ChatGPT: Personal Research Assistant for Students

 

Do you want to improve your students' research skills and help them produce high-quality work? In many cases, students tend to rely on the first results they find in a traditional Google search, which can be unreliable or inaccurate. That's where ChatGPT, an AI tool, can come in handy. ChatGPT can assist students in finding more reputable articles that provide textual evidence to support their claims, saving them time and ensuring they use high-quality sources.

With so much information available online, students often struggle to identify reliable sources for their research. ChatGPT can help by providing students with a list of reputable sources such as academic journals, peer-reviewed articles, and books written by experts in the field. By using ChatGPT, students can save time and ensure they are using high-quality sources in their research.

Once students have identified potential sources, they need to read and analyze the articles to determine if they are relevant and provide the evidence they need to support their claims. This is another area where ChatGPT can assist students. ChatGPT can analyze the text of the article, identify key themes and arguments, and highlight the evidence used to support those arguments. This can help students focus on the most relevant information and save them time.

Furthermore, ChatGPT can assist with the writing process. For students who struggle with articulating their argument or finding the right words to express their ideas, ChatGPT can provide suggestions and feedback to help them improve their writing. This can be particularly helpful for students who are not native speakers of English or who struggle with writing in general.

Moreover, ChatGPT can provide context and background information. If students are researching a historical event or a complex scientific concept, ChatGPT can provide background information to help students understand the topic more deeply. This is especially useful for students who are new to a field of study or who are trying to learn about a topic outside of their area of expertise.

Finally, ChatGPT can help students stay organized throughout the research process. By keeping track of sources and notes, ChatGPT can help students stay on top of their research and ensure that they are meeting all of their requirements. The search results students choose to use can be easily copied and pasted into digital note taking tools such as Microsoft OneNote, Google Keep, Evernote and more. As students write and report findings with word processors such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs, the search results and sources found with ChatGPT can easily be cited in a myriad of citation styles.

It's understandable that some educators might feel apprehensive about using AI tools such as ChatGPT. However, it's important to keep in mind that ChatGPT is not meant to replace traditional research methods, but rather to supplement and enhance them. ChatGPT's ability to enhance the research and writing process is similar to how GPS has improved our ability to navigate and travel. Teachers should see ChatGPT as a valuable resource for students who are looking to improve their research skills and writing abilities. By using ChatGPT to help students find, analyze, and organize their sources, teachers can save time and focus on providing personalized feedback to their students. It's also essential to work with students individually or in small groups to review and vet the suggestions provided by ChatGPT. This way, teachers can ensure that the information students use is reputable and relevant to their research question or topic.

In conclusion, ChatGPT can be a valuable resource for students who are researching reputable articles to provide textual evidence to support their claims. By helping students find, analyze, and organize their sources, as well as providing context and feedback on their writing, ChatGPT can save students time and help them produce higher-quality work. As educators, we should embrace technology and AI tools such as ChatGPT to enhance our teaching and help our students succeed.

If you're interested in bringing me to your school for professional development, workshops, keynotes, training, or a follow-up on this or any of my previous blog posts, please click here to schedule an appointment to chat. My book, The Complete EdTech Coach: An Organic Approach to Digital Learning, co-authored with my wife Katherine Goyette, is now available on Amazon and published by Dave Burgess Publishing. Click here to purchase. Don't forget to follow the hashtags #OrganicEdTech and #CVTechTalk for updates.

ChatGPT and Google Classroom: Power Up Your Ability To Provide Feedback

As an AI language model, ChatGPT can help teachers provide feedback on student writing more easily. In a previous blog post, I discussed ways to use AI tools such as ChatGPT to expedite the feedback process for student writing. Building on this, as an avid user of Google Classroom, I realized that feedback generated by ChatGPT can be stored in the Google Classroom comment bank. This can significantly reduce the amount of time spent grading student assignments.

One of the biggest challenges faced by teachers when grading student writing is providing informative and constructive feedback that is tailored to each student's needs. This process can be tedious and time-consuming, especially for writing assignments that require nuance and subjectivity. ChatGPT can simplify this process by generating criteria-based suggestions that are customized for each student.

For example, if a student is struggling with grammar and punctuation, ChatGPT can generate comments that focus on those specific areas. Similarly, if a student is struggling with the structure of their writing, ChatGPT can provide guidance. When you notice trends and similarities in the feedback that students need for issues such as grammar and punctuation, you can save them in the Google Classroom comment bank. To do this, simply copy and paste into the comment bank. This allows teachers to access and reuse comments across multiple assignments, saving time and ensuring consistency in grading.

Moreover, by storing comments in the comment bank, teachers can easily collaborate with their colleagues. If your department or PLC is using a shared Google Classroom for common or standardized assessments, all co-teachers have access to the comment bank. They can share and reuse effective comments, or create a set of standard comments that can be used across their department or school.

However, using AI-generated feedback has some potential drawbacks. Some teachers may feel that this approach is impersonal and lacks the nuance and context that human feedback can provide. Others may be concerned about the reliability and accuracy of the suggestions generated by ChatGPT.

It's important to view ChatGPT as a tool that can supplement, but not replace, the feedback provided by teachers. By using ChatGPT to generate criteria-based suggestions, teachers can save time and focus on providing more personalized and nuanced feedback to their students.

ChatGPT can be an incredibly useful tool for teachers looking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their feedback. By generating criteria-based suggestions that can be stored in the Google Classroom comment bank, ChatGPT can streamline the grading process while providing targeted and personalized feedback to each student. Although using AI-generated feedback has potential drawbacks, it can be an invaluable tool for teachers looking to improve the quality of their feedback while also reducing their workload. Think of ChatGPT as a personal assistant and adapt its suggestions based on your expertise and knowledge of your students.

If you would like to bring me to your school for PD, workshops, a keynote, training or a follow-up on this or previous blogposts, click here to schedule an appointment to chat. My book, The Complete EdTech Coach: An Organic Approach to Digital Learning, co-authored with my wife Katherine Goyette is now available on Amazon. Click here to purchase. It is published by Dave Burgess Publishing. Be sure to follow the hashtag #OrganicEdTech and #CVTechTalk for updates.

ChatGPT Can Be A Superpower For Teachers Teaching Writing

The use of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, in education has been met with initial reactions of hesitance and fear that students may cheat and teachers may be replaced by machines. Although these concerns are understandable, employing a growth mindset and innovative, student-centered pedagogy can transform AI tools into a teacher's superpower.

Providing feedback on student writing is an essential part of the teaching and learning process that fosters a growth mindset and a lifelong learning ethic. However, grading a large number of student papers can be time-consuming and overwhelming for teachers. This is where technology can be of great help. With the assistance of ChatGPT, teachers can expedite the process of providing feedback to students on their writing.

ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI that can generate text, answer questions, and assist with a variety of tasks. It is capable of producing high-quality responses to a wide range of prompts and can serve as a virtual assistant.

One way that ChatGPT can expedite the process of providing feedback to students is by automating the grading process. This can be done by training ChatGPT on a set of criteria that the teacher uses to evaluate student papers. For example, teachers can ask ChatGPT to identify specific types of errors, such as grammar or spelling mistakes, or to pinpoint areas where students need to improve. The more specific the prompts are, the better ChatGPT works.

The process involves entering the criteria into ChatGPT and pasting the student's writing into the system for analysis. ChatGPT will then provide feedback based on the entered criteria, which can take the form of a summary of the key points, suggestions for improvement, or a score.

Teachers can also use ChatGPT to provide more detailed feedback to students. For instance, they can ask ChatGPT to generate sample sentences that illustrate specific grammatical concepts or provide examples of how to structure a paragraph. ChatGPT can also explain complex concepts that may be difficult for students to understand, thereby helping them learn more quickly and improve their writing skills.

Using products like Google Docs for student writing and platforms like Google Classroom, teachers can use ChatGPT to expedite the feedback process. As students write, teachers can access their work, copy and paste it into ChatGPT, and receive real-time feedback that can be copied and pasted into the commenting functions of Docs and Classroom. Developing a system within Google Classroom that chunks the writing into multiple Assignments can help students better organize and process the feedback before submitting a final draft.

The use of ChatGPT in providing feedback can also be an effective way to build relationships with students. Teachers can review the feedback with students one-on-one or in small groups by pasting some student writing into ChatGPT and asking it to provide bullet point feedback for the students to take back and revise their writing.

Finally, ChatGPT can automate the process of providing feedback to a large number of students by creating a standardized set of comments or feedback that can be used for multiple students. This saves time and ensures that all students receive the same level of feedback. The teacher can then review the feedback provided by ChatGPT and make any necessary adjustments before sharing it with students. ChatGPT-generated comments can be saved in a comments bank for future reference if Google Classroom is used.

It is important to note that using ChatGPT or any AI tool for feedback has limitations. While ChatGPT can expedite the process of providing feedback to students, it is not a substitute for a human teacher. It may not identify all of the nuances of a student’s writing and may not provide personalized feedback tailored to individual student needs. Additionally, ChatGPT's effectiveness is only as good as the data, prompts, and criteria provided by humans.

As I wrap up this blog post, let it be known that I used ChatGPT to give me targeted feedback on each paragraph. I used the feedback to improve the writing, grammar and syntax. ChatGPT is my own personal assistant and proofreader. 

Take a look at the video below showing ChatGPT at work. The example shows a prompt where I asked it to give paragraph by paragraph feedback.

If you would like to bring me to your school for PD, workshops, a keynote, training or a follow-up on this or previous blogposts, click here to schedule an appointment to chat. My book, The Complete EdTech Coach: An Organic Approach to Digital Learning, co-authored with my wife Katherine Goyette is now available on Amazon. Click here to purchase. It is published by Dave Burgess Publishing. Be sure to follow the hashtag #OrganicEdTech and #CVTechTalk for updates.

Design Thinking, ChatGPT and Eduprotocols

 

Design thinking is an innovative problem-solving approach that emphasizes creativity, empathy, and an end user-centered mindset. By using Chat GPT and Eduprotocols together, educators can create engaging learning experiences that allow students to engage in design thinking and develop a range of skills that are essential for success in the 21st century.

ChatGPT is an advanced language model developed by OpenAI that can simulate human conversation. By using ChatGPT in the design thinking process, students can have a virtual assistant that can provide them with information, answer questions, and generate ideas for their projects. ChatGPT can be integrated into the design thinking process in many ways, such as helping students research and brainstorm solutions to problems, facilitating the empathy by allowing students to engage in a simulated conversation with people who are affected by the problem, and providing feedback and suggestions to throughout the process.

For those not familiar with the design thinking process, below are the basic steps. Be mindful that these steps do not necessarily always follow this order and reordering and going back and forth is acceptable as new insights are found during the process.

• Empathize: In this stage, designers seek to understand the needs, wants, and challenges of the people they are designing for. This can involve observing, interviewing, or otherwise engaging with the target audience.
• Define: In this stage, designers define the problem they are trying to solve. This involves synthesizing the insights gained in the empathize stage into a clear and actionable problem statement.
• Ideate: In this stage, designers generate a wide range of ideas that could potentially solve the defined problem. This can involve brainstorming and sketching.
• Prototype: In this stage, designers create simple and inexpensive prototypes of their ideas in order to test and refine them. This can involve creating physical or digital prototypes, depending on the nature of the problem being addressed.
• Test: In this stage, designers test their prototypes with the target audience to gain feedback and insights. This can involve conducting user testing or other forms of feedback gathering.

If you're not yet familiar with Eduprotocols, they are a series of structured activities and reusable lesson frames that promote active learning, collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. They are cross-curricular and can be adapted for any grade level. By using Eduprotocols in conjunction with design thinking, educators can create a more engaging and interactive learning experience that allows students to effectively engage in the 4 C's.

One Eduprotocol that works particularly well with design thinking is Iron Chef. In a nutshell, an Iron Chef is like a jigsaw that overtly engages students in the 4 C's. In this protocol, students work in teams to research and develop a solution to a problem or challenge. Each team is given a specific set of tools or resources that they must use to complete their project, just like an Iron Chef who is given a specific set of ingredients to use in their dishes. The Iron Chef Protocol promotes creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration, making it an ideal tool for the design thinking process.

To use Chat GPT and Eduprotocols together in the design thinking process, educators can follow these steps:

• Introduce the design thinking process to students by providing them with a challenge or problem to solve. This could be a real-world or local issue, a project related to a specific subject area, or a prompt related to a particular skill or competency. 
• Set up an Iron Chef by dividing students into teams and provide each team with a set of tools or resources that they must use to complete the project. For example, one team might be given a research database, another team might be given a design software, and a third team might be given a set of images or videos. The different resources can serve as the secret ingredient portion of the Iron Chef.
• Use Chat GPT to facilitate the research and brainstorming stages of the design thinking process. For example, students can use ChatGPT to generate ideas, ask questions, and get feedback on their solutions. ChatGPT can also be used to facilitate the empathize stage by allowing students to engage in a simulated conversation with people who are affected by the problem or challenge. (Chat GPT, at the moment, is an 18 and over tool. Usage of this tool, for the time being, will need to be via a teacher account and with teacher supervision. This can alter the flow of an Iron Chef, but still feasible.)
• Use the Iron Chef Protocol to facilitate the ideation and prototyping stages of the design thinking process. For example, each team can work on a specific solution to the problem (each team member tackles a different aspect) using the tools and resources they have been given. The Iron Chef Protocol promotes creativity and collaboration, and it encourages students to work together to create a solution that meets the needs of the user or audience.
• In the presentation portion of Iron Chef, other teams can provide feedback to fuel the testing and refining stages of the design thinking process. 

By using ChatGPT and Eduprotocols together, educators can create engaging learning experiences that allow students to engage in design thinking and develop a range of skills that are essential for success in the 21st century.

If you'd like to learn more about Chat GPT and other AI tools, click here to view a webinar from my friends at TeacherGoals. For more information about Eduprotocols, go to eduprotocols.com and or join the Eduprotocols Facebook Group by clicking here.