ChatGPT-5 & Learning: Moving Forward with Our Students
Technology often arrives slower for me than it does for the rest of the world. Having taught for more than thirty years, I was always waiting for new technologies to become affordable for the schools where I worked. When they finally did, the question became: How best can we use this new technology to truly enhance learning?
My Introduction to ChatGPT
In November 2024, I discovered ChatGPT-4.0 and the world of OpenAI. From my very first query, I was hooked. I saw endless potential for teaching, collaboration, and creativity.
Now, with ChatGPT-5.0, both teachers and students have an even more powerful tool – and with that comes new challenges and responsibilities. Across the globe, academic honesty policies have been updated to address inappropriate use of technology. Rightly so – plagiarism has become a significant concern for educators.
Yet, I see this moment differently. AI isn’t the end of originality; it’s a new beginning.
How ChatGPT Helps Teachers Innovate
ChatGPT opened up a new canvas for lesson planning. Curriculum goals and objectives remain at the core of what we do, but AI has changed how we approach them.
Now, I can type a curriculum objective and ask a simple question:
“How can my students use this knowledge outside of school?”
Within seconds, AI provides real-world applications, creative project ideas, and even suggestions for cross-disciplinary collaboration. What once took hours of research through Google now takes minutes – freeing teachers to focus on deeper, more connected learning.
AI doesn’t replace a teacher’s insight; it enhances it. It gives us time to teach with purpose.
AI and the Modern Student
So what about our students – the why, what, and how?
In this new AI-driven world, my goal is to help students think more deeply, not less. Alongside learning to use AI tools, we must have ethical conversations about their purpose and limitations.
Educator Natasha Berg addressed this beautifully in her TED Talk: “Should We Let Students Use ChatGPT?” It’s worth watching and reflecting upon with your students.
There is no fixed roadmap for AI in education, but as poet Robert Frost once wrote in The Road Not Taken:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
A Teacher’s Reflection
As educators, we now stand at that crossroads. We can fear change, or we can guide our students through it – showing them multiple paths and helping them choose with wisdom and integrity.
Let’s make that difference together.
