This article is not getting the attention it deserves so I'm making sure you hear about it. It is paywalled (I accessed it via apple news+) but I'm sharing the takeaways here.
In the last few years we've seen increases in AI use in schools, but simultaneously have seen a cultural push asking schools to ban personal devices like smartphones. The biggest winner in this scenario, unfortunately, are private companies and their investors, and the biggest losers may very well be students.
When we ban phones and social media, we make it harder to educate kids on the inherent risks involved, since we have forced them out of the educational environment in all circumstances, making them more susceptible to nefarious technology.
But at the same time, kids are encountering AI tools within their learning environments and educational software programs more every week, but are then going home to try to do homework and told not to use Chat GPT (the LLM many ed tech AI tools are based upon). It is not surprising that this would feel hypocritical to kids.
The AI companies in this article make it unfortunately clear they are prioritizing profits over the impact these tools have on students. But more troublingly, the push to ban phones and personal devices doesn't help, because it creates more justification for "school friendly" technologies that these AI companies claim to provide.
It's made even harder still when @commonsensemedia, @NEA and @AFT are accepting money from AI platforms. In the case of Common Sense Media, their paid campaign with OpenAI was to create *AI training materials for students and teachers*.
As an educator, this not only concerns me, it sickens me. The most effective tool in a classroom is an effective teacher, trained in best practices (not just fed PD by the companies whose technology they are told to use), and given freedom and support to access and use the materials they think are best for their students. And now, even the organizations that are meant to support the best interest of teachers and students are accepting money from AI startups.
This is yet another thing that is falling at the feet of caregivers, and it absolutely shouldn't be.
If you can, I encourage you to reach out to your state board of education, asking them to require digital literacy education for all students, digital literacy training for all staff, and asking for any AI tools to be evaluated before their approval for district use.
