JUPITER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL – When interviewing Gideon Douglas (Senior), Manuel Villar (Senior) and Nicky Arcaro (Freshman) on the topic of AI in the classroom, I got several opinions, some similar and some different. This article will take a dive into how some students use AI in the classroom and how AI has affected them.
Gideon says, “When AI is used correctly, to be a beneficial thing, it can help enhance students’ learning.” He also stated that “AI is mostly used to cheat.” Manny mentioned that the majority of students use AI to get the answers for work they do not understand and this is the major problem with students using AI. When AI, a tool that can be used to benefit and enhance student learning, is instead used to get answers easily, like answering math questions, students do not understand how to get the answers themselves, and no real learning happens. In real life, you will not always have AI in your pocket to get the right answer for you. Some situations it just will not be able to help. “Students should be taught to use AI as a tool to help them,” says Nicky. “Look at the main problem; no one is teaching kids how to use AI the right way, and instead they are just telling kids not to use it.”
If students were taught how to use AI as a tool, then they would not be using it to cheat. Nicky says when writing essays, he uses AI to help him create an outline, so that when filling out the information it is easier for him. What students need from teachers is to be taught the things they do not know or understand. A student can have AI at their fingertips and not know how to truly use it, but if they were taught how to use it instead of being disciplined when they do, then they will learn to thrive with the new tools that they are being faced with.
Because of schools being so against using AI, teachers now have to use programs like Turnitin.com, an AI and plagiarism checker, which often is frustrating to the student. If the checker is to high you get points off. If the checker is low then your assignment is fine. However, sometimes even when not using AI the assignment still shows a high similarity score.
Overall, students should be provided with an opportunity to learn how to use AI and upcoming challenges to their benefit instead of being disciplined when they do. AI is not the problem; it is how the students use it. And if they aren’t being shown how to use it properly, then they will use it as the easiest way out.
