ChatGPT - Use it or Ban it?

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This week's blog post is brought to you by CLC Graduate Assistant Emilie Coppinger. Emilie is a doctoral candidate in Education. Her research looks at communities and partnerships for learning.

We are quickly approaching the one-year anniversary of ChatGPT, an AI service that was released to the public in November 2022. Initial reactions in education were negative, with calls for ChatGPT to be banned in schools due to concerns that it would impede student learning and degrade the integrity of student work. However, it was not long before some practitioners began calling for a different approach. As early as February 2023, more than 50% of K-12 educators responded that they used ChatGPT in a survey by the Walton Family Foundation. And yet, it seems that the jury is still out about whether to use it or ban it.

It wasn’t until recently that I decided to see what all of the hubbub was about. People around me were talking about the AI platform, in both professional and personal circles, but I was hesitant to take the plunge. Then, a few weeks ago, I needed to write a letter of recommendation for someone fast. I agreed to write the letter in the beginning of August—that period in the summer that those of us connected to the rhythm of the school year (in any way) might consider the calm before the storm. When the deadline for the recommendation rolled around in the middle of September, I was chagrined to find out my attempts at planning ahead had failed. This felt like as good a time as any to explore ChatGPT.

I was blown away.

 

In a matter of seconds, I had a full template of a very specific kind of letter of recommendation. My blank screen was now full of text—the biggest writing hurdle was overcome with ease. Given the momentum, which was as much mental and physical, I was able to majorly rework the template so that it was more authentic to my writing style and experience with this individual.

 

Not only was I excited at completing something on my To Do List that was hanging over my head for weeks, but now I had this fantastic tool that could help with countless other tasks! I could not believe how easy it was to use, how broad the range of applications was, and the complexity of what the program could produce!

 

Figure 1

Forbes Article Headlines About ChatGPT

Note. This figure was created by Emilie Coppinger using a template design by PresentationGO.com.

Each point on this timeline represents the headline of an article on Forbes.


But I was simultaneously struck by how easily this could be misused. Hence the debate of whether or not, and how, to use ChatGPT in schools. One of Forbes’ most recent articles on the subject shows that the debate is still going strong—”Chat GPT In Schools: Performance Enhancing Took or Technology to Ban?” (Ravaglia, 2023).

 

So. Where do educators now stand on the topic of ChatGPT? In particular, how are literacy educators responding to this debate? In what ways are they incorporating the capabilities of AI software to extend and enhance student learning? What boundaries are they attempting to implement? Follow along on this mini-series, where I will reach out to local educators across K-16 to learn from their challenges and successes working with this massive technological advancement that is here to stay.

 

Whether you provide literacy support for K-12 learners, are a home-schooling parent, a teacher educator, or anywhere in between—we hope that you find this series interesting and share your thoughts with our learning community. As this is an ongoing series, we would love to respond to your questions and comments in future posts!


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