I don't want my pedagogy to be 100% efficient. I would rather be inefficient and more human than use AI to maximize my teaching. Obviously, I want to be the most effective teacher I can, but once I offload effectiveness for AI efficiency, I believe that I lose what you so eloquently discuss in this piece: human connection. I want to connect with my students, even if that means I make mistakes in my instruction. In fact, I want to make mistakes in front of my students because those errors are what bind us together in shared learning.
I absolutely LOVE that you post and publish, and I love that you've taken this topic on. This week alone, I've been in 3 AI workshops (and one was a flagarant hard sales pitch). As well, just yesterday, a new job opening was posted to our school website out of the blue advertising for a business teacher who could teach an AI based course. Nevermind that such a course hasn't even been propsed by any department, let alone course content been considered or vetted by administration. It's just the Wild West out there. Our teachers are both afraid of it and want to find ways to manage it. And I agree with you, authentic, personal interactions are the heart of education. It's just crazy that we have to manage this too. Thank you for calling this out. And thank you for sharing the excellent resources at the end of the post. We appreciate you!
"It's just the Wild West out there. Our teachers are both afraid of it and want to find ways to manage it."
Had this conversation briefly today and, yes, teachers are very much all over the place. I don't blame anyone for arriving at their own conviction in this fast-moving frontier, but I definitely feel for students who are having to navigate the moving expectations and inconsistent policies...
YES! All of this post resonated with me, but especially this: "I would still argue that my understanding of the intricacies of any lesson—from its pacing to its nonnegotiables to its opportunities for flexibility and responsiveness—is deepened by my own investment in designing and revising the slide deck on my own. Authentically creating my own slide deck is an opportunity for me to think more deeply about the myriads aspects of the lesson itself, and I very much believe that time has value."
I can't help but notice that EVEN WHEN I'M USING MY OWN SLIDES THAT I MADE THE YEAR BEFORE, my lesson is sometimes not quite as good as the original lesson. As I create the slide the week/night/morning before the lesson, it is relatively fresh in my head. So I don't need to use my valuable time to write a note to myself, "here is where you should pass out the primary source." Sometimes I don't even write out the name of the source, or it's in shorthand-- "Roosevelt speech." So flash forward 365 days. I pull up the slides. Hmm...which Roosevelt speech about the problems in Europe, the one from October 1940 or the 1937 one?
Obviously, there are other aspects of the lessons that improve over time, e.g. maybe I've learned that the 1937 speech is easier/more appropriate for my students and that using it before the video clip is maybe better than afterwards. And if I'm being kind to future me, I will put notes to myself within the slides in the speaker notes and include the link to the document that has the speech on it so I don't forget which speech I am using.
All this is my "inefficient" use of time and space to say that YES, with every new miracle technology--photocopies vs. purple ditto sheets that nobody reading this is probably old enough to remember, chromebooks so you don't even need a paper copy, AI that can think for us so we don't need to learn anything in school because the robots will do all the thinking-- there are costs.
Thanks, also, for the resources at the end. I don't remember if I found you first through Adrian or vice versa, but I find both of you have interesting things to say. Ditto on Jo Lein's post about the 5 worst pieces of Feedback (fyi, your link to that is broken). And I cued up The Human Restoration Project podcast.
"I can't help but notice that EVEN WHEN I'M USING MY OWN SLIDES THAT I MADE THE YEAR BEFORE, my lesson is sometimes not quite as good as the original lesson"
This hit home for me—and it makes me think about anything I teach, too, including whole-class novels, where I need to invest the time to make the learning good...though of course, where do you find enough time?
For now, I'll continue to advocate for the needed time, even if it's an uphill fight, as anything other than that feels like a white flag?
It's overwhelming to talk about efficiencies in education. Everywhere you look, they are there. From the cinderblocks that makeup our walls to the bells that we live by to the grades at the end of the report card to our class sizes. Some days I wonder if we've forgotten that the only thing education needs are humans being there for other humans (in the disciplines that are important to be a thoughtful and open-minded and creative human being).
Well said. This gets straight to the point. What is valued in education? Is it efficiency or is it to develop minds for independent thinking and agency in their lives?
Robert Ulanowicz is a Process Ecologist who has studied the the trade offs of efficiency. Basically, he says that efficiency sits on a spectrum with something like "one true way" at one end that creates the greatest quantity of output but is also prone to failure if that one way fails and something like "a million choices" at the other end that creates opportunities for resilience but too many choices generally results in stagnation. His research points to an optimum region a bit towards the choices side of center. Which, as a teacher, feels right.
We get confused about our job sometimes. I have decided that my north star is helping students to make decisions that are likely to have a positive impact on their lives. Making decisions is the most fundamental skill we can "teach".
Wait, you have a color coded Google Drive system? Do tell! And also, I see this efficiency idea in students as well. And while when I was a student I certainly had an interest in getting my work done faster so I could live life, I am not sure speed is what we want their focus to be. I ask students to reflect at the end of a work session on what went well and why, and what they night need to do differently. They will accomplish what they set out to, say that everything went well, but that they should have been able to work faster.
Yep, labeled by year—and then within each year, each course along with several other files (logistics, etc.); and within each course, units with lesson slide decks, calendars, resources, etc.
I loved this post! It reminds us that efficiency isn’t always better. It’s a nuanced conversation. When something is fast it may be efficient but we may be missing out on something important. Efficiency is not a yes and it’s not a no…it is deserving of a conversation. I remember about ten years ago when I was told that teachers don't read books big books anymore. The recommendation was that I publish a short 'how to' book rather than a long book filled with research and reflection. I didn't know how to feel about that.
Appreciate this share, as I recognize how the vehicle for delivering ideas inevitably has to change as time goes on to meet the needs of the audience—but I think your instinct here, which I think I'm reading, is that there is a loss in that. And I very much agree that we should be skeptical about what we're forfeiting...
This topic continues to intrigue me and I'm glad you have made multiple posts to share your perspective. Biased as an architect for data & AI, I am a big advocate for AI; however, I agree there is a time and a place for it. You have helped remove the rose colored glasses.
Even as I read an article by Anthropic this morning about Paraxis AI's ability to create AI "twins" of university professors, the objective stats it shared about engagement and student performance were great--but it didn't offer any information about how "authentic" the "twin" is.
Appreciate this note and especially your perspective outside of the strictly-educator lens—as of course I have a ton of respect for your career and experience within this realm.
I also think that there are certain students, past and present, who would benefit immensely from the type of 1-to-1 "virtual assistant" that AI can provide; while at the same time, there are many students who need the exact opposite.
But to break that dichotomy, I'd also posit that even for you—a student who without question would have thrived with such technology—there was something very meaningful about how you built rapport and connection in the classroom. That served you individually but also the rest of us collectively, and even if it wasn't "efficient" it was surely a good thing.
Always good hearing your perspective—let's catch up some time soon! #goredbugs
It does seem like the concept of nuance in the AI conversation is only being initiated by educators. There's an all-or-nothing tone to the conversation that seems to be prevalent, when in reality, education is entirely based on nuance; Teaching first period on Monday is drastically different than teaching last period on Monday and even more different than teaching last period on a Friday. Of a normal week. Don't get me started on the week leading to a break.
It's nuanced because relationships are built on that—relationships with the content (as you describe so well), with students, within their own selves, and so on. Finding what works and what doesn't is an extremely long process. I appreciate you noting that.
I don't want my pedagogy to be 100% efficient. I would rather be inefficient and more human than use AI to maximize my teaching. Obviously, I want to be the most effective teacher I can, but once I offload effectiveness for AI efficiency, I believe that I lose what you so eloquently discuss in this piece: human connection. I want to connect with my students, even if that means I make mistakes in my instruction. In fact, I want to make mistakes in front of my students because those errors are what bind us together in shared learning.
Making mistakes in front of students is a daily highlight 😂 and I agree that 100% efficient pedagogy isn't really pedagogy at all, right?
Connection is messy and time-consuming and 100% worth it, for sure.
I absolutely LOVE that you post and publish, and I love that you've taken this topic on. This week alone, I've been in 3 AI workshops (and one was a flagarant hard sales pitch). As well, just yesterday, a new job opening was posted to our school website out of the blue advertising for a business teacher who could teach an AI based course. Nevermind that such a course hasn't even been propsed by any department, let alone course content been considered or vetted by administration. It's just the Wild West out there. Our teachers are both afraid of it and want to find ways to manage it. And I agree with you, authentic, personal interactions are the heart of education. It's just crazy that we have to manage this too. Thank you for calling this out. And thank you for sharing the excellent resources at the end of the post. We appreciate you!
"It's just the Wild West out there. Our teachers are both afraid of it and want to find ways to manage it."
Had this conversation briefly today and, yes, teachers are very much all over the place. I don't blame anyone for arriving at their own conviction in this fast-moving frontier, but I definitely feel for students who are having to navigate the moving expectations and inconsistent policies...
Thank you for this kind comment!
YES! All of this post resonated with me, but especially this: "I would still argue that my understanding of the intricacies of any lesson—from its pacing to its nonnegotiables to its opportunities for flexibility and responsiveness—is deepened by my own investment in designing and revising the slide deck on my own. Authentically creating my own slide deck is an opportunity for me to think more deeply about the myriads aspects of the lesson itself, and I very much believe that time has value."
I can't help but notice that EVEN WHEN I'M USING MY OWN SLIDES THAT I MADE THE YEAR BEFORE, my lesson is sometimes not quite as good as the original lesson. As I create the slide the week/night/morning before the lesson, it is relatively fresh in my head. So I don't need to use my valuable time to write a note to myself, "here is where you should pass out the primary source." Sometimes I don't even write out the name of the source, or it's in shorthand-- "Roosevelt speech." So flash forward 365 days. I pull up the slides. Hmm...which Roosevelt speech about the problems in Europe, the one from October 1940 or the 1937 one?
Obviously, there are other aspects of the lessons that improve over time, e.g. maybe I've learned that the 1937 speech is easier/more appropriate for my students and that using it before the video clip is maybe better than afterwards. And if I'm being kind to future me, I will put notes to myself within the slides in the speaker notes and include the link to the document that has the speech on it so I don't forget which speech I am using.
All this is my "inefficient" use of time and space to say that YES, with every new miracle technology--photocopies vs. purple ditto sheets that nobody reading this is probably old enough to remember, chromebooks so you don't even need a paper copy, AI that can think for us so we don't need to learn anything in school because the robots will do all the thinking-- there are costs.
Thanks, also, for the resources at the end. I don't remember if I found you first through Adrian or vice versa, but I find both of you have interesting things to say. Ditto on Jo Lein's post about the 5 worst pieces of Feedback (fyi, your link to that is broken). And I cued up The Human Restoration Project podcast.
"I can't help but notice that EVEN WHEN I'M USING MY OWN SLIDES THAT I MADE THE YEAR BEFORE, my lesson is sometimes not quite as good as the original lesson"
This hit home for me—and it makes me think about anything I teach, too, including whole-class novels, where I need to invest the time to make the learning good...though of course, where do you find enough time?
For now, I'll continue to advocate for the needed time, even if it's an uphill fight, as anything other than that feels like a white flag?
Appreciate this comment!
It's overwhelming to talk about efficiencies in education. Everywhere you look, they are there. From the cinderblocks that makeup our walls to the bells that we live by to the grades at the end of the report card to our class sizes. Some days I wonder if we've forgotten that the only thing education needs are humans being there for other humans (in the disciplines that are important to be a thoughtful and open-minded and creative human being).
“efficiency has downsides”
Well said. This gets straight to the point. What is valued in education? Is it efficiency or is it to develop minds for independent thinking and agency in their lives?
Robert Ulanowicz is a Process Ecologist who has studied the the trade offs of efficiency. Basically, he says that efficiency sits on a spectrum with something like "one true way" at one end that creates the greatest quantity of output but is also prone to failure if that one way fails and something like "a million choices" at the other end that creates opportunities for resilience but too many choices generally results in stagnation. His research points to an optimum region a bit towards the choices side of center. Which, as a teacher, feels right.
We get confused about our job sometimes. I have decided that my north star is helping students to make decisions that are likely to have a positive impact on their lives. Making decisions is the most fundamental skill we can "teach".
Wait, you have a color coded Google Drive system? Do tell! And also, I see this efficiency idea in students as well. And while when I was a student I certainly had an interest in getting my work done faster so I could live life, I am not sure speed is what we want their focus to be. I ask students to reflect at the end of a work session on what went well and why, and what they night need to do differently. They will accomplish what they set out to, say that everything went well, but that they should have been able to work faster.
Yep, labeled by year—and then within each year, each course along with several other files (logistics, etc.); and within each course, units with lesson slide decks, calendars, resources, etc.
Organization now = time saved later!
Thanks for challenging the idea that ‘efficiency’ is a positive value in education. As you suggest, it can also be destructive. Tom Newkirk makes that point too - https://www.juliangirdham.com/blog/thomas-newkirks-the-art-of-slow-reading
I loved this post! It reminds us that efficiency isn’t always better. It’s a nuanced conversation. When something is fast it may be efficient but we may be missing out on something important. Efficiency is not a yes and it’s not a no…it is deserving of a conversation. I remember about ten years ago when I was told that teachers don't read books big books anymore. The recommendation was that I publish a short 'how to' book rather than a long book filled with research and reflection. I didn't know how to feel about that.
Appreciate this share, as I recognize how the vehicle for delivering ideas inevitably has to change as time goes on to meet the needs of the audience—but I think your instinct here, which I think I'm reading, is that there is a loss in that. And I very much agree that we should be skeptical about what we're forfeiting...
I hope you will subscribe to page so we can connect more.
Yes I am very skeptical. Sometimes we should push back on what seems to be inevitable.
This topic continues to intrigue me and I'm glad you have made multiple posts to share your perspective. Biased as an architect for data & AI, I am a big advocate for AI; however, I agree there is a time and a place for it. You have helped remove the rose colored glasses.
Even as I read an article by Anthropic this morning about Paraxis AI's ability to create AI "twins" of university professors, the objective stats it shared about engagement and student performance were great--but it didn't offer any information about how "authentic" the "twin" is.
Appreciate this note and especially your perspective outside of the strictly-educator lens—as of course I have a ton of respect for your career and experience within this realm.
I also think that there are certain students, past and present, who would benefit immensely from the type of 1-to-1 "virtual assistant" that AI can provide; while at the same time, there are many students who need the exact opposite.
But to break that dichotomy, I'd also posit that even for you—a student who without question would have thrived with such technology—there was something very meaningful about how you built rapport and connection in the classroom. That served you individually but also the rest of us collectively, and even if it wasn't "efficient" it was surely a good thing.
Always good hearing your perspective—let's catch up some time soon! #goredbugs
*Praxis AI
https://www.anthropic.com/customers/praxis
I have many thoughts on this that I share regularly when I represent AI technology companies at conferences and meet with them as an advisor.
The phrase “save time” is highly over-used and mostly accurate.
The best use of AI is to automate repetitive tasks liberating to teacher to do what they love the most.
As an educator, choose technology that decreases your stress. Whichever task
you find least impactful… hand it off. Use the new-found time to connect with students and finally stop taking work home.
It does seem like the concept of nuance in the AI conversation is only being initiated by educators. There's an all-or-nothing tone to the conversation that seems to be prevalent, when in reality, education is entirely based on nuance; Teaching first period on Monday is drastically different than teaching last period on Monday and even more different than teaching last period on a Friday. Of a normal week. Don't get me started on the week leading to a break.
It's nuanced because relationships are built on that—relationships with the content (as you describe so well), with students, within their own selves, and so on. Finding what works and what doesn't is an extremely long process. I appreciate you noting that.