AI in education - future we choose - Derek Wenmoth

 Derek Wenmoth summarises webinars he participated in on AI in education. Although written with the formalised school context in mind, many of the principles apply across educational levels and sectors.

Although AI is not new and has been around for decades, the arrival of LLMs provided a usable form of AI accessible to the masses. In Derek;s blog, he summarises the real tension between AI and education. For humans to be able to grow and develop as critical thinkers, requires effortful learning. AI replaces effort by providing the solution. Unlike calculators, who are often adjuncts that require human understanding to utilise (we need to put in correct numbers in a certain sequence to obtain responses), AI chatbots provide viable looking answers when asked to complete a task - say write a paragraph on xx.

Derek argues that the Aorearoa NZ school system, privileges learning as a form of economic asset. Hence, learners 'collect' credits rather and treasure the learning journey in itself. VET is not immune to this perspective. VET's primary objective is to prepare people for work. Therefore, students enrol with the purpose of attaining a qualification that will open opportunities for work. Never mind the learning required to actually meet qualification graduate outcomes! VET challenge is therefore to always prepare graduates for the world of work, and to ensure the student who does the work also does the learning.

The title of the webinars embedded into Derek's blog calls for 'AI , education and the futures we choose'. As educators, it is even more important now, to understand how learning occurs, can be supported for a diverse range of learners, and made engaging, and authentic. This challenge will not go away, AI is here to stay whether we like it or not. Pragmatic acceptance is not the way to meet the challenge. Instead, evidence-based and context-based understanding are keys to using AI in a careful and targeted way to support teachers, and learners/students to attain the critical thinking skills required to maintain humanness into the future.