Students and teachers are already using it — but should AI be in the classroom? With Eddie Woo and Leslie Loble

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Natasha Mitchell (0:37)

AI. Is it helping teachers teach? Is it helping children learn or could it be getting in the way? Whether good, bad or both, AI is in Australian schools right now. A recent OECD survey estimates two thirds of teachers are using it and many students certainly are.

But from AI-inspired creativity in the classroom to chatbots to cheating and big-text penetration into schools over some years now, how it's impacting education raises all sorts of questions. And today on ABC Radio National's Big Ideas, big thinkers take those on including renowned teacher and education innovator, Eddie Woo.

Eddie Woo (1:22)

The ability to give a diverse range of students a different set of experiences that is attuned to their needs is extremely exciting to me. As a time poor educator, I know that the school that I personally teach at, more than two-thirds of the students have English as an alternative language or dialect and to be able to produce resources and materials for them on a lesson by lesson basis. That AI has helped me to be in their mother tongue as well as in English, that's a game changer. It's extremely exciting.

Leslie Loble (1:53)

The risk is not just that somebody cheats by using AI to write an essay. The real risk of AI and cognitive offloading is that we erode those mental structures.

For younger learners, we potentially don't even build them robustly enough at all.

Natasha Mitchell (2:13)

From the University of Technology Sydney, that's industry professor Leslie Loble, a former senior education bureaucrat in both New South Wales and the United States and author of a recent report, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Offloading and Implications for Education. Hello, I'm Natasha Mitchell. It's great to bring you this episode of Big Ideas. Now, state and territory education ministers have agreed on an Australian framework for generative artificial intelligence in schools to guide its responsible, its ethical use with an eye to benefiting students, schools and society.

But things are changing so rapidly in the land of AI, aren't they? So let's head to Gadigal country for University of Technology Sydney's Curiosities event series. Eddie Woo is kicking off his dialogue with Leslie. He's probably Australia's most famous teacher. Thanks to his YouTube channel, Wootube, and Australian stories profile on him. He's a maths teacher at a Sydney State High School. He's also leader of teacher growth for the New South Wales Education Department, covering over 2000 public schools. And he's professor of practice in the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney.

Eddie Woo (3:31)

Leslie and I are here to explore one of the biggest questions facing not only schools but all of society today. How is artificial intelligence changing the way that students learn?

AI tools are already being used in classrooms and homes around the world. They can support learning, spark ideas and improve efficiency. But they also raise important questions, questions about critical thinking, effort, independence and also how young people develop lasting knowledge that is secure and make a difference in their lives. Tonight, Leslie and I are looking forward to unpacking what the research tells us, what risks and opportunities are emerging, and how schools can respond in ways that place learning at the center. Leslie.

Leslie Loble (4:22)

Eddie.

Eddie Woo (4:24)

This conversation about AI over the last couple of years, it has been full of grand statements.

I've heard people comparing generative AI to the transformational change that happened when the electrification of our homes and workplaces took place last century. I've heard of people saying it's going to make us and our schools completely obsolete. So I wonder, Leslie, if you can help us from your vantage point to cut through some of the hyperbole, what are the opportunities and dangers that you see us facing with AI in the classroom?

Leslie Loble (4:58)

Sure. I'm apparently going to be the straight person to Eddie Woo.

What we're going to have is a lot of exchange, so it won't just be questions and me answering. I've got a few for Eddie myself. But to your question, look, AI is now virtually universal through education. Eighty percent of students say they use it in one form or another.