Artificial intelligence or AI-based chatbot ChatGPT has taken the entire world on the spin with its accuracy in text generation. Taking heed to its growing use among school students, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) prohibited its' use in the upcoming class 10 and 12 board exams. The use of ChatGPT will amount to using unfair means in the exam, the board officials said. A large language model, ChatGPT generates human-like text based on a given prompt or context. It can do most of the text-generation tasks that involve natural language for communication. The tool compiles information available online to form a response to a given prompt. With its open-source interface, experts have raised questions about its impact on the education industry, especially with school kids who can access the app for completing their assignments. “The app can also hamper the creative thinking and research skills of students,” is what several experts are arguing. However, not all educators believe that ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) threatens student creativity and observation skills AI tools are here to stay Vishnu Karthik, Director of Heritage Group of Schools believes that the use of internet tools in school education is not new. “For years, students have used online resources to cut corners as they complete homework assignments. In response, educators have had to adapt to these challenges and design assessments that can bypass the use of such tools. ChatGPT is just an advanced version of these tools which cuts short the search time. Instead of seeking a curb on its use, we should guide students to use it in a productive manner,” Karthik said. The Heritage Xperiential Learning School, Gurugram is conducting a one-month workshop where students have been allowed to use ChatGPT in the best way possible. The school is also encouraging its faculty to get their hands on this tool to understand its capabilities. “Post one month we will run a feedback survey with students and teachers and based on it, the students will be guided on its usage. It is important to acquaint the young generation with new technologies and let them explore them. AI tools are here to stay. They will improve and become increasingly important across disciplines. In the long run, schools may therefore need to re-evaluate their teaching mission,” he added. Easing Covid impact on students learning Covid-19 impacted students' learning and communication skills, given the extended school closure of approximately two years and online classes. Teachers believe that this created a communication gap between them and the students. Many children shy away from interacting with the teachers. For such students, ChatGPT is helping them learn without interaction. Dr Nehal Sharma, the parent of an 11-year-old boy, shared that his son is enjoying learning through this tool and is also improving his English writing skills. “Given the pandemic, my son spent most of his time alone with computers as I and my husband who is also a doctor had to go for Covid duties. This limited his interaction with humans and which also impacted his learning when he joined the school. Even if he had doubts about lessons, he would avoid taking them up to the teacher. With ChatGPT, he can now ask for an explanation in simple language. An informed use of this tool can help students but it cannot be seen as a substitute for a teacher,” Dr Sharma said. Juhi Dabra, an English teacher at MRG School, Rohini also seconds the thought. “ChatGPT is a double-edged sword. If used wisely, it can help students in research and brainstorming. For students who are facing confidence and communication problems in the post-Covid times, this tool can be of great help. At our school, we encourage students to the informed and limited usage of this tool,” Dabra said. Impact on creative thinking skills of students While it may pose a saviour for pandemic-affected kids, the bigger threat that teachers believe is the harm it may cause to a student's creative writing skills. “In English subject, essays have been the centre of humanistic pedagogy for generations. It is the way we teach children how to research, think, and write. That entire tradition is about to be disrupted from the ground up. With its accuracy and creativity in text generation, students may refer to ChatGPT for an easy way out. Therefore, we, as teachers have to look out for better ways to transform our assignments,” Sanchita, PGT English at Pacific World School said. Meanwhile, several teachers have identified their students using the tool to do their homework and how it may pose a challenge to identify it in future given the accuracy in language. “One of my class 9 student wrote an essay for homework which I could make out was definitely not his own effort. Upon asking, the student confessed that he used ChatGPT to create an essay. What amused me was the language accuracy this tool provides and on command, it can also write an essay from a 12-year-old perspective. It’s amazing yet alarming if more students in the class would be using this tool to do assignments,” Doreen Catherine Batra, English Teacher at Global Indian International School, Bengaluru said. ChatGPT - an advantage for teachers? While educators are apprehensive of ChatGPT’s use for students, many teachers reckon that ChatGPT has the potential to significantly impact the way teaching is conducted by leveraging its advanced capabilities in the same way that computers and the internet have in the past. Deepa Sharma, HOD, Computer Science at Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Ghaziabad said that a fundamental understanding of the subject matter is crucial for effectively utilising its capabilities. “In a course like computers, where students are required to work with data and codes, ChatGPT can be particularly beneficial. It allows for a reduction in time spent on tedious tasks such as troubleshooting, which can be a source of frustration for students. This enables me as a teacher to focus more on the critical analysis models and reports, leading to a deeper understanding of the subject for students,” Sharma said. “As teachers, this tool is an additional asset for us as it can deduce any complex topic into the simplest language. It becomes easier to teach complex topics in a class by quoting ChatGPT-generating texts. For English teachers, it is easier to create question papers and or summaries for students. However, it is not well-suited for tasks that require logic, specialised knowledge, or up-to-date information. Therefore, teachers can easily differentiate between the right and wrong information which students might not be able to.” Doreen Catherine Batra, of Global Indian International School, Bengaluru said.
