If you’ve read something recently about how AI is going to transform education as we know it, you’re not alone. If you’re like me, you ignored the click bait for a few months, overwhelmed by the thought of trying to deeply understand yet another seemingly “unprecedented” story of our times. Then, if you’re also like me, after several months of playing ostrich, you decided to finally click and begin the process of understanding just how AI was going to change your life.
After reading article after article, watching an Oprah special, scrolling my LinkedIn feed for fodder, and even reading a book, I have my own hot take on AI in education – that starts with rejecting the premise. Yes, AI has the potential to radically change education as most of us know it. However, if AI has the power to drastically change education, this says more about the current state of education than the power of AI. Despite the rapid advancement of technology over the past 100 years, schools as we know it still look the same: rows of desks, rote memorization, quizzes, tests, and compliance valued over creativity. The important question to consider isn’t how AI will transform schools, but how we should be rethinking the very concept of school itself.
At The Village School, AI is embedded in our learning design because it is a new and useful tool. As new technology emerges, part of our learning model is to learn to learn about them. AI is not fundamentally changing our TVS learning design because we are focused on the act of learning, skill development, and character education – we aren’t in the business of checking boxes. If we were a school that cared more about what our learners know – then for sure, AI would radically change our approach. The good news is that we’re not. One of our school community’s core beliefs is that we care more about who a learner becomes than what they know. We also believe that young people can be trusted to learn from their own experiences.
While many schools are frantically searching for ways to keep AI out of their classrooms, this session we put AI into the hands of our middle schoolers. Their deep dive into the world of AI included: creating their own chatbots, considering how using AI aligns with their core values, and determining how AI should or should not be used for their learning. The lessons were inspired by resources from Common Sense Media, WISSIT, and our own team of educators.
Middle schoolers spent time understanding what AI is, how it’s trained, who’s behind the scenes, how AI is or isn’t biased, how AI algorithms can get to know you (really well!), and most importantly, how AI should or should not be used, if at all, in school. They even debated the question: Is AI the future of education – or not?
This session’s focus on AI won’t be the last time learners at The Village School use, consider, and question AI. As a school, we will continue to explore the possibilities and limits of AI and any other relevant technology that emerges during this “unprecedented” time. And, rather than hiding from it in fear of change, we will continue to intentionally run towards it with curiosity, embracing the unknown and transforming it into opportunities for growth.
I’m glad I finally decided to get my head out of the sand, learn as much as I could, and make my own decision about AI and the future of education. I learned a lot, had some fascinating conversations with other educators, with learners, and with a few AI chatbots themselves. (One even helped me fine tune the title of this piece – thanks, Khanmigo!) Most importantly, my deep dive reinforced my belief in the learning model at The Village School. Even AI can’t disrupt the power of project-based, character-driven, authentic learning experiences.
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