Episode 62: The Unseen Implications of AI in Our School Systems

Are you doing these critical things to help your child succeed academically? Take the quiz now to find out the important actions you can take to enhance your child's education. Go to my website, liberationthrougheducation.com quiz and take the quiz today. Foreign welcome to another episode of K12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr. Kim Fields, former corporate manager turned educational researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the microdiscriminations that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. If you're looking to find out more about current information and issues in education that could affect you or your children, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K12 education trends and topics is important to you, so keep listening. On today's episode, I'll be discussing updates to my latest discussion about technology in the classroom. I last discussed technology used in the classroom in season one, episode 38. On that episode, I highlighted learning management systems, video conferencing applications, online quizzes, and artificial intelligence. Schools were just coming to terms with ChatGPT. Technology in the classroom is not going away. So on this episode I'll be revealing the newest round of technology, including threads, and how schools are looking into the broader aspects of using artificial intelligence. I'll also address key skills that complement what students will need when they enter workplaces that utilize these technologies. Let's get started. Utilizing technology in the classroom has brought about a greater focus on ensuring students have a more personalized learning experience for two reasons to help them catch up or to accelerate their learning. Artificial intelligence and other adaptive technologies are ways to transform the future of school into a more personalized learning experience, a suggestion made by Vice President and General Manager for Google for Education, Shantanu Sinha. Google's products are very popular with K12 educators and districts who turned to Chromebooks during the pandemic to provide one to one computing. The important thing to remember about the use of technology in the classroom is that technology is an enabler that helps teachers as well as students. Some of the questions to keep in mind about artificial intelligence applications is whether they are appropriate for education and more importantly, are they responsible, safe and secure? It's important to keep the end goal of technology in mind. Specifically, is it to help students learn particular concepts? Is it to help teachers get more creative and bring a new dimension to instruction for both parties, technology should be about helping to bring out the best in everyone using it. Meta launched a new competitor to Twitter on July 5th of this year. That new app is Threads, a text based social media app. Since its launch on July 5, Threads has already surpassed more than 100 million users, reaching that milestone faster than OpenAI's ChatGPT app. This newest app on the block seems to be used quite a bit by educators, 70% of whom use Twitter. A person's Threads account is connected to their Instagram account, so you need to have an Instagram account first if you want to create a Threads account. Worth noting, a Threads account can only be deleted by deleting the Instagram account, but you are able to temporarily deactivate your Threads profile. Because Threads is so new, it lacks many features such as direct messaging, hashtags, searching by keywords, a desktop version, a chronological feed of accounts to follow, and and alternative text for photos and videos. Data privacy is also a concern with Threads. The app collects user information such as location, contacts, search history, browsing history, contact information, and more. This is certainly something to keep in mind. Now, this report didn't include any data or statistics on student use of Threads, but I'm sure there will be more information on that to come. Since my last reporting on the use of ChatGPT, there are updates on how it's being utilized by teachers and students alike in the learning process. Teachers use generative AI in K12 settings to enhance student creativity, improve writing skills, and to help students understand how generative AI applications work so that students can better understand its limitations. Educators also use AI tools for students to help them learn content and practice skills, as well as give feedback to understand the content and to master those skills. A common theme for the new technologies that are incorporated in the classroom is empowerment. The AI tools give students more control over creating content and learning at their own pace, as well as allowing teachers to automate automate some of their tasks. AI includes the back end popular tools like Khan Academy and iread. AI also has the potential to make classroom instruction more accessible for students with different abilities and backgrounds. For example, artificial intelligence is being deployed to help visually impaired people navigate their surroundings, and it also supports language translation services for English learners. What is taught in schools is likely to change due to advances in artificial Intelligence. A major part of AI literacy is understanding how AI works as well as how it affects our lives and the broader society. Students also need to be prepared to successfully work in an environment that utilizes social intelligence in all kinds of jobs. So they need to be flexible, to be able to retrain themselves and to be able to learn how to learn. Most K12 students have grown up in a world where artificial intelligence informs their families in applications at the grocery store, how scientists track spread of disease and the state of health on wireless apps. But for students to be AI literate is a different thing. AI literacy is something that every student needs exposure to. According to experts and educators, there are ways to develop AI literacy. It's critical to have a basic understanding of how AI works, how it perceives the world, how it collects and processes data, and how those data and informed decisions are used to make recommendations. Artificial intelligence technologies replicate human like intelligence by training machines and computer systems to do tasks that simulate some of what the human brain can do. It relies on machine learning, usually by analyzing vast quantities of data and searching out new patterns and relationships. All students need to grasp that the decisions that AI makes, whether it's to recommend a pair of sandals to an Amazon customer or to flag a job applicant as a leading prospect for an employer, are driven by the same kind of nuanced and creative reasoning that a human can perform. AI right now is based on probability and statistics. It makes errors, and it can spread misinformation. It also has biases. Students need to understand how biases in the data that are used to train AI and then allow the technology to continue to perpetuate discriminatory policies unless humans recognize the problem and then do something about it. Students should also have some idea of how machines perceive the world, and for those interested, they can take a deep dive into the technology through advanced courses in computer science in their high schools. Learning about this technology also applies to children in early elementary school. They could start, for example, with a simple lesson in which they identify the human organs like ears and eyes, which are involved in hearing and seeing, and then find their technological counterparts, the microphone and camera on a digital device. It's important to give students hands on opportunities to understand how the technology works. Additionally, discussing and analyzing ethical questions about artificial intelligence technology is vital. Once students are aware that humans are behind how these tools analyze and communicate, they can think about these tools in a broader context. They could discuss legislation in states that have banned facial recognition software, which is notoriously less reliable when it comes to identifying women and people of color. They could also discuss data privacy concerns, including the implications of having devices such as smart speakers in homes. They could ponder such questions as to whether these devices are listening to you all the time or or whether the devices are sending information that the companies that created them are using. Further, Students need to know how to interact effectively with AI. They need to practice using AI tools to get information the same way previous generations learned to use card catalog systems to navigate the library. They need to write insightful prompts that draw on the artificial intelligence of the tools because the way you prompt the tool completely changes the output and your thinking and learning. Students need to know that AI skills are not just for computer science experts, but they need to be exposed to how AI is being used in the workforce today and how they might use the technology in their future careers. Even if they aren't going into the computer science field, AI impacts diverse roles and and diverse industries so that they can at least be aware that when they enter the workforce, they'll probably be using AI tools in ways that help them get their jobs done. AI will work best when it's designed by people who are part of the community that the tool is aimed at serving. Having people from a variety of backgrounds, including racial, socioeconomic, age, gender and profession, can help root out some of these biases that are embedded in not only society, but AI. Students from communities that are underrepresented in the AI field, specifically women and people of color, need to understand that by getting in on the ground floor of this technology, they can help ensure that it works better for all users. Jobs requiring skills that are difficult to automate with the available technologies are at a lower risk of automation. These skills include things like two way communication, critical thinking, creativity, planning, management, and problem solving. These are transferable skills, not technical skills. Some high tech company founders indicated that artificial intelligence will likely change what and how students learn in school. There were certain skills that they suggested students should focus on. One of the key skills that these executives mentioned were soft skills or interpersonal skills, as these would help prepare them for for future jobs. These high tech company founders also mentioned that students need to demonstrate the ability to learn, the ability to solve problems, and the ability to collaborate. It should be no surprise that teens and tweens are often way ahead of their parents in understanding the latest technologies, and artificial intelligence is no different. About 58% of students ages 12 to 18 have used ChatGPT and about 30% of parents have also used that technology. Both parents and students are excited about the potential of AI in education and about 77% of parents and 92% of students say they are interested in AI tools that might help them learn. Both parents and students believe that AI programs will have a positive impact on education. But both parties were also concerned that many students could become too dependent on AI. Roughly 2/3 of parents and students think that the technology could be relied on too much and in order to complete school assignments, or they could use it to cheat. Both parents and students indicate that they want schools to put some rules governing how AI is used in the classroom. For instance, 70% of parents and 72% of students don't support using ChatGPT during tests. These findings come from the Common Sense Pollution conducted in the spring of this year by Impact Research, a polling organization. Here are this episode's takeaways Meta launched a new competitor to Twitter on July 5th of this year. That new app is Threads, a text based social media app. Since it launched on July 5, Threads has already surpassed more than 100 million users, reaching that milestone faster than OpenAI's ChatGPT app. This newest app on the block seems to be used quite a bit by educators, 70% of whom use Twitter. Utilizing technology in the classroom has brought about a greater focus on ensuring students have a more personalized learning experience for two reasons to help them catch up or to accelerate their learning. Artificial intelligence and other adaptive technologies are ways to transform the future of school into a more personalized learning experience. What's taught in schools is likely to change due to advances in artificial intelligence. A major part of AI literacy is is understanding how AI works, as well as how it affects the lives and roles of those in broader society. Students need to be prepared to successfully work in an environment that utilizes social and artificial intelligence in all kinds of jobs. So they need to be flexible, they need to be able to retrain themselves, and they need to be able to learn how to learn. There are ways to develop AI literacy. It's critical to have a basic understanding of how AI works, how it perceives the world, how it collects and processes data, and how those data and informed decisions are used to make recommendations. Jobs requiring skills that are difficult to automate or with the available technologies are at a lower risk of automation. These skills include things like two way communication, critical thinking, creativity, planning, management, and problem solving. These are transferable skills, not technical skills. One of the key skills that high tech company executives mentioned were or soft skills or interpersonal skills because these help prepare students for future jobs. The executives also mentioned that students need to demonstrate the ability to learn to solve problems and to collaborate. If this is the type of subject matter and discussion that resonates with you, please follow my podcast on whatever service you're listening to. This also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a rating, a review, or a comment on Apple or podchaser if you like this podcast. The best way to support me and to help me grow it is by leaving a review. This helps my rankings and entices other people to listen to the show and share this episode with anyone that you think would find it valuable. Be sure to tell your friends, your family, your community about my podcast. Additionally, you can connect with me on Instagram and Facebook with the handle kimjfields. Or reach out to me with a specific question by sending me an email to kimberation through education.com thanks for listening today. I hope you'll come back for more K12 educational discussions with even more exciting topics to untangle. Be sure to stay tuned. On the next episode, I'll be sharing my thoughts on how complaining is just another form of victimhood. Until next time, aim to learn something new every day. Love my show. Consider being a regular subscriber. You can subscribe for as little as 2 $3 per month. Just go to HTTPs://forward/tinyurl.com forward/podcast support there's no contractual obligation. You can cancel at any time. If you choose to subscribe, I'll give you a special shout out thanking you in an upcoming episode. Remember, that's HTTPs tinyurl.com podcast support to subscribe.