This is how artificial intelligence is changing teaching in school

Kaltenkirchen. At the touch of a button, she can translate texts, write poems, and even offer advice on special problems – all in seconds. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of many people's daily lives. Step by step, AI tools like ChatGPT are also invading school classrooms. Therefore, Kaltenkirchen High School pays intense attention to the risks and opportunities of this technology.

“It is estimated that more than half of our students use AI applications,” says Michael Tripman, teacher and principal team member at Kaltenkirchen High School. Some young people may use it to research school presentations or get feedback on completed assignments. However, others have gone so far as to assign entire household tasks to the chatbot.

Artificial intelligence in schools: Kaltenkirchen teacher fears decline in personal performance

“Unfortunately, this unreflective use can be seen over and over again in lessons,” says Tripman. “This is of course dangerous because students hand over their entire cognitive process to the AI, so, in such a situation, it tries to talk to the person concerned and demonstrates how important it is to think about a topic mentally.” .

It is important to him to teach students how to use technology critically and consciously. For this reason, Kaltenkirchen High School created a project group and, together with about 30 students, planned several presentations related to artificial intelligence.

Students can receive individual feedback from the artificial intelligence

“As a school community, we want to learn how to engage with AI and discuss how best to integrate it into lessons,” Tripman says. In addition to the risks, the teacher sees many opportunities through the use of AI in teaching – especially in the field of “feedback”.

“In theory, students can then get feedback and suggestions for improvement on each assignment they work on,” the teacher says. Until now, this has not been possible in daily life because teachers do not have enough ability to control each task individually. Meaningful feedback is one of the most effective tools for supporting individual students.

The high school invites you to attend a lecture with an artificial intelligence expert in the Kaltenkirchen community hall

In order to deepen the potential of AI for schools, Kaltenkirchen High School invites you to attend a public lecture with AI expert Doris Wessels from Kiel University of Applied Sciences at the Bürgerhalle Kaltenkirchen on Monday, October 14, 2024 at 6:30 pm. The professor will then be available for a panel discussion with Mayor Stefan Bohlin (CDU).

There is already a pilot project at Kaltenkirchen High School: for the new school year 2024/2025, all eighth grade students are equipped with iPads, says Tripman. Youth can access specific AI tools on the device. State policies are also currently dealing with the topic of AI in schools.

“We will begin a large-scale trial of AI in schools in the 2024/2025 academic year,” Education Minister Karen Bryne (CDU) announced in August. Ten schools should experiment with how they can work meaningfully with text chatbots or generative image AI in lessons. In addition, computer science has been introduced as a compulsory subject from grade 7 onwards in secondary schools and community schools.

CN