I’ve just finished my 18th year of teaching, seventeen as a high school English teacher. One would think I’d be feeling rather settled in by now, especially with the last ten at the same school. It isn’t the case.
This is, of course, because of AI. It has been a discouraging year. I’ve spent the past several months reading and listening to all I can on the subject, talking with colleagues and peers, wrestling with how to move forward, what that should look like.
One conversation that has lingered is Ezra Klein’s with Rebecca Winthrop. They discuss how AI might impact education, how screens have impacted student learning over the past few decades, and the inability of students to not just read entire texts but to engage in any concentrated activity for a length of time. (One salient point: Klein points out that the tech executives he has been acquainted with will spend significant money to send their kids to device-free private schools.)
Here are a few humble guesses for how AI might impact secondary and post-secondary education moving forward:
Colleges: Who attends and what they attend for will dramatically change.
If the reasons for attending college have been (1) to acquire a credential, (2) to socialize, and (3) to gain an actual education, the first reason will become significantly less meaningful if employers assume students forged their way through. If AI makes it possible for students to have more time for the second reason, they will take it. And smaller schools that attract students for the third reason may actually increase enrollment in the years ahead.
There will be a greater divide between the academic tracks that high school students pursue.
This will be related to the above bullet point about colleges. If college becomes less meaningful, or is no longer a significant route to middle-class employment, fewer students will pursue a college-prep track while in high school.
More students will pursue vocational or work-based learning earlier in school than in current and previous generations.
This is more of an observation and not a value judgment; I’m a believer in the vocational trades.
Many students will work ever more doggedly to have AI complete their assignments, as detection tools improve and more instructors catch on.
Some subjects might make extensive use of AI tools in the classroom (possibly math and the mathematical sciences, business courses, data analysis).
And the change that seems the hardest to fathom (considering the direction education has gone the past two decades, including both during and after COVID) will be the disappearance of computers in the classroom.
Computers might be all but absent from English, Social Studies, and Modern Language classes moving forward, possibly as early as the next few years.
It could also be that computers are still present but their use drastically altered. Possibly just for secure browser access.
One benefactor of the increase in AI: Blue Books, those old examination handbooks students had to handwrite their responses, including in essay form.
Some will argue that Humanities classes will become less relevant in the years ahead.
I disagree.
I think how we assess and what we teach will change, but the critical thinking, analysis, communication, and argumentation skills that Humanities courses ask of students will become more relevant in the years ahead.
Some questions that such courses could consider:
When is it appropriate to allow robots to do and think for us, and when not?
What jobs are we willing to allow to be replaced by technology and automation, and what jobs should we fight for?
What role will healthcare professionals have in determining a course of care? How reliant will/should they be on the use of AI in making such decisions?
What role should the government play in monitoring and limiting the role of technology in our lives?
Can LLMs use individual writing or artwork without permission?
How has human life been impacted by social media and the presence of screens?
What are the foundational elements of a healthy community? Family? Human life?
Should “efficiency” be viewed as an asset? Are there times when it is better to be inefficient, to go slower?
What will make us happy?
What is it about being human that we should never relinquish?
As an instructor, I need to be able to see my students’ own, original thinking, and to know it is theirs. If students depart our classrooms capable of thinking deeply and intelligently, they can learn to utilize AI in their given field.
At my most sunlit moments, I think we may have a new Renaissance, where what makes us human will be sought after and celebrated, will be pursued with renewed vigor, because of the real and perceived threat that it could be lost in the very near future.
Miscellany
Computers as management tools
One unintended consequence of one-to-one technology in the classroom is how it can be used as a classroom management tool (in teacher-speak, keeping the distracted or disengaged students engaged). I generally have fewer “disturbances” in the classroom because of laptops, though this doesn’t mean students are engaged. Without vigilant monitoring (whether through proximity or use of online programs that allow us to see what students are doing on their computers), many students immediately go to YouTube, Gmail Chat, NYT games, or other online games. I know students are playing games when they are using their arrow keys.
And if schools are unable to afford access to high-quality databases for student research, how important will computers continue to be in the classroom, beyond word processing? There are certainly classes that utilize how-to videos for science, mathematics, and the arts, and many math classes utilize programs that provide instant feedback on student work. Maybe in such classes, the computer will continue to play an instrumental role in classroom instruction. But even here, I wonder how many instructors still see the pros outweighing the cons of one-to-one technology.
My Year with Jane
My year with Jane Austen continues. Last month, I re-read Persuasion, the final novel Austen finished in her lifetime. While it doesn’t have the humor of P&P or the dramatic transformation of Emma, its effect lingers. It has a subtle depth and a more sincere consideration of what our lives can be than earlier work, and it celebrates the beauty of second chances.
I also finished Miss Austen, the Masterpiece series based on Gill Hornby’s novel of the same name. The sisterly and familial relationships essential to Austen’s novels were on display, as were the pressures for women to marry. And most poignantly, the sacrifices required of our dearest and most loving relationships.
And I’m currently reading Sense and Sensibility for the first time as well as Jane Austen’s Hampshire by Terry Townsend, a gift from my sweet and supportive parents.
I am a month out from my UK adventure, and I do not currently have Jane’s family home in Chawton on the itinerary (I’m not sure I can make the transportation work), but the idea of not visiting is taking on additional weight. We shall see.
As always, thank you for reading.
No wise words from me, just thinking how fortunate your students are to have such a thoughtful and intentional teacher and advocate.
I finally had a minute to sit down and read this as (obviously) this is something we both deal and care greatly about. Thank you so much for articulating so many shared thoughts in such a great way!