ChatGPT in the classroom. Step-by-step guide for educators

As educators, it's essential that we keep up with the latest advancements in technology to best support our students in their learning journey. With the increasing popularity of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it's no surprise that the use of chatbots such as ChatGPT is making its way into the classroom. With the ability to provide quick and personalised responses, ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize the way we teach and assess our students. In this article, we will delve into the benefits of incorporating ChatGPT in the classroom and how it can help enhance the learning experience for students.

What is ChatGPT ?

ChatGPT is a chatbot launched by OpenAI in November 2022 that became a widely used tool by millions of people in just a few months since its release. It is an AI-powered tool that generates text based on the user's request, acting as your own personal writing assistant. However, teachers and school administrators fear that students may be able to complete their assignments solely using ChatGPT and claim the AI's work as their own. This raises ethical and plagiarism issues, especially since we cannot currently prove that the work was done by AI and not the student.

Now the question is, what can we as teachers do in the face of this new technology? 

1. On the one hand, we can consider alternative evaluation methods that give us a more comprehensive understanding of our students.
2. On the other hand, we must find ways to teach our students to use this tool responsibly.

Alternative Assessment Methods

Relying exclusively on essays or written assignments has its limitations and may unintentionally disadvantage some students. A study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology found that "students who write poorly are at a disadvantage in traditional writing evaluations". The study also suggests that "teachers should consider using alternative forms of evaluation, such as oral presentations or group projects, to assess students' understanding".

How can ChatGPT help us in the classroom?

1. Use ChatGPT to summarise texts

ChatGPT is a powerful tool for summarising. It can take natural language prompts and provide quick answers. So you can do this activity together with the students in class. Generate a summary together via ChatGPT, and then analyse and edit the answer you receive to improve it.

• Does the summary contain accurate and true information?
• Is there additional, unnecessary information that we can remove?
• Can we add more context?
• Does it have difficult wording that we can rewrite better?

2. Get definitions on different levels of understanding with ChatGPT

How do we explain the same thing, but in different words, so that every student in the class understands? According to a recent survey, 36.9% of students who used ChatGPT said they used it to get an explanation on a topic they didn't fully understand. By adjusting the level of complexity of the explanation based on the age of the student, the chatbot can provide an explanation that is more likely to be understood and retained by them. For example, ask the chatbot how you explain what "faith" is to a 7-year-old, or a 10-year-old, or a 14-year-old. The answers will vary in complexity and will help you, as a teacher, to adapt your classroom discourse to be better understood by your students. By tailoring the explanation to the age and level of understanding of the listener, the chatbot can help teachers ensure that the students gain a better understanding of the topic.

🔎 Explore 7 ways Chat GPT will impact education positively.

3. Get feedback on students' assignments with ChatGPT

We know that effective feedback is timely feedback. In the case of traditional handwritten work, students hand it in and have to wait quite a long time for teachers to correct and return it. Kinderpedia allows us to give faster feedback to students. And ChatGPT can be another source of instant feedback.

For example, have students ask the platform how they could improve their essays. I did that for this article and it gave me a list of five suggestions, including linking phrases, where it would be good to add more examples and recommendations for simplifying phrasing. It even suggested I stopped with this paragraph, as it's getting a bit long...

4.  Optimise lesson plans with ChatGPT

On Kinderpedia, we already have preset curricula that you can customize instantly. But if you want something completely new, ask ChatGPT to give you lesson plan suggestions. Or some questions for a test. Use its recommendations as a starting point to give you ideas.

5. Grade ChatGPT together with students

Ask ChatGPT to write an essay on a topic of your choice. Then ask students to evaluate the answer given by the AI. This helps students reflect on the assessment process - and on their own writing process. When students receive grades or assessments for their own work, it's easy to take it personally - or to dismiss it because it makes them feel like they've got a lot wrong. But when they criticize the work of a robot that has no feelings, it removes many of those emotions.

📖 See also 5 ways for teachers to use CHAT GPT with prompts.

ChatGPT is just the beginning

With the advancements in AI technology, it is highly likely that the Chat GPT that we use today is only a fraction of the AI power that our students will see in their lifetime. Just as they did with Google Translate, Wikipedia, or search engines, students and teachers will always find productive ways to use new technologies for teaching and learning. 

Chat GPT has the potential to revolutionize the way we teach and learn by providing quick, accurate, and engaging responses to students' questions. By using Chat GPT in the classroom, teachers can provide students with instant feedback and help them expand their knowledge on various subjects. Additionally, Chat GPT can be used to automate repetitive tasks and help teachers focus on delivering more meaningful lessons. Therefore, instead of banning or limiting the use of Chat GPT in the classroom, we should embrace it as a valuable tool that can enhance our students' learning experience.

We started Kinderpedia in the same innovative spirit, responding to a clear need to modernize education and bring it up-to-date with technology by recognizing the potential it has to offer.

At Kinderpedia, we have created a digital platform that is both comprehensive and user-friendly, aimed at streamlining the workload of teachers. By using Kinderpedia, teachers can save 6 to 9 hours per week on administrative tasks and redirect that time towards addressing the individual needs of each student. Our platform helps educational institutions work efficiently, communicate effectively with families, foster a connected classroom environment, and automate financial processes.

Whether through the use of artificial intelligence or not, Kinderpedia simplifies the process of assigning and grading homework and projects. Students can easily submit their assignments, and teachers are able to provide feedback quickly and directly through the mobile app.

Discover how it works by watching our teacher tutorials or taking the parent app tour below.

 

Want to experience Kinderpedia's features for yourself? Sign up for a free online demo today!