by Jordi Ginjame, General Manager
ChatGPT is all the rage right now, and everyone wants to know what it is all about and how it will impact education (and all other sectors as well). St PETER’S has been working on this tool for the last few months, so let me explain our perspective.
We began investigating GPT (the tool, not the chat as we know it today) at the end of 2021 when it appeared as one of the disruptive trends we should focus on. It didn’t take us long to realize the tool’s enormous potential as a teaching assistant, but also how challenging it would be for our educational system.
We found that stress is triggered by threatening tasks and activities we’ve been doing at school for years, but that shouldn’t be intrinsic to learning, at least the way we were doing them. An AI assistant can help students with essays, summaries, problems, exams, and other activities that lose meaning when they can use it.
Nevertheless, when ChatGPT (or many other similar tools available) is used to improve student understanding, thinking, creativity, and writing, it becomes a powerful tool for students. It can be used to learn concepts, get ideas, improve their writing, investigate, and detect incorrect answers!
We believe the result will enrich the learning process, even though we must adapt. We have seen many of our teachers using it spontaneously, finding incredible and imaginative ways to use it. We have written a policy about its use that embraces its use and reflects on the tasks that should be revised.
In summary, this is a step beyond our latest strategy for preparing students to participate in society as active agents. Our goal is to help them identify their objectives and how technology can assist them in accomplishing those aspirations.
Next steps. Our staff is already being trained on how to use ChatGPT and resolve any issues they may encounter in daily use. In addition, we are organizing a conference for school agents about the impact of AI on education in the coming years. If you are interested in attending, you will be welcome.
