CNN
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Ludrick Cooper, an eighth grade teacher in South Carolina, hasn't always liked the idea of using artificial intelligence in the classroom. But he finally came.
“This is a new encyclopedia,” Cooper said.
Cooper is just one of many teachers who currently incorporate AI into their lesson plans. This is another indication that even though the benefits and risks of technology are still developing, tools that drive AI are becoming more common in the classroom.
Six in 10 teachers said they used AI tools for their work in the 2024-2025 academic year, according to a survey by the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup.
On Tuesday, First Lady Melania Trump announced the Presidential AI Challenge. It announced the driving forces to encourage students in their grade to use AI to “address community challenges.” Last month, Openai launched ChatGPT's “learning mode” and announced its partnership with Instructure. Openai, Microsoft and Anthropic have partnered with the National Federation of American Teachers in New York to invest around $23 million in AI training for teachers in grades 400,000-12.
AI can benefit education, including more engaging lessons and easy access to information. However, some experts are concerned about risks, such as facilitating fraud, increasing educational inequality, and detering students' mental health.
“AI is like a fire. When Cavemen first discovered fire, a lot of people said, 'Oh, see how you can do that,'” Sarah Howders, an associate professor of special education at the University of Maine, told CNN. “And the other people are like, 'Oh, that can kill us.' As you know, the same goes for AI. ”
Instructure, the company behind Learning Platform Canvas, is working with Open AI with a new tool called “LLM-enabled allocation.” This allows teachers to create customized, interactive, AI-powered lessons while tracking student progress.
LLM stands for “Large Language Model,” the underlying technology behind ChatGpt and other chatbots. This tool allows teachers to instruct AI to create “personas” that can be incorporated into their lesson plans by entering a prompt. For example, a history teacher can instruct an AI to assume the role of a president, a politician, or other historical figure.
Melissa Loble, Chief Academic Officer at Instructure, told CNN that the partnership “emphasizes that people want to learn differently and engage in learning.
Like Kayla Jefferson, a high school social studies teacher in New York City, she uses AI to attract students, learn from each other and help them strengthen their global literacy skills.
One of her challenges involves summarizing and reflecting news stories using the AI-powered Padlet Bulletin Board.
Many AI-powered tools can also be useful for accessibility, such as text-to-text and speech tools to help people with visual impairments and dyslexia.
However, Matthew Raskoff, a secondary profession in digital education at Stanford University, said AI companies need to develop more techniques to cultivate learning as a social exercise, rather than the current model in which AI tools tend to help one person at a time.
Tools to promote social learning – Develop collaboration skills that children can use in their community, such as learning as a group.
“A great classroom creates mutually responsible for learning for everyone,” explained Raskov.
The integration of AI technology and education involves certain risks.
The New York City Department of Public Education (NYC DOE) first banned ChatGpt on devices and networks issued in districts regarding the availability of cheating by students using technology.
The city later overturned the course after then-NYC Doe Prime Minister David Banks said ChatGpt initially “had been caught off guard at NYC schools.” Instructure describes the tool as a “guided experience that allows students to push back those who are seeking answers and allows them to take responsibility for their students and learn in earnest.”
Fraud is not the only risk. The mental health impact of AI is still not well understood, including children.
For example, one mother suspected a startup character. She and the other family members sued the company.
A spokesperson for Instructure said Canvas technology will be used in a “controlled environment” and institution-controlled safeguards to ensure that conversations are relevant to coursework.
Additionally, while some AI tools can help people with different needs, technology still has no solution to specific obstacles.
For example, the talk-to-text feature can be caused by people with stutters and accents, Howorth said.
Poor school districts could also struggle to access the latest AI technologies and widen the gap with better regions, Robin Lake, director of Arizona State University's Center for Public Education Reform, told CNN.
In two rounds of the district's national survey, the center discovered disparities in which the district provides AI training to teachers, Lake said. Higher poor districts reported fewer numbers.
“We should do something to ensure that students from less fortunate schools and districts have access to the benefits of AI,” she said. “More advantageous children tend to have better access to tools and opportunities and receive excellent guidance.”
She added that it is difficult to think about future tools like AI, as some urban and rural school districts report being overwhelmed by current needs.
Even if AI is available, not all educators are sure they belong to the classroom.
Pre-K and kindergarten teacher Lauren Monaco in New York City are kindergarten teachers with over 20 years of experience, and described AI as a crutch that prevents people from learning for themselves.
Unlike using AI, education includes more than just “transactional information input and output,” and gets personal analysis that computers can't do, Monaco told CNN.
“Our occupation is under attack,” Monaco said. “I just want to continue asking the question: Who will benefit from this?”
However, ASU lakes said there is another factor. AI is already being used in the labor force.
“What do students need to succeed in the AI economy?” she said. “That's another issue that educators should address.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
