I do see the possible benefits of AI, but how are children supposed to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills if every time they hit a bump in the road they just turn to AI?

I think that the technology is currently too limited to take the place of problem solving and critical thinking skills. The AI makes errors and hallucinations, which have to be fact-checked, and it doesn't always answer questions with a factual or sufficient answer. For example, ask chatGPT to write an epic poem about Mr. Potato head, or to list possible alternatives to rocket power in space travel, or to draw a duck with asci characters. The answers to these questions seem to define its limits rather well. ChatGPT also has low test scores in the SAT ACT, and other academic tests, so it is probably unlikely it could, at its current level, replace human abilities.

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Course: AI for education > Unit 2

Lesson 2: AI in the classroom: Promising practices

Don't ban AI-powered chatbots

Google Classroom

This article, in which Sal argues that AI-powered chatbots will be everywhere, and should be integrated into lessons and curriculum, is a revised version of an interview between Khan Academy founder Sal Khan and Alyson Klein, originally published in EducationWeek on 13 February, 2023.

Sal's view: Don’t ban AI-powered chatbots

We believe many careers will involve working with LLMs

Even if a ban could be truly effective, it might actually put kids at a disadvantage because it would prevent them understanding this transformative technology and developing skills that will help them in the future job market.

Question: How do you navigate a world where all of the students have access to AI?

Option 1: Have students do more writing in class periods, in front of you.

In a traditional model, classes often consist of a lecture and a little bit of discussion. And then students are expected to do all the creation and synthesis work outside of class.

But those take-home writing activities will not be as useful for assessment because teachers won’t know who is using AI and how.

With that in mind, the "writer's workshop" model will continue to be effective pedagogy—where kids are writing all the time. And the teacher and peers are giving each other feedback and saying, ‘Oh, you might want to tweak that, etc.’

Option 2: Embrace the new learning experiences AI can offer

This is the future. We’re now in a time when if you’re doing any form of writing, and you’re not at least considering and exploring how a large language model might assist you, you might be working inefficiently.

Question: Is the five paragraph essay dead?

Not at all. There will soon be effective ways for students to develop their writing skills while using AI as a writing partner and coach. Understanding how to draft a quality argumentative or informative essay will continue to have value—the difference will be the way we go about teaching the skill, and help students drive past basic structural formulas and the derivative text that the AI might generate, and push for original arguments and genuine insight.

Question: How can new experiences improve learning?

The old way of doing writing assignments: “Kids, hey, write your five-paragraph essay by Friday.” You hand it in, the teacher will grade it, maybe by Monday, and it might ruin their weekend. If you’re lucky, you have a teacher who gives you some helpful, actionable, personalized feedback. If you’re really lucky and have a really invested teacher who has the time and passion, they might let you iterate on it. But oftentimes, you just get a grade, and you move on to the next assignment.

With the learning experiences we’re envisioning, every kid is going to get immediate personalized writing coaching.

AI will make it more possible for students to practice reading comprehension and practice writing skills at the same time. Imagine an activity on Khan Academy where there’s a reference passage, maybe an article of the Constitution or a famous speech, and the student works with the AI to construct a quality argument anchored in that primary source.

Like a great Socratic tutor, the AI could ask the student questions like

“What argument is this author making?”
“What would be some thesis statements related to this argument that you could make?”
“How would you support this claim if you only had three sentences to convince someone?”
“Okay, now, back up each of those sentences. What kinds of support should we add?”

In this case, the AI wouldn’t write it for the student—this is a new learning experience where the student does the work while the AI helps them to develop their critical thinking skills.

Human judgment, discernment and reason remain out of the reach of AI. Humanity needs to develop these skills as much as ever—arguably more than ever.

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Sniper
Posted a year ago. Direct link to Sniper's post “I do see the possible ben...”
I do see the possible benefits of AI, but how are children supposed to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills if every time they hit a bump in the road they just turn to AI?
Button navigates to signup pageComment on Sniper's post “I do see the possible ben...”
(15 votes)
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- Velociraptor105
  Posted a year ago. Direct link to Velociraptor105's post “I think that the technolo...”
  I think that the technology is currently too limited to take the place of problem solving and critical thinking skills. The AI makes errors and hallucinations, which have to be fact-checked, and it doesn't always answer questions with a factual or sufficient answer. For example, ask chatGPT to write an epic poem about Mr. Potato head, or to list possible alternatives to rocket power in space travel, or to draw a duck with asci characters. The answers to these questions seem to define its limits rather well. ChatGPT also has low test scores in the SAT ACT, and other academic tests, so it is probably unlikely it could, at its current level, replace human abilities.
  Comment on Velociraptor105's post “I think that the technolo...”
  (8 votes)
Cheeze Cake
Posted a year ago. Direct link to Cheeze Cake's post “Does this mean Khan will ...”
Does this mean Khan will eventually add WRITING courses? like you have to write a short story, a chapter, an essay, etc. and then an ai will be able to grade/help you with it basically being a teacher? If so, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT! I'm a HUGE writer!
Comment on Cheeze Cake's post “Does this mean Khan will ...”
(15 votes)
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slizarazo
Posted a year ago. Direct link to slizarazo's post “Schools mostly chose to b...”
Schools mostly chose to ban cellphones, resulting in policies that were unenforceable. By allowing phones for physics only, I had much better results (calculator, camera to take pictures of notes & compare to the their own, calendar to record assignments, video of lab, phone number of teammates,etc) in limiting students off-task use of phones.
How do we create similar policies for AI that are proactive, incorporating AI responsibly, so that students understand the expectations and constructive ways to use it?
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(9 votes)
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2045687
Posted a year ago. Direct link to 2045687's post “Are there any videos in A...”
Are there any videos in AI for education?
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(4 votes)
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Jorge Daniel Garcia
Posted 8 months ago. Direct link to Jorge Daniel Garcia's post “How would those interacti...”
How would those interactions work in a large classroom? e.g. 80-student college class.
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(1 vote)
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- Austin M.
  Posted 8 months ago. Direct link to Austin M.'s post “They probably wouldn't. F...”
  They probably wouldn't. For a college student who regularly attends classes of 100+ people (myself included), there is no possibility of this type of interaction occurring at all.
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  (1 vote)
Aon Mohhanad Tayseer Ali Ahmed Daqdouq
Posted a year ago. Direct link to Aon Mohhanad Tayseer Ali Ahmed Daqdouq's post “Why do they ban them when...”
Why do they ban them when they can reuse them?
(1 vote)
- Evan Lewis
  Posted 9 months ago. Direct link to Evan Lewis's post “I think a lot of educator...”
  I think a lot of educators are worried about academic integrity and the occasional "hallucinations" of chatbots.
  
  Both of these concerns are discussed further here: https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/ai-for-education/x68ea37461197a514:ai-for-education-unit-1/x68ea37461197a514:ai-new-tools-for-a-new-age/a/ai-setting-realistic-expectations
  (1 vote)
Revant.A
Posted a month ago. Direct link to Revant.A's post “tech to limited 💻”
tech to limited 💻
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(1 vote)
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dixierae2010
Posted 3 months ago. Direct link to dixierae2010's post “WHY is it inportant it l...”
WHY is it inportant it learn about aI?
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rootsclubhouse001
Posted 9 months ago. Direct link to rootsclubhouse001's post “if we have ai would we be...”
if we have ai would we be lonely and if so what can we do to help it
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(1 vote)
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- ΣΧΞΜPLΔRΨ DNΔ
  Posted 6 months ago. Direct link to ΣΧΞΜPLΔRΨ DNΔ's post “I don’t think so. AI will...”
  I don’t think so. AI will probably be a tool, searching, writing, and giving tools to you.
  I don’t think that having a tool will make you lonely.
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DragonWolf
Posted 9 months ago. Direct link to DragonWolf's post “What's AI”
What's AI
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- Raydude
  Posted 9 months ago. Direct link to Raydude's post “AI stands for Artificial ...”
  AI stands for Artificial Intelligence.
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