Reflections on 2024 and looking forward to 2025!
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy New Year!
On January 1st, I will begin my 15th year at UBC Faculty of Education. I was a faculty member at Ryerson University (2007-2009) prior to that and at the UBC Faculty of Science (2004-2007). In total, I have been more than 20 years in the academe in Canada, and almost a decade in the US and in Israel. Time flew for me so fast that I didn’t even notice it.
However, last year was an extraordinary year for me, as a teacher, as a teacher educator, and as a parent. At first, I didn’t even realize that. My oldest son came to me one day and invited me to try a strange thing on my computer, which he called ChatGPT. I have read about AI, but always felt that it was something far removed from what I do and it will not touch me directly. I could not have been more wrong. Slowly, I was introduced to it and started playing with different AI-powered platforms becoming more comfortable with them. I didn’t even notice how AI had changed me. It changed how I learn, how I live, and how I work.
I do not use my words lightly, but from what I have seen, AI is going to change our education in ways we could not even fathom today. And I am not talking about AI doing students’ English or social studies homework, or solving mathematics equations. I am thinking about how we learn and how we grow.
In the last five years (since COVID), I became much more independent in many non-academic areas of my life. For example, I learned to cook, as the restaurants were closed and we had no other options. Luckily, I was able to access amazing videos or chefs and cooking aficionados from all around the world sharing their cooking tips with professionally generated videos. I also learned a lot of other skills, as I realized that I can learn things that I always thought would be far beyond my current abilities. I became patient with myself and allowed myself to make mistakes, reflect on them, and try again. Very quickly, I became more comfortable in the kitchen, be it bread making, baking pastries or cooking a delicious dinner. I also started practicing languages using online resources beyond Duolingo. Slowly, small successes in cooking, language learning, or other areas of my life have empowered me to reconsider my own perceptions of myself.
Yet, none of this could have prepared me for the opportunities AI has presented to me. AI has allowed me to become much more efficient and detailed in my own research, but providing a sounding board to my ideas. It also helped me learn how to express myself more clearly, how to paraphrase, how to be more succinct, and how to structure my argument. It became my virtual colleague who I can consult with, disagree, or discuss my ideas. I could not have expected that.
However, these experiences also helped me realize how students might misuse AI and instead of using it as a springboard for future learning, use it as a crutch that prevents them from learning for themselves. This realization made me think more about the role of parents in helping students learn how to learn with AI. I even organized an online workshop for parents to help them navigate this new tool: https://blogs.ubc.ca/mmilner/2024/11/11/ai-and-your-childs-future-smart-strategies-for-academic-success/ As a teacher, I keep thinking how our education system will change as a result of AI. How should we teach our teachers, so they can empower the students to learn with AI? What kind of skills will be important? How should teachers utilize AI? I think, 2024, was truly the year of AI in Education. We want it or not, AI will be here and if we, teachers and parents, do not learn how to learn with it and how to empower and motivate our kids to do so, we are not going to win this battle. I view it as a big challenge of 2025. And I would like to wish all the teachers, parents, and students a successful year.