Future and Innovation
A New Year. New Possibilities. New Artificial Intelligence.
I hope the year has commenced well for all students, families and Barker staff. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting new students and am enormously impressed by their capacity to manage the changes in their lives. Feeling the School’s life return after a break is one of the many delights of my role.
ChatGPT
It is impossible to miss the current media conversation about the advent of ChatGPT and the rise of artificial intelligence. The renowned news and commentary outlet DW (ChatGPT is changing education, AI experts say — but how? – DW – 01/24/2023) recently declared that “ChatGPT is changing education, AI experts say – but how?”
You will have read last week about ChatGPT and how Barker, along with educators around the world, are looking closely at how it may affect education. We are taking a deliberate approach to this very important question.
ChaptGPT has many potential benefits. Teachers can use it to quickly produce and then share sub-par responses that students work to improve. Using the technology in a critical way will help students to be thoughtful users. If the tool is part of a collaborative process between the teacher and the student, then it has much potential for learning. It could also help students directly. For example, Lukas Stock writes for Deutsche Welle about university scientists with little coding experience who used ChatGPT to help them write code quickly to analyse their experiments. The alternative was spending hours learning to code from scratch, which would only have slowed their work. One can imagine students in advanced Science classes using it in a similar way. Maths students once used slide rules and cosine tables to solve problems; now they use calculators.
But there are also pitfalls. Just like with calculators, if students use ChatGPT to produce work that they need to do themselves to learn, then they risk never learning the important knowledge and skills that school provides. They risk becoming reliant on the technology and lose out on the deeper understanding that leads to creativity. However, cheating has always existed, and there have always been concerns with new technologies such as Wikipedia or the even older CD-ROM encyclopedias. Schools found ways to adapt, and the challenge we face is how to respond to ChatGPT. It is important to remember that ChatGPT is not an original thinker, but our teachers and our students are. We must remember this as we assess and embrace new technologies.
The way forward lies in much of what we already do: challenge our students to think critically and assess them on that rather than rote recall of information. Form relationships with students and know them well. Encourage and inspire them with the challenge of learning. ChatGPT is a tool, and while tools can certainly improve performance quickly, especially in the short term, a tool is ultimately limited by the knowledge and skill of the person using it.
A New Year. New Possibilities.
As we commence a new year, let me offer some thoughts to help our students for the new possibilities ahead.
Lay the past to rest.
The year ahead is an exciting new chapter in your life, and the page is blank now. Anything is possible.
Be filled with optimism for the year ahead.
Expect to be amazing. Set your mind on the things that build up. Identify your many strengths and play to them. Focus on your gifts with a thankful heart.
Read, read, read; Write, write, write.
Get back into reading and writing – quickly. Grab your English novels and read ahead. Make notes and prepare for learning. There is not a moment to lose.
Change something.
It’s a new academic year so change something. Even if it is only small – change something. It makes our minds understand that this is a time for new things.
Plan for success.
Good preparation is one of the best antidotes for stress and anxiety. Set up a daily routine or schedule. Make it easy to keep and plan enough times for rest and recreation.
Get ready for new things.
A new academic year brings change. Adopt positive “self-talk” and be confident that you are ready to meet any change that comes your way.
Set goals.
The blank page of 2023 awaits you. Set SMART goals and make them your guiding star. Don’t make your goals too big. Great journeys are completed by simple steps in manageable stages.
Our prayer is for all our families and our students, that this may be your best year ever.
