Enough AI Nonsense Already.....

It's no secret that Education is in an almost permanent state of flux. Recently, this has been exacerbated by a massive increase in ‘for-profit’ ideas and approaches peddled by everyone and anyone, all promoted as the next big thing…

The education sector constantly evolves, with new initiatives, ideas, and products inundating teachers' social media and networks. Amidst this whirlwind of change, it's no surprise that educators may feel overwhelmed. As someone who engages with teachers daily, I understand the resistance to embracing the "next big thing" in education. The prevailing sentiment is clear: let us teach. This resistance is understandable and essential, as it reflects a commitment to maintaining the integrity of classroom practices amidst the ever-changing educational landscape.

One significant factor currently impacting on teachers ability to ‘teach’ is the rise of artificial intelligence. Everything seems to be ‘AI-driven’ or ‘Supported by AI’ now. It's constant. You only have to look at your social media to see how immediate and overwhelming the AI adoption within Education appears to be, and yet if you have the same conversations with teachers that I have, the social media version of ‘AI-powered teaching’ and the reality of what is happening on the ground, don’t seem aligned.?

If you believe your feeds, AI has sprung up from nowhere and upended the traditional classroom dynamic. Teachers, formerly the primary source of knowledge, are now confronted with a rapidly advancing technology that seems to no longer be an option but a requirement. If you aren’t using it, what are you doing? There is always an early adopter, a ‘champion’ ready to tell us how we are making life more difficult by not using it. Still, for most teachers (certainly those I’m connected with), even the thought of upending their teaching, often honed over years of practice, is not just scary but utterly unrealistic.?

Is it any wonder that despite what AI companies, especially those aiming at education, may tell us, many are feeling overwhelmed and apprehensive? Despite the glossy AI conferences and the shiny email marketing slamming into our inboxes from all directions, AI has yet to be widely adopted. At a strategic level, it may well be on the horizon, but on the ground, in the classrooms, it just isn’t.?

Now, I do not doubt that some of you reading this will disagree. I do not doubt that some of you will think, ‘What does he know?’ And that's fine because the conversation around helpful, practical AI would never get started without you. But the hard truth is that a few pioneers are drowned out by an influx of pressure from influencers, consultants, companies, and ‘experts’ to do what they say and adapt.?

The reality is that teachers need to see the benefits of AI before we can realistically expect them to get on board. As with many things, education is an easy target for tech companies to target, ignoring the best interests of pupils, students and teachers for the benefit of shareholders. AI is no different. If you type AI education into any search engine today (do it), you’ll get literally thousands of tools, applications and resources, all of which require a signup, a subscription or a mass volume of personal data to access. Why would anyone sign up for something because it is new and shiny when even the most basic tasks that AI can do are still beyond most pressurised teachers?

I spoke to one colleague literally this week who said, I quote, ‘It will take me longer to understand how the damn thing works than to just write the letter myself’ about a major AI tool. She’s not wrong, either. The fact is that learning something from scratch, in between the craziness of a normal school day, is just not practical. It IS quicker to write the letter yourself than ask an alien AI tool to do it for you.

Although, of course, it isn’t. AI really can revolutionise workload and capacity within teaching, but not if all teachers are exposed to complex, flashy AI-powered applications that require another teaching degree just to access, let alone use.

Back off! Let us learn at our own pace. Let's focus on simple, effective professional development that allows teachers to dip into AI at a speed and level that they are comfortable with. We don’t all need to be AI computer scientists tomorrow; otherwise, our teaching wheels will fall off. Our schools are far more likely to buckle under the pressure of budgets and staffing crises than they are because they aren’t using eighteen different AI tools.

AI, with its ability to process vast amounts of data, generate human-like text, and even create original content, will significantly benefit an educator's function and practice, but not necessarily today. The problem is that the adoption speed isn’t fast enough for snake oil salesmen peddling AI as the next big thing despite probably not getting it themselves. It actually makes me quite cross!

We know that AI can be used to personalise learning experiences, support more instantaneous feedback, and automate mundane admin, and by understanding and leveraging AI, teachers can develop their effectiveness, create a more engaging learning environment for their students and free up bandwidth normally assigned to basic administration, but what we need to do, is focus on the simple tasks first. Using a tool to help shape a curriculum outline, help formulate meaningful reports on mass, develop and check complex formulae on out tracking spreadsheets, and write letters about school trips. Tasks that can be supported by AI generation tools. Let's help teachers understand how to use AI to help with these tasks first before trying to shove increasingly complex and often intimidating workflow management AI down their collective throats.??

There is an inherent fear within teaching over the impact of AI. This fearmongering is no different from the fearmongering happening across many industry sectors as the ever-increasing pace of AI conversations takes place. The key to overcoming teachers' fear of AI is to avoid overwhelming them with complex technical jargon and endless tool lists. Instead, we need to provide them with simple, practical training that focuses on the benefits of AI and how it can be integrated into their daily teaching practices.?

It's nonsense. It's messaging and marketing. It's pushed by companies out to make us part with our ever-tighter budgets or, worse, our own money. It's influencers trying to add another thousand subscribers. It's experts pretending they have all the answers. It's not real, however much they tell you it is.

AI should be seen as a positive, meaningful addition to our teaching toolbox. It's supposed to help us, not scare us. It's not supposed to replace us, but reinvigorate us, but if we don’t start at the beginning, how can we really expect pressurised teachers to even think about starting?

So please, stop scaring teachers with AI and making them feel that if they aren’t already experts, they have somehow already lost the race. Let's start empowering them to use AI to their advantage. Baby steps

slowly, gently, and supportively. We all understand that AI is here to stay, but that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice everything else for the sake of AI education.