The usefulness of chatbots for students

Issue 65: 31/5/2024 Strategic Objective:

Last time, we talked about artificial intelligence. We discussed the possibility for teachers to use this technology to differentiate their teaching methods. For example, the AI could be asked to produce three different topics for three different groups (beginners, intermediate and advanced), and the AI would carry them out faithfully, because that’s what generative AIs do – produce content over and over again. In short, teachers will find in AI an assistant that can support them in the creation of their lessons.

However, in the training I offered to French teachers, we also saw how AI could be used as a personal tutor capable of answering students’ questions. But I warned my colleagues that the chatbot (as the research shows) is very useful for older students, particularly in terms of motivation, performance and the perceived value of learning. AI can even relieve anxiety. Unfortunately, these beneficial effects diminish with the age of the students. Indeed, to take full advantage of AI, students must first have acquired various autonomy and regulation skills, skills that can be described as metacognitive. In short, younger people are not yet in a position to make full use of a chatbot. But if we want them to do so, we ultimately have to teach them how to learn.

There’s another point I like to make clear when I talk about this topic, and that is that to interact effectively with a chatbot, you need not only skills but also knowledge. As André Tricot and Franck Amadieu put it: “It is knowledge that allows us to ask questions, not ignorance” (Learning with digital technology). Without knowledge, you can’t measure the relevance or validity of what AI is proposing.

You need to bear this in mind when using this technology.

Yann Houry
Director of Innovation and Educational Technology

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