Weekly Reflection – AI in Education

Week of January 23

This week we heard from SD63 District Teacher Leader of Curriculum and Education, Darcy Mcnee, on classroom tech solutions and digital literacy, before our discussion of generative AI in the classroom. This discussion was a big one, and quite overwhelming, and after discussing with my peers I understood that many felt the same.

Darcy Mcnee

It was wonderful to hear from Darcy Mcnee, and I appreciated much of the advice and resources she shared. I agree that we need to ensure that technology is being used meaningfully in the classroom, and I am pleased to learn that their are tech tools that are supported by the school districts. As a future teacher, the vast amount of technology tools out there are quite overwhelming, and it makes me hesitant to use technology with fears of privacy and safe use. Therefore, having district supported resources is super helpful! On that note, too, Darcy mentioned that all SD63 staff go through privacy training, and after learning about FIPPA last week, I am happy to know that this training is offered, as privacy laws can be intimidating and overwhelming.

Darcy mentioned some really fun ideas for the use of technology in the classroom. One idea that stood out to me was Minecraft, and I did not realize that Minecraft had a mode directed for education and classroom use! Minecraft Education can provide students with opportunities that might not be available to them in the classroom, all while developing curricular competencies and digital literacy skills. After exploring the Minecraft Education site, I discovered that they offer free lesson plans in math, science, cyber safety, and even AI digital literacy! These lessons could easily be adapted to align with curricular competencies in our BC curriculum, and I am excited to use this in my future classroom!

AI in Education

As we know, artificial intelligence (AI) is going nowhere, and if anything is developing at an accelerated rate that is unfathomable to us. As educators, it is our responsibility to teach students on the affects, ethics, and responsible use of AI. Thus AI education must be incorporated into digital literacy.

While many educators are concerned about plagiarism through AI, I believe this is the least of our worries. What is most worrisome is the cognitive impacts of AI, and I wish we touched on the implications of AI on Children’s brains and development during this weeks discussion. As AI is relatively knew, we are unsure what the long term effects of AI are on the brain, and thus I believe we need to be more critical of AI and AI usage in the classroom than the approach that was offered to us today. We need to be hesitant.

I also believe that the environmental impacts of AI needs to be discussed, and while this is a heavy topic, especially with younger students, it is a necessary topic given the current state of our worlds climate, yet it is typically skimmed over during the AI debate. But, for our students, we have a responsibility to educate them on this, as the world that is left behind from the environmental effects of AI is one that they will have to live with, not necessarily us. It is simply ignorant to brush aside this issue.

My takeaways from our discussion today is that AI education needs to be more comprehensive than what we are proposing to incorporate into digital literacy practices. It is simply more than a concern of plagiarism and ethics, and far more complex than maybe some of us are willing to admit. Students will use AI. We know that. But is is vital that we provide them with all of the facts and figures so that they can make an educated and informed choice on their use of AI.

-Ceadra