Ed3 Weekly Issue #91: Is It, or Isn't It?
Education community in disagreement over the impact of AI
Hello Ed3 Community!
Every week, we dive into the world of Web3 in education, exploring recent news about how education is being impacted by this transformative technology. This week I have some resources that discuss the current state of AI in schools.
As I scroll through my LinkedIn feed there seems to be an endless amount of pontificating about how AI is either the savior for school change or another overhyped meaningless technology.
So which is it?
We know that it is never that binary and it is a little bit of both. But to understand its possible impacts, we need to know the current state of things.
The resources shared can help you make your determination about AI’s role in teaching and learning. Each teacher determines how much, or how little, this will be used in their classroom. Districts can make policies, schools can make statements about intentions, but the teachers are the ones who are doing the implementation.
Hopefully the resources this week can better help you determine how you are going to approach this important moment in how education evolves.
📰 Featured Articles:
📘 The Best AI Syllabus Policies I've Seen So Far: Educators deep dive into a variety of AI policies in schools to help give you a better understanding of how schools are approaching this new technology.
🤖 Will Chatbots Teach Your Children?: New York Times examines how EdTech companies are approaching the implementation of AI in schools.
👩🏫 Most Teachers Are Not Using AI. Here’s Why: Education Week looks at the statistics behind AI adoption and use. Go behind the hype and learn about what is happening across the country.
🔮 Two of Your Predictions for 2024 and Why They Are Probably Not Correct: In this week’s deep dive educator Dan Meyer makes the argument that AI hype is overdone and teachers don’t have the same level of urgency around AI usage that many are leading us to believe.
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Two of Your Predictions for 2024 and Why They Are Probably Not Correct
Image provided by Dan Meyer
This article by Dan Meyer takes an analytical approach to edtech predictions for 2024. In his exploration, he evaluates two significant forecasts: Sal Khan's projection that generative AI will automate 90% of teachers' administrative tasks and Jomayra Herrera's anticipation of a major evolution in AI tutors' effectiveness. Contrasting these predictions with a teacher survey from Education Week, Meyer reveals a notable disconnect: a minimal percentage of teachers currently utilize generative AI, with many showing no intention of adopting it.
This discrepancy leads to skepticism about the realization of these predictions within the year, as teachers currently do not prioritize or see the relevance of generative AI in their teaching practices. The author concludes by calling for edtech stakeholders to develop a deeper understanding of the real, practical needs of teachers and students, advocating for the creation of tools that meet these specific educational requirements.
Thank you for stopping by for another issue of my web3🤝education newsletter. If you’re on LinkedIn you can check out a version of this newsletter on my LinkedIn page and give me a follow. You can also link to all my work by checking out my website or give me a follow on the X platform.