Excellent Summary Of Research On AI & Learning, But Recommendations Are Pretty Weak

Brookings  just came out with a very long report titled A NEW DIRECTION FOR STUDENTS IN AN AI WORLD: PROSPER, PREPARE, PROTECT.

NPR published a good summary at The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits, report says.

You won’t find a better round-up on the available quality research (there’s a lot of junk out there) on AI in education.

And most of  these well-done studies don’t have much good to say about AI in schools.

That said, I was less-than-impressed with their recommendations of how educators should respond.

It talks about teachers needing to create engaging lessons that don’t require AI (agreed – see A REALLY BAD THING ABOUT AI IS THAT IT FORCES US TEACHERS TO SPEND A TON OF TIME RETHINKING OUR LESSONS. I GUESS THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD THING ABOUT IT, TOO), having teachers help create AI tools (with all their free available free time!), and a bunch of other really good sounding ideas that clearly indicate that they, like the people behind many education studies, didn’t talk to teachers in the classroom.

But the research is valuable and, if I was still in the classroom, I’d use the NPR article in my unit on AI, which you can find, along with other resources, at A Beginning List Of The Best Resources For Teaching About Artificial Intelligence.

Personally, I think teachers:

• Need to figure out how to mitigate AI’s harm (see The “Best” Strategies For Creating AI-Resistant Assignments)
• Teach about AI (including highlighting “reactance” – which means showing how AI companies are trying to manipulate us all) and have students help develop ethical guidelines for AI use (you can see examples from my students in the “Best” lists sharing resources for teaching about AI)
• Instead of a blanket ban on AI use, create paths that they can use it, but create “high bars” and make sure they document it. Very, very selectively, have students use AI in an assignment where it can actually be beneficial, though those are hard to come by (see THE “BEST” IDEAS FOR USING CHATGPT, BARD, & OTHER FORMS OF AI WITH STUDENTS).
• Maximize AI in education where it can be most useful to students – with English Language Learners and with those with learning disabilities (also see The Most Useful Free Or VERY Low Cost AI Tools For Supporting English Language Learners).
• Carefully consider other ways that AI can help you save time without reducing quality and, possibly, even enhancing your teaching (writing letters of recommendation, creating and assessing games –THE BEST USES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN LEARNING GAMES – low-stakes student practice at home on sites like Quill). . I would have major reservations about using it for tasks like lesson planning or assessing essays.
• Recognize that many district leaders are clueless, and that it’s going to up to teachers in the classroom to figure all this out.

You might want to check out 40 “Best” lists I’ve compiled around AI in education.