AI has a reputation for being a method for students to cheat on assignments due to its easy access to information. However, students and teachers at CHS have found a way to use AI to learn and study information using active recall.
NotebookLM is an AI platform built to help students study using quizzes and flashcards. Students input sources, like YouTube links, for the program to use when creating these study tools.
¨To study, I like to use NotebookLM because I can upload my sources and know that it won’t pull random outside information,¨ junior Kennedie Gilson said. ¨It also helps me use tools like recordings, videos and quizzes so that I actually study rather than just get answers.¨
Nic Levitt, an AP Environmental Science teacher, has become very knowledgeable about AI as it has become more prevalent in today´s society. Instead of prohibiting all AI use in his classroom, he actually encourages students to use it responsibly.
¨At the beginning of my junior year I realized that I can use AI to study when Mr. Levitt recommended I use NotebookLM,” Gilson said.
Levitt explains that his experience with AI goes back to when it first started out. He has seen AI go from something that can be helpful to something that can be abused and used irresponsibly. However, he intends to teach students how to manage AI in a responsible manner.
¨I have been using AI since it first came out,¨ Levitt said. ¨So I’ve been using it for a long time. I was always slightly disappointed by the way students were just using it for doing their work rather than helping them do their work.¨
NotebookLM, as well as other AI sources, are programmed to produce quizzes and podcasts that can be tailored to a specific topic that a student may be struggling with. These sources also offer an option to edit the difficulty of questions on a practice test and allow them to follow the rubric of an AP test.
¨I am an auditory learner. I love that on notebookLM, it makes me podcasts to listen to and I feel like it sticks in my brain pretty well,¨ Gilson said. “Also, getting quizzed by an outside source rather than quizzing myself feels a lot more like an actual test.”.
Platforms such as ChatGPT are often used as an easy way to get information. However, teachers have become knowledgeable about how to detect if students are using it to plagiarize their work.
¨One misconception about AI is that it can only be used irresponsibly in school,¨ Gilson said. I think that a lot of people use platforms such as ChatGPT that make it really easy to just get answers and then create that sort of learning deficit for themselves. Once people find tools that can be used responsibly, they can be used to help you actually learn.¨
AI has become an intimidating topic in classrooms given that some students decide to use it to do their work for them. Teachers have started to become a lot more strict about the use of any AI in their classrooms. However, Mr. Levitt has encountered many students using AI to actually learn information for a class or study for a test. He claims that students have been able to open up more to him about their use of AI.
‘I think students are still nervous to share their experience or use of AI with their teachers, given that there is a wide variance between how different teachers perceive the use of AI,” Levitt said. “I think by this time in the year, It has come a long way. Students are starting to share with me more how they use it and how it is helpful to them.¨
Other programs aside from NotebookLM can be helpful to each type of learner. Websites such as Turbo AI, Studley AI and Whiz AI offer many different resources tailored to each student’s current abilities.
¨I would advise that students find out how they learn the best,¨ Gilson said. ¨Whether it is reading, pictures or listening to things, you can use that to your advantage when you are studying and find the best platform for you.¨
