Publish at March 20 2024 Updated March 20 2024
The arrival of artificial intelligence in education came more suddenly than some had anticipated. The democratization of this technology, with ChatGPT, Gemini and many others, has left the educational community stunned, as it had not anticipated this potential arrival. How do you juggle a tool that can write, summarize and answer questions in a matter of seconds?
The initial reaction was one of mistrust. The technique would become an easy way for learners to cheat, substantially reducing their cognitive efforts. Then, teachers realized some of the limitations and errors in the answers... while at the same time realizing that the tool could make their lives easier by helping them to create teaching activities or tests. Little by little, the discourse is changing in relation to AI, and it is no longer inconceivable for teachers to use it to create material in preparation for final exams.
So, if teachers can create material, so can learners, who can make conversational robots partners in subject revision. This can be achieved in a variety of ways. It all depends on what the user needs:
All these elements are possible, as long as you clearly formulate what you want, and even specify if the algorithm doesn't quite answer what's being asked. Of course, these technological solutions are also capable of easily creating flashcards to review principles over and over again. In fact, this AI-driven content generation can be seen in applications such as Wooflash, which uses it to produce content, or Wisdolia, which can compose flashcards with visuals in just a few clicks, whenever possible.
ChatGPT, for example, now offers the option of integrating voice and images into conversations. As a result, students are able to hear a foreign language and communicate with it using the robot. Those more comfortable listening to questions than reading them could ask the application to orally ask them various questions about the subject.
In this way, the school system's view of artificial intelligence is changing from one of great mistrust to one of partnership. In France, we've even moved up a gear with MIA Seconde, an AI developed by a French gazelle in 2017. MIA is the acronym for "Modules interactifs adaptatifs". The idea is to offer children and teenagers free adaptive educational solutions, and to do so from the start of the 2024 school year.
The program will initially offer 20,000 exercises. The student will take a placement test, after which the AI will use a reinforcement algorithm to evolve with the student. For the time being, this will not be compulsory, and will focus solely on French and mathematics.
This approach to revision and learning is in line with certain classes where the use of ChatGPT and others is permitted to prepare for bac exams. Students use it to synthesize their ideas and write critically. What's more, the teachers we interviewed stressed that the tools are already available, whereas their role is to show the possibilities, but also the limits, of AI in their work. This is in line with the article we wrote on the subject of AI in the classroom. It has to make sense, and teachers are there, among others, to go beyond simple uses.
Because the possibility of constantly using it as a crutch is a danger to be avoided. Technology can help, but it must not prevent the user from reflecting on, reviewing, modifying and making proper use of what the algorithm regurgitates. All the more so as we know the problems associated with sometimes erroneous content, non-existent human curation of responses and intellectual property infringements.
In this way, AI can support both teachers and students in the revision of knowledge. It can even provide adapted content. But this takes work, whether it's in what's written, in forcing the AI to formulate or reformulate aspects, and so on.
Image: GaudiLab / DepositPhotos
References
Chance, Tyler, and Kristin Petrowske. "Using AI to help students prepare for the SAT." Edutopia. Last updated November 9, 2023. https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-ai-sat-prep-lessons/.
Chapple, Mike. "The Pros and cons of using AI tools to prepare for your next certification exam." Certification Magazine. last updated January 13, 2024. https://www.certmag.com/articles/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-ai-tools-to-prepare-for-your-next-certification-exam.
"The future is here: How artificial intelligence can help you with your studies." IvyPanda. last updated August 11, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/blog/the-future-is-here-how-artificial-intelligence-can-improve-your-studies/.
"How to ace your exams with AI-powered study techniques." Brain Buddy. last updated May 2, 2023. https://brain-buddy.com/tutorial/how-to-ace-your-exams-ai-powered-study-and-revision-techniques/.
"How university students can leverage AI to revolutionize test preparation." College Tools: AI Homework Solver. Last updated November 28, 2023. https://www.collegetools.io/blog/how-university-students-can-leverage-ai-to-revolutionize-test-preparation.
Jonniaux, Amandine. "After allowing students to cheat, this AI helps them revise for their bac." Journal Du Geek. Last updated January 26, 2024. https://www.journaldugeek.com/2024/01/26/apres-avoir-permis-aux-eleves-de-tricher-cette-ia-les-aide-a-reviser-leur-bac/.
Maillé, Pablo. "Government bets on AI to get high school students to revise." Usbek & Rica. last updated January 15, 2024. https://usbeketrica.com/fr/article/le-gouvernement-mise-sur-l-ia-pour-faire-reviser-les-lyceens.
Pineau, Camille. "This little-known feature on ChatGPT lets you learn your lessons much faster and with less effort." Le Figaro Etudiant. last updated November 14, 2023. https://etudiant.lefigaro.fr/vos-etudes/vie-etudiante/35434-fonctionnalite-chatgpt/.
"Wisdolia." Aiexplorer.io. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://aiexplorer.io/outils/wisdolia/.
Wooflash. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://www.wooflash.com/fr/wooflash-intelligence-artificielle.
Zitouni, Océane. "Chat GPT: to revise for their Bac, high school students in La Mayenne use artificial intelligence." France Bleu Et France 3. Last updated June 8, 2023. https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/education/chat-gpt-pour-reviser-leur-bac-des-lyceens-de-la-mayenne-utilisent-l-intelligence-artificielle-8011403.
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