When most people think of Artificial Intelligence (AI), their first instinct is to label it as a “shortcut” or a “cheating tool,” especially in a school setting. Almost 30% of all teachers do not support the usage of AI in K-12 schools, according to a Gallup-Walton Family Foundation poll conducted June of this year. However, I believe that there is a clear benefit to students accessing this rapidly advancing technology. Although some students may utilize AI in nefarious ways, such as generating entire assignments or fully revising essays in just one click, there are many ways AI can be used as a helpful tool, including helping students engage their understanding and connect lines of reasoning.
Generative language chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, or Google’s Gemini are often the only AI services that people are familiar with. These Chatbots are designed to provide text-based responses to any prompts a user requests; for example, asking one about a specific question would return a detailed answer to the prompt. However, these tools barely scratch the surface of the variety and focus of AI tools out there, designed specifically for education.
One service offered by Google Labs is NotebookLM. This free platform utilizes Google Gemini technology and is a powerful research and thinking assistant to help users study and find cited answers to their questions. Unlike a regular chatbot, NotebookLM utilizes a variety of sources, such as videos and slideshows, to form customized flashcards, quizzes, reports, and audio and video overviews. Although there is still an option for utilizing Gemini, it pushes users to utilize its specific learning tools that avoid the issue of directly providing answers for queries.
Another AI tool designed specifically for education is Class Companion, which is owned by educational technology company Panorama Education. Teachers can utilize this platform to create personalized writing assignments, which students can interact with to receive feedback and live rubric scoring on their completed writing. This service is especially useful, as teachers normally take multiple days to grade writing assignments and give feedback to students, especially in larger classes. Considering that plenty of writing tasks have standardized scoring, such as those found on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, Class Companion can effectively help students prepare for them.
Instead of pushing students away from educational AI tools, schools should be encouraging them to discover new ways of learning. AI as a learning tool goes beyond just generating essays and solving homework problems. Being able to access custom tailored feedback and visual representations of complex concepts is a vastly underrated ability of AI.
