PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Amazing achievements and sensational success stories abound in our second issue of Community for 2023. In this edition, you’ll read about some of Term 1’s finest moments, like these:

• Our swimmers have made the college very proud in the School Sport Victoria Swimming Championships at every stage. 
• Students in Years 9–12 learned about music, mutual respect, and more at Seminar Days.
• Functions at both the Enright and Mercy campuses provided opportunities for parents and teachers to connect.
• We came together to celebrate our faith at the Ash Wednesday Liturgy and welcomed new students and staff at our Opening Mass.
• Students have savoured new learning experiences on several fascinating excursions.
• Everyone made a big splash at the Swimming Carnival.

We hope you enjoy reading about all the excellent goings-on over the past few weeks of the Year of Excellence.

A Modern Challenge

As summer drew to a close, schools all over Australia realised that they would face a new challenge in 2023: artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.

The most well-known of these, ChatGPT, quickly became popular and made headlines. It is free to use and can write everything from essays to poetry with varying degrees of success. 

Almost immediately, some educators raised concerns about students using AI to cheat on assignments and online tests. Others cautioned against overreacting, citing the introduction of Wikipedia and the internet itself as recent examples of supposed threats to education and learning.

In Australia, government schools in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Western Australia have blocked access to ChatGPT via their servers, citing the platform’s Terms of Use which state that users must be at least 18 years old. (Though on 14 March the age limit was changed to 13.)

Whatever your feelings on AI, it is here to stay. Some teachers report that exposing work authored by AI is surprisingly easy at this stage. In the future, teachers and schools may need to structure coursework differently to foil those who would cheat, as well as use software to detect AI-generated text in addition to plagiarism. 

Will any software ever keep up with the rapidly moving world of artificial intelligence? –Even with tools to detect AI-produced work, it is up to parents and teachers to explain the difference between right and wrong. Students need to understand the value of personal integrity and what taking ownership of one’s work truly means.

At St Joseph’s College, our class sizes mean that teachers become familiar with each student’s work and level of ability. Teachers also have access to materials they can use to learn more about the world of AI and how it can affect the classroom.

Young people are often more curious and quicker to adopt new and exciting technology. It is up to us to show them the correct and ethical way to use AI chatbots, then inform them of the possible consequences of their misuse. When all is said and done, we need to trust our young adults to act responsibly and do the right thing. 

God Bless

Mrs Marg Blythman

College Principal