When ChatGpt took the world by storm in 2023, students frequently used AI chatbots to cheate homework assignments. Two years later, Openai, the company behind ChatGpt, plays a more formal role in education.
On Wednesday, Openai and Edtech Company's Instructions announced a partnership that will bring generation AI to the heart of classroom instruction.
Instructure is the company behind Canvas, a learning app used by thousands of high schools and many universities. If you're a parent like me, you've probably seen your child checking homework and grades on this app on their phone.
Going forward, AI models will be incorporated into the canvas to help teachers create new types of classes, evaluate student performance in new ways, and remove boring parts from management tasks.
According to Instructure's Chief Academic Officer Melissa Loble, in the case of students, this provides a way to use AI for school work without worrying about being accused of fraud.
“Students actually want to learn something, but they want it to be meaningful and applicable to their lives,” she added in an interview. “What this does is allow them to use AI in their classes in a more interesting way to help them become more involved and learn more.”
The Edtech market is busy, with many players integrating generated AI into their workflows. Last year, pioneering online education provider Khan Academy launched Khanmingo, an AI-driven assistant for teachers and students using OpenAI technology.
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LLM-enabled assignments
At the heart of the canvas transformation is a new kind of assignment. Instructure calls it an LLM-enabled assignment. This tool allows educators to design interactive chat-based experiences within the canvas using OpenAI's leading language model or LLM.
Teachers can explain targeted learning goals and desired skills in plain language, and the platform helps create intelligent conversations tailored to each student's needs.
“Instructure's global reach with Openai's advanced AI model provides educators with a richer, more personalized, more connected learning experience for students, and the tools to regain time for the human side of education.”
Instructure and Openai aims to create a learning experience that is appropriate for how modern students interact with technology. This reflects the conversation I have with ChatGpt but is based on academic rigor.
For example, teachers could be reminded of AI chatbots in the form of John Maynard Keynes with Openai GPT models. Students can chat with this AI Economics Avatar and ask questions such as what will happen if they add supply to a particular market.
AI in student evaluation
As students tackle these AI-powered experiences and prompts, their conversations are compared to teachers' defined goals and are returned to the gradebook, providing real-time insights into student understanding. This allows educators to gain more insight into evaluating their learning processes, not just their final answers.
In Canvas, Gradebooks are intensive tools that help instructors track, manage and evaluate student performance across assignments, quizzes, discussions and other activities.
Having an OpenAI model involved in the assessment process can raise eyebrows among some educators and parents. However, there is always a human being in Loop, and according to Loble, teachers have full control over their assessments and grades.
Help with scheduling and parent questions
Instructure has also developed an AI agent to help teachers tackle heavy admin tasks on the canvas. For example, if Porsche asks for more time to do homework with a broken ankle and ride a horse, the teacher can enter the app and ask the deadlines for all classes associated with Porsche.
This AI agent can even help teachers respond to parental questions. Why did Porsche get a B on the Economics Test? Her parents may want to know Tuesday at 10pm. Canvas agents can summarise parent questions like these for teachers and potentially find similarities and trends within the message. The teacher can then ask the agent to write a response to the relevant parent.
Again, humans are always in the loop. In this case, the teacher will check the agent's message and edit or rewrite it before sending it.
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