08.09.2023 Josephin Hartmann 6116

Bob Blume on AI and school: "Attitude is important"

Artificial intelligence (AI) poses new challenges for schools. Educational influencer and teacher Bob Blume shows how to use AI sensibly in everyday school life and has tips for parents. 

Hello Mr. Blume, thank you for your time. Which AI did you use last time and for what? 

Bob Blume: Last time I used ChatGPT version 4.0 to get a brief overview of the European countries in which people have been learning together for more than 9 years. In a second step, I then check the results.  

On your blog, you have already given some examples of how AI can be used by teachers in the classroom. What do you personally already regularly use AI for in the classroom?  

Bob Blume: I mainly use ChatGPT when it comes to dialogs that would otherwise not be possible. Especially with data protection-compliant offerings, as they already exist, students can "talk" to someone from a certain city, for example, and practise asking questions. Or build on content fundamentals. This can also be done in a textbook, but it's boring.  

How can children use AI applications or the Open AI ChatGPT itself to learn better?  

Bob Blume: First of all, you have to start by saying: You can also use it to break the habit of learning. Mindset is important, and it doesn't come naturally. If you know that, ChatGPT can be used to create a structure for a topic, to get quick definitions or to get ideas on how to move forward when things get stuck.  

Some see the danger of students exploiting AI applications such as ChatGPT to have their German essays written for them, for example, and therefore not actually learning anything at all. What do you think about this?  

Bob Blume: That's the case. It's already happening. And it will continue to happen. It's not something that's a thesis. That's precisely why we need to think about whether it makes sense to do certain tasks at home. Or whether a lot more should be shifted to school. We should also get off the high horse that "bad youth" is deceptive. If we'd had a magic elf to do our homework for us back then, who would have refused? I think three things will (have to) happen in the future: Oral learning will experience a renaissance, learning will have to come to school and it will no longer be about what result you have, but how you got there. Reflection will become more important.  

I read a quote from you that goes like this: "The good ones will use the tool to their advantage, the bad ones will engage even less with the learning content." To what extent do teaching, methods and learning content need to change?  

Bob Blume: As already mentioned: Fundamental. If the consolidation of what you learn at school takes place at home, then of course you use all the help you can get from there. And then it can happen that school instruction and homework become increasingly distant from each other. Basically, what was already true in the days of smartphones remains true: school learning and education must always take into account the time in which learning takes place. Anyone who blocks this will have a hard time - for a variety of reasons.  

Away from learning and AI: How is media education being taught in schools?  

Bob Blume: I'm going to go out on a limb and say: apart from a few lighthouse schools, media education has failed. After all, it is in the education plans. But what does that mean in concrete terms? In most cases, it should all be done in German lessons, where a few colleagues do it, others less so. But media education is all-encompassing. In every subject! That hasn't even sunk in yet. Where do I see a need to catch up? Everywhere! Everywhere where media doesn't play a role in every subject. At least from secondary school onwards.  

What would you recommend to parents of students when dealing with AI?  

Bob Blume: Firstly, try it out for yourself. Secondly, discuss your results critically. And thirdly: demonizing is useless, but be aware that AI also takes away the content that is important for the basis of your own learning.  

Are you worried that you will no longer be needed as a teacher at some point because an AI can convey learning content better than any teacher? 

Bob Blume: The educational mandate is written into the school laws. As long as AI is not yet able to be empathetic, form relationships and establish social connections, I don't see anything to worry about. Education does not consist of knowledge. Education is a human learning process. And I am convinced that people will always be needed for human learning processes.