AI is around us all the time and is constantly evolving. With the rise in popularity of AI, the majority of students use the technology.
Artificial intelligence (AI) primarily gains information from sources on the internet, which means it’s not dependable, but effective. This makes it an effective study resource, if permitted in class or if used for automated tasks.
Freshman Hannah Friedman is an avid user of AI.
“It’s helpful for me if I don’t know an answer. If I don’t understand something it helps explain something in a different way so I can do my work more efficiently,” said Friedman.
While AI can be used for problem solving, understanding and learning, one huge con is that it is “artificial” intelligence, which means it’s not always accurate, especially when not asking the right questions.
Students are not the only people to use AI at school. Teachers are also using the technology to help adapt their lessons and also letting students use AI in an intelligent way.
Kasey Saari thinks AI is a helpful tool in her classroom.
“It allows students to gain feedback, to brainstorm fresh ideas and overall to enhance the learning experience,” said Saari.
No two students are the same and all students learn differently. AI caters to all kinds of students with different needs that a teacher might not be able to attend to.
Saari talks about when and why she uses AI in her classroom.
“Currently I probably use it the most to help generate fresh ideas and to enhance my own creativity by finding new and meaningful ways to engage students however based on some recent professional development I’ve been exposed to a multitude of ways I can have students utilize AI more frequently in my lessons,” said Saari
A specific AI that teachers like is called Magic School.
Some teachers use Magic School which is an AI tutor with different features like worksheet generator, text proofreaders and informational texts. It can be customized to fit into every classroom curriculum. Magic School promotes a safe and responsible way to use AI.
“Magic school AI is an interesting platform because it has a variety of tools that you can use for both a student and a teacher,” said Upper School English teacher Carly Morris.
AI can be beneficial to use in moderation, however overuse of AI can have a negative impact on students’ motivation. Overall, the outcome of using AI depends on what you’re using it for.
