning outcomes. Surveys abroad show that it has become common for students to complete assignments using ChatGPT.
Moreover, many students online admit to using ChatGPT to write papers. Faced with assignments completed by students and AI, many teachers find it challenging to distinguish between the two. Therefore educators need to rethink and make substantial and innovative changes to teaching and assessment methods.
In summary, regarding the educational behavior itself, due to the development of artificial intelligence represented by ChatGPT, the education model centered around knowledge transmission has been pushed to the corner.
On the one hand, ChatGPT can answer almost all questions posed by students, and it can tailor its responses to individual needs, so do our teachers still have any value in existence;
On the other hand, since this knowledge can be obtained so conveniently, does it make sense for our children to spend so much time learning and doing exercises? What exactly should our children learn as the most urgent need?
In the face of the challenges posed by ChatGPT,
how should education respond?
In the face of challenges brought by AI represented by ChatGPT, education must understand future trends, otherwise, all efforts in educating will be as futile as building a ship only to find decades later that the destination is a desert.
To this end, Ni Minjing, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, proposed that educational reform urgently needs to make significant adjustments in the following three areas:
First, the primary goal of education is to cultivate individuals who can think independently and have the ability to make correct value judgments, rather than merely acquiring specific knowledge.
Of course, learning knowledge as the most important clue for connecting the brain remains essential; the key issue is which knowledge is the most important.
Such knowledge should be adaptable to this rapidly changing world and able to contribute to the future world development. Therefore, I believe that fundamental knowledge in humanities, technology, and mathematics remains important, as it contains a wealth of value judgments, thinking tools, and problem-solving methods, while learning content related to programming thinking, modular thinking, and critical thinking urgently needs to be supplemented.
Second, the methods and approaches of education need significant adjustments, primarily directed towards using learning tools such as ChatGPT to collaboratively improve educational teaching methods, rather than avoiding and fearing them.
Humanity’s ability to use tools is the reason for rapid progress, and in fact, ChatGPT is a brand new knowledge tool, in this sense, it is no different from the books and libraries we have relied on for thousands of years. Based on such a powerful knowledge tool for learning, our children should learn better. If there are concerns that children will rely on it and stop thinking, it is either that the content we teach has no value or that we have not understood that there are higher-level thinking methods that need to be explored by educators beyond simple thinking.
We need not be anxious about the future jobs of children being replaced by artificial intelligence, because for the cultural evolution of humanity: new technologies always replace old production methods and old labor, but new technologies always create more new labor by generating new human demands.
Third, beyond knowledge learning, we need to pay more attention to the quality of learning.
Truly good learning, to some extent, seeks slowness rather than speed; only slowness can forge depth of thinking, and cultivate deep interpersonal relationships in interactions with others;
it seeks difficulty rather than ease; only challenges can stimulate students’ motivation to learn;
it seeks less rather than more; only less can provide leisure time to develop one’s personality and form a diversified brain;
it seeks clumsiness rather than cleverness; only clumsiness can cultivate a person’s spirit of research and resilience.
A person who truly succeeds relies on the focus of learning, which can elevate interests to aspirations and become a person with unique personal traits; relies on responsibility and resilience, persevering and not yielding in the face of difficulties; relies on good interpersonal relationships and collaborative spirit, being able to receive support and help from the team at critical moments.
These qualities of learning have always been unrelated to technology, and of course, they have nothing to do with the bull that suddenly rushes into the porcelain store—ChatGPT.
Therefore, in a world where new things emerge endlessly, we must maintain educational determination, adhere to the direction of reform, and truly provide appropriate and meaningful education for children.
How to take advantage of the situation,
and let ChatGPT be used in education?
Fear and avoidance cannot stop the wave of technology; the era of deep integration between education and AI has arrived, and how to treat AI as a tool, turning it into an opportunity for education rather than a threat, is a new change that the educational system must face in the future.
Accepting ChatGPT as a teaching assistant, becoming a friend or helper to teachers, can unleash students’ creativity, provide personalized tutoring, and better prepare students to get used to working with artificial intelligence systems in the future.
So, for the disruptive value of ChatGPT, how can schools and teachers get started? The following introduces six common uses:
1. Course Design
ChatGPT can provide creative ideas for teachers’ course design, assist in retrieving and organizing literature, and generate complete course materials such as teaching outlines, course plans, and reading materials.
For example, inputting “Please design an exploratory course for second-grade children, with the theme ‘The Sound of Crickets'” quickly yields the following results. Then, we can provide more detailed design requirements: “To be conducted during the summer vacation for ten days, the course aims to cultivate children’s exploratory abilities, critical thinking skills, collaborative abilities, and knowledge related to natural history and measurement statistics, integrating formative and summative assessments, while specifying time planning, materials to be prepared, and background information.” Soon, ChatGPT outputs a detailed course report (see the image below).
2. Assisting in Lesson Preparation
In addition to course design, ChatGPT can effectively participate in lesson preparation, providing teachers with a starting plan, offering general and routine content, and helping teachers save initial brainstorming time. Of course, such plans often resemble a simple recipe design guide; as a chef, one can design an actual recipe based on the ideas provided by this recipe.
Specifically, lesson preparation can be done through the following methods.
Knowledge Search: Quickly search for relevant knowledge points through Q&A. Just ask the AI a question, such as “Explain the Doppler effect in language that eighth-grade students can understand” or “Convince me to ban animal testing,” and ChatGPT will quickly generate a set of solutions.
Generating Teaching Content: By giving ChatGPT some instructions, it can automatically generate relevant teaching content, thus improving lesson preparation efficiency.
Conducting Classroom Simulations: By engaging in simulated dialogue with ChatGPT, one can better understand students’ questions and prepare for class.
Language Translation: If teachers need to use other languages in class, they can utilize ChatGPT for translation to better prepare lessons.
3. Classroom Assistant
ChatGPT can provide a real-time sharing platform for teachers and students, answering questions in real-time, providing ideas for classroom activities, increasing classroom fun and richness, and helping students understand complex content and concepts, becoming an AI teaching assistant, after-school tutor, or debate practice partner for teachers.
For example, in an English class, teachers can use the following methods to enhance classroom effectiveness.
Become a Writing Prompt Generator: One can ask ChatGPT to generate story openings or creative writing prompts for students to use as a foundation for their writing.
Become a Reading Comprehension Tool: ChatGPT can generate an article on the topic being studied, allowing students to read and answer related questions. This helps assess students’ understanding of the material and pinpoint areas where they may need additional support.
Become a Vocabulary Builder: ChatGPT can generate sentences using unfamiliar words for students, allowing them to guess the meanings based on context and expand their vocabulary.
Become a Generator of Class Discussion Questions: Teachers and students can pose questions to ChatGPT, combining them with substantive discussions in class to enrich discussions and help students refine their thinking and practice their ideas.
4. Assignment Assessment
ChatGPT can also participate in student assessment, generating assignments and tests, helping teachers assess students and observe learning progress.
For instance, a teacher sends a robot an article about Ukraine, requesting ten multiple-choice questions to test students’ understanding of the article. Out of the ten questions generated by the AI, six are usable, which is undoubtedly a fantastic teaching aid, allowing teachers to generate new questions anytime and anywhere based on teaching requirements.
For example, inputting the prompt “Please generate a cloze test in English” can yield the English assignment shown in the image below.
5. Learning Assistance
ChatGPT can provide rich explanations, methods, information, and ideas, helping students understand knowledge more profoundly and creatively, improving learning efficiency and interest, effectively assisting students in achieving autonomous and personalized learning, understanding their learning gaps and needs, motivating learning and self-improvement, stemming from its following functions.
Point Extraction. It can quickly generate learning materials, such as summaries, flashcards, and quizzes, to help students review and learn course materials. Students can ask ChatGPT to read a chapter from a textbook and generate a concise and understandable summary. ChatGPT can also help students chunk tasks, breaking down large tasks into smaller, manageable parts, fostering students’ sense of autonomy and confidence in completing tasks.
Content Translation. ChatGPT can freely translate teaching content, making it easier for students to understand. Students can also seek help from ChatGPT to learn various languages, obtaining resources for that language, such as vocabulary lists, conversation practice, and grammar lessons. Moreover, when learning a new word, they can ask AI how to use it in a sentence:
Exclusive Guidance. ChatGPT technology can diversify teaching resources and information, helping students acquire problem-solving skills through explanations, distribution instructions, and additional resources. This is significant for students who struggle with a particular subject or concept and need extra support, as it can enhance their sense of self-efficacy and learning motivation.
Project Research. ChatGPT can also play an important role in research-based learning, project-based learning, problem-based learning, and thematic inquiry learning in primary and secondary schools. For example, a student writing a research paper on climate change can ask ChatGPT for relevant information and receive a list of materials.
6. Task Assistant
ChatGPT can easily handle tasks such as writing emails, papers, scripts, developing business proposals, creating poetry, stories, and even coding and debugging programs, and naturally it can assist teachers and students in daily activity planning by generating ideas, improvement suggestions, and feedback on written work.
For instance, automatically generating various work summaries, weekly reports, and monthly reports can reduce the internal friction of routine tasks, fully realizing “reducing the burden on teachers” and “reducing the burden on students.”
Primary and Secondary School Teachers ChatGPT’s
23 Uses
1. Answering Questions
ChatGPT can be used to answer questions in real-time, making it a useful tool for students who need quick access to information.
In this sense, ChatGPT can serve not only as an AI teaching assistant for teachers but also as an AI learning companion for students.
For example, a student might ask: “What is the capital of France?” ChatGPT would respond: “The capital of France is Paris.”
2. Assistance in Writing Papers
ChatGPT can help students write papers, suggesting topics, outlining structures, providing ideas, and offering improvement help and suggestions.
For example, students can request help in writing an article about the environment, and ChatGPT can provide suggestions for the thesis statement and potential topics for body paragraphs. Students can then integrate their thoughts and viewpoints to complete the article.
Of course, in the past two months, the biggest concern for many educators and local education authorities worldwide has precisely been this aspect. As a result, many local education authorities in various countries have banned students from using ChatGPT on campus.
3. Generation of Learning Materials
ChatGPT can generate learning materials, such as summaries, flashcards, and quizzes, to help students review and learn course materials.
For example, students can request a summary of a chapter in a textbook, and ChatGPT can generate a concise and understandable key points summary.
4. Personalized Tutoring
ChatGPT can provide personalized tutoring by answering questions and offering individualized feedback. For instance, students can request help solving a math problem, and ChatGPT can provide step-by-step guidance to resolve it.
5. Conversation Practice
ChatGPT can be used for language learning, providing conversation practice with a virtual language tutor.
For example, a student learning Chinese can practice Chinese with ChatGPT to improve their conversational skills.
This application is arguably what large language models like ChatGPT excel at, and such conversation practice is most beneficial for students to learn real, transferable language skills.
In recent years, many English classrooms in China have seen students using iFlytek’s Xiaofei, which is a similar practical application case.
6. Game-Based Learning
ChatGPT can be integrated into educational games to provide an engaging and interactive learning experience.
For example, in a history-based game, ChatGPT can provide clues and hints to help players solve puzzles and complete challenges.
In this regard, the challenge to teachers’ instructional design capabilities is significant.
Of course, teachers can also utilize ChatGPT to assist in designing this game integrated with ChatGPT around historical themes, such as the historical background of D-Day.
7. Supporting Students’ Research-Based Learning
ChatGPT can assist students in research projects by providing information sources, search strategies, and other resource suggestions.
In research-based learning, project-based learning, problem-based learning, and thematic inquiry learning in primary and secondary schools, ChatGPT can play an important role.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for help researching a topic and receive suggestions for sources, search strategies, and further information resources.
A student writing a research paper on climate change can inquire with ChatGPT for information on the topic and receive a list of relevant materials to consult.
8. Creative Writing Assistance
ChatGPT can assist creative writing by generating ideas, improvement suggestions, and feedback on written work. ChatGPT can also provide feedback on students’ written work, including suggestions for improvement, grammar corrections, and structural advice.
This blog post was actually completed with the assistance of a chatbot! Many of the ideas for teaching applications and some practical application examples were provided by the chatbot, which the author refined and improved upon. Similarly, our students can do the same.
For example, students can submit a draft of their paper to ChatGPT and receive feedback on writing style, organization, and grammar. Students can request ChatGPT to help them write a poem and receive suggestions for rhyming words and ideas to expand the poem. Afterwards, students can refine, modify, and polish their work based on this, and even return it to ChatGPT for further review and editing.
Through this iterative process, students complete their creative writing with the assistance of ChatGPT.
9. Generation of Assessments and Tests
ChatGPT can generate assessments, such as quizzes and exams, helping teachers assess students’ understanding.
For example, teachers can ask ChatGPT to generate a quiz on a specific topic and receive a set of multiple-choice questions for testing.
10. Course Material Generation
ChatGPT can generate complete course materials, such as teaching outlines, course plans, and reading materials.
For example, teachers can ask ChatGPT to provide a lesson plan on a specific topic and receive a comprehensive, ready-to-use lesson plan.
11. Content Translation
ChatGPT can translate educational content from one language to another, making it easier for students to understand and access information, and assist in multilingual education by providing information and resources for learning different languages.
For example, teachers can ask ChatGPT to translate a scientific article from English to Chinese, allowing Chinese students to understand it.
This functionality and practical application are relatively straightforward for ChatGPT!
12. Virtual Learning Groups
ChatGPT can facilitate virtual learning groups, providing students with opportunities to discuss course materials and collaborate on projects. For instance, students can use ChatGPT to facilitate a virtual learning group for a history course, where they can discuss key events and share ideas and viewpoints.
13. Promoting Teacher Professional Development
ChatGPT can respond to teachers’ questions and requests, providing relevant online courses, web resources, and MOOCs, thereby offering targeted help and support.
For example, an English teacher wishing to learn and master how to use the 3-2-1 strategy to promote student reflection in the English classroom can inquire with ChatGPT, which can provide relevant cases, videos, reading materials, online courses, tools, platforms, software, etc., for her to learn and utilize.
14. Review, Practice, and Exam Preparation
ChatGPT can help students prepare for exams by providing practice questions, exam strategies, and other resources. For example, students can ask ChatGPT for help preparing for a science exam and receive a list of related review materials and practice questions.
ChatGPT can provide students with an opportunity to practice public speaking, allowing them to deliver speeches and talks on ChatGPT. ChatGPT can facilitate debate practice, providing students with a virtual opponent to debate with and receive feedback.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT to listen to their speeches and receive feedback on their presentations, including suggestions for improvement. Students can engage in virtual debates on current events topics with ChatGPT, receiving feedback on their arguments and expressions.
15. Problem-Solving Assistance
ChatGPT can help students solve problems by providing step-by-step instructions, strategic suggestions, and hints.
For instance, students can ask ChatGPT for help solving a difficult math problem and receive guidance on how to approach and resolve that problem.
Students can utilize ChatGPT as their research assistant and academic advisor when completing assignments, engaging in research-based learning, and working on their projects and tasks, receiving help, guidance, and suggestions for specific problem-solving.
16. Classroom Discussions
ChatGPT can provide students with a real-time platform to share ideas and viewpoints, thus facilitating online classroom discussions.
For example, teachers can use ChatGPT to facilitate class discussions on current events topics, allowing students to pose questions and share opinions.
I believe that in the near future, this application will become the most common and popular classroom teaching application in primary, secondary, and various training activities.
17. Peer Review Assistance
ChatGPT can assist peer reviews by providing students with improvement suggestions and writing feedback.
For example, students can submit drafts of their papers to ChatGPT for peer review, receiving feedback and improvement suggestions from other students.
Regarding this point, we have analyzed it previously in the eighth item, Creative Writing Assistance, so we will not elaborate further here.
18. Career Guidance
ChatGPT can assist students in career guidance by providing information about potential careers, job requirements, and relevant resources.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for information about careers in engineering and receive a list of potential careers, job requirements, and further information resources.
In recent years, there has been a strong emphasis on students’ career education in China. In the era of artificial intelligence, career education has become exceptionally challenging due to the rapid changes in the job market. Many positions and careers are being quickly replaced by robots and artificial intelligence, while more and more new careers are emerging.
Applying large language models and chatbots like ChatGPT in students’ career education and guidance is indeed a promising application.
19. Time Management Assistance
Time management is a skill and knowledge that benefits everyone throughout their lives; unfortunately, this is a skill that most schools, teachers, and parents do not teach students.
ChatGPT can help students with time management by providing tips and strategies to stay organized and prioritize tasks.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for help managing their time and receive suggestions for creating schedules, setting priorities, and staying organized.
20. Learning Skills Assistance
ChatGPT can help students develop learning skills, providing tips and resources to enhance their ability to learn and retain information.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for assistance in improving their learning skills and receive suggestions for effective reading and note-taking techniques, memory strategies, and exam strategies.
However, the challenge here may lie in teachers needing to instruct students on how to formulate prompts. If they cannot formulate good prompts, students may quickly find this chatbot boring, let alone use it to learn and improve their learning skills.
21. Digital Citizenship and Technology Ethics Education
ChatGPT can assist in digital citizenship education by providing information about internet safety, privacy, and responsible technology use.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for information on internet security and receive a list of resources and tips for staying safe online.
This can significantly help schools and parents educate students about using technology for good, technology ethics, privacy protection, and responsible technology use, as these topics can be overly specialized for most subject teachers and student parents.
22. Homework Assistance
ChatGPT can aid students in completing homework by providing explanations, examples, and additional resources, offering step-by-step instructions and other resources to help students complete their assignments.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for help with math problems and receive step-by-step explanations, examples, and additional practice questions to reinforce the concept.
By using ChatGPT, students can receive immediate assistance and practice problem-solving skills to succeed in their coursework.
This is especially helpful for students who struggle with a particular subject or concept and need extra support outside of class.
23. Promoting Teachers’ Scientific Research
ChatGPT can provide teachers with research ideas and points, assist in retrieving relevant research literature, organizing literature, and recommending core references.
In scientific research, ChatGPT can have various practical uses and typical cases, which we will not elaborate on here.
Source: Guangming Society Educators, New Principal Media, First Education, etc.
Issue1352 Transferred from: Guizhou Education Release Edited by: Wang Yongming Reviewed by: Zhang Lunyong Supervisor: Li Wei General Supervisor: Hu Ronghua
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