Do you get enough one-on-one attention from your teachers? Have you ever wished you had more access to tutors — in or outside the classroom? Would you ever want an A.I.-enhanced chatbot as a tutor or coach? Why, or why not?
In “In Classrooms, Teachers Put A.I. Tutoring Bots to the Test,” Natasha Singer writes about a pilot program in Newark to learn whether artificial intelligence can be a positive learning tool in schools:
On a recent morning, Cheryl Drakeford, a third-grade teacher at First Avenue Elementary School in Newark, projected a challenging math question on her classroom’s whiteboard: “What fraction of the letters in the word MATHEMATICIAN are consonants?”
Ms. Drakeford knew that “consonant” might be an unfamiliar word to some students. So she suggested they ask Khanmigo, a new tutoring bot that uses artificial intelligence, for help.
She paused for a minute while about 15 schoolchildren dutifully typed the same question — “What are consonants?” — into their math software. Then she asked the third-graders to share the tutoring bot’s answer.
“Consonants are the letters in the alphabet that are not vowels,” one student read aloud. “The vowels are A, E, I, O and U. Consonants are all the other letters.”
Tech industry hype and doomsday prophesies around A.I.-enhanced chatbots like ChatGPT sent many schools scrambling this year to block or limit the use of the tools in classrooms. Newark Public Schools is taking a different approach. It is one of the first school systems in the United States to pilot test Khanmigo, an automated teaching aid developed by Khan Academy, an education nonprofit whose online lessons are used by hundreds of districts.
Newark has essentially volunteered to be a guinea pig for public schools across the country that are trying to distinguish the practical use of new A.I.-assisted tutoring bots from their marketing promises.
Proponents contend that classroom chatbots could democratize the idea of tutoring by automatically customizing responses to students, allowing them to work on lessons at their own pace. Critics warn that the bots, which are trained on vast databases of texts, can fabricate plausible-sounding misinformation — making them a risky bet for schools.
Officials in Newark, the largest district in New Jersey, said they were cautiously testing the tutoring bot in three schools. Their findings could influence districts across the United States that are vetting A.I. tools this summer for the upcoming school year.
Students, read the entire article and then tell us:
What you want an A.I. tutor? Why or why not?
What experiences have you had with tutoring — as a tutor or tutee? What do you think makes an effective tutor — human or otherwise?
What is your reaction to the pilot test of Khanmigo, an automated teaching aid developed by Khan Academy, in Newark Public Schools?
The article says that proponents of A.I. contend that classroom chatbots could “democratize” tutoring by “customizing responses to students, allowing them to work on lessons at their own pace.” However, critics warn that the bots often “fabricate plausible-sounding misinformation” and give students answers rather than helping them “to use their critical thinking skills.” What do you see as the risks and benefits of using A.I. as tutors?
How has A.I. affected you as a student? Have you experimented with the technology? What recommendations would you give to creators of Khanmigo or other A.I. tutors as engineers design and improve their classroom bots?
Ms. Singer writes that extreme fears around A.I.-enhanced chatbots sent many schools “scrambling this year to block or limit the use of the tools in classrooms.” Does your school have a policy on the use of A.I.? If so, do you agree with that policy? How do you think we should view the role of A.I. in education? Should schools be afraid of it? Or, as in the Newark pilot, embrace the technology and explore possible benefits?
Do you think A.I.-assisted tutoring bots are an educational game-changer? Will they be in every classroom in the future?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.
