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News flash! There’s this thing called Artificial intelligence (AI) and it can help you do stuff!! As an educator, since ChatGPT emerged in November 2022, I have been intrigued by the possibilities of integrating AI into my teaching practice and getting students hands on with these amazing tools.

Let’s be clear about what I mean by AI. Although it has a very broad definition (for example, a spell checker is a version of AI), in this post I am focusing on generative AI. Generative AI tools can create new text, images, code, and other outputs based on the data they are trained on. When a user prompts the tool, it uses its knowledge to produce a response. These responses are original, but they come from the information the AI processed during training.

One of the best resources I have seen recently is The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) guidebook for the use of AI in schools. It serves as a valuable resource for teachers by providing a comprehensive overview of the potential benefits and challenges of using AI in schools, as well as practical guidance on how to implement AI technologies in a responsible and ethical manner. The guidebook covers a wide range of topics, such as the types of AI technologies available, discussions on the legal and ethical considerations of AI use in schools, and strategies for enhancing student learning outcomes with AI.

A good way to think about generative AI tools in education is as a complementary tool that enhances learning without replacing human educators. Think of AI as being like an electric bike, which amplifies human effort, rather than a robot vacuum, which operates entirely on its own. Taking this metaphor further, this image explains appropriate use.

The guidebook goes on to give advice on selection of AI tools. When choosing AI tools for schools, factors such as capabilities and limitations, bias mitigation, student privacy, human oversight, and accessibility should be considered. We should deliberately teach students about these aspects of using GenAI tools, so we can avoid spending unnecessary energy trying to catch students from inappropriate use.

Post plagiarism: writing in the age of AI

Seemingly, the main concern about student use of AI revolves around authenticity. Authenticity, in this case defined by NZQA, is “the assurance that evidence of achievement produced by a learner is their own.” Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton argues that AI will fundamentally change how we view writing, authenticity and plagiarism. In her concept of a “post-plagiarism world,” humans and AI will collaborate on writing, leading to a rise in hybrid writing styles. However, humans will still be responsible for the content created, including fact-checking and the ethical use of AI tools. While traditional plagiarism definitions may not directly apply to AI-generated text, because AI can generate unique text that is not copied from another source, the core idea of attribution and respect for sources will remain important. Overall, AI will have a significant impact on writing in the future. However, it is important to remember that AI is a tool that can be used to enhance human creativity, not replace it.

A possible solution is to give learners clear guidelines on appropriate use in assigned tasks. If we can clearly explain to learners how and when to use these tools, they will be better at making deliberate choices for themselves. Here is the suggested scale:

Using AI Tools with Students: Navigating Age Restrictions

The number of tools targeted at educators is overwhelming. Check out the AI Educator Tool repository. One challenge educators encounter when using AI tools with students is the complexity of navigating age restrictions due to privacy and data protection regulations. While AI technology offers immense benefits in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, there are often age restrictions in place due to privacy concerns and data protection regulations. As educators, it is crucial to be mindful of these restrictions.

So, having to be selective, here is a summary of the different tools I have used with learners:

One important consideration is accessibility. In particular, can the use of the tool in class comply with the tool’s terms of service? The main one is age restriction. As educators, it is essential to navigate these age restrictions responsibly and find ways to incorporate AI tools into our teaching practices that meet the terms of use and are appropriate for learners.

I had made initial use of the Codebreaker.edu tool, as students were not required to sign in with an account. Despite being limited to 2000 character inputs, the tool is valuable for generating basic prompts and text-based outputs. However, the Terms of Service state that it uses a custom interface of OpenAI’s GPT-3, which implies that users must be 13 or older with parental permission.

Recently, Magic School.ai released a student tool called Magic Student. This tool doesn’t seem to have a strict 13+ age requirements, provided your school has notified parents/guardians.The terms of use state that the tool does protect the privacy of younger children and is compliant with regulations such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the United States. The interface appears to be a walled garden, with a teacher being able to see how students are using the prompts. 

Intrigued by this,  I dove into the online training offered by Magic School.ai and became a Magic School AI Pioneer. This experience not only enhanced my understanding of AI’s capabilities but also introduced me to a valuable tool, which appears to be suitable for students under 13 years old, addressing their specific needs.

Conclusion

When integrating AI into education, a thoughtful and responsible approach is necessary, taking into account the benefits and challenges of AI implementation. By navigating age restrictions ethically and implementing AI tools strategically, educators can harness the power of AI to create personalised and engaging learning experiences that empower students to succeed in the digital age. It is crucial for educators to pay attention to the terms of use for AI tools they are using with learners to ensure they are deliberately taught appropriate use.

Acknowledgements: this post was written with the help of AI Tools (Google Gemini, Magicschools.ai, Quillbot

Introduction*

* Written by Google Bard.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the education landscape. From personalised learning platforms to chatbots that can grade student work, AI is providing teachers with new tools and resources to help students learn more effectively.

In this blog post, I will explore the many ways that AI is being used in the classroom today. I will also share a video showing how ChatGPT can be used by teachers to mark student work. Finally, I will provide some tips on how to use Google Bard, a large language model from Google AI, to create engaging and interactive learning experiences for your students.

Are you a teacher? You should use AI!

Here are some of the ways that AI is being used in the classroom today:

• Personalized learning platforms: These platforms use AI to track student progress and deliver personalized learning experiences that are tailored to each student’s individual needs.
• Chatbots: These AI-powered assistants can grade student work, answer questions, and provide feedback.
• Virtual reality: This technology can be used to create immersive learning experiences that transport students to different places and times.
• Gamification: This technique uses game-like elements to make learning more fun and engaging.

AI has the potential to revolutionise the classroom in many ways. It can help teachers:

• Save time on grading and other administrative tasks
• Provide students with more personalised learning experiences
• Identify and address learning gaps early on
• Create more engaging and interactive learning experiences

If you are a teacher who is interested in using AI in your classroom, there are a few things you need to know:

• There are many different AI tools and platforms available, so it is important to choose one that is right for your needs.
• It is important to train AI tools on high-quality data in order to get accurate results.
• You should be transparent with students about how AI is being used in your classroom.

Conclusion

I hope this blog post will give you a better understanding of how AI is being used in the classroom today. If you are interested in learning more, I encourage you to watch the video below and check out the resources that I have linked to.

Check out the presentation below on AI in the Classroom

Algebra is one of those often reviled topics for students – it’s too hard, it doesn’t make sense, and what the heck are those letters doing in a maths equation! Finding ways to connect students with the concepts that underpin those seemingly meaningless questions helps them grow confidence and may even change their attitude!

Over the last few years I have played around with using Scratch to have my students engage with Algebra. Scratch is a free, online coding platform that can be used to teach a variety of subjects, including algebra.

I have developed a unit on Learning Algebra with Coding that is built around a project based approach. The unit has a progressive set of coding challenges that are rooted in an algebraic concept. The unit begins by introducing students to the basics of coding, such as variables, loops, and conditionals. Students then use these concepts to create projects that explore algebraic concepts, such as linear equations, functions, and recursion. Variables are an essential concept to understand and I often introduce this by getting students to think of where they see variables in their world.

Projects

Here is the list of project for students to complete (worked examples are also available in a Scratch studio). Please note that this list has links to worked solutions so shouldn’t be shared with students as they should figure out the solution themselves!

Pattern maker: create a project that has number patterns (odd, even, square, prime, Fibonacci…). Try to also create some sound patterns and drawing patterns using the pen tool.

Programming music patterns: create a programme for users to interact with to create or modify a musical pattern.

Cartesian plane: using the xy-backdrop, create a project where users input a co-ordinate pair which moves a sprite

Exploring Mars: follow the steps at this site to create a programme for a Mars rover

Plotting patterns: create a project where users enter a rule (e.g. + 3, – 5) or a gradient and y-intercept which the programme plots a straight line on a cartesian plane

Battle ships: create a project that is like the old school game of ‘Battleships’.

Function machine: create a project that generates a list of co-ordinate pairs and users have to input the rule

Guess my number: create a project that the user ‘guesses’ the number that the code started with

Polygon maker: create a project where the user inputs the number of sides of a polygon and the programme draws this shape showing the size of the interior angle, exterior angle, and sum of interior angles.

Pi finder: create a project where the user inputs a value for the diameter of a circle, and the programme draws the circle showing that the diameter fits about 3 times in the circumference.

Classroom noise monitor: create a project that monitors classroom noise (use the ‘loudness’ variable in the Sensing blocks)y

Finding water on Mars: make a remix of this Scratch project and programme the rover to autonomously ‘find’ the water (blue crystal).

Magic 8 Ball: Create a project for a magic 8 ball. Use a random probability (between 0-1) to return an answer relating to 8 different probability terms (unlikely, likely, possible, probable, impossible, very likely, certain, poor chance, 50-50 chance, good chance)

Calculator: Follow this tutorial to make a Scratch calculator.

Giving feedback on student projects

So you have your class working on all these different coding projects. How to see where they are all up to so that you can give them some next steps? You can use a combination of a Google Form and a shared Google Sheet. Check out this video for a walk through:

In conclusion, coding can be a fun and engaging way to teach algebra. Scratch is a visual and interactive platform that makes it easy for students to understand algebraic concepts. Students can experiment with different algebraic concepts and see how they affect the output of a program. This helps students to stay motivated and engaged in their learning.

If you are a math teacher looking for a way to make your lessons more engaging and interactive, then I encourage you to try using Scratch. It is a free, online platform that is easy to learn and use. Let me know how you get on!

I teach a year 9 and a year 10 integrated class and I’ve always had the luxury of not having to prepare students for external assessments. Not so anymore… With the introduction of the new Literacy and Numeracy standards, my Year 10 students will be sitting these two pilot assessments this year, which will be required in 2024. So how to best prepare them?

Knowing command terms is useful for success in these type of external, high stakes assessments. Command terms are active verbs that guide students in comprehending and answering an assessment question. A uniform definition and use of these terms throughout different subjects can help student achieve to their potential and so there is significant benefit in having a school wide approach to deliberately teaching these command terms (see ‘Command Terms – A Whole school approach‘)

More importance place on Command terms

It is not unusual in assessment report from various qualification authorities to see comments like this:

The difference between the key terms of describe, explain and analyse need to be clearly understood by candidates in order to meet the requirements of the
questions.

NZQA Assessment report on Geography 2018

We are also starting to see this have more importance in curriculum design. The recently released Aotearoa Histories places emphasis on “Know, Do, Understand”:

This is perhaps best explained by a practitioner:

‘Understand, Know and Do’ has always been a fundamental part of their (the students) inquiry process. Understand’, ‘know’ and ‘do’ are of equal importance; they need each other.

Any understanding, any inquiry that is absent of knowledge – the ‘know’ – runs the risk of being fluff, and any inquiry that is absent of the big and enduring and connecting ideas – the ‘understand’ – runs the risk of being irrelevant to our learners in the here and now. Any inquiry that is absent of the practices that bring rigour to learning – the ‘do’ part – runs the risk of not motivating, challenging and engaging our learners, let alone inspiring them to act on what they’ve learned.

When we deliver equally on these, our students will be informed. They will be active and passionate learners who will go on to make a difference in the world.

Barbara Ala’alatoa, Principal of Sylvia Park School in Auckland

Related to this idea in the concept of ‘capability’. A ‘capability’ is demonstrated in action. As Rose Hipkins defines, a capability is “…what the student shows they can do—and is willing to do—as a result of their learning.” We have also seen a recent shift from a focus on content to these capabilities (see ‘Growing Curiosity – Teacher Strategies to Engage Years 5 to 11 Student in Science, April 2021, Education Review Office’). We further see the need to teach these command terms with the recent change to NCEA.

Command terms in changes to NCEA

In the upcoming new NCEA Literacy and Numeracy achievement standards, there are a number of identified command words. The Literacy | Reading Assessment Specifications lists the following: locate, select, describe, recognise, identify, interpret, distinguish, predict, generalise, organise, summarise, recommend, compare, contrast. The Numeracy Pilot Common Assessment Activities (CAA) use command words such as explain (used 9 times in the September 2022 pilot CAA!), calculate, estimate. Below is a proposed list of command words that students would need to be familiar with to succeed in the NCEA Numeracy and Literacy standards:

1. Identify: recognise or name something, such as a feature or characteristic of a text or numerical problem. (similar to Locate, Select, Recognise)
2. Describe: provide a detailed account of something, including its key features and characteristics.
3. Explain: provide a clear and detailed account of something, including its underlying principles, causes, or mechanisms.
4. Compare: identify similarities and differences between two or more things, events or concepts. (similar to Organise, Contrast)
5. Interpret: explain or give meaning to something, such as a text or a numerical problem. (similar to Distinguish)
6. Apply: use their knowledge or understanding of something to solve a problem or complete a task.
7. Calculate: perform mathematical operations or computations to find a numerical solution.
8. Estimate: provide an approximate answer or value based on their knowledge or understanding. (similar to Predict)
9. Analyse: examine something in detail and break it down into its constituent parts to understand how it works.
10. Justify: provide a reasoned argument in support of a particular claim or position. (similar to Recommend)
11. Evaluate: consider the evidence and arguments presented in support of a particular claim or argument and make a judgment about its validity.

In addition to these command terms, The New Zealand National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) uses a range of command terms in their university entrance achievement standard assessments. Some of the key command terms used in these assessments include:

1. Critically evaluate: examine something in depth, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and make a judgement about its overall value or importance.
2. Discuss: consider different viewpoints on a particular issue or topic and weigh up the arguments for and against each one.
3. Evaluate: consider the evidence and arguments presented in support of a particular claim or argument, and make a judgement about its validity
4. Summarise: provide a brief outline of something, highlighting its key features or characteristics.
5. Synthesise: bring together information from different sources to create a new understanding or perspective on a particular issue or topic.

Developing coherence

When moving on to propose how we can best prepare students to understand these command terms it is important to consider the difference between progressions and coherence. Progression refers to the systematic development of knowledge and skills over time, ensuring that students are challenged appropriately as they move through the curriculum. Progression also involves a clear sense of direction and purpose, with each lesson building upon the previous one. On the other hand, coherence refers to the logical and meaningful connections between different parts of the curriculum. This involves ensuring that each component of the curriculum fits together in a way that makes sense, creating a unified and meaningful whole. In other words, progression ensures that students are consistently challenged to develop their knowledge and skills, while coherence ensures that this development is meaningful and connected to the broader goals of the curriculum. So a focus on coherence seems more useful in this context and it is one of the 8 principles of the New Zealand Curriculum.

If we take an Understanding by Design lens to how we can best teach this commend terms, Jay McTighe explains that the main goal of this approach is to teach for understanding and transfer. The approach involves two key ideas – teaching and assessing for understanding and transfer, and using backward design to plan curricula. To plan backwards, teachers start from the end, which is understanding and transfer, not content coverage. If we apply this to the narrow approach of earning a qualification, we start with NCEA University Entrance in Year 13 looking at what key command terms they need to know, and plan a coherent pathway to how these are taught across the year levels.

Deliberately teaching understanding of command terms

So after we now understand the importance of command terms, and how we can create a coherent approach by using backwards design, what are some activities that we can get student to do? How can we deliberately teach these command terms?

1. Use consistent language in tasks and assessments: For example you may create a Y9 Maths tasks that has some ‘Explain’ questions to start scaffolding that understanding in preparation for the Numeracy standard.
2. Cross curricular tasks: Look at tasks from different subjects and using the same command terms. For example an English literature task can ask “Analyse the character of Lady MacBeth in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth” and a Science task can have “Analyse the results of the neutralisation reaction experiment and predict what will happen using acids with higher concentrations”
3. Definitions activities: Create a matching task, either with physical cards, or a digital version using a platform like Blooket, Kahoot or Quizizz. You could even have students make their own copy of flash cards using Quizlet.
4. Create a visual glossary. What do these terms look like? Have student draw their own interpretations and share with the class (see this lesson plan).

In conclusion, while there will be many more approaches to the coherent teaching of command words, these few examples should provide a start in how a secondary school can use a coherent approach.

Want to teach your students about financial literacy? Want to reinforce the importance of working hard to be successful in life? Want to have some fun with your class? Consider setting up a Classroom economy.

I came across this concept from the awesome Thom Gibson after listening to him on John Spencer’s podcast. He has created a heap of useful resources not only describing what this is and how it can work in your classroom, but also a short online training course. I completed the course and then embarked on setting up a classroom economy. Here’s how I did it:

Step 1: Set the scene

Explain to the students that the class will model itself on running as a business. I inform them that that I will be the business owner and I will employ students to do jobs, for which they will earn virtual money that they can do stuff with such as buy virtual houses, cars and use to bid for items in auctions. The reason are two fold. Firstly to reinforce class expectations including the value of working hard (the harder they work, the more money they can earn). Secondly to teach students some financial literacy skills such as managing finances, saving, and investing.

Step 2: Create a set of Class expectations

As teachers, we all have our expectations for students in our classes. Often at the beginning of the year we do an activity to have some student input into these class rules. Over the past few years I have reframed this as not only having expectations for all, but if students meet those expectations, they can have a number of privileges. This then acts as a contract where students can agree to the terms, and if they do they can participate in the classroom economy (I’ve never had any students refuse in the 4 years I have been running this in my class).

Step 3: Create a job list

Now you get your students to apply for class jobs. Rather than just make stuff up, I checked out this list from Thom Gibson’s course that I used as inspiration to make my own list. The job needs to have some authenticity to it and I’ve used some of them to ‘outsource’ some of the tasks that I do. A great example is the ‘Visual Display Artist’. This job is to design a new Google Classroom banner each week. This has turned out great as we regularly get refreshes for the digital hub of our classroom. This is something that I would do when I remembered, but now that it is a student job, it gets done more regularly and to a higher standard than me! Check out some examples below:

One thing I explain is that everyone will get an income, which I’ve called the Universal Basic Income. But I also deduct some expenses for being in the class (electricity, wifi, desk rent) so all students end up with a meagre amount left over at the end of the week. I invite all students to apply for ‘Tama tu, tama ora” or ‘Tohunga” (detailed in the job description below) that enables students to have a significantly higher income than their expenses. After that, they can apply for the variety of jobs listed. Some of my favourites are Bouncer (organised the class line for those who need to line up), Clerk (to handle any admin of giving out and collecting in resources), and Yogi (who runs a short session after returning from lunch to refocus students on their learning).

Step 4: Run your classroom economy!

I use a New Zealand based website called Banqer to handle the admin. It has two versions of class banking and I use the Primary version as it has better control over class jobs. Students can apply for the class jobs and I have enough so that any one who wants a job can get one (so even though I only have 16 listed jobs , some have 2 positions such as Bouncer). Part of the application process is to write a short CV and so we can have a class discussion around what type of information should go in this (previous work experience, characteristics such as hard worker etc). Once all the job have been allocated, I have the weekly pay to be automatically credited to student accounts on a Thursday. On a Friday, one task that Class captains need to do is deduct any wages for students who didn’t do their jobs that week. The Class captains can be made ‘Bankers’ of the website and so can manage these transactions.

Step 5: Have an auction

So now the students have earned all this cash, what do you do with it?

Firstly, have a class auction. Buy some prizes (including some mystery bags) and have students bid for each item.

Secondly, have an emoji race. Students can bet money on a particular emoji for either the pot of money bet, or a set prize.

In summary, I’ve tried this in my class over the last five years and after a number of iterations, find it really adds to the classroom culture. It’s amazing how keen students are to earn extra virtual dollars and it also serves as a great vehicle to teach financial literacy.