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Issue 14 The Student Life Issue
Crowd DNA's monthly digest
Hopefully they are?still the best years of your life, but being a student has dramatically changed in the last five years since the coronavirus pandemic.?
The rising cost, the rising exam stress and the rising questioning of its value (and dropping attendance rates) is changing traditional educational pathways.
So this month's issue looks at the new face of?student experiences, from seeking out balance in Shanghai's Disneyland?to teachers being replaced by AI tutors in China, 'microschools' across the US, phone bans in the Netherlands and teachers pushing against Gen AI tools as part of the learning process...?
Maths and the Disney afternoon parade.
It claims to be the 'happiest place on earth', so why not study there?
At Shanghai Disneyland, students are hoping that being near the Magical Kingdom will help them cope with exam stress. One student told Sixth Tone that she mixes up work with getting snaps with Disney characters and the afternoon parade, explaining: "The experience helps me to relax mentally while remaining productive."
Read more here.
2. 'Microschools'
A school with seven pupils.
Since Covid-19 disrupted schooling, there has been lots of rethinking around traditional schooling. There has been an increase 'microschools' across the US, a private option where small groups are taught in homes, church basements and storefronts.
It appeals to parents who feel that public schools are not meeting their children's needs, as well as teachers who don't think they cater to their belief system (about a quarter of microschools are faith-based, according to the National Microschooling Center).
Read more here.
3. New Cheating
The AI Cheating Crisis.
The AI cheating crisis has got so bad that accusations are being mistakenly made.
Just over two years have passed since ChatGPT was released into the wild, and now more than half of students use some AI tool. Meanwhile, professors still have unreliable methods to identify it, such as finding 'signpost phrases'.
One student wrongly accused of cheating with AI recounts to The Guardian how he was grilled for half an hour by three members of staff, to the point of tears. “I even admitted to them that I knew the essay wasn’t good, but I didn’t use AI,” he says.
Read more here.
4. AI Tutors
AI-powered study rooms in China.
Meanwhile, machines are replacing tutors. AI-powered study rooms are a fast-growing industry in China where students sit in silent cubicles locked on to tablet screens.
The AI tutor can track mistakes, supervise - even give encouragement.
It's a way to circumvent government restrictions on off-campus tutoring for grades one to nine because they are marketed as self-study spaces.
Read more here.
5. Phone Bans
A ban on phones in school.
Despite reluctance from children and parents - and even teachers - colleges and schools in the Netherlands have been banning phones from school premises.
Meanwhile, in France, 200 secondary schools are testing the ban and in Hungary, a new decree requires schools to collect students' phones and smart devices at the start of the day.
Positive outcomes have included a reduction in cyber bullying as students are more offline more of the time and better quality real-life interactions.
Read more here.
Meanwhile, at Crowd DNA, we discussed: Who is your student life role model???
Jennifer, Editor?
"Ferris Bueller bunking off school to sing Twist and Shout on a float in Chicago."?
?
Jeremy, Finance Business Partner??
"The Young Ones on University Challenge."? ?
Dougie, Videographer?
"Scottish comedian Jimmy Krankie in the full school uniform."