Far more teachers are getting professional development on artificial intelligence, but a majority still have received no training at all, according to new survey results from the EdWeek Research Center.
Forty-three percent of teachers said they have received at least one training session on AI, according to the nationally representative survey of 1,135 educators—including 731 teachers—conducted between Sept. 26 and Oct. 8. That’s a nearly 50 percent increase from the EdWeek Research Center’s spring survey, when 29 percent of teachers said the same.
The increase could be attributed to the fact that between March and October, there have been many opportunities for districts to provide professional development, such as during summer break or back-to-school preparations, said Tara Natrass, the managing director of innovation strategy for ISTE+ASCD.
But if 58 percent of teachers still have no training two years after the release of ChatGPT, then districts have a lot of work to do to get everyone up to speed, Natrass said.
AI is already getting embedded into many tools that students and teachers use daily, so experts say it’s increasingly important for teachers to learn about the emerging technology so they can use it responsibly in their work, as well as model appropriate use for students.
In open-ended responses to the survey, some teachers expressed that they want training on AI.
“I would really like to have some in-depth training on the use of some of the new educational AI tools,” said a high school math teacher in Colorado. “Our district has not provided anything at all and it is too expensive to pursue on my own.”
A high school English teacher in Kansas said, “I really don’t use it much, but I would be open to some PD on it to learn more.”
Why teachers aren’t using AI
The lack of knowledge and support is one of the top reasons why teachers say they aren’t using AI in the classroom, according to the EdWeek Research Center survey. The other top reason is that teachers have other more pressing priorities.
“I need to explore AI before I commit to it,” said a high school English teacher in New York in an open-ended response to the survey.
A high school social studies teacher in Ohio would like to know more about AI but the educator’s school district has been more focused on the “science of reading.”
“I feel that we are at a disadvantage,” the teacher said.
How some teachers are using AI
For teachers who are experimenting with AI tools, survey results show that they mostly use them for exploring new ideas for teaching and for creating teaching materials.
A middle school science teacher in Maine, in an open-ended response to the survey, reported “using AI to assist me in creating goal setting for my academic advising. I put in the parameters and AI gave me a fantastic start for this document. It saved me an incredible amount of time.”
A special education teacher in Pennsylvania responded in the survey that ChatGPT was “extremely helpful.”
“As a special ed teacher who has to help students across 20+ curriculums in grades 9-12, I frequently ask [ChatGPT] for background on pieces of literature, summaries of historical events. I have also asked it to write IEP goals that I can then use as ideas for writing ones specific to the student,” the teacher said.
Still, there are some teachers who believe that AI has no place in education.
“I personally feel that AI allows both students and teachers to find the easiest way to complete a task without learning or being challenged to learn anything at all,” said a high school social studies teacher in North Carolina. “No creativity or thought goes into completing a task.”
