In the past few years, we have witnessed a rapid growth in Artificial Intelligence (AI), and its sudden integration into many aspects of our everyday lives. As one would expect, language education is no exception. AI is already transforming the educational landscape, and our goal is to embrace these changes and enhance our toolkit, ultimately empowering educators with innovative resources and methodologies.
Technology and AI in language education have become an inseparable part of our lives. Of course, the key lies in their responsible and effective use, and both educators and students should be trained accordingly. AI has enhanced our lives, offering invaluable assistance that frees up time and space for creativity, allowing us to take language learning to an entirely new level.
In our classes, we have integrated AI text-to-image, text-to-video, and text-to-music tools as part of our everyday educational activities. Students have welcomed these tools naturally; creativity thrives, and the results are inspiring. Teachers also use AI tools to differentiate homework, design creative extension projects and theatrical performances. Striving to equip our students with 21st-century skills, traditional homework methods cannot and should not remain as it used to be, as it no longer serves learners’ needs or prepares them with essential skills that will prove valuable later in life. Technology and artificial intelligence have helped teachers make homework an extension of learning that is more meaningful, purposeful, up-to-date, and aligned with students’ preferences. Instead of simply writing a short paragraph in a notebook, students can now type it or record themselves reading it and submit it via email. They can transform their short stories or essays into mini podcasts or even record interviews with family members, to name but a few examples.
AI text-to-image and text-to-video tools have also brought a new level of engagement to our lessons. Students practise writing short descriptions, paragraphs, and even full stories, depending on their level, and can then see their words transformed into visual content. They can experiment with technology, and the final product can be truly creative. Below are just some simple examples of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can bring creativity and engagement in the classroom from this school year. Our A1 level students had to describe the physical characteristics and personal traits of their best friends. First, they wrote a small paragraph, which their teacher checked for grammatical accuracy. Then, using a Large Language Model (LLM), they generated a visual representation of their unique descriptions of their best friends they had written. Another example comes from our A2 level students, who wrote Halloween stories, created AI-generated spooky covers for their short stories, and then recorded themselves reading their tales aloud, compiling a collective audio book with short stories for our school magazine! The ideas and possibilities are endless, and creativity is thriving in class!
As for AI text-to-music tools, they have opened up a whole new world for our opening and closing routines with customised songs, creating a unique experience for our students on stage. How? Students and teachers collaborate to write lyrics, select a musical genre, choose from AI-generated options, and create their own songs!
When something is new, especially when it revolves around technology and innovation, it often sparks fear and doubt. However, technology and AI tools can take education to new heights. Experimentation is a key part of the learning process, and students should have the opportunity to experiment with technology as well.
With the widespread adoption of AI tools, several valid concerns have arisen. For instance, traditional homework assignments, such as writing an essay at home, can be easily compromised by using a Large Language Model (LLM) to generate the text automatically. On the other hand, teachers can also leverage the same AI tools to evaluate student work more effectively since there are AI systems that can detect whether a text was written by a human or AI, providing percentage-based analyses. This situation challenges us to rethink our approaches and push our students to develop and demonstrate their skills more effectively. Students and teachers can use AI assistants to brainstorm, gather information, enhance language skills, and unleash their creativity. Ultimately, it is up to us to use technology for good; to improve ourselves, equip our students with 21st century skills and make the lives of all of us better.
As a final remark, we, educators, are born optimists, always seeking opportunities to make lessons memorable and fun. Once, we had just chalkboards, books, music devices, projectors, and interactive whiteboards. Now, we have various AI tools and assistants that are here to stay! Let’s embrace technology, use it to our advantage, and thrive with its endless possibilities in the classroom. We are teaching the students of today, and our number one priority should be preparing them for tomorrow. Our only hope? To help them build a better world for all!
