Technology and the Teacher

This summer’s EL magazine, a ASCD publication, is titled “Deepening Learning with Tech.” You can read it on your own, but I thought I would highlight some of the articles appearing in the issue.

Let’s start with what might be the most startling statistic, given the reaction of some school districts to ban ChatGPT from their classrooms. According to a February, 2023 Impact Research survey, 88% of teachers who have used ChatGPT say it’s had a positive impact, 77% of teachers surveyed say ChatGPT could help them grow as teachers, and 30% of teachers have already used it for lesson planning, coming up with creative ideas for classes, or building their own background knowledge.

It’s clear teachers are interested in using ChatGPT, even if their district leadership is intent on banning such technology. If we can agree interest in ChatGPT indicates an interest in other AI technology, then clearly today’s adult learning leaders want to become well-trained.

Tony Frontier, a technology consultant, offers advice on how to take a transformative approach to artificial intelligence. At one point in the article, Frontier asks the following question: “If you could use AI to provide individualized, one-on-one teaching and tutoring to students each day, what opportunities would you provide to each learner?” Here are the ideas Frontier offered to answer such a question:

“Create opportunities for content to be accessible to each student.”

“Meet learners where they are and engage them in personalized formative assessment.”

“Create specific exemplars and non-exemplars that could help students assess their own work.”

Authors Michael Fisher and Heidi Hayes Jacobs discuss a new type of literacy skill called “prompt literacy.” According to Fisher and Jacobs, “With the rise of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) programs, a new essential literacy skill is emerging. This skill is associated with the creation and engineering of prompts that users input into AI tools to generate content. Learning how to write effective prompts will empower learners to be the drivers of AI rather than being driven by it.”

Clare Kilbane and Natalie B. Milman, in their article titled “Differentiated Learning and Technology: A Powerful Combination,” compare transactional learning with transformative. These authors write,

“Transactional learning involves the exchange of ideas and information between teachers and students where the focus is knowledge transmission and acquisition, which has traditionally been the primary goal of learning… Even though transactional learning is a necessary, valuable, and efficient means for building the foundational understandings students require for new learning, teachers will also want to design transformational learning experiences. Such experiences foster students’ capacities for creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, cognitive flexibility, complex problem solving, and curiosity, often at the same time students are acquitting basic knowledge.”

Ashley McBride, the Digital Learning Initiative Section Chief for the North Caroline Department of Instruction, encourages schools to hire an “EdTech Coach,” or someone who can help the traditional teacher become more adept at helping young learners define, plan, execute, and evaluate their own learning plans, including online resourcing. To McBride, there are four important goals when it comes to establishing an edtech coaching framework,

“Formal professional learning”

“Formal coaching cycles”

“Focused leadership responsibilities,” and

“Personalized teacher support.”

So, to summarize, here are the big ideas the authors highlighted by this summer’s EL issue have to share:

Create opportunities for content to be accessible to each student.

Meet learners where they are and engage them in personalized formative assessment.

Create specific exemplars and non-exemplars that could help students assess their own work.

Implement prompt literacy as a new skill all learners should know and be able to use.

Emphasize transformational learning over transactional learning every day.

Stress formal professional learning, formal coaching cycles, focused learning responsibilities, and personalized teacher support.

Now here’s the rub. Even though most teachers are interested in becoming better at leading kids down the learning pathway when it comes to technology and especially artificial intelligence, how many of us think today’s school districts are the ones to lead this type of transformation?

Not me, and I’m guessing not many of you.

We’ve talked about the reasons in past columns, but I’ll highlight a few here.

Most school districts and colleges of education have no interest in re-engineering their professional development and their undergraduate programming to work on the above goals with and for their teachers.

Because school districts have invested around 90% of their overall budgets toward teachers and staff, traditional school leadership doesn’t believe they have the resources to make this type of serious shift in how adult learning leaders are trained and what they are expected to do for their young learners.

It would be better if a learning coach and a group of young learners were charged with executing some of the goals shared by this EL issue’s author group. They would have a greater chance of success.

Til tomorrow. SVB