Even during the summer holidays, the teachers of the High School of Ontario Jamie Mitchell and Tamara Phillips know that many conversations they will have with their colleagues will focus on the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom.
Mitchell, who teaches mathematics, and Phillips, who teaches English, are also educational leaders, which means they advise and direct their colleague in professional development.
Mitchell says that teachers have a “100 percent” yearning for guidance on how to use AI in the classroom.
“In general, there is a group of educators who feel they need support on how to manage all the new problems that are arising from AI,” he said.
From Chatgpt, the chatbot of the OpenAi technology company, first raised the head in the students of the students almost two years ago, the growing prominence of AI in everything, from research to office work means that conversations have passed whether or not they allow it in the classroom, the best way to use it for educational purposes.
“Binary thought around ‘is good or bad’ should be attenuated with the idea that, you already know, learn and obtain knowledge about the tools that are available is really important,” Phillips said.
As artificial intelligence becomes a more popular tool, many teachers in Canada are looking for clearer instructions and policies on how to use it effectively in the classroom.
The teachers are ‘fighting on their own’
Earlier this summer, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthrope technology companies announced that they would invest $ 23 million in the National Academy of Instruction of AI, an initiative developed in association with the second largest union of teachers in the United States. The American Federation of Masters says that for five years, the program aims to support 400,000 educators.
According to the Federation of Canadian teachers, the largest union of teachers in Canada, the educators here have any of that, and certainly have nothing that has been available uniformly throughout the country.
“Teachers are really struggling with artificial intelligence. They are fighting on their own because there are no established policies and frames,” said Heidi Yetman, who spoke with CBC of Ottawa during his time as president of the Federation of Canadian teachers. His mandate ended last month.
In Canada, places like Alberta and Quebec have implemented the orientation of AI for schools, mainly focusing on what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable use. Yetman says that guidelines are a “Mishash” and “everywhere.” She says that the guide is not specific enough and does not offer true and significant education for teachers about potential and AI traps in the classroom.
CBC News communicated with provinces and territories to ask about the level of support offered to teachers with respect to AI, and received a response mosaic.
British Columbia said that while the province has provided general guidelines, “school districts are developing their own local policies and approaches.”
The Department of Education and Development of the Early Childhood of Terranova and Labrador said that, in addition to the general guidelines, “to date, almost 2,000 members of the NLSCHOLS staff have participated in the professional learning sessions of AI.” He pointed out that more training will be added to respond to the rapid evolution of AI technologies.
Information Radio – MBHow AI is changing the way students learn and how teachers teach
The decreasing role of teachers
Teachers may also need peace of mind that they will still have a role in the brave New World, where AI is part of education.
“In other words, can we use AI to replace a teacher? And I hate saying it, but I think we head in that direction,” Yetman said.
Johanathan Woodworth, associate professor of education at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, says that anxiety around AI can change the way teachers perceive themselves.
“For example, many teachers are thinking: ‘If I integrate, am I really the teacher who possesses this? Who is pedagogically in charge of teaching?’ “
Woodworth, who specializes in training teachers about how to integrate technology into their teaching, says that, regardless of the form of AI education for teachers in the future, teachers must be consulted.
Who should train teachers in AI?
One thing in which teachers, unions and education teachers seem to agree is who should not pay for teacher training. The majority expressed concern about the motivations of technological giants in the United States who are investing in teacher training, and would not want to see it in Canada.
“When the creators of several AI platforms are implementing learning, we are not necessarily integrating what we are talking about as humanized pedagogy and the necessary practices in the classrooms to develop integrity and literacy of AI in that learning,” said Phillips, one of the teachers in the ontary.
Surveys suggest that many students are using generative artificial intelligence in their work, with KPMG in Canada discovering that almost 70 percent of students who use AI say they are not learning as much as a result.
She and her colleague Mitchell say that teachers are finding their own ways of using AI ethically. Mitchell was one of the first to adopt Chatgpt, working on his lessons.
“One of the ways in which math teachers have been using AI is to teach students how to convert, for example, Chatgpt into a tutor with some very intelligent indications. And then arm that student with the ability to ask ChatgPT for help when they are at home, when they do not have access to their math teacher,” he said.
Mitchell says that it is too late to pretend that AI will not infiltrate all aspects of education, including the way students learn and complete their tasks, and how teachers evaluate them.
“The reality is that today’s AI is the worst that students are going to use,” he said. “And if the teachers are not putting together these students with the skills to work with ethically, with integrity, then we are doing something wrong.”
