Welcome to ChatGPT for Education

Exploring how AI can help you teach and learn more effectively

How did we get here?

For many educators, ChatGPT’s release in November 2022 felt like a seismic shift. Overnight, a tool that began as a research preview swept through campuses worldwide. Two years later, ChatGPT is used by over 300 million people — including students, educators, and researchers — reshaping education in real time.

Where are we now?

A survey from May 2024 revealed that almost half of undergraduates and teachers are using AI chatbots at least once a week. This has forced educators and academic institutions to adapt at an unprecedented pace — much faster than with previous technologies like calculators, personal computers, or even the internet.

Like many groundbreaking technologies, ChatGPT can be both a crutch and an amplifier depending on how it’s used. When students use it to summarize a book instead of reading it, or to generate an essay instead of writing it themselves, they miss out on parts of the learning process, shortchanging themselves and undermining the purpose of education. Unsurprisingly, many educators initially reacted by banning generative AI in the classroom.

But the tide is shifting. Some educators we’ve met didn't ban it; they dove in, determined to understand and harness the technology. These educators have discovered ways that ChatGPT can help them teach more effectively and help their students learn more deeply. Studies are starting to show that, when used properly, AI can help us learn more — and faster.

We’re launching this newsletter to help more people learn from these early adopters.

30 Profiles

We’ll start by speaking with 30 educators who are pioneering the use of ChatGPT to enhance teaching and learning. You’ll hear from educators around the world, from Arizona and Atlanta to Oxford and Johannesburg. You’ll learn about diverse use cases across disciplines: AI teaching assistants for computer science students to get feedback on their code, role-playing games for debating historical philosophers, bots for policy students to practice real-world conversations, and AI language partners to help students practice conversing in German, French, or Japanese.

Read our first few profiles:

• David McElhoes of Arizona State University uses ChatGPT to allow his students to role-play with philosophers

• Jeanne Law of Kennesaw State University built a custom GPT to transform a writing textbook into an interactive writing guide

• Teddy Svoronos of the Harvard Kennedy School uses ChatGPT to create personalized practice problems for his statistics students

Let’s get to know each other

We hope that by providing a platform for these stories, we can catalyze a community of educators inspiring and learning from one another. If you’re here, you’re planting the earliest seeds of this community. 🌱 So let’s get to know each other!

---