District considers Chat GPT usage in classrooms: Educators use AI to maximize efficiency
ASKING AI — A Palo Alto High School student opens Chat GPT on her laptop. Mary Sano, the Social Sciences Department leader at Paly, said that she believes Chat GPT can be useful and increase the efficiency of certain tasks, specifically, adjusting the reading level of primary documents to make them more accessible to students. “There are students who read at different levels, and sometimes, in social studies classes in particular, when we read primary documents, those are challenging,” Sano said. “It’s very time consuming for a teacher to go through and change to change the words so that its more accessible to a struggling reader.” Photo: Cate Graney
The Palo Alto Unified School District is creating an ad hoc committee to consider adopting artificial intelligence, specifically Chat GPT, as a learning tool to enhance efficiency in classrooms.
In a recent update, district superintendent Don Austin explained that the committee will explore the implications of AI in classrooms. Chat GPT, a language model developed by OpenAI, has become widely used for its ability to synthesize information, answer questions, and generate text.
Many teachers have since implemented measures that prevent students from using the AI on assessments. It [Chat GPT] seems like it really would impact students’ readiness, especially if they’re just being handed the information rather than reading, processing and trying to make sense of something themselves. — Mary Sano, Social Sciences Department leader
Mary Sano, the Social Sciences Department leader at Palo Alto High School, said her world history classes used secured browsers and school-issued laptops to prevent the usage of Chat GPT on one writing assessment this year.
“It [Chat GPT] seems like it really would impact students’ readiness, especially if they’re just being handed the information rather than reading, processing and trying to make sense of something themselves,” Sano said.
While acknowledging concerns about the possibility of students cheating through the use of AI, the superintendent noted that potentially disruptive technology should not necessarily be banned outright and emphasized the importance of educating teachers and students about its benefits in addition to its drawbacks.
Sano said that she believes Chat GPT can be useful and increase the efficiency of certain tasks, specifically, adjusting the reading level of primary documents to make them more accessible to students.
“There are students who read at different levels, and sometimes, in social studies classes in particular, when we read primary documents, those are challenging,” Sano said. “It’s very time consuming for a teacher to go through and change to change the words so that its more accessible to a struggling reader.”
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