United News of Bangladesh

Ana Sepúlveda, a math teacher in Dallas, wanted to make geometry exciting for her 6th grade honors class. Knowing her students are passionate about soccer, she decided to connect the subject to the sport. To help, she turned to ChatGPT. Within seconds, the AI provided a detailed five-page lesson plan, complete with a theme: “Geometry is everywhere in soccer — on the field, in the ball, and even in stadium designs!” The plan explained how shapes and angles are used in the game, suggested discussion questions like “Why are these shapes important to soccer?” and proposed a project for students to create their own soccer field or stadium using rulers and protractors. “AI has completely changed the way I work,” said Sepúlveda, who teaches at a bilingual school and uses ChatGPT to translate materials into Spanish. “It’s helping me plan lessons, communicate with parents, and keep students more engaged.” Teachers nationwide are increasingly using AI tools to create quizzes, lesson plans, worksheets, assist with grading, and reduce administrative work. Many say this technology allows them to focus more on teaching. Google may be forced to link to rival search platforms in the UK A Gallup and Walton Family Foundation survey released Wednesday found that 6 in 10 K-12 public school teachers in the U.S. used AI tools during the last academic year. The survey, conducted in April with over 2,000 teachers, showed AI use is most common among high school educators and those early in their careers. According to Gallup research consultant Andrea Malek Ash, teachers who use AI weekly reported saving an average of six hours per week, suggesting AI could help reduce teacher burnout. States are issuing guidelines for using AI tools in classrooms As concerns grow over students misusing AI tools, many schools are introducing guidelines and providing training to ensure teachers use the technology responsibly and avoid shortcuts that could negatively impact student learning. Currently, around two dozen U.S. states have issued AI-related guidance for schools, but how consistently these rules are applied across classrooms varies, according to Maya Israel, an associate professor of educational technology and computer science education at the University of Florida. “We need to make sure AI doesn’t replace a teacher’s professional judgment,” Israel emphasized. She added that while AI can be useful for basic tasks like grading multiple-choice tests, it struggles with more complex assessments requiring nuance. Students should also have a way to report unfair or inaccurate grading, with the final grading decision left to the teacher. AI tools are already saving time for many educators. Roughly 8 in 10 teachers who use AI say it helps reduce workload by assisting with tasks such as creating worksheets, quizzes, or handling administrative duties. About 6 in 10 report that AI has improved the quality of their work, particularly in adapting materials for students or providing feedback. Mary McCarthy, a high school social studies teacher near Houston, said AI has transformed her teaching and improved her work-life balance by easing lesson planning and other tasks. Training provided by her school district has also helped her demonstrate responsible AI use to students. “If all we say is ‘AI is bad, and kids will get lazy,’ then of course that’s what will happen if we don’t guide them,” McCarthy said. “As the adult in the room, I see it as my duty to help them learn how to use this tool responsibly.” OpenAI pulls Jony Ive partnership details after court ruling in trademark dispute Teachers say the technology is best used sparingly Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, opinions on the use of artificial intelligence in education have changed significantly. Many schools initially banned the technology, but over time, educators have begun exploring ways to integrate it into classrooms. Despite this shift, concerns remain. According to a recent study, nearly half of teachers worry that students' reliance on AI could harm their ability to think critically, work independently, or persevere through problem-solving tasks. However, teachers also believe that understanding AI better helps them recognize when students overuse it. Colorado high school English teacher Darren Barkett, for example, says AI-generated assignments often lack grammatical errors and contain unusually complex language—both signs that a chatbot was involved. Barkett himself uses ChatGPT for lesson planning and grading multiple-choice tests and essays. In suburban Chicago, middle school art teacher Lindsay Johnson uses only AI tools approved by her school to ensure student privacy. She introduces AI technology later in the creative process so students can build confidence in their own abilities first. For her eighth graders' final project, Johnson asked students to draw a portrait of someone influential in their lives. After they finished the facial details, she offered them the option to use generative AI for designing the background. She relied on an AI feature in Canva, a design platform vetted by her school district's IT team for safety and privacy. “My goal as an art teacher is to show students the range of tools available and help them understand how to use those tools properly,” Johnson said. Interestingly, some students declined the AI assistance. “About half the class said, ‘I already have a vision, and I want to complete it myself,’” she added.

The Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program for International Teachers (Fulbright DAI) is accepting applications for the academic year 2023-2024.   The US Department of State exchange programme provides scholarships for Bangladeshi primary and secondary-level teachers to participate in a semester-long non-degree, non-credit professional exchange programme with other educators from around the world.   The participants will get an opportunity to develop expertise in their subject areas, enhance their teaching skills, and increase their knowledge about the US.    They will receive full scholarships to take classes and engage in professional development activities in the North American country. While studying at a US university, each participant will work on completing an individual or a group project on a topic of their choice. They can choose to audit a range of academic courses that align with their professional development goals. The host university will provide coursework on a wide range of topics, including curriculum development, second language instruction, comparative education, educational leadership, and teaching methodologies, among others, from which participants can choose.   Fulbright DAI participants will take part in a seminar at their host university featuring discussions led by university staff, faculty members, and guests. The seminar topics will focus on reflecting on the field experience, shaping the inquiry projects, and examining trends and current issues in education, such as curriculum, instruction and learning, assessment, instructional technology, student-centred learning, and teacher leadership, among other topics that are of interest to participants.   Participants will be placed at an American elementary or high school to observe classes, co-teach, and share their expertise and information about their home country with their host institution.    Each of them will gain access to a virtual community of practice where they can collaborate and exchange ideas with like-minded peers and educational professionals working in various countries around the world.   The eligible participants need to have a minimum of five years of professional experience in full-time teaching by the start of the programme. They are also required to have excellent oral and written English language skills, to engage in postgraduate level coursework, familiarity with using Microsoft Office suite platforms such as Microsoft Word and Excel, and to be Bangladeshi citizens currently residing in Bangladesh.  The application window will remain open till 11:59pm EST Washington DC time May 13, 2023.

Jill Biden is going back to her whiteboard. After months of teaching writing and English to community college students in boxes on a computer screen, the first lady resumes teaching in person Tuesday from a classroom at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has worked since 2009. She is the first first lady to leave the White House and log hours at a full-time job. “There are some things you just can’t replace, and I can’t wait to get back in the classroom,” she recently told Good Housekeeping magazine. Read:Jill Biden, Joe's chief protector, stepping up as first lady The first lady has been anxious to see her students in person after more than a year of virtual teaching brought on by a pandemic that continues to challenge the Biden administration. A working first lady is a “big deal,” said Tammy Vigil, a Boston University communications professor who wrote a book about first ladies Michelle Obama and Melania Trump. The nation’s early first ladies did not work outside the home, especially when home was the White House. They supported their husbands, raised children and performed the role of hostess. Some first ladies acted as special ambassadors for their husbands. Eleanor Roosevelt was especially active, traveling around the U.S. and reporting back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose activities were limited by polio. She advocated for the poor, minorities and other disadvantaged people, and began writing a nationally syndicated newspaper column from the White House. More recent first ladies, like Laura Bush, who was an elementary school teacher and librarian, had stopped working outside the home after having children and were not employed when their husbands were elected. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama were working mothers who decided against continuing their careers in the White House. Jill Biden, 70, is forging a new path for herself and her successors. The first lady has said she always wanted to be a career woman. She taught at the Virginia community college during the eight years that her husband was vice president and was not about to let the added responsibility of being first lady force her to give up a career she so closely identifies with. “Teaching isn’t just what I do. It’s who I am,” she says. Women made up nearly half, or 47%, of the U.S. labor force in 2019, according to Catalyst, a women’s workplace advocacy group. Leaders of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions are pleased that one of their own is now in a position to help influence the administration’s education policies and raise the profile of a profession in which many have long felt unappreciated. “She sees it up close and personally and now, in the position as first lady, not only does she give voice to that from a place of understanding, she has an opportunity to create a platform and to have influence,” said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association. Read:White House upgrade: First lady's done a lot with the place President Joe Biden told teachers attending the NEA’s annual meeting that he learned about what they were going through by watching his wife as she learned how to teach online. “It gave me an appreciation firsthand that I thought I had, but I wouldn’t have had had I not seen it,” he said at the July meeting. “And then going out and teaching — she was working four or five hours a day, getting ready to teach, putting her lesson plans together ... a different way.” In 1976, a year after she met and began dating then-U.S. Sen. Biden, Jill Biden started teaching English at a Roman Catholic high school in Wilmington, Delaware. She later taught at a psychiatric hospital and at Delaware Technical Community College. She earned two master’s degrees and a doctorate in educational leadership during those years. After Joe Biden became vice president in 2009, she joined the faculty at Northern Virginia Community College. She continued to teach there after he left office and throughout his 2020 presidential campaign, including virtually after the pandemic hit. Her virtual teaching continued as first lady, from her office in the White House East Wing or hotel rooms when she traveled to promote administration policies. She grades papers on flights. “It shatters the norms of what first ladies do,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Jill Biden tries to keep her political identity out of the classroom and has said that many of her former students in Virginia had no idea she was married to the vice president. She also did not talk about it. Secret Service agents accompanied her for security, but she had them dress casually and tote backpacks in an attempt to blend into the campus environment. But being first lady, for which there is no job description or pay, comes with a much higher level of visibility, security and scrutiny. First ladies make numerous public appearances — with or without the president — to promote their own or the president’s issues, garnering coverage from national and local news media. Vogue magazine splashed the first lady on the cover of its August issue. Read: Michelle Obama, Mia Hamm among 9 chosen for Women's HOF Jill Biden will teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with travel on days when she is not in the classroom. Her employer, the commonwealth of Virginia, requires everyone to wear face coverings indoors on Northern Virginia Community College campuses, regardless of vaccination status. The first lady is fully vaccinated. The school is offering fall classes in a variety of formats, including fully remote, in-person on campus and a hybrid. Anne M. Kress, president of Northern Virginia Community College, said she looked forward to welcoming the students and faculty, including Jill Biden, for the fall semester and expressed gratitude for their commitment to “excellence in instruction and equity in opportunity.” “Their belief in our students is deep, real, and transformational,” Kress said.