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 widely praised 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 utilize ChatGPT to their advantage? This article provides a systematic review.
ChatGPT is essentially a chat tool, officially launched by the San Francisco-based AI company OpenAI in November 2022. So, what makes ChatGPT special compared to other AI products?
In addition to answering structured questions, such as grammar correction, translation, and finding answers, the key aspect is its ability to address relatively open-ended questions, such as programming. It can also solve complex structured problems, such as creating tables, translating, and summarizing.
Moreover, with just a slight prompt, ChatGPT can generate eloquent and beautifully crafted text. It has already been used to write love letters, poetry, novels, and academic papers. In a recent survey, an astonishing 89% of interviewed American college students admitted to using ChatGPT for homework, raising concerns among many.
The wildly popular ChatGPT has brought several challenges to education. Is it a poison for education or a remedy? Let’s take a look.
01
What challenges will ChatGPT bring to our education?
The emergence of ChatGPT marks a significant milestone in AI development. The rapid advancement of technology is, to some extent, “forcing” the education sector to initiate deeper reforms, compelling us to rethink the impact and challenges that AI brings to education and teaching systems. The main challenges include:
1) Challenging our view of talent
What kind of people should we cultivate for the future? In comparison to the mechanical efficiency of AI, what advantages do humans need to develop? Many jobs may be replaced by AI in the future, so clarifying the direction of talent cultivation is a primary issue for education, ensuring that students possess sufficient “future survivability.”
2) Challenging our view of curriculum
What should children learn to adapt to future challenges? How can we guide students to use AI effectively during their learning process to enhance efficiency while also stimulating their creative thinking? Education must help students set creative learning goals, and promoting creative learning is a major challenge.
3) Challenging our view of teaching
How should educators conduct classes? The rapid development of AI presents more technical challenges for education. How can educators seize opportunities to utilize AI technology to update teaching methods, enhance teaching experiences, and improve educational quality?
4) Challenging our view of assessment
AI has impacted the assessment of learning outcomes. Surveys abroad indicate 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 difficult to distinguish between the two. Therefore, educators need to rethink and make substantial, innovative changes to teaching and assessment methods.
In short, regarding the educational process itself, due to the development of AI represented by ChatGPT, the knowledge transmission-centered educational model has indeed been pushed into a corner.
On one hand, ChatGPT can almost answer all questions posed by students and can tailor responses to individual needs; does this mean our teachers no longer have value?
On the other hand, since knowledge can be so easily accessed, does it make sense for our children to spend so long learning and doing exercises? What is it that our children urgently need to learn?
02
How should education respond to the challenges posed by ChatGPT?
In the face of challenges brought by AI represented by ChatGPT, education must recognize future trends; otherwise, the effort put into nurturing students may be as futile as building a ship only to discover decades later that the destination is a desert.
Therefore, Ni Minjing, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, suggests 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, knowledge learning remains crucial as it is the most important thread connecting the brain; the key question is which knowledge is most important.
This knowledge should be adaptable to this rapidly developing world and contribute to future world development. Therefore, I believe that the foundational knowledge in humanities, technology, and mathematics remains important, as it contains substantial value judgments, thinking tools, and problem-solving methods. At the same time, there is an urgent need to supplement learning content in programming thinking, modular thinking, and critical thinking.
Second, the methods and approaches of education need significant adjustments, primarily aimed at using learning tools like ChatGPT to collaboratively improve educational teaching methods, rather than avoiding and fearing them.
The ability of humans to use tools is the reason for rapid progress; 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. With such a powerful knowledge tool for learning, our children should learn better. If we are concerned that children will become dependent on it and stop thinking, then either the content we teach lacks value, or we have not understood that there are higher-level thinking methods beyond simple thinking that educators need to explore.
We need not be anxious that children’s jobs will be replaced by AI because, concerning human cultural evolution: new technologies always eliminate old production methods, but they also create new labor by generating new human needs.
Third, go beyond knowledge learning and focus more on the quality of learning.
Truly good learning is, to some extent, about seeking slowness rather than speed; only by taking time can we forge deep thinking and build profound interpersonal relationships through interactions.
It is about seeking difficulty rather than ease; only challenges can stimulate students’ motivation to learn.
It is about seeking less rather than more; only by doing less can we have leisure time to develop our individuality and form a diverse brain.
It is about seeking clumsiness rather than cleverness; only by seeking clumsiness can we cultivate a spirit of inquiry and resilience in a person.
A person can truly succeed through focused learning, transforming interest into passion and becoming a uniquely characterized individual; through responsibility and resilience, persisting in the face of difficulties; and through good interpersonal relationships and a collaborative spirit, gaining support and help from the team at critical moments.
These qualities of learning have always been unrelated to technology, and certainly have nothing to do with the bull in a china shop—ChatGPT.
Therefore, in a world where new things are constantly emerging, we must maintain educational composure, adhere to the direction of reform, and truly provide children with appropriate and meaningful education.
03
How to leverage ChatGPT for education?
Fear and avoidance cannot stop the tide of technology; the era of deep integration between education and AI has arrived. How to use AI as a tool and turn 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 tool, becoming a friend or helper to teachers, can unleash students’ creativity, provide personalized guidance, and better prepare students to work alongside AI systems in the future.
So, for the disruptive value of ChatGPT, how can schools and teachers get started? Here are six common applications:
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, by inputting “Please design an exploratory course for second graders on the theme of ‘The Sound of Crickets,'” the AI quickly provides the following results. Subsequently, we can propose more detailed design requirements: “To be conducted during the summer vacation, lasting ten days, with the aim of cultivating children’s inquiry abilities, critical thinking skills, collaborative abilities, and knowledge related to natural history, as well as measurement and statistical skills, combining formative and summative assessments, and listing time planning, required materials, and background information.” Quickly, ChatGPT outputs a detailed course report (see below).
2. Assist 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 conducted through the following methods.
Knowledge Search: Quickly search related knowledge points through Q&A. Just ask the AI a question, such as “Explain the Doppler effect in a way that eighth-grade students can understand” or “Convince me to ban animal testing,” and ChatGPT will quickly generate a plan.
Generate Teaching Content: By giving ChatGPT some instructions, it can automatically generate relevant teaching content, thereby improving lesson preparation efficiency.
Conduct Classroom Simulations: Engage in simulated conversations with ChatGPT to 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, thus enhancing lesson preparation.
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, and increasing classroom interest and richness, helping students understand complex content and concepts, becoming an AI teaching assistant, after-class tutor, or debate practice partner for teachers.
For instance, in an English class, teachers can use the following methods to enhance classroom effectiveness.
Become a Writing Prompt Generator: Teachers can ask ChatGPT to generate story beginnings or creative writing prompts, allowing students to use these prompts as a basis for writing.
Become a Reading Comprehension Tool: Teachers can have ChatGPT generate a passage on the topic students are studying, 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 of words based on context, thereby expanding their vocabulary.
Become a Generator of Class Discussion Questions: Teachers and students can pose questions to ChatGPT, combining them with substantive discussions in class, enriching discussions, and helping students refine their thoughts and practice ideas.
4. Assignment Assessment
ChatGPT can also participate in student assessment, generating assignments, tests, and exams, helping teachers assess students and observe learning progress.
For instance, a teacher can send a robot an article about Ukraine and request the generation of 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 support tool, allowing teachers to generate new questions anytime, anywhere based on teaching requirements.
Additionally, by inputting the prompt “Please generate a cloze test in English,” one can obtain the English assignment shown below.
5. Learning Assistance
ChatGPT can provide rich explanations, methods, information, and ideas, helping students understand knowledge more deeply and creatively, improving learning efficiency and interest, and effectively assisting students in achieving autonomous and personalized learning, understanding their learning gaps and needs, motivating learning, and enhancing self-efficacy, which stems from the following functions.
Extracting Points of View: It can quickly generate learning materials, such as summaries, flashcards, and quizzes, helping 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 break down tasks, dividing 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 for learning various languages, obtaining resources for that language, such as vocabulary lists, dialogue practice, and grammar courses. Moreover, when we learn a new word, we can also ask the AI how to use it in a sentence:
Exclusive Guidance: ChatGPT technology can diversify teaching resources and information by providing explanations, distributing instructions, and offering additional resources, helping students acquire problem-solving skills. This is significant for students who struggle with a particular subject or concept and need extra support, as it can enhance their self-efficacy and motivation to learn.
Project Research: ChatGPT can also play an important role in research-based learning, project-based learning, problem-based learning, thematic inquiry learning, and other research-oriented learning in higher education. For instance, a student writing a research paper on climate change can ask ChatGPT for relevant information and receive a list of materials.
6. Administrative Assistant
ChatGPT can easily handle tasks such as writing emails, papers, scripts, drafting business proposals, creating poetry, stories, and even coding and debugging programs. Naturally, it can also assist teachers and students in daily activity planning by generating ideas, improving suggestions, and providing feedback on written work.
For example, automatically generating various work summaries, weekly reports, monthly reports, reducing the internal friction of routine tasks, and thoroughly implementing “reducing the burden on teachers” and “reducing the burden on students.”
04
23 Ways Teachers Can Use ChatGPT
1. Answer 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 companion for students.
For example, a student can ask: “What is the capital of France?” ChatGPT will respond: “The capital of France is Paris.”
2. Help with Writing Papers
ChatGPT can assist students in writing papers, suggesting topics, outlining structures, providing ideas, and offering improvement assistance and suggestions.
For example, a student can request help writing an article about the environment, and ChatGPT can provide suggestions for the thesis statement and potential topics for the body paragraphs. Subsequently, based on this foundation, the student can incorporate their thoughts and viewpoints to complete the article.
Of course, in the past two months, what has raised concerns among many educators and local education authorities worldwide is precisely this aspect. As a result, many local education authorities in various countries have prohibited students from using ChatGPT on campus.
3. Generation of Learning Materials
ChatGPT can generate learning materials, such as summaries, flashcards, and quizzes, helping students review and learn course materials.
For example, students can request a summary of a chapter from a textbook, and ChatGPT can generate a concise and understandable key point summary.
4. Personalized Tutoring
ChatGPT can provide personalized tutoring by answering questions and offering individualized feedback to students. For instance, students can request help solving a math problem, and ChatGPT can provide step-by-step guidance to solve the problem.
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 conversation skills.
This application can be said to be one of the areas where large language models like ChatGPT excel, and this conversation practice is most beneficial for students to learn real, transferable language skills.
In recent years, many places in China have used iFlytek’s XiaoFei in English classes, which is actually a similar practical application case.
6. Game-Based Learning
ChatGPT can be integrated into educational games to provide an engaging 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 abilities is significant.
Of course, teachers can also utilize ChatGPT to assist in designing this history-themed game that incorporates ChatGPT, such as the historical background related to the Normandy landing.
7. Support for Student Research Learning
ChatGPT can assist students in research projects by providing information sources, search strategies, and other resource suggestions.
In higher education, ChatGPT can play an important role in research-based learning, project-based learning, problem-based learning, thematic inquiry learning, and other research-oriented learning.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for help researching a topic and receive suggestions about sources, search strategies, and further information resources.
A student writing a research paper on climate change can ask ChatGPT for information on the topic and receive a list of relevant materials for reference.
8. Creative Writing Assistance
ChatGPT can assist creative writing by generating ideas, providing suggestions for improvement, and giving 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, in fact, was completed with the assistance of a chatbot! Many of the teaching application ideas and examples of practical applications in teaching were provided by the chatbot, and the author modified and improved them based on this foundation. Similarly, our students can do the same.
For example, students can submit a draft of an essay to ChatGPT and receive feedback on writing style, organization, and grammar. Students can ask ChatGPT to help them write a poem and receive suggestions for rhyming words and ideas for expanding the poem. Subsequently, students can refine, modify, and polish their work based on this feedback, and even after completing it, return to ChatGPT for further review and editing.
In this way, 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, to help teachers evaluate students’ understanding.
For example, teachers can request 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 for 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. It can assist in multilingual education by providing information and resources for learning different languages.
For instance, teachers can ask ChatGPT to translate a scientific article from English to Chinese, enabling Chinese students to comprehend it.
This function and practical application are quite simple 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 example, students can use ChatGPT to facilitate a virtual learning group for a history course, discussing key events and sharing ideas and perspectives.
13. Promote Teacher Professional Development
ChatGPT can respond to teachers’ questions and requests, providing relevant online courses, web resources, and MOOCs, thereby offering targeted assistance and support.
For instance, an English teacher wishing to learn how to use the 3-2-1 strategy to promote student reflection in English classes can inquire with ChatGPT, which can provide relevant case studies, videos, reading materials, online courses, tools, platforms, and software, etc., for her learning and use.
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 request help from ChatGPT to prepare for a science exam and receive relevant review materials and a list of practice questions.
ChatGPT can offer students an opportunity to practice public speaking, allowing them to deliver speeches and presentations on ChatGPT. ChatGPT can facilitate debate practice, providing students with a virtual opponent to argue against and receive feedback.
For instance, students can ask ChatGPT to listen to their speech and provide feedback on their presentation, including suggestions for improvement. Students can engage in virtual debates with ChatGPT on current topics, receiving feedback on their arguments and presentation styles.
15. Problem-Solving Assistance
ChatGPT can help students solve problems by providing step-by-step instructions, strategy suggestions, and tips.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for help solving a difficult math problem and receive guidance on how to approach and solve the problem.
Students can utilize ChatGPT as a research assistant and academic advisor during their assignments, research-based learning, and their projects, obtaining 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 topics, allowing students to pose questions and share opinions.
I believe that in the near future, this application will become one of the most common and popular classroom teaching applications in higher education and various training activities.
17. Peer Review Assistance
ChatGPT can assist peer reviews by providing students with suggestions for improvement and writing feedback.
For example, students can submit a draft of their paper to ChatGPT for peer review and receive feedback and suggestions for improvement from other students.
Regarding this point, we have already analyzed it in the previous section on creative writing assistance, so we will not elaborate further.
18. Career Guidance
ChatGPT can help students with career guidance by providing information about potential careers, job requirements, and related resources.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for information on engineering careers and receive a list of potential careers, job requirements, and further information resources.
In recent years, there has been a strong emphasis on career education for students 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 AI, while an increasing number of new professions are emerging.
Applying large language models and chatbots like ChatGPT to students’ career education and guidance is indeed a commendable 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, 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, prioritizing tasks, and staying organized.
20. Learning Skills Assistance
ChatGPT can help students develop learning skills by providing tips and resources to enhance their learning and retention capabilities.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for help 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 teach students how to formulate prompts. If students cannot formulate good prompts, they will quickly find this chatbot boring, let alone use it for learning and improving their skills!
21. Digital Citizenship and Technology Ethics Education
ChatGPT can assist in digital citizenship education by providing information on internet safety, privacy, and responsible technology use.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for information about online safety and receive a list of resources and tips for staying safe online.
This can significantly help schools and parents teach students about the responsible use of technology, technology ethics, and privacy protection, especially since these topics can be quite specialized for general subject teachers and parents!
22. Homework Assistance
ChatGPT can help students complete homework by providing explanations, examples, and additional resources. It can assist students with homework by offering explanations, step-by-step instructions, and other resources.
For example, students can ask ChatGPT for help with a math problem and receive step-by-step explanations, examples, and additional practice questions to reinforce the concept.
By using ChatGPT, students can receive immediate help and practice problem-solving skills to succeed in their studies.
This is particularly helpful for those students who struggle with a particular subject or concept and need extra support outside of class.
23. Promote Teachers’ Scientific Research
ChatGPT can provide teachers with research ideas and suggestions, assist in retrieving relevant research literature, organize literature, and recommend core references.
Nine Must-Have AI Tools for Teachers, All Free!
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