ChatGPT, AIs, and the IEP?
Author: Samantha Goldman; info@ciddl.org
A question that has been on a lot of our minds is “How does AI fit into the IEPs?” The conversations around accommodation, modification, cheating, or universal support are plentiful and, just like all things related to special education and IEPs, there is no “one size fits all” answer. To tackle this question, we are going to break down how one might use AI and offer various ways to classify it.
Revisiting Terms
Before diving into the subject of ChatGPT and IEPS, let's revisit some terminology to make sure we are all on the same page. When designing a lesson, we start with the goal in mind or, in the words of Dr. Shelley Moore, “Show Me the Purpose”. Once we’ve addressed this, we have to define universal supports, accommodations, and modifications. Starting broad, universal supports are things that are available to all students, regardless of disability status (or no disability). These supports take into consideration the principles of Universal Design for Learning, where lessons are designed with embedded supports so that all learners can meet the learning goal. Next, we talk about accommodations. These support the student without changing the learning goal. Modifications change the expectations, the skill, and/or the content.
ChatGPT as a Universal Support
In a recent article published by Marino (CIDDL co-PI), Vasquez (CIDDL co-PI), Dieker, Basham (CIDDL PI), and Blackorby, they suggest that the use of AI in the classroom could resemble what happened with the calculator and computer. The challenge is the access and availability of AI. Whereas getting calculators and computers into schools was a financial and logistical challenge in addition to pedagogical, AI is already in our schools and students’ hands.
Here are some specific examples of how AI could be leveraged as a Universal Support. As stated earlier, the learning goal needs to be the focus and we design around that.
- Learning Goal: Editing, revising, and fact-checking
- Use of AI: Have students generate an essay using AI on a self-selected topic rather than having them write their own piece. Have them work on fact-checking, editing, and revising the output.
Example
- Learning goal: Learn about the Revolutionary War
- Use of AI: All students can use any source (video, internet, books, AI) to gather information about the war. From there, everyone shares their learning in a medium that works for them (e.g. video, essay, poster, etc.)
- The goal of the assignment for everyone is to learn about the revolutionary war. Using AI is bypassing some struggles with navigating research. However, the skills being assessed are not relative to how well someone can navigate the library. Rather, the teacher would be assessing the student’s knowledge of the war.
ChatGPT as an Accommodation
The above researchers suggest some ways AIs could be used as accommodations including providing students with assistance with note-taking, organizing and planning, and reminding them of upcoming due dates.
Example
- Learning Goal: Editing, revising, and fact-checking
- Use of AI: Have only some (identified as needing extra support) students generate an essay using AI on a self-selected topic rather than having them write their own piece. Have them work on fact-checking, editing, and revising the output.
- The goal of the assignment (revising, editing, and fact-checking) has not changed. However, only a select few are using this support. It’s akin to only giving access to a calculator to some students to solve math problems that are not computational based (e.g., word problems, geometry problems where they have to show an understanding of formulas, etc.)
Example
- Learning goal: Learn about the Revolutionary War
- Use of AI: Only some students (identified as needing extra support) use the AI to generate information in list form while others are researching through books, videos, and other internet sources. The students accessing the accommodation can use AI as a jumping-off point. From there, everyone shares their learning in a medium that works for them (e.g. video, essay, poster, etc.)
- The goal of the assignment for everyone is to learn about the revolutionary war. Using AI is bypassing some struggles with navigating research. However, the skills being assessed are not relative to how well someone can navigate the library. Rather, the teacher would be assessing the student’s knowledge of the war.
ChatGPT as a Modification
Modifications change the purpose of the assignment so that the student is no longer working towards the same goal. This means using AI changes the purpose of the assignment. So, if the purpose is to write a short story and the student has the AI do it, they are no longer meeting that goal.
Example:
- Learning Goal: Develop a 5-paragraph essay about the Revolutionary War
- Use of AI: Student types prompt “write 5 paragraph essay about Revolutionary War” into ChatGPT and submits
- The goal of the assignment for everyone is to learn about writing a 5 paragraph essay and learn about the revolutionary war. The learning goal for the student using the AI is to learn how to prompt the AI. Though this is an important and valid skill, it does not have the same goal as that of the rest of the class and is, therefore, a modification.
Join the Conversation
What are your thoughts on the topic of AI and IEPs? We’d love to discuss this with you in our community!