ChatGPT launched to the public a little over a year ago and the world hasn’t quite been the same since. In just a year, we have seen AI tools first banned across districts (Elsen-Rooney, 2023), then quickly embraced across the same districts (Klein, 2023). While AI itself continues to improve as we head into 2024, we can be sure only that disruptive technologies will continue to emerge and evolve. Achieving the best results for students will require embracing AI and other emerging technologies to support learners, regardless of personal opinions or pedagogical preferences.
AI-Assisted Language Learning: A New Spin on Existing Technology
Even though it feels like AI is relatively new, many have been researching with developing AI tools for the last decade or longer, including language educators working in computer assisted (CALL) or mobile assisted (MALL) language learning. In a metanalysis examining the use of AI-assisted language learning (AILL), researchers found that language teachers have explored using AI in a variety of ways to support all language learning with significant attention paid to using AI to develop writing, reading, and vocabulary skills (Liang, Hwang, Chen, & Darmawansah , 2021). Even before the introduction of GPT-4 (the large language model behind ChatGPT), educators were experimenting with a variety of AI-informed tools including intelligent tutoring systems, automated writing evaluation systems, natural language processing systems, and accessible chatbots that could interact with students. While these AI tools demonstrated some value in supporting learning outcomes, their success came with limitations, especially in supporting the development of critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills that enrich the learning experience (Alghamdy, 2023).
These limitations are particularly relevant in the context of literacy development, given that generative AI is a literacy production tool and is increasingly being used to create content and materials for learning. As educators use these tools more frequently to develop reading and writing skills, we need to ensure that our lessons also develop deeper aspects of literacy, including comprehension, critical thinking, in-depth analysis, communicative collaboration, and creative expression. The key to effectively integrating AI lies in understanding AI as a technology first, which then allows for the use of frameworks and pedagogical practices to determine the most suitable AI tool to achieve specific learning outcomes—particularly critical thinking skills.
Developing the Frameworks of the Future
Previously, we have explored using technology integration frameworks like SAMR and TPACK (Davila, 2022), which provide useful questions that help educators understand how the integration of technology into learning aligns to both the pedagogical needs of the learner and their content knowledge development, with respect to ensuring technology is used in a way that best supports the needs of learners. The TPACK framework (Koehler, 2012) is an especially useful resource for exploring how best to integrate AI learning tools into literacy, helping to plan for learning success, while avoiding some of the typical challenges of integrating new technologies.
Figure 1: TPACK Framework (Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org)
Further, implementing AI tools through technology frameworks allows educators to be flexible with the many tools available, rather than being locked into a single AI application. Hundreds of new AI applications are launched every month, capable of generating everything from an image to an opera with only a few sentences as a guide. Leaning into only one type of AI could limit the development of engaging learning experiences. Through the TPACK framework, educators can update lessons in the future by reviewing and adjusting the technology to achieve the pedagogical and content needs of the learning, replacing outdated or unavailable applications with updated or newly accessible options. By approaching AI as a tool for learning—a means to an end rather than the end itself—educators can be more flexible and responsive to changes as they happen, adjusting content as needed to best align to the interests and experiences of learners as well as the needs of their curriculum.
How Frameworks Help Rethink Our Approach to AI Tools
Using the TPACK framework, educators can reframe their thinking about AI technology from ‘how do I use this specific tool?’ to ‘Which tool is the most appropriate to achieve our learning outcomes?’. Considering this reframe, the following examples provide a reference for planning with AI tools using the TPACK framework, beginning with the literacy focus first, then using questions like the following to review and consider the best AI tools to achieve goals:
- Technical Knowledge (TK): What AI tools are most appropriate to help students achieve learning outcomes relevant to the content?
- Pedagogical Knowledge (PK): What are the most appropriate pedagogical tasks to engage students in learning?
- Content Knowledge (CL): What are the content objectives to be achieved by the learning experience?
The following examples apply the TPACK framework with some currently available AI tools that can support literacy development for a variety of learners.
| Literacy Focus: Phonemic Awareness Ages: 6-12 AI Tool: Google Read Along1 – An AI based reading companion that helps children practice reading aloud with feedback. Planning Questions TK: How can Google Read Along support phonemic awareness for ESL learners?PK: What instructional strategies can be used with Google Read Along to enhance phonemic practice?CK: Which phonemic awareness activities will be most effective with a tool that can listen and provide feedback to ESL learners? Example Activity: Introduce phonemic elements to review while reading. Students practice reading aloud with the app, receiving feedback. Review phonemic elements and feedback. Create a phoneme-based story or sentences in small groups. |
Literacy Focus: Vocabulary Development Ages: 10-16 AI Tool: ChatGPT2 – An AI conversational model that can generate a variety of text types based on a prompt. Planning Questions TK: How can ChatGPT be used as a resource for a vocabulary experience focused on understanding prefixes and suffixes to modify a word?PK: What instructional strategies can be used to best explore modifying word affixes?CK: Considering the goal of improving knowledge and recognition of affixes, what interactive features of ChatGPT can enrich learning? Example Activity: Review affixes and how they modify root words with students. In pairs or small groups, students use ChatGPT to generate a list of words with prefixes and suffixes. Print or copy lists from ChatGPT. Work together to identify the affixes. Arrange in small groups, compare lists, and review affixes. In small groups, select ten words to use in sentences or create a short story. |
| Literacy Focus: Creative Writing and Dialogue Creation Age: 10-18 AI Tool: ChatGPT Planning Questions TK: How can ChatGPT enhance creative writing and dialogue creation skills in ESL students?PK: What instructional strategies can be integrated with ChatGPT to encourage creative writing and dialogue?CK: Which aspects of creative writing and dialogue development can be effectively supported by ChatGPT? Example Activity: Introduce a theme or topic for storytelling or dialogue creation.Students engage with ChatGPT to develop stories or dialogues around the theme.Share and review the created stories or dialogues in class, focusing on language use and creativity.Conduct a reflective discussion on the process, highlighting elements of effective storytelling and dialogue. |
Literacy Focus: Reading Comprehension Ages: 12-18 AI Tool: Wordtune3 – An AI tool that summarizes texts to aid in comprehension and highlight key points of information in a passage Planning Questions TK: How can Wordtune help learners improve their abilities to summarize information from longer texts to prepare for a class discussion?PK: What instructional strategies can be used to help students explore summarization with Wordtune?CK: What principles of summarization can be highlighted by Wordtune to improve how students summarize their learning in class discussions? Example Activity: Have students select a passage to summarize. In pairs or small groups, have students summarize the key elements of the passage. Assist students in navigating to Wordtune. Have students work together to input the text into Wordtune to summarize. Compare the output of Wordtune to student summaries. What was the same? What was different? What can you learn from how Wordtune summarized to improve your own summary? Review as a class and review strategies for summarizing information. |
| Literacy Focus: Listening Comprehension and Pronunciation Ages: 16-18 AI Tool: LyricsTraining4: AI-driven tool designed for language learning through music. Planning Questions: TK: How can LyricsTraining assist ESL learners in improving listening comprehension and pronunciation through songs?PK: What instructional strategies can be implemented with LyricsTraining to maximize its impact on language learning?CK: What specific aspects of listening comprehension and pronunciation can be targeted using LyricsTraining’s approach with song lyrics? Example Activity: Students choose a song in English within LyricsTraining, focusing on a genre or artist they enjoy.They listen to the song, following along with the lyrics, and practice identifying key vocabulary and phrases.In pairs, students discuss the meaning of any new words they learned.In pairs, discuss their ideas about the overall narrative of the selected song and its meaning. As a class activity, students share their interpretations of the song’s lyrics and discuss how the exercise helped improve their listening and pronunciation skills. |
Preparing for Every Technology Without Learning Every Tool
As we navigate changes in technology, it is crucial that our teaching methods evolve alongside new technologies. Educators, like students, will need to develop a strong growth mindset, embracing change and fostering curiosity, to ensure students also develop flexible skills and a nuanced understanding of digital tools. Focusing on desired learning outcomes, such as literacy or communication, helps ground technology as a resource, rather than a fad or something to be feared. We can harness technological advancements and enrich our learning experiences using planning frameworks like TPACK, putting us in a better position to apply the right technology to the right lesson. Adopting a flexible approach to AI and other emerging technologies will provide a strong foundation to embrace every opportunity to enhance learning and ensure our lessons deliver on our educational goals and student needs.
AI Resources
1. https://readalong.google.com
References
Alghamdy, R. Z. (2023). Pedagogical and ethical implications of artificial intelligence in EFL context: A review study. English Language Teaching, 87-98. doi:https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v16n10p87
An, X., Chai, C. S., Li, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2023). Modeling students’ perceptions of artificial intelligence in assisted language learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2023.2246519
Davila, S. (2022). Framing the future. Language Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.languagemagazine.com/2022/06/07/framing-the-future/
Elsen-Rooney, M. (2023). NYC Education department blocks ChatGPT on school devices, networks. New York: Chalkbeat. Retrieved from https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2023/1/3/23537987/nyc-schools-ban-chatgpt-writing-artificial-intelligence/
Klein, A. (2023). 180 Degree Turn: NYC District goes from banning ChatGPT to exploring AI’s potential. Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/technology/180-degree-turn-nyc-schools-goes-from-banning-chatgpt-to-exploring-ais-potential/2023/10
Koehler, M. (2012, September ). TPACK Explained. Retrieved from TPACK.org: http://tpack.org/
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Dec 29 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat Sara Davila, based in Chicago, is the Learning Alchemist with Educating Her World, providing professional development training and curriculum support to institutions globally. With over two decades of experience, she specializes in English-language teaching, curriculum development, 21st-century pedagogies, and the integration of future technologies. A licensed TESOL trainer with World Learning/SIT, Sara is a two-time ELTons finalist, recognized by the British Council for her contributions in teacher resources and digital innovation. Sara continues to share resources and insights on her
