My “Learning with ChatGPT” SMUSD Tech Academy Presentation
By Carver Valentine (A Fictional Tech Academy News Reporter)
Just a week after having delivered an enlightening ninety-minute “Introduction to ChatGPT” slideshow presentation, San Marino High School social studies teacher Peter Paccone was back with a session titled “Learning with ChatGPT.”
The session began with Paccone asking attendees to rate the potential of ChatGPT in enhancing learning on a scale of 1–10, though no consensus was reached.
He then showcased a slide that defined “learning” as “a multifaceted concept that, at its core, refers to the process by which we acquire new or modify existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences.
Paccone then introduced several prompts for students to employ either in school or externally:
- Using ChatGPT to Provide Explanations, Examples, and Analogies
- Using ChatGPT to Provide Review Sheets
- Using ChatGPT to Provide Practice Tests
- Using ChatGPT to Reflect on a Team Experience
Attendees were then encouraged to either take on the role of a student and experiment with these prompts or explore ChatGPT independently.
In response, one attendee, using the explanations prompt, crafted various one-sentence directives for elementary students to clean up after lunch:
- “As you finish, remember: every wrapper has its place!”
- “Turn your table into the cleanest station, ready for the next occasion!”
- “Show your pride; slide your tray aside and tidy your ride!”
- “Lunch is fun, but cleaning is a job well done!”
- “Be a star, clean where you are!”Another participant, acquainted with the prompts, embarked on a distinct journey, sharing a poignant tale of introducing ChatGPT to his 5th-grader for a book report. This narrative underscored the platform’s adaptability and learning prowess.
Another attendee, working with children learning the alphabet, sought rhyming sentences for each letter, aiming to aid letter recognition:
- For the letter A, “Apples are amazing all day!”
- With the letter B, “Bears bounce by the big blue tree.”
- Spotting the letter C, “Cats climb clouds so carefree.”
- Describing the letter D, “Dogs dance delightfully in the daisy sea.”
- For the letter E, “Elephants echo everywhere they flee.”
A third attendee, deviating from the provided prompts, turned to ChatGPT for chess lessons. “It seemed like a page from a ‘how to play chess’ book,” he noted, “but I anticipate ChatGPT’s teaching capabilities will soon amplify.”
Then a school administrator attending Paccone’s session recounted assisting his son with a book report using ChatGPT. Surprisingly, his son was already familiar with the platform. Interestingly, when ChatGPT provided inaccurate information about a book, the young boy corrected it. This incident highlighted that ChatGPT can learn, acknowledges errors, and emphasizes a “skeptical mindset” when utilizing its outputs. Remarkably, when revisited hours later with the same query, ChatGPT provided the correct answer.
Paccone then introduced DALL·E to the attendees, an advanced plug-in that allows ChatGPT users to craft paintings. He compared its capabilities to a digital paint tool but with AI-powered creativity. Demonstrating its prowess, he generated a vivid painting depicting Chinese immigrants arriving in San Francisco aboard a sailboat after the 1848 gold discovery in California.
The intricacy and historical representation of the painting captivated the audience.
Shifting gears, Paccone then unveiled “Class Companion,” a cutting-edge platform that leverages ChatGPT to assist educators in providing instantaneous feedback on student writings. This tool, designed to enhance the learning process, offers corrections, suggestions, and guidance in real time, allowing students to refine their writing skills effectively.
The session concluded with a brief but all-important discussion on ethical and safety concerns related to incorporating ChatGPT in the classroom. Educators candidly shared both their concerns and hopes about the tool.
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Sidenote #1:
Click here to view Paccone’s “Learning with ChatGPT” slideshow in its entirety.
Sidenote #2
The SMUSD Tech Academy continues leading the charge in integrating technology into education. Sessions like this highlight the future of K-12 education in the district. The district’s unwavering commitment to the future of education stands as a beacon for others to follow.
Sidenote #3:
Carver Valentine is a fictional name, with this article actually having been written by Paccone in collaboration with ChatGP and requiring at least a dozen iterations.
