From the Leadership Team
In early March, I wrote an Anchor article about AI and in particular ChatGPT as it had started to come into the consciousness of society. This area is still one that ignites passionate discussion, as it should.
I thought that you may be interested in some of the big question discussions that are being had within the teaching staff and leadership teams.
Here are just a few of them:
- How can AI be used without breaching academic integrity rules to enhance student learning?
- How can teachers use AI to improve and add efficiencies to their work?
- How is the data we add to AI algorithms being stored, mined, sold?
- To what extent could AI impact the development of critical thinking skills?
- To what extent can we interrogate the credibility of the sources used by the AI algorithm in the generation of its response?
- How can we be adjusting our assessment practices to verify the authenticity of a student's own work?
As you can imagine this is the tip of the iceberg!
This is indeed an exciting time in which to be living as we wrestle with a technology that may well be more significant than the development of the World Wide Web.
As noted in the list, one wrestle that has been started is the types and purposes of our current assessment methods. A story has been emerging for a while about human contributions in an world of automation and now machine learning.
For schools this prompts questions about what knowledge and skills are being taught and assessed, how and why.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority since the inception of the Australian Curriculum has been increasing the focus on the general capabilities and cross curricular priorities.
Distinctive to Endeavour College is the Vision for Learners which promotes learners who thrive at being Independent, Interdependent and able to take Collective Action for themselves and others. These personal attributes and their assessment, often termed `Learning beyond the academic’, are most visible currently in Care Group Connection.
The story continues now with the SACE board trialing the use of a Learner Profile to map both development and attainment of a series of learner capabilities.
How do educators teach, develop and assess the development of these very human capabilities?
Being fully articulate, aware and responsive "good humans" is what our world needs to navigate the complexities of our emerging experience. The role schools have to play in this is both significant and exciting!
Sandra Barry
Director of Learning