Highlights: Generative AI such as "ChatGPT" answers questions in natural sentences as if you were talking to a person. Some schools are beginning to use it for science experiments and morality classes. What kind of impact will it have on the educational field and children? How to teach generative AI in schools? What is the impact on children? We covered the site and interviewed teachers who have used it in their schools in Japan. The reason for introducing AI is "busyness" says one teacher.

【NHK】Generated AI such as "ChatGPT". Some schools are beginning to use it for science and morality. What kind of impact will it have on the educational field and children?

How to teach generative AI in schools? What is the impact on children? Jun 6 at 2:17

Generative AI such as "ChatGPT" that answers questions in natural sentences as if you were talking to a person. Some schools are beginning to use it for science experiments and morality classes.

While faculty members say that it makes their work easier, others say that it can become a powerful drug and cause a shock reaction.

What impact will it have on education and children? We covered the site.
(Matsuyama Broadcasting Station Reporter Maho Arakawa / Social Affairs Department Reporter Naohiro Tokano / Tokushima Broadcasting Station Reporter Takashi Arimizu)

Respond to student questions "in seconds"

The first school we interviewed was a junior high school attached to the Faculty of Education of Ehime University in Ehime Prefecture.

In the class of the third grade, a class was being held to learn the properties of aqueous solutions.

Students eagerly engaged in experiments. Towards the end, the teacher called out like this.

Daisuke Maki, Teacher
: "Now, let's start 'retrospective', and if you ask a question, the AI will give it back, so please try it."

On a tablet device, the students entered the "results" of the experiment, what went wrong, and questions. Just a few tens of seconds after sending the data, the text was already displayed on the screen in the "Comments from the teacher" column.

To the student who wrote the question, "What kind of change occurred when magnesium dissolved in vinegar?" ...

Generated AI Answer
: "When magnesium dissolves in vinegar, magnesium is oxidized and hydrogen gas is generated, which is called a redox reaction."

For students who expressed regret that "the experiment did not go well and I want to improve it in the future" ...

Generative AI Answer
: "The attitude of thinking about improving experiments is wonderful. Keep up the good work!"

These comments were not typed back by the teacher at high speed, but by the generative AI.

I instructed the AI to make the sentence "easy to understand" and "positive" with "150 characters or less".

At first glance, it seems to be comparable to a response from a teacher, but what does it feel like to be "answered by AI"?

Student
: "I was suspicious that they would really answer properly, but I was surprised that they answered what I wanted to ask."

Student
: "I thought it was amazing that I was able to analyze the content of the class thoroughly, and I was honestly happy that the AI commented in the same way as other people."

The reason for introducing AI is "busyness"

When I asked science teacher Daisuke Maki why he introduced it to him who thought of this utilization method, he said "busyness". In the past, it took about 120 students to "look back" and respond to each comment one by one, sometimes taking several hours.

Daisuke Maki, Teacher
: "Until now, I used to do my best just to draw a red line or stamp a paper to fill out a form and return it, but when I used ChatGPT, I was able to return it in four or five sentences instantly, which saved me time. For students, I feel that the hurdle to asking questions has been lowered."

"Double check is necessary" for mistakes

During recess after class, Teacher Maki opened his computer again.

Comments created by AI can contain mistakes. On this day, I found an error in the comment to the question "Why is vinegar yellow?", I deleted it and corrected it to make it easier to understand.

I also checked each one to see if the answers were appropriate for the students' questions and learning stages. In the comment on how to memorize the symbols of the elements, we added a method for teachers to memorize them with "puns".

I teach my students in advance that AI can make mistakes, and I tell them the corrected comments to them again at a later date.

Morality class When I ask AI for their opinions...

Hideki Suzuki, a teacher at Koganei Elementary School attached to Tokyo Gakugei University in Tokyo, used generative AI in his fourth-grade morality. The theme is:

I wonder if I will tell my friend that the postcard I received from a friend who transferred to a new school was insufficient for the fee.

Teacher Suzuki asked the children to think about whether to tell or not to tell them, and then asked the AI for their opinions.

The answer was one way or the other.

Generated AI Answer
: "Different people think differently about undercharges, and it's up to you to decide whether you tell your friends or not. If you value your relationship with your friends, being honest is one way."

The children keep asking questions such as "What do you think?" and "Tell me quickly," but they don't get a clear answer.

Meanwhile, when I asked a child's question inspired by the first answer, "What is the way to be honest?"

Generated AI Answer
: "There are several ways to tell your friends:
▽ Tell

them by phone ▽ Send them by email ▽ Tell them on social media ▽ Tell
them directly the next time you meet, tell them gently, tell them just the facts, or tell them with light jokes."

From this answer, the children expanded the topic of how to tell their friends.

Finally, if you switch the AI to creative mode and ask the question again...

Generative AI Answer
: "I think I'll tell you."

The children cheered. Teacher Suzuki told the children:

Hideki Suzuki, Teacher
: "Because everyone thought desperately, we were able to properly accept the answer that the AI gave us at the end. That's very important."

Teacher Suzuki also used generative AI in arts and crafts and Japanese language classes, and surveyed 31 children in the class about their image of AI.

When asked about the image of AI, "it works fast" and "has a lot of information" were followed by "there are things that can be done and things that cannot be done."

Hideki Suzuki, Teacher
: "Children live with AI, so I want them to know at the elementary school stage that this is what it is.

"Utilization" in expanding schools

Tomokazu Fujiwara, a teacher at Mannenbashi Elementary School in Hakodate City in Hokkaido, had AI create a script during class activities in order to perform a play as a performance for a curatorial event.

We set conditions for the AI to compose the content based on the lyrics of "Only One Flower in the World" sung at the morning meeting, and asked them to propose casting.

After this, we will manually revise the script, such as inserting episodes that happened in class by the children, and will present it in October.

Tomokazu Fujiwara, Teacher
: "It takes a lot of time to decide on the structure of a play or music through class discussions, and AI is good at coming up with ideas and logical sentences instantaneously, so I borrowed that help. After that, if we think about how we put together the original elements of what happened in the class, I think it will be a unique play."

Practice at high school and technical college

In high schools and technical colleges, students themselves began to search for ways to use it more proactively.

With the aim of fostering entrepreneurs, the private Kamiyama Marugoto National College in Tokushima Prefecture, which was established in April, granted all students and teachers a license of $4 per month per person for ChatGPT.

The goal is to connect it to business ideas by mastering the latest technology and services.

We have started to use it in our classes, and in our physical education class, we are thinking about meals that can be easily tackled while interacting with AI on the theme of behavior related to diet and nutrition to become healthy in two weeks.

Chikahiro Terada, Chairman
of the Board of Directors: "I don't know what kind of impact it will have, but I have a sense that the future that will be created by prohibiting or restricting what can be used is not great, so I think we have to use it more and more, and there may be failures and risks in it, but I think we have to feel it as we use it every day."

【Tomeikan Junior and Senior High School (Saga)】
For students who wish, we hold a practical course for one hour a week to learn how to devise questions to elicit answers from AI. In addition, teachers are increasing the time they spend interacting with students by having AI create quiz questions and school correspondence.

【Kanto Daiichi High School (Tokyo)】
Yoshimasa Tanaka, a lecturer at Kanto Daiichi High School in Tokyo, uses it as a support role in the "inquiry" class, which aims to solve problems by asking questions on their own, gathering information, and aiming to solve them. By asking the AI questions about students' questions, previous research, and how to design and analyze experiments, it helps them create a plan for solutions.

"Convenient" "Dramatic drug" Expectations and bewilderment from faculty members

When we spoke to various faculty members, they expressed both anticipation and bewilderment in the face of innovative technology.

"While I see great potential in chat GPT, if introduced unprotected, it can become a drastic drug and cause a shock reaction," said the junior high school principal.

"Until now, we have taught students to value the source to obtain correct information, but in many cases, the source of the generated AI text is not known. It is convenient to think of various ways to use it, but I am worried about how to teach it."

"Unlike when each teacher was suddenly given a tablet device due to the coronavirus pandemic, I don't think teachers will work immediately, so I think it will make a big difference whether they use it or not," says the elementary school principal.

Expert: "Traditional Japanese language learning is becoming increasingly important"

It is expected that children will be asked to write impressions and papers given as assignments by AI, and some universities are showing standards for use and calling attention to them.

Professor Takaharu Yamamoto of Hiroshima University, who is an expert in Japanese language language instruction, argues that "children may lose the opportunity to use words on their own and acquire the ability to think logically and creatively," and that traditional Japanese language learning will become increasingly important.

Professor Takaharu Yamamoto, Hiroshima University:
"If the act of easily copying and pasting sentences generated by AI in compositions becomes rampant, the ability to think, write, and speak on their own, as well as the opportunity to acquire a sense and nuance of language, will be lost. In Japanese, students spend a long time in elementary, junior high, and high school to develop the ability to use words to identify differences and commonalities with others, to rethink and correct them, and to relate them to the knowledge and experience they have. Rather, learning the Japanese language will become increasingly important as an essential ability to master AI, such as the ability to ask questions to AI and the ability to critically read and decipher suspicious parts of the answers."

ICT Education Expert: "We Should Tell Children Including Warnings"

How should we face AI not only on the positive aspects but also on the negative aspects? We interviewed Professor Tatsuya Hotta of Tohoku University Graduate School, who is familiar with ICT utilization in educational settings.

Professor Tatsuya Hotta of Tohoku University Graduate School:
"Generative AI only examines all kinds of information on the Internet and answers them, so if it is not on the Internet, it cannot answer well.

On top of that, Professor Hotta says that instead of "not letting children" use generative AI, they should acquire the ability to use it at school.

Professor Tatsuya Hotta of Tohoku University Graduate School says,
"If you blindly let children avoid or distance themselves from generative AI, they may end up using it in a distorted way when they see it being used secretly or by their friends.

The government to release guidelines around summer

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has started an expert meeting to publish guidelines on generative AI around this summer.

The guidelines say that
▽ the appropriate age
for use ▽ when
it should be prohibited ▽ ideas for classes to learn how it works and how to use it.

Nagaoka, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: "While it is necessary to sort out the risks regarding the impact on children's critical thinking ability and creativity, the Course of Study positions the ability to utilize information as the foundation of
learning.

How do schools make decisions and how do they deal with them?

I think it is a difficult theme, but I would like to continue to follow its future.

Matsuyama Broadcasting Station Reporter
Maho
ArakawaBorn in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture Joined
Nagasaki, Osaka, Social Affairs Department, etc. in 2008, and was in charge of education coverage for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for
a long time.

Social Affairs Department Reporter
Tokano Naohiro
from Tochigi Prefecture Joined the bureau
in 2010 After working in Fukuoka, Yokohama, and the Tokyo metropolitan area, he is currently in charge of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Tokushima Broadcasting Station Reporter
Arimizu Takashi
From Fukuoka Prefecture After working in
Hokkaido in 2017, Tokushima Bureau
from 2021 is currently in charge of prefectural administration

Generative AI such as "ChatGPT" How to teach in schools? What is the impact on children? | NHK