When ChatGPT starting taking over headlines earlier this year, the waves rippled through so many communities and professions. That included the homeschooling community.
Parents and guardians homeschooling their kids wondered how this new technology might impact their plans:
- How do I need to change my teaching to prepare my learner to use these tools?
- How do I make sure these tools don’t ruin my learner’s writing skills?
- Is teaching writing even worth it if the future is AI-driven?
- How can I use these tools to make my own homeschool planning easier?
- What are the ethics of using AI for writing, and how do I teach my kid good ethical boundaries when the tools are everywhere?
As a writing teacher, I saw these concerns popping up in homeschooling groups, and I saw the same concerns (or variations on them) popping up among teachers of all kinds — virtual and in-person, homeschooling and public school, elementary through graduate school.
I wanted to explore these ideas more deeply, so I grabbed two of my very smart friends and talked for over two hours about all things AI writing and homeschool related.
This video series is what came out of that conversation.
(Video 1) AI Writing: Why Are We Talking About This Now?
In this first video, we lay out some major issues that we’re concerned about as well as some of the exciting possibilities this new technology might bring. More than anything, we try to figure out if this time is really different or just one more “the sky is falling” worry about technology that won’t pan out.
(Video 2) Why Do We Teach Academic Writing?
To figure out what harm (or assistance) AI writing might give us in teaching academic writing, we need a solid understanding of why we’re teaching it in the first place!
While I loved this entire conversation, I have to admit that this part was my favorite! One thing I think AI writing is doing that’s positive is forcing us to really grapple with some tough questions about what our learners need to know and why. It’s work we should have been doing anyway, but now we can’t avoid it!
(Video 3) AI Tools and Neurodivergent Learners
The secular homeschooling community is overrepresented by neurodivergent learners (and often their parents, too). In fact, I’m a neurodivergent parent homeschooling two neurodivergent kids myself!
AI tools offer some potential for accommodations that could be extremely helpful for neurodivergent conditions that make writing a struggle. We dive into some of those possibilities here.
(Video 4) Can AI Writing Tools Be Used Ethically?
The big question that’s hanging over a lot of educators’ heads is how to figure out the ethics of this new tech (and whatever is coming next).
We don’t have all the answers, but we sure had a lot to say to try to figure out what questions we should be asking!
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