Why I’m Banning Student AI Use This Year

Chanea Bond will ban AI this year to give her high school English students the opportunity to develop foundational skills that she believes the tech hinders.

By Andrew Boryga

Edsutopia

August 2, 2024

Summary of "Why I’m Banning Student AI Use This Year" by Chanea Bond

(Original article by Andrew Boryga, August 2, 2024, on Edutopia)

Chanea Bond, a high school English teacher in Texas, has decided to enforce a strict no-AI-use policy in her classes for the upcoming school year. She believes that the reliance on AI tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly hinders the development of essential literacy skills in students. Bond's stance has garnered significant attention and sparked debate among educators.

Rationale Behind the Ban

Bond argues that allowing students to use AI for brainstorming, outlining, grammar checks, and other writing-related tasks deprives them of the opportunity to develop critical skills such as originality, creativity, analysis, and synthesis. She asserts that the primary purpose of education is to help students formulate and express their own ideas, rather than relying on technology to do the thinking for them. Bond emphasizes that writing should reflect the student's own voice and understanding, which is compromised when AI is used to generate or refine content.

Experiences Leading to the Decision

Bond's decision to ban AI was influenced by her experiences in the previous school year. She experimented with AI in her dual-credit American literature class, allowing students to use AI to generate thesis statements based on their annotated notes. The resulting papers, however, were subpar compared to those written by students who did not use AI. Bond found that the AI-generated content lacked depth and original analysis, highlighting a significant gap in students' understanding and engagement with the material.

Skills Development Focus

In her classes, Bond prioritizes the development of foundational writing skills. She believes that students must first learn to generate and organize their thoughts independently before seeking technological assistance. For instance, she has observed that students who use tools like Grammarly often produce grammatically correct sentences that do not align with their intended meaning. Bond aims to ensure that her students can articulate their ideas clearly and accurately without over-reliance on AI.

Implementation of the Ban

To enforce the AI ban, Bond has devised an inquiry process that involves students drafting their work in composition notebooks. They will reflect on their writing process and engage in peer and self-review before transferring their work to digital formats for final submission. This approach allows Bond to monitor students' progress and provide feedback on their original ideas and writing development.

Addressing Concerns and Challenges

Bond acknowledges the criticism that banning AI might deprive students of learning to use tools that could be beneficial in their future careers. However, she argues that her primary responsibility is to help students develop foundational skills. She believes that once students master these skills, they can learn to use AI effectively and ethically in their professional lives.

Recommendations for Educators

Bond advises fellow educators who are skeptical of AI to review their educational standards and consider how AI might impede students' learning objectives. She suggests aligning classroom practices with district and state standards, which often emphasize critical thinking, drafting, and revising skills that should not be outsourced to AI.

Conclusion

Bond's strict no-AI policy reflects her commitment to fostering independent thinking and writing skills in her students. By banning AI, she aims to ensure that students develop a strong foundation in literacy that will serve them well in their academic and professional futures.

For more details, the full article can be accessed at Edutopia.

Original article

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (4) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com