Using Ai to unlock effective revision
Your teenager is already using it, they may as well use it right
I speak to parents every day,
And a common theme that comes up is how much the world has changed since they or I did our GCSEs (or O Levels depending on your age).
The technological changes have been so extensive,
That the way in which students revise today is often unrecognisable.
For the most part,
Like with most changes,
Students can use these advancements positively or negatively.
What’s more difficult is parents struggle to know.
As the revision often seems so intangible,
Parents either have to trust what their teenagers say,
And teenagers often don’t say much,
Or they need to get involved, asking for proof.
-
Ai is here
Personally, I am a bit of a technophobe.
This has made me slower than some to take Ai seriously.
Furthermore,
There’s jealousy.
I don’t know if it is only me,
I suspect not,
But I am jealous that learning seems so much easier now than when I was at school.
I think this jealousy can make some parents or educators,
Not all of course,
Reticent to encourage teenagers to embrace it.
-
Fortunately, or unfortunately,
Teenagers are embracing it.
And we will have to as well.
Ai is in our WhatsApp,
It’s on our social media feed,
And it has completely changed the way many students approach homework and assignments.
-
How to use Ai Effectively
I am going to keep this simple.
I personally use Chatgpt for all of my Ai searching however I am sure that others are just as good.
-
I see four primary ways Ai can help your teenager with their revision. Number 3 is my favourite:
1) Summarising detailed information
- Most people know that when you make notes you should summarise and put them in your own words. The problem is, if a student doesn’t understand the notes in the first place how are they possibly going to put them in their own words. This is where Ai can be of significant help.
- I would still recommend writing out your own notes however I would certainly encourage using Ai if you are stuck or if you want a different interpretation to make sure you have understood something.
2) Producing flash card sized summaries
- If you’re not sure how to distill a paragraph of information onto a flash card, Ai can help. I would specifically ask the Ai to create a flash card in a question and answer format. This is great for learning content however I always recommend that in a subject like science, students focus on learning the exact answers from the mark scheme rather than just facts on their own.
3) Learning complex information
- To improve your long term, durable memory, you need to make connections between different points in your brain. Therefore, I highly recommend taking a complex topic like ‘cell biology’ or ‘the factors that led to the start of the first world war’ and ask the Ai to explain it to you using the tree of life analogy. This will help you to remember and understand content to a greater degree which will then benefit your longer questions and essays.
4) Producing Essay Questions
- There is never a reason to run out of essay questions when you can ask the Ai to make specific questions for every sub-topic in the curriculum. Make sure you specify your exam board and tell the Ai to take inspiration from past questions. It will help you to consider topics through a unique lens.
-
I hope you all have a great week ahead,
Best wishes,
Joel