Key Points
Back to top- Now that AI has “entered the chat” in education, how can we use SEL to ensure that it helps rather than harms?
- Check out this round-up of articles and blogs and see where you stand in the debate!
Now that AI has “entered the chat” in education, how can we ensure that it helps rather than harms? That is a question we’ve been considering at CASEL for some time now. In fact, AI will get the spotlight at the 2025 Exchange, with a plenary and an entire series of breakout sessions devoted to it.
As we prepare for this big conversation, we want to lift up some of our favorite perspectives on the topic from leaders and experts from all across the field. Check out this round-up of voices and see where you stand in the debate!
What Happened the Year I Banned AI (Edutopia)
“Throughout the semester, we talked at length about how AI affected their learning. I highlighted the importance of their unique identities and perspectives in their assignments and helped them understand that their personal contributions were the point of the class. By shifting to a process-driven approach, my students began to appreciate that their own authenticity was the point. By the end of the first semester, students had a firm grasp on the value of their voices in our work, which solidified my decision to limit AI use and prioritize critical thinking and personal expression.”
The Collaborative AI Classroom: Teaching Students to Work With, Not Against, AI Tools (Faculty Focus)
“Rather than focusing solely on outcomes (what students produce), this approach emphasizes the learning process itself, aligning with calls from Allen et al. (2021) for more comprehensive evaluation approaches in education that go beyond simple outcome measures. By teaching students to be thoughtful collaborators with AI, we help them develop the critical thinking skills and technological literacy they’ll need throughout their careers.”
Inside Middle Schoolers’ Take on AI (Education Week)
“But despite growing up with AI—and learning to write a five-paragraph essay at a time when ChatGPT can perform that task in seconds—middle schoolers are well aware of AI’s pitfalls, including its tendency to get facts wrong and its potential to stifle their own learning, according to research conducted by professors at Texas Christian University.”
Ensuring Academic Integrity in the AI Age (eSchoolNews)
“There’s no denying that AI can enhance learning and digital literacy, but some usage raises important questions about ethics and its impact on academic outcomes.”
8th Grade Insights Into ChatGPT and the Future (MiddleWeb)
“Wouldn’t it be ironic if ChatGPT’s impact meant we moved away from tech to areas tech can’t touch – to more face-to-face discussions and idea-generating sessions? Such sessions could be summative assessments, Harkness or Socratic seminar style, or formative assessments, leading to a video, podcast or even students’ own AI creation – an interactive product we can only dream of right now.”
AI Is Fueling a ‘Poverty of Imagination.’ Here’s How We Can Fix It (New York Times podcast The Opinions)
“Perhaps one of the biggest threats that A.I. poses to education isn’t that it’s going to make educators useless, but that it is going to make educators so much more necessary than we are willing to invest in. A.I. actually makes it more important that we have everything from librarians to counselors to teachers to professors to researchers who can put this rapidly changing information environment into context and can develop the capacity in students to make sense of things.”
What do you think? Is AI a boon to education, or a bane? Post your response in the comments.
Registration is now open for the 2025 Exchange, Nov. 4-6, in Minneapolis, Minn. This year’s conference focuses on the theme “Blueprints for Tomorrow: Designing the Next Era of Learning,” with sessions and plenaries focusing on topics including AI in education, future- and workforce readiness, and social and emotional learning’s connection with academic learning. Register now!
The views in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CASEL.
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