Many conversations are currently taking place both here and around the world about the importance of new and emerging technology and its place in education. We live in an amazing time where we can access anything and everything with just a few clicks of a button. The whole world of information is open to us and when I want to learn about the Tudor Dynasty or how to make dumplings, the good and bad of it all is at my fingertips. Many a long night has been spent swirling down the rabbit hole that is the information superhighway searching for answers to life’s big and small questions. I remember one night I started out watching a video to prepare for a history class in my early years of teaching and next minute it was 3am and I had watched the whole journey of Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon’s fake feud!
I am just old enough to remember the switch between going to the Library and using our home encyclopedia to do our research posters and dioramas in primary school and finally getting the home computer which allowed us to, slowly, access information online for our research. With Mum or Dad waiting on phone calls from family members and our home phone line being tied up with the internet; I managed to quickly work out how the internet could benefit me. A quick and simple copy and paste was heaps easier than my own ideas and I could finish up quickly and get back to playing with paint, making cool words out of Microsoft Word Art or coding my Myspace.
With amazing resources like ChatGTP; technology that uses AI to create conversations, it has become even easier to create information suited to your needs. When used well this is a tool that has amazing benefits but when used to cut corners it can be harmful to learning. As a teacher I would much prefer to hear the thoughts of a student, even if they are a little all over the place and with a few misspelled words, than the “perfect” AI response. School is about what we learn along the way, not the destination at the end. We are living in a world where all this is accessible and most likely a big part of some future careers so educating people how to use these types of tools well is important but being able to think for yourself and communicate that to someone else is something I place a lot of value in. We have students who think in lots of different ways and I love seeing how people approach a task differently and take on challenges that are thrown their way. One day it could be our students who are creating the next version of the internet, the next evolution of AI or some amazing new piece of technology that could change the world!
God has created us with these amazing brains that allow us to do creative, logical and wild thinking and that is something I think should be celebrated. Hopefully this helps you to generate some discussion around the dinner table about how wonderful our thoughts are, how great it is when we learn new things and skills and how special it is to show that off.
Hollie
