Teach Secondary – July 2023
English | 86 pages | pdf | 26.14 MB
Welcome at Teach Secondary Magazine July 2023 issue
Now this might just be me, but since the widespread adoption of social media it feels like the lifecycle of new ‘revolutionary technologies’ (or ‘novel software applications’ in most cases) follow a common pattern.
First, breathless claims are made as to the technology’s potential power and capacity to transform entire industries at a stroke. We’ll then often see the launch of low-level, consumer-facing implementations of said technology, which only serve to get people even more excited about its future capabilities (never mind what it’s actually capable of in the here and now).
Some companies might then form, or move into the space from elsewhere, and some may profit handsomely – right up until people’s interest starts to wane and the next hot new technology appears on the horizon. I direct readers to NFTs/the blockchain, virtual reality, the broader concept of the metaverse and now – maybe – artificial intelligence.
Without wanting to rehash Gareth Sturdy’s article on p14, it seems we’re deep in the ‘low level implementation’ phase where AI is concerned, with ChatGPT and other large language model concept tools having been let loose in the wild and put to all manner of strange uses.
Impressive though some of these tools are (not least their ability to complete homework tasks to an acceptable standard on students’ behalf – more on which next issue), we mustn’t lose sight of what what it is they actually do – that is, process huge volumes of existing data (much of it drawn from existing, and often copyrighted original works) and then at the prompting of a human user, make that data seem new again by reformulating and re-presenting it to us in a way that we can readily comprehend and understand.
What they don’t presently do is demonstrate much in the way of machine-sourced imagination or originality – and yet, how often have we heard claims that AI has the potential (there’s that word again) to one day replace qualified teaching staff? That remains highly unlikely, for the simple reason that teaching is a creative endeavour.
Building schemes of work, charting new paths through the curriculum, analysing concepts from multiple angles, responding to questions with engaging answers; these all require quick-thinking and originality of thought, rather than simply drawing on what’s gone before. If AI can assist for now with labour-intensive assessment tasks, that’s great. But the actual teaching?
The professionals have already got that one covered, thanks…
Enjoy the magazine issue,
Callum Fauser
[email protected]
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