Since its launch in late 2022, ChatGPT has dominated much of the discourse around technology in education. Indeed, on this very platform, we have seen many blog posts on the topic (‘ChatGPT won’t replace me’ and ‘How might chatbox technology impact on education and training?’). Over the past few months, I have been experimenting with ChatGPT and in this blog post, I hope to share some examples of how it can be used to reduce your workload as a teacher. I will also highlight how the learning experiences of students can be broadened in the process.
Chat GPT for Science
The resources and planning involved in organising scientific investigations and experiments can often be a deterrent for those seeking to cover the area. With specific instructions, ChatGPT has given me numerous suitable experiments mapped to our curriculum. Sometimes, it can be useful to include the equipment you have at your disposal within the instructions (to ensure suitable investigations are provided). In the examples provided below, you will see how Chat GPT can populate suitable activities and lists all the required resources. The second image shows how an alternative activity is provided when a curricular skill (‘design and make’) is included in the instructions. These prompts can be altered to include other skills like ‘estimating and measuring’ or ‘recording and communicating’)
Chat GPT for Disciplinary Literacy
Those of you who have engaged with the suite of resources from Webinar 7 of the Primary Language Curriculum series will be familiar with the term ‘disciplinary literacy’. In order for students to engage with this, they need to be provided with multiple text types on other subject areas. ChatGPT offers huge potential for sourcing these. As part of a unit of work on the American Revolution, I was able to generate conversations between protagonists which could be reenacted through a fictional dramatic lens. Additionally, ChatGPT could be used to create speeches or fictional social media posts from people living in an area.
Chat GPT for Assessments
I have also found ChatGPT useful for creating questions that can be easily inputted to either a Google or Microsoft Form for quiz-based assessments. Below you will see two examples of how a class novel can be used in this way. There is also the scope to extend this further and specify the particular comprehension strategy you want the series of questions to focus on (in this case, inferring).
Whilst this has only been a very brief overview of the ways in which I have used ChatGPT to assist my own teaching, I hope it will inspire those yet to try it out to give it a go. There really are a myriad of ways in which it can make our lives easier as teachers. Please feel free to share any ways in which you have been using it below.