“The rise of generative AI has had a great impact on my work as a history teacher. My first prompt and ChatGPT’s eerily accurate answer made me realise: I want to do something with this, I have to do something with this.” The technology proved not only impressive, but also disruptive. It touched directly on the core of educational practice: how teachers phrase assignments, how students deal with them and how teachers fulfil their role. Homework, practical assignments; AI meant that everything had to be re-examined.
Speaking: teacher in residence Puk
Puk van der Zwalum is a history teacher at the Udens College. He teaches secondary school pupils in the upper classes of HAVO and VWO. Next to that, he is teacher in residence at NOLAI and involved in the AI technology focus area. He tries to bridge the gap between everyday teaching practices and new technologies for his colleagues in education.
I hope that we can restore the feeling of control, so teachers once again feel that AI works for education.
Feeling of control
The confrontation with AI raised many questions and concerns, both for Puk and his colleagues. “I work at a secondary school. Every pupil uses AI, especially generative AI, in a very uncontrolled manner. Each teacher notices and knows it. That brings with it a feeling of loss of control. I hope that we can restore the feeling of control a bit through what we are doing here at NOLAI, so teachers once again feel that AI works for education, rather than us having to react to all the developments that receive a lot of attention in the world of AI.”
Reassurance
Many teachers feel overwhelmed by the speed of the developments. They are searching for answers and feel uncertain about how to proceed, finding it daunting to get started. Puk: “Colleagues feel overwhelmed and that causes a great deal of unrest. Precisely because they want to continue to do their work well. I try to reassure them: you don’t have to understand or use everything immediately. And trust the developments that are taking place at universities and among researchers.”
Guidance
At the same time, AI presents opportunities, provided it is used consciously. Puk: “In my lessons, I let pupils experiment with AI tools. At first, it was about AI literacy: what can you use it for, what are the advantages, can you recognise the mistakes, the bias? It is important that pupils learn not only how they can use AI, but also why, and what the possible consequences are. When pupils are working with ChatGPT now, I try to give them a bit more guidance and make them aware of the risks. But also, for example, of the environmental impact due to the enormous energy consumption of some AI models. Such awareness is crucial to strengthen their critical thinking skills in a time when technology is becoming increasingly decisive.”
Hopeful outlook
Puk tries to bridge the gap between this new technology and everyday educational practices for his colleagues. “I advise my colleagues: experiment with it because pupils are doing it as well. Know what is going on, but don’t go insane over it.” AI evokes both fascination and resistance among teachers. It is important to make room for critical reflection, and NOLAI contributes to this. Puk: “I hope that what we are doing here at NOLAI will restore the feeling that AI works for education. NOLAI provides a hopeful outlook: AI will not remain a hype, but will eventually actually support the development of both pupils and teachers.”
Contact information
- Organizational unit
- National Education Lab AI (NOLAI)
- Theme
- Artificial intelligence (AI)