Glenn Thompson Highlights How Artificial Intelligence Will Make Teachers ‘More Effective’

2 days ago

During Tuesday's House Education Committee hearing, Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) discussed how artificial intelligence will aid teachers in K-12 classrooms.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you. The representative from Pennsylvania, Mr. Thompson, is recognized

00:04for five minutes. Chairman, Ranking Member, thank you so much for this

00:07hearing. First of all, Ms. Mood, I want to say I couldn't agree with you more. I mean

00:12AI is incredible opportunities, but it doesn't replace our teachers. It makes

00:16them more effective. And AI without either HI or RI, human intelligence or

00:24real intelligence, it's just not going to get it done. It may mislead us. So as

00:32we've heard today, artificial intelligence presents a unique

00:34opportunity to rapidly advance the educational landscape for students

00:38with disabilities. In just the last two decades, we've seen enormous growth and

00:43success of assistive technology in aiding these students. And I believe AI

00:47presents the next frontier in helping to ensure all students have access to a

00:51high-quality, appropriate education that best fits their abilities. Maybe that's

00:55why we haven't gotten around to doing our job of reauthorizing Individuals

01:00with Disabilities Education Act, you know, because with this new frontier, we could

01:05be taken into consideration as we actually do the reauthorization of IDEA.

01:10It's long overdue. Dr. Rafelber, I know AI is making possible development of new

01:17screening tools and assistive technology such as screen readers. Given

01:22your previous experience as a special education teacher, and thank you for

01:25doing that, could you talk more about the benefits AI adoption might have for

01:30students with special needs? Yes, thank you for that question. I'm really

01:37excited as a former special education teacher about some of the power and the

01:40potential, particularly when it comes to things like screeners. I think there are

01:45so many opportunities to learn more about our students and to be able to use

01:49that information in connected ways to give us a fuller picture about each

01:53individual student, helping to unlock new ways to think about supporting them. But

01:58I also think that, like all things, this is all very new. And I think being able

02:03to really understand and look at the impact of this and see whether or not

02:08these screeners and these tools are working the way that we would expect and

02:12for what types of students and under what conditions is such an important

02:17research function that we need to continue to explore. I think that there

02:22has been some really promising early research recently out of Hector County

02:27in Texas where they were looking at the way in which AI could support not the

02:33students but the actual tutors, the individuals who are going in and

02:37providing support to those students and looking at tutors at different skill

02:40level. So those who were lower on their skill level, those who were medium in

02:45their skill level, and those that were said to be higher performing. And what

02:48they found was that AI supported all of them, but particularly those that were

02:51lower and middle performing. As a special education teacher, that's really exciting.

02:56That means that once we have that information from these screeners and we

02:59can better pinpoint areas that we need to support our students, that there are

03:04promising and encouraging results from the research around how AI might help

03:08all of the adults who are working with our students, but particularly those that

03:12need more support themselves to better differentiate and scaffold for those

03:16students. And that's something that really excites me.

03:19Do you believe that both teachers and schools at this point have the resources

03:24they need to ensure students with disabilities can take advantage of these

03:27potential benefits? I think the resource question is always a really tricky one.

03:32There's a role at every level in terms of research resources. There's a federal

03:37role, there's states prioritizing resources, and then I think the private

03:42sector has a really critical function to play in this world of AI. I think being

03:48able to bring everyone together and doing so in ways where they're

03:52partnering effectively and sharing research and information is a vital

03:56function, and it's a vital function of our states. It is imperative that our

04:00states are leading on this and that our states are collecting data and

04:04information and reporting transparently and publicly so that individuals

04:09understand what this looks like and how these resources are being used and to

04:12what impact. Well, with benefit usually comes some type of risk, and so

04:18for example, imagine the risk of AI-generated images, the spread of

04:22bullying tactics, or even AI that has not been properly programmed to work with

04:26specific learning disabilities could impact special needs students more than

04:30others. I look forward to talking with you offline because I'm going to be

04:37running out of time here, but basically looking to see what risks do you see AI

04:41adoption posing, particularly for those students who you would advise

04:46school leaders to balance those risks with the AI benefits. I think that's a

04:51conversation that we need to have as we pursue this. I look

04:56forward to speaking with you further about this. I think it is one of the most

04:58important and critical topics that you all could undertake. Thank you so much.

05:02Chairman, I yield back.

Glenn Thompson Highlights How Artificial Intelligence Will Make Teachers ‘More Effective’

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