It鈥檚 a calm afternoon in the computer lab-style classroom at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). Junior Vivian Johnson is busy typing ideas into her computer. Today鈥檚 assignment is all about adapting beloved children鈥檚 stories using . Johnson asked the AI software to write 鈥淐at In The Hat鈥� in a science fiction style.
鈥淚t switched it to, like, the hats gave them magic powers and then strange things started happening in the town,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd they found out it was because of this mad scientist that was trying to get powers from the plants and animals.鈥�
But the exercise is not just about writing silly stories. The driving question is, can AI be used as a tool 鈥� just like essays and class projects 鈥� to teach children鈥檚 literature?
The elementary education students continue to refine the stories by adding more vocabulary words, or making the stories readable at a first-grade level. It鈥檚 fun and educational.
For example, student Holly Hyman worked with her group partners to ask Chat GPT to rewrite their story with more of a focus on their main character鈥檚 family history.
鈥淒espite the love and warmth of her adoptive family, Lily often found herself wondering about her past. Who were her parents? Why did they leave her behind?鈥� she read from the program. 鈥淗ey, there you go, that鈥檚 some character development!鈥�
Johnson said she already knew what Chat GPT was, but she never viewed AI as a teaching tool. Now, it鈥檚 a whole new discovery. She hopes to use the technology to create content for second language learners in her future classroom.
鈥淚 love this class, it鈥檚 just so interesting,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭he buzzword 鈥楢I鈥� is really scary to some people, and I'll admit that I was even kind of that way. But I've noticed a lot more on the benefits of AI鈥 feel like we get a lot of good strategies out of this.鈥�
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Artificial Intelligence has been used to edit photos, enhance home appliances and more. But now it鈥檚 being widely introduced in the classroom. This story activity is one of many class activities designed to show these future teachers what innovative things AI can do.
鈥淭hey can have their students鈥nalyze those stories,鈥� said Matthew Farber, professor of a UNC class called "Integration of Technology into Content and Pedagogy." 鈥淭hen they get to work closer to the evaluation of narrative and literary devices through using AI.鈥�
As AI seeps into the classroom, it hasn鈥檛 come without critique. Universities are enacting policies on . Some teachers Even on the student side, believe using AI is cheating.
But Farber believes it won鈥檛 replace teachers or their work. He compared AI to computers and the initial fear they would become teaching machines. He referenced how Seymour Papert, the creator of and tools that work with Lego robotics, helped
鈥淧apert said, 鈥業t's a children's machine, children learn by teaching the computer,鈥欌�� Farber recalled. 鈥淭hat is the approach that I'm taking with AI, that AI is not teaching students so much as we'll learn by teaching AI and working with AI.鈥�
Farber also emphasized that many kids have already interacted with AI outside of the classroom, and not just in the form of Chat GPT.
鈥淎nytime they play an app or a video game that has a (virtual) second player, whether you're playing chess online, or you're playing Minecraft, all of the other non-playable characters are AI,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o how do we harness that to be a power for good?鈥�
He believes children should not be passive consumers of technology, but rather should learn how to reflect on it and see it as a tool.
鈥淭he big takeaway is, how do we play with this tool in a thoughtful way, in an ethical way, that will then help us understand our humanity better?鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really important to embrace it.鈥�
鈥楢 profound benefit, if we get it right鈥�
AI is still a new concept for teaching. Last year鈥檚 found around 75% of educators wanted to increase their use of it. But only 20% felt confident enough to do so.
Alex Kotran is the co-founder of the (aiEDU). It helps equip teachers with AI lessons and knowledge to prepare students for a world where AI is everywhere. He started the project in part because his mother, who鈥檚 a teacher in Akron, Ohio, asked him to present an 鈥淎I 101鈥� class to her students.
鈥淚t was more surprising, like surely (she must) have a teacher that talks about this, I mean, how does she talk to students about the future of work?鈥� he said. 鈥淗ow is it possible that school students who are most impacted by this, like they're not part of these conversations? It just doesn't make sense.鈥�
He looked around for curricula in schools, but could only find lessons in computer science classes and summer camps. He wants to close that gap in education and bring it out of STEM. He believes every graduating student should be learning about AI to be successful in the job market.
"If you're a truck driver, if you're an accountant, if you're an investment banker鈥攍ike, every vocation is going to be impacted in some way. Some of them are going to be significantly impacted,鈥� he said.
aiEDU has to form a steering committee that will look into best practices for AI by testing and scaling approaches.
鈥淭here's only a few states, Colorado being an example, that have done consistent convening鈥� (and) have a sustained conversation about AI in education,鈥� he said. 鈥淪uperintendents and school board associations are seeing this and they're realizing, 鈥極kay, this is actually something that our school leaders really care about, and they want to see action.鈥欌��
Data from an shows the use of AI in the classroom can actually increase student engagement and learning outcomes. But Kotran thinks some AI tools are not completely accurate yet and might be used as educational crutches to metacognitive skill development.
鈥淚t'll definitely be a net good,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the question is, is it going to be so good?鈥�
Testing its limitations
Kotran is not the only skeptic. University of Colorado Boulder student Ashley Stafford pulls up a picture of a needle-felt cat on their computer during their "Generative AI" class. Today, the class is focused on accessibility. The assignment is to find any photo on the internet, describe it in great detail to a partner and draw it.
鈥漈he head has two big eyes that are brown with huge irises,鈥� Stafford said to their group partner, Chi Chi Kari. 鈥淭he creature is lying on its side slash stomach in a relaxed position.鈥�
Professor Larissa Schwartz is simulating a real-life technology called , which allows blind or low-sighted people to call volunteers via video chat to describe what is in front of them. Since launching, the program has recently added an AI feature which will describe the contents of a photo in place of a human.
But when they put the original photo into the AI software , things go awry.
鈥淚'm like, 鈥楧escribe the image鈥� and it's like, 鈥業t's something of a delightful fantasy world. Its simplicity and unique design,鈥欌�� Stafford recalls. 鈥淚'm like, 鈥楧ude, just tell me what it looks like,鈥� you know? It鈥檚 not my friend and I want it to stop acting like it is.鈥�
Other students found CoPilot could not identify key celebrities in the photos or distinguish various Asian symbols.
Student Jackson Greer, who studies creative technology and design, said it鈥檚 hard to argue the technology isn鈥檛 helpful to some degree 鈥� it鈥檚 either trusting the computer or getting no information at all. But he said AI needs to be specific and built for its purpose to be effective.
"If it's just describing how whimsical and magical the cheese in the fridge is, like, I don't care (if I was) a blind person, I want to know where the cheese is,鈥� he said.
Another common exercise Schwartz will do is have her class blindfold themselves and try to upload a picture to CoPilot using VoiceOver technology. As students pressed the tab button furiously to find the right setting, they got frustrated as the computer whizzed through the commands verbally. Some even found the program would give complicated commands, like clicking 鈥淐ommand + Shift + Option Up Arrow.鈥�
鈥淵ou couldn't go back,鈥� Stafford said about the activity. 鈥淪o I'm tabbing through it, and it says the option I need and I accidentally clicked past it. So I had to like go all the way back around, which was very annoying鈥 kept peeking under the blindfold.鈥�
But the class isn鈥檛 all doom and gloom. Throughout the course, Professor Larissa Schwartz touches on how AI is used in industry, education and accessibility. She鈥檚 shown how blind athletes rely on AI to guide them on trails, or how designers use it for creative inspiration.
鈥淚 think if you can collaborate with your ideas, and then moving that into these different applications, you're only going to come up with a better solution,鈥� Schwartz said.
Some students said they wouldn鈥檛 know about the breadth and depth of AI if it were not for this class.
鈥淚 know myself and some other people were coming in expecting a more technical aspect of like, here's how to program AI in Python,鈥� Stafford said. 鈥淏ut it's been really interesting to see the more human applications of it.鈥�
But Schwartz knows that all of these technologies are not going to be reliable. She said caution and consideration when using AI is key, especially for those with a disability.
鈥淎nyone working within technology, whether you're developing or you're designing, you need to have an understanding of every single type of person that is using technology, not just people that can have all five senses,鈥� she said.
Regardless, AI is not going away. Global data company predicts more than 240 million people in the U.S. will be using AI by the end of the decade. That includes educators and students.
