Educational Process: International Journal (Oct 2024)
Examining School Principals’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Using ChatGPT in Education
Abstract
Background/purpose. ChatGPT has become one of the groundbreaking examples of artificial intelligence-based chatbots with its capacity to produce texts and engage in human-like conversations. Therefore, it has garnered the attention of people with diverse backgrounds, including educational professionals. The current study aims to investigate how school principals and teachers perceived the use of ChatGPT in education and reveal their attitudes towards using AI-based tools to facilitate the teaching-learning experience. Materials/methods. The study was designed using the qualitative case study method since it aimed to gather detailed information regarding school principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of ChatGPT. Data was collected from 80 teachers and school principals selected purposefully from public primary, secondary, and high schools. Data was analyzed using content analysis techniques by synthesizing codes into categories and themes. Results. The study revealed four major themes regarding school principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of ChatGPT: overall perceptions, perceived opportunities, perceived risks, and the effective use of ChatGPT. The participants referred to several advantages of using ChatGPT in education such as lesson planning, offering customized learning, and enabling easy and fast access to information. They were also cautious about some risks such as ethical and responsible use, the likelihood of encouraging dishonesty, free-riding, cheating, or plagiarism as well as weakening students’ cognitive skills. Due to its potential to provide inaccurate information depending on the reliability of its data source, they were also doubtful that it could provide students with false guidance in its current form. The participants also made some recommendations to make better and more effective use of ChatGPT in education such as providing ongoing training for both teachers and students on recent developments, increasing the reliability of its data sources through continuous tests, and aligning its capacity with the readiness and age of students. Conclusion. The current study showed that school principals and teachers had sufficient knowledge of ChatGPT and mostly had a positive attitude towards its use in education despite some risks. Combined with the findings of prior studies, the current results suggest taking several steps to minimize the risks and offering both pre-and in-service training to teachers for more effective use.
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