The EH I podcast: A producer’s views of AI in Canadian Education (6 episodes in)

1. We don’t need to accept the inevitability of AI

It’s easy to conclude that “if AI is here, AI is here to stay.” but in episode 3, Ben Riley stressed that “learning is still in the process, not in the output” and that children learn through friction and effort. This is where AI is offering students shortcuts that disrupt their ability to build foundational knowledge. 

Riley notes that in America, it’s corporations with enormous amounts of money invested establishing AI – they’re capturing the market by pouring money into educator training, offering premium products for free, and funding large education organizations.

He notes that it doesn’t need to be this way, and that governments have a role to play. Riley says it’s entirely possible to reclaim human cognition in the classroom by emphasizing how LLMs actually work, and treating AI as a humanities and science lesson, instead of focusing solely on how to effectively use these tools. 

“I reject [the] premise that it’s coming and that there’s nothing we can do. We have control of human institutions and we can push back.” – Ben Riley, Founder of Cognitive Resonance

2. Process over Output

The process over output conversation has been a recurring theme with many guests. Heather Adams, an English teacher at Lakefield College School, explains that modern education needs to split into two lanes: one focused on AI supported problem-solving and one focused on tasks that a chatbot cannot easily complete. She explains that  focusing on objective assessment design and not compliance tracking actually mitigates risk. 

“We were wary, I think, of AI not at all from a cheating perspective, but on the way that it could erode our trust between faculty and students.” – Heather Adams, Lakefield College School

Lakefield’s two-lane approach (as opposed to policing usage) protects the collaborative environment necessary for successful outcomes. It ensures that evaluations remain accurate metrics of the students’ capabilities while holding both them and teachers accountable for their work. 

3. AI is not taking over

Focusing on process doesn’t mean eliminating AI. Where Heather Adams speaks to a curriculum-level change, Chris Kennedy, the Superintendent of West Vancouver School Board in British Columbia takes a macro-level view. 

Kennedy led the early adoption of AI tools across the district, and found that limiting the number of AI tools available actually helped students succeed in completing “finicky tasks”, creating more creative offline work, and human connection. 

“We’ve been really clear about having people use, you know, 2 or 3 tools. And the reason is that we can support 2 or 3 tools. We can’t support staff with 30 tools.”

Kennedy is also focused on balancing access to tools with student privacy protection, when it comes to big tech companies without much regulation at this time. 

“I’m concerned that people are going home to ChatGPT and are dumping a bunch of personal data into the AI system and without really thinking through the security parameters. This is a 12 year old child’s personal information that you’ve shared with a big tech company. We need to be really cautious and thoughtful about how we’re using all the data that we have.” – Chris Kennedy, Superintendent of West Vancouver Schools

All in all, Eh I has been fascinating this far. I learn something new every episode, but I’m also challenged to think in new ways. Educators today are on the front lines of a tidal shift in the way we teach and learn – I hope that the EH I podcast helps them navigate these changes, and support the next generation of Canadian leaders.