Unique Challenges and AI Opportunities Across K12 Subjects
As I wrote my book (available next week!), I was often implicitly recognizing the unique challenges and opportunities for AI integration in traditional K12 subject areas. I decided to organize these challenges and opportunities explicitly in a way that could constitute a new section in the book. In the end, I didn't include it for fear of being repetitive. (At over 200 pages, the book is already a bit long.) So, I've chosen to share some of that information in this newsletter.
Below, I've included one unique challenge and AI opportunity per subject. I've also listed tools that can address the problem and provided my take on AI’s effectivness.
World Languages
Challenge: Providing opportunities for conversational practice outside the classroom.
AI Opportunity: AI-powered language chatbots can engage students in conversational practice anytime, anywhere. These bots can be programmed to converse at different proficiency levels, use specific vocabulary, and even mimic regional accents, resulting in flexible, on-demand language practice.
Tools: ChatGPT is an obvious option. GPT-4o, the latest ChatGPT model, features an upgraded Voice interface that can handle interruptions and even pick up on a user's emotions. It's ideal for enabling fluid, human-like interactions that allow students to engage in role-play scenarios, work on their pronunciation, or simply converse in a new language. Practicing a new language with a non-judgmental, supportive, and patient chatbot can be much less intimidating for students than speaking in front of their peers. However, schools may discourage or ban students from using ChatGPT over data privacy concerns.
Talkpal is another option. Students can partake in open-ended conversations on a wide range of topics, receiving instant feedback and guidance on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and fluency. The voices are authentic-sounding, and the app includes role-playing to aid in grammar learning.
Mizou, a COPPA-compliant educational AI chatbot, is a safer alternative for students. This AI-powered chatbot can tutor and assess students in up to 50 languages. There are conversational language templates you might use, or you can set up a chatbot in about 10 minutes. You might create real-world conversational contexts or scenario-based interactions. Teachers receive a transcript of the student's participation during the session, allowing them to assess performance and glean insights into student thinking and communication processes.
Tom's Take: Speaking with an AI language partner is an easy, convenient, and fun way to put students in a low-pressure environment (unless they're being observed in Mizou). I practice speaking Spanish with ChatGPT regularly, and there are countless directions our conversations can go and topics we can discuss.
Math
Challenge: Providing personalized practice that addresses each student's specific weaknesses.
AI Opportunity: Generative AI platforms can analyze student performance and automatically generate tailored problem sets. For instance, if a student struggles with factoring quadratic equations, the AI can provide a series of problems that gradually increase in difficulty, offering immediate feedback and explanations. Overall, AI can leverage a combination of adaptive learning technologies, data analytics, and real-time feedback mechanisms to assist students.
Tools: Khanmigo, now free to U.S. teachers, is a well-known intelligent tutoring system that I suspect many teachers will try out in the new school year. Sizzle is another popular virtual tutor that guides students through each step of the problem-solving process. However, it's much easier to prod the answer out of Sizzle than Khanmigo.
Duolingo Math uses AI to adapt content and difficulty to its (mostly young) users. StepWiseMath is an intelligent tutoring system that provides students with a personalized approach to learning math. For elementary students, Kahoot! DragonBox is a collection of educational apps designed to make learning math fun and engaging.
MagicSchool for Students ("MagicStudent"), a COPPA-compliant educational AI chatbot, includes tools to complement classroom activities, including Raina, an AI chatbot with guardrails. MagicSchool also offers tools for math educators, such as The Math Spiral Review Generator, Math Story Word Problem tool, and Table Analysis Generator, providing a foundation for structured student participation.
Tom's Take: Proceed with caution. AI's difficulties with math are well documented. If students are using any kind of AI tutor, obtain a transcript of the conversation. This will help establish whether the AI content is accurate and give you insights into student thinking.
Science
Challenge: Keeping up with rapidly evolving scientific knowledge.
AI Opportunity: AI-powered research tools can continuously update and summarize the latest scientific findings. Teachers can use these tools to stay informed about recent discoveries in fields like astronomy or genetics, integrating cutting-edge information into their lessons.
Tools: Consensus, an academic search engine, employs advanced AI algorithms to analyze and evaluate the content of scientific articles and studies. Teachers can use Consensus to access the latest research in their subject areas, ensuring that their curriculum is up-to-date with current scientific evidence. Perplexity, a research-oriented AI chatbot with an easy-to-use interface, provides quick access to information from sources ranging from academic research papers and news outlets to Reddit threads. Every Perplexity output answer is accompanied by cited sources that users can click to learn more.
Tom's Take: Consensus and Perplexity make keeping up with scientific knowledge easier than ever. In addition, there is a bevy of AI tools to summarize scientific articles, adjust reading levels, analyze data, and more.
English Language Arts
Challenge: Offering immediate, detailed feedback on writing assignments.
AI Opportunity: AI-powered writing assistants can provide instant feedback on grammar, style, and structure. When a student writes an essay, the AI can highlight areas for improvement, suggest stronger vocabulary choices, and even offer tips on argument construction. In addition, AI chatbots can also be structured to provide immediate feedback and engage the student in dialogue about their writing.
Tools: Grammarly, a popular AI-powered writing assistant, helps users improve their writing skills by providing real-time grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style feedback. Grammarly uses advanced algorithms to analyze text and suggest corrections and enhancements. While educators may have concerns that students could co-opt Grammarly to do much of their writing, many schools recognize its benefits and permit students to use it — with certain restrictions.
SchoolAI, a comprehensive AI-powered teaching assistant, offers customizable features that can provide personalized learning experiences for students. An English Language Arts teacher can customize a SchoolAI chatbot to provide feedback on an essay students are writing while in class. Through a dedicated dashboard, educators can oversee the interactions between students and the chatbot in real time. English teachers gain access to a wealth of information about their students' thinking and learning patterns when they are writing. ELA teachers will appreciate AI's ability to provide immediate and targeted writing feedback, especially when they are not free to help a student at that particular moment.
History
Challenge: Making historical events and figures more relatable and engaging.
AI Assistance: Immersive, student-centered AI conversations with simulated historical figures can promote historical inquiry and an understanding of diverse perspectives. Students will likely enjoy conversing with historical figures, and it may prompt some creative lines of investigation. These AI chatbots provide a great incentive for students to engage in prolonged, open-ended exchanges with historical characters like Abraham Lincoln, Cleopatra, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Tools: Hello History and Character AI enable students to engage in simulated conversations with historical figures. One of Hello History's strengths is its emphasis on historical accuracy and context, arguably more so than CharacterAI, making it more conducive to structured lessons. However, it only facilitates text conversations, while CharacterAI enables voice conversations (at a cost). ChatGPT is a free voice-enabled alternative to both, if permitted for student use.
Tom's Take: Engage students in AI-powered historical conversations, but prepare them for the experience by asking them to prepare prompts and issues to discuss.
Educational AI chatbots in COPPA-compliant teacher assistant platforms like MagicSchool, SchoolAI, and Mizou are popular and safe options for many unique challenges that involve student-chatbot interactions. That said, ChatGPT remains the most flexible and powerful AI teachers and students can use. Unlike educational AI chatbots, its content is unrestrained, and it can engage more creatively around a broad range of topics and adapt to diverse educational contexts and needs.
The unique challenges and opportunities for AI integration vary across K12 subject areas, with AI tools offering personalized learning experiences, up-to-date information, and engaging interactions. Specialized AI teaching assistants provide safe and useful resources, we sometimes have to look beyond their walls for the flexibility and adaptability needed for exploring diverse learning experiences across subjects and grade levels.
AI Tools & News
Giglish - Multilingual speaking and listening exercises and more for language learners
Amnesia - Choose-your-own-adventure interactive game
Google Vids - an AI video generator for work
EnchantedAI - create illustrated stories of your child
ideogram - free image generator
Hypernatural - make short videos quickly with AI
Chatbots to the Rescue: 8 Time-Saving Ideas for Busy ESL Teachers - BlogdeCristina
My trip to the frontier of AI education - Bill Gates
Schools Can’t Evaluate All Those Ed-Tech Products. Help Is on the Way - EdWeek
Scientists Compared ChatGPT Writing Assessments to Human Assessments. Here’s What They Found - Tech&Learning
Media Literacy Is an Essential Skill. Schools Should Teach It That Way - EdWeek
Designing for Education with Artificial Intelligence: An Essential Guide for Developers - U.S. Office of Education Technology