A free pilot program allowing School District U-46 staff to use Open AI’s ChatGPT Edu is going so well it will be expanded in the fall, officials said.
Teachers have been using it to do such things as create lesson plans, come up with instructional materials and brainstorm class activities, according to a district survey of users.
“We will go up to 1,000, so about 200 or so more people, if they are interested in participating,” Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Lela Majstorovic told the U-46 School Board at its Monday meeting.
In December, administrators will evaluate how the system was used and to what extent they might want to purchase it, Majstorovic said.
The district initially was offered a deal by Open AI to buy 4,000 for about $400,000 before the company invited U-46 to participate in an early access program that was being offered to only 20 school districts in the country. In October, the school board accepted the free 13-month deal.
Training courses and coaching sessions were provided and currently 756 employees are using the product, according to Monday’s board presentation.
It’s being used evenly by both elementary and high school teachers, Rola Tarek Mohamed, the district’s coordinator of strategic initiatives, said.
Of the 47% of those who responded to a survey on their ChatGPT Edu use, more than 80% said they are using it at least a few times a week and about one third say they’re use it multiple times a day, Tarek Mohamed said. About 80% rated the system 8 out of 10 or higher on helpfulness, she said.
More than 70% said they are saving one to five hours per week because of what they can do with the program and 28% said they are saving three to five hours weekly. The top three uses have been creating instructional materials (67%), lesson planning (59%) and brainstorming for class activities (59%).
Tefft Middle School Principal Richard Lebron told the boarrd that many teachers are reporting increased confidence in lesson design and instructional clarity, which is resulting in more purposeful instruction.
Highland Elementary School 5th-grade teacher Sophia Lopez said her use of ChatGPT has allowed her to come up with lessons that better connect social studies to reading standards and writing tasks. It’s also helping her help students build their vocabularies and participate in team-related tasks.
“I want to be very clear. The teacher remains in the driver’s seat,” Lopez said. “I am the instructional expert making the decisions about curriculum, differentiation and student needs. ChatGPT does not replace professional judgment. It enhances it.”
South Elgin High School Beacon Academy teacher Sergiusz Zgrzebski said using ChatGPT has allowed him to work more efficiently and responsively.
“I remain fully responsible for curriculum, assessment and student learning. What it does is reduce the time spent on formatting, restructuring and repetitive drafting so I can focus on feedback, differentiation and student growth,” Zgrzebski said.
“I am asking it for higher-level thinking tasks that push students to analyze, apply, collaborate and revise,” he said.
Valerie Albuck, a Tefft Middle School English language arts teacher, said she uses ChatGPT to upload curriculum materials for lessons and to create tasks that fit specific criteria.
When asked by board member Sue Kerr if there have been any issues raised by those using ChatGPT, Albuck said, “The biggest issues teachers have is how to write a prompt for Chat GPT and what they need to ask for.”
They’re learning how to be specific about the questions asked and in downloading the correct information, she said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
