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AI’s Potential in Special Education: A Researcher’s View

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A researcher shares ways he’s used generative AI tools effectively with special education students. And what not to do.

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How School Leaders Can Pave the Way for Productive Use of AI

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Leveraging technology to advance teaching and learning promotes a culture of inquiry at school.

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Rather than forbid students to use artificial intelligence, an English teacher shows them how they can use it in ways that support their learning.

I work at a very tech-savvy high school. When artificial intelligence (AI) splashed into the field of education, I fervently told my students that using any AI website would be considered plagiarism, and they needed to stay away from it. I felt my statements were validated when the university I worked with announced that there would be serious academic consequences if students used AI. Despite this, I eventually came to the conclusion that artificial intelligence is here to stay, and there was no way I could keep my students off of it. I soon decided that I needed to change my way of thinking and view artificial intelligence as another tool in my teacher toolbox.

In March 2023, I decided to pause teaching my students my regular curriculum. I wanted to teach my students how to use AI responsibly. I also wanted to experiment with several websites and see what my students and I could learn. Because I took that time, I now know how to effectively teach my students how to use these tools and how they can avoid the pitfalls of plagiarism.

Because AI is constantly changing, it's important to note that it's impossible for teachers to stay caught up with the newest websites and trends. Though I teach high school English, I believe that these assignments listed below can be easily adapted for any subject in a secondary school.

While these assignments are now considered an essential part of my teaching curriculum, I expect them to change as the technology becomes more sophisticated. Overall, this is a good place for any teacher to start developing good practices in regard to artificial intelligence.

7 AI Questions That Students Should Be Able to Answer

1. How do I find out if sources generated by AI are legitimate? Students were given a prompt that asked the AI platform to generate several sources cited in MLA format. They had to then find the sources on their own to see if they were valid.

2. What is paraphrasing, and when does it cross the line? Students were taught what paraphrasing was and were given several passages to practice with. They then took the reading passage and asked ChatGPT to paraphrase it.

3. What is good and bad feedback? Students put in old essays and asked for feedback. We talked about how to tell good advice from bad.

4. How do I check for bias in AI-generated material? Students learned about bias in writing, and I gave them examples of AI-generated work. They had to find words or phrases that were considered biased.

5. What are the pros and cons of artificial intelligence? Students read several articles about the pros and cons of AI. Because the literature surrounding AI is so vast, we had a Socratic seminar in class where we talked about the ethics of AI.

6. When is it cheating? At the end of the week, I told my students to write a new plagiarism policy for the school. Though it was a theoretical assignment, my students carefully articulated what we learned and how it could be applied to the school as a whole.

7. What are AI detectors, and how do they work? I explained the tools I have at my disposal to catch AI-related plagiarism. I showed them how Turnitin works and walked them through the AI feature. I also showed them how GPTZero works.

Things I Learned

Teachers should focus on one to two AI websites. At this point, there are countless websites that are geared toward attracting the attention of students and teachers. I focused solely on ChatGPT because they have a free version. But you should know that the free version is less sophisticated than the paid one.

Popular AI websites like ChatGPT are likely blocked at your school site. That is why I had to prepare beforehand and present the students with the AI-generated examples. A majority of my students also had cell phones that I allowed them to use as well.

I would only teach these assignments with upper-class students. Because we talk about the ethics of academic integrity, students need to demonstrate a level of maturity in order to be successful in this.

Because I didn't want my students to see these assignments as a free pass to use AI all the time, I constantly reminded them that the things they saw on AI websites would be useless if they did not have preexisting knowledge about the subject already in their heads. I pointed out that they wouldn't know what bad writing looked like if they didn't have knowledge of good writing in the first place.

Assessing How Things Went

Based on the results I saw after this unit, I would classify it as a success. Now my students ask me questions before they use an AI website. Because I was open about AI and its benefits, my students now feel free to approach me with their questions and concerns about the technology. Additionally, AI-related plagiarism cases have decreased in my classroom. When it does happen, students cannot claim that they didn't know.

Adding these lessons has also changed how I view AI. Today, I see it as a valuable tool for me to use as a teacher. I incorporate it into my lesson planning and constantly share what I learn with my students.

Moving forward, it's essential for administrators and teachers to engage in productive conversations about artificial intelligence and the role it now plays in education. To be effective educational institutions, we must adapt to the world of technology and learn how we can use it to positively impact our students. As the technology develops for students, it is also essential that it develop for the teachers as well. Teachers must be armed with effective AI detectors to discourage plagiarism and general student misuse.

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Teaching Students How to Use AI Responsibly

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Rather than forbid students to use artificial intelligence, an English teacher shows them how they can use it in ways that support their learning.

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The American Library Association’s Banned Books Week is a time to pay special homage to censored books.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching

An interaction with a student prompts an elementary teacher to revamp her classroom library to make it more inclusive.

The library is the physical and metaphorical center of my classroom. It is a reading world adorned with a carpet, comfy chairs, a lamp, and bins of neatly organized books. When I remember my own childhood, I picture a colorful tapestry woven by the hundreds of worlds I visited through the pages of books.

Imagine my surprise when one of my students commented about what I thought was a magical space, "I'm tired of reading about white kids."

She followed this with a reminder that I, her teacher, am also not white. I was taken aback. More than 60 percent of my students are individuals of color. My library featured white characters almost exclusively. What schema was I helping to create for my students? I decided to make a change.

Start With What You Have

I began by making bins around the subjects I intended to cover. Make the bins you want to fill, even if they have only one book in them.

I already owned some books about characters from diverse ethnic backgrounds, but they were hidden-mixed in with other chapter books in bins marked with reading levels. I pulled every book out of the bins and made a pile on the floor. I weeded out books about people of color written by white authors and books that reinforce stereotypes, like The Indian in the Cupboard.

Look for topics that can be covered by your existing titles. You might need to start without much in the way of cultural diversity. Examples of such topics include Caring for Others, Be Yourself, Accepting Differences, Standing Up for What's Right, and Girls Are Powerful.

Involve Your Students

One student took the first bin and labeled it Books About Asian Americans. It was followed by Books About African Americans. Per student requests, we made bins for a variety of cultural groups and labeled them Chinese American Girls, Native Americans, and Kids Who Recently Moved to the U.S.

Although the majority of bins were focused on ethnicity, students also made bins for themes and topics such as disabilities, different types of families, foster care, and divorce.

Ask your students to suggest books. Keep a list in your library and have students find books they want to read.

Choose Relatable Stories

We're careful when choosing the books for the bins. I want contemporary books written about contemporary issues. I want students to feel proud and accepted-to see other children who struggle to find a voice, and who have dreams and challenges like their own. I carefully distinguish between realistic fiction and historical fiction.

Imagine if the only time you read a book about someone who looked like you, it was about slavery-and it was the only book in your classroom library to represent you. Or the book was about an internment camp. Yes, we need to remember this history. But these historical accounts should not be the only books that a student sees in the library that reflect his or her background.

Continue the Momentum

Creating a diverse library is an ongoing project. I found many diverse books at library sales and at secondhand stores like Goodwill. When I found multiple copies of the same book, I bought them all, including seven copies of Becoming Naomi Leon.

When it was time to replenish books through PTA or classroom funds, I made a concerted effort to buy culturally inclusive books. My library began slowly shifting. There are many resources to find diverse reading materials.

Make your space reflective of your intentions. In your library, get rid of decorations that do not have a function. Hang posters of African American writers, Native American poets, or Mexican American novelists.

Suggest that the school library start a special section for culturally inclusive books. I had many conversations with our school librarian about ways to build a more diverse collection.

Student Engagement and Self-Esteem

It was a big deal when our diverse classroom library began taking shape. Students took care of our bins and worked to find other books that could be included. Books previously unread- Year of the Dog, for example-were suddenly hot commodities. We had a waitlist for books by Pam Muñoz Ryan and Louise Erdrich.

Students began caring for books-holding each other accountable for returning them properly and for taking care of the organizational systems of our library. The classroom library was "our library." It was a place of pride in our individual and collective stories.

"I think it's good," the student told me later when I interviewed her about our library. "It's good except for..." and she pointed to the one book bin that was empty: Books About Girls From Senegal. That was a bin, she assured me with her bright grin, she was going to fill one day.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching An interaction with a student prompts an elementary teacher to revamp her classroom library to make it more inclusive. The library is the physical and metaphorical center of my classroom. It is a reading world adorned with a carpet, comfy chairs, a lamp, and bins of neatly organized books.

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What’s in Trump’s New Executive Orders on Indoctrination and School Choice

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The White House has no authority over curriculum, and no ability to unilaterally pull back federal dollars, but Trump is toeing the line.

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COMMENTARY: How to resist Trump’s order imposing classroom censorship and discrimination

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Schools, educators and communities should not rush to voluntarily comply with this likely unconstitutional and unlawful order.