After being both an instructor and student in a time of advanced technology, I’ve come to believe that technology is quite the double-edged sword. Compare technology to roommates or box cutters if you will: both can go from helpful to horrible in a matter of minutes. But what’s so helpful and what’s so horrible about technology? 

That depends on where you’re positioned in the classroom and on the choices you make behind your screen. Keep going, there’s light at the end of this tunnel. 

To support this discussion, I held an anonymous survey in class where my undergraduate Business Communication students answered a few questions on OpenAI’s ChatGPT, where you can paste a full assignment and the AI will form a well written response (and a different response each time). Here, are a few interesting findings: 

15% of 13 students said they have used ChatGPT before. 

46% of 13 would use it if they were very low on time.

23% of 13 would use it if they needed more of an explanation. 

 

Out of all the questions my students answered, I chose to focus on the highlighted 2 because they are scenarios in which students might use this AI and we can therefore discuss ways to minimize the above numbers. 

“Only if I’m low on time”

Being low on time can mean two things:

• The instructor wasn’t transparent about a due date (that’s on us)
• You’re a procrastinator (please watch this TEDTalk if so) 

In both cases, we need to be thinking about ways that we can support our students through unclear deadlines & procrastination. Knowing the reasons behind a problem makes the solution clearer. One possible method that can help with procrastination is allowing students time in class to write and expecting to see some sort of outcome of that time in class (where you’ll be around for questions, which brings us to the second set of responses). 

“Only If i need a better explanation” 

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with not understanding an assignment from the very time it’s introduced, it happens to the best of us. Sometimes, a raised hand isn’t an option in front of a full class, could ChatGPT be the solution? Of course not. We’re the solution, we wrote those assignment sheets and we’re the ones grading them, so it’s up to us to set clear expectations and make sure everyone is on board. Here are some quick ideas that might be helpful:

• Hold an anonymous Q&A after every major assignment discussion. Ask students to write down questions on paper, make a list for the next class and answer questions together as a class. 
• During quiet time in class, approach students individually and check in, many students prefer to ask in private or when the instructor is at their desk as opposed to the board. 

The Light 

I promised some light at the end of this tunnel, and here it is. Collaboration. In the article “The Rhetoric, Science, and Technology of 21st C Collaboration” by Ann Hill Duin, Jason

Tham, and Isabel Pederson, the authors mention that “When students work in cross-functional teams to support others through cross pollination of knowledge and skills, they offer different perspectives to spur innovation and challenge conventional practices “ (174)

When focusing on the negatives of technology, we often forget to give credit to everything positive that we also receive. With collaborative platforms and tools, our students have the ability to test future work environments, get more done when they’re sick or dealing with family emergencies, and grow closer to their classmates in a space they’re comfortable in. 

 

Below are some  collaboration methods/platforms that might help you get started with using technology positively in your classroom:

• Start a GroupMe chat (easy communication between students-instructor or student-student)
• Create a OneDrive or GoogleDrive for the class and give students access. 
• On Introduction day, introduce these features and make sure everyone is comfortable using them. 
• Practice peer review virtually and allow students to experiment with leaving each other comments. 
• Give students different options of communication during group work, allowing them to choose their favorite option. 

The use and misuse of technology in the classroom really comes down to a choice. Choose to promote technology in your classroom in a way that accompanies student growth and success, I’m here to help if you have questions!