ChatGPT is a year old.
For many of us the arrival of this new artificial intelligence (AI) site, the first of a number of LLMs (large language models) released between late 2022 and early 2023, has been like unleashing the power of the internet on someone transported from 1985.
The world of education has seen numerous tech developments over the past few years - think of Google Classroom or the plethora of apps developed during the pandemic for online learning - but this past year in AI has been different.
The speed and the widespread adoption of AI tech are on a level not really seen before. ChatGPT, the one I use the most, has gone from generating well-argued but factually inaccurate essays to effectively analysing and interpreting graphs in just one year.
So why use ChatGPT? It is very good at generating ideas or redrafting work, leaving you to polish up and edit the result. Given that the work on a teacher’s to-do list is always being added to and rarely taken off, AI is a way to reduce that workload burden.
This is a key point: ChatGPT will not directly make you a better teacher, but it will free up time normally taken up by completing admin or resource production that can then be better spent developing teaching and learning techniques. I am lucky, too, that I work in a school where the leadership team provides us with the freedom and flexibility to use this technology with clear boundaries.
Here are five essential points on using ChatGPT, from a geography teacher’s perspective:
Tips for teachers on using ChatGPT
1. Just start using it…
My team and I really started to get the most out of AI when we began thinking about how ChatGPT could help with any task or idea. It has been compared to an always-on-demand undergraduate assistant who will do the first draft, enabling you to then work on the detail.
Start by asking it for 10 lesson ideas or resources for a particular topic. Eight may not be great but there will be something you can develop further. Have a conversation with it to develop the ideas, don’t just settle for the first few answers it gives - the more specific you are, the better.
2. Demonstrate good practice to students
The students we are educating today will undoubtedly use AI in their careers. It is important, then, to provide them with examples of effective use of AI.
For instance, take the process of crafting structured revision schedules for A-level, Higher, GCSE or National 5 courses. Begin by using AI to draft a basic plan, then collaborate with your students to customise it. This approach not only shows the considerable time-saving advantages of AI but also demonstrates to them the importance of individually refining the output that AI provides.
3. AI for summarising case studies
At the time of writing, the free version of ChatGPT, 3.5, is still prone to “hallucinating” (making things up). GPT-4, the paid-for version, is far more powerful and less likely to hallucinate. However, both are very effective at summarising content you provide them with, thereby reducing the chance of errors creeping into work.
Use ChatGPT to summarise text from websites to make your case studies up to date. For instance, in one A-level geopolitics topic we study the war in Ukraine. Articles from the BBC, Financial Times or The Economist can be fed into ChatGPT to produce a summary document, which will be far more relevant than the textbook and easier for students to read through than three to four individual articles.
4. Retrieval practice
Provide ChatGPT with a case study or section of text related to a topic and ask it to produce AI short-retrieval questions and model answers. This can be an efficient way to create starter activities, reinforcing key concepts without spending excessive time on preparation.
GPT-4 can now read and interpret photos and screenshots, so even if your resources are PDFs you can ask it to summarise them into text and then write a series of questions and answers.
5. AI and differentiation
Large sections of text can be rewritten quickly by ChatGPT and the resulting text can be given to neurodiverse students. Similarly, AI can be used to scaffold essays, break down complex text into simpler summaries and create customised learning materials. This approach ensures that all students have access to the learning material in a way that is time efficient for you.
I budgeted for a subscription to GPT-4 - £18 a month for my team this academic year - having used it extensively in the spring and summer terms. It has certainly been worth it because GPT-4 is significantly more powerful and accurate than the free version.
Whatever you do, just start using it.
Alasdair Monteith is head of geography at Gordonstoun, an independent school in Scotland. He tweets @al_monteith
