Curiosity in the Classroom: Exploring AI’s Potential in Education

The statement from my colleague was accompanied by a link to a newspaper article about ChatGPT, a brand-new technology that, according to the article, could be used to complete any written assignment a student wanted, including writing an entire essay with structure and syntax that closely resembled a human. Her post intrigued me to such an extent that I remember the exact day I read it, November 23, 2022, the day before Thanksgiving. Perhaps it was the fact that the colleague who shared their concern of a “serious problem” was not an individual with a habit of embellishing concerns; they always struck me as a tell-it-like-it-is, nothing more, nothing less-type educator. On the other hand, maybe it was the string of reply comments echoing the grave concern shared by the original poster that gripped my attention. Regardless, my interest was piqued, and I needed to know more.

I continued to dig, learning more about how this technology could seemingly learn from human input and interaction, allowing a user to essentially teach the tool how to behave in the future. As I continued to read more about ChatGPT in late 2022, I suddenly noticed other tools popping up in the social media cycle, from Google’s Bard to Microsoft’s Bing chatbot.

Was this the technology that was truly going to “revolutionize” education, as I consistently heard? I needed to know, and as a doctoral student studying Learning, Design and Technology in UNC Charlotte’s Ed.D program, I did not want to be left behind as I continued to hear of these technologies and their impacts on education. Driven by this question, I first tested ChatGPT in March of 2023. I remember being amazed by the user-friendly nature of the tool and the ease at which I could generate written responses to my prompts. Following this initial test, I knew this technology was not simply a passing fad of the newest EdTech tool. I then decided to shift the focus of my research as a doctoral student to investigate the ever-growing list of questions about the relationship between these highly capable GenAI tools and education, in addition to integrating modules in my Planning for K-12 Instruction course to enable pre-service teachers to practice and reflect on GenAI’s ability to supplement their lesson planning process.

Planning for K-12 Instruction is a half-term course taught right at the beginning of our graduate certificate in middle and secondary education program, through which students spend multiple weeks learning to manually unpack standards, create objectives, and align activities and assessments for students. In the final week, they’re issued a challenge:

From inspiring takeaways like

“I’ve never felt more encouraged creating a plan from scratch”

to more hesitant reactions including

“I can see the value, but I’m still a bit nervous,”

One theme consistently emerges. This technology is a game-changer, especially for pre-service and early-career teachers.  

As time passes and my interest in these tools as an educator, researcher, and student continues to evolve, I often reflect on that initial social media post that first captured my attention. In two brief sentences, that post adequately captured the feelings of so many educators around the world. But as the fear of early 2023 gave way to curiosity and, eventually, opportunity, education as a field seems to recognize that this technology represents a turning point that will undoubtedly shape the educational experiences of the next generation of students.

As significant as this turning point may be, though, educators should not have to fear AI. Rather, we should allow our curiosity, that spirit of lifelong learning stirring within every educator, to fuel our desire to think, learn, reflect, and grow.

As educators, we have the opportunity to leverage these tools in ways that improve the student experience, but only if we commit ourselves to remaining informed and critically considering what it means to responsibly leverage AI for teaching and learning. 

My curiosity about AI in education has taken me from leading AI-integrated professional development workshops to crafting a proposal for a future course titled AI and EdTech in Education, through which students will investigate the latest topics and trends in education technology, critically considering how, when, and why to integrate these technologies in their classrooms. Where could your curiosity take you?