Transcript
Speaker: Are you feeling like AI might one day replace teachers? Do you ever wonder what it means to teach like a human when machines can now write, read, and even talk back?
Speaker: If that tension sounds familiar, you're in the right place. Welcome to the Christian Educators AI Guide Podcast. Today we're talking about how we as educators can cultivate a human-first approach to AI in our teaching.
Speaker: Welcome to the Christian Educators AI Guide podcast where we help Christian educators redeem AI in their teaching. I'm your host, Rob Almey, and today we are exploring what it means to teach like a human in the age of intelligent machines.
Speaker: But first, before we get to the big question, let's get to the AI News of the Week.
Speaker: This week in AI news, we received news that Microsoft Co-Pilot for Education just launched a new classroom mode assistant that can generate lesson plans and grade rubrics directly inside of Teams. And so if you are a Microsoft Teams ah school, a Microsoft school that uses Co-Pilot, well, they now have Co-Pilot for Education. This matters for Christian educators because AI is now entering the core of the teacher's workspace.
Speaker: As with any AI, this brings efficiency, but also the temptation on the negative side to outsource creativity and judgment. of course, as Christian educators, we have a unique opportunity to model what for our students' discernment, as we find in Hebrews 5.14, asking not just, can I use this, but should I use this? I don't know if you caught the difference there.
Speaker: Can I use this, but should I use this? So again, Microsoft coming out with Copilot for Education.
Speaker: In other AI news, we have heard that Dort University has announced a professional development series and resource based on Dr. Dave Mulder's book, Teach Like a Human, that is equipping teachers to evaluate technology used through the lens of the imago dei.
Speaker: The imago dei, of course, being the theological concept that we are created in the image of God, Genesis 1.27. seven This bit of news shows us that Christian higher education is leading the way when it comes to dealing with AI integration in a human-centered way.
Speaker: That is to say when teachers root technology decisions in formation and relationship and not in efficiency, they're really modeling and teaching for their students how to see learning as an act of worship and not production.
Speaker: as an act of bringing glory to the creator instead of just getting a grade on a report card. Have you ever considered that? Let's now move on to our next segment of the show as we talk about the big question for today.
Speaker: The big question for today is how do we remain deeply human as educators in an increasingly automated world? As I've already said from Genesis 1, we learn that we are made in God's image.
Speaker: Genesis 1, 27. We call that the Imago Dei. That we are creative beings. That we as human beings are relational beings. We need to be around one another. We are moral beings. We're created in God's image.
Speaker: Now, there's been much about what AI can do, written about what AI can do. There's been much that's been spoken about what AI can do and what it brings to the table.
Speaker: But here's what AI cannot do. a a can mimic output, but it cannot love, cannot discern, cannot care for souls like a teacher.
Speaker: So teachers, AI is not going to replace your ability to love your students, to engage in meaningful discernment with your students, and to care for their souls.
Speaker: So how do we remain deeply human as educators? In an increasingly automated world, that is the question for us.
Speaker: Teaching at its heart is incarnational. That's a big theologically fancy way of saying that it is boots on the ground. When we talk about Jesus' incarnation, God's incarnation as Jesus, we're talking about what we celebrate at Christmas.
Speaker: Emmanuel, God with us. When God left the throne of heaven and came to us born as a baby, he took on flesh. The word became flesh, as the gospel writer John tells us.
Speaker: Teaching at its heart is also like that. It is boots on the ground. It's getting your hands dirty. It's it's messy. But it only happens through presence. And AI can't model that presence.
Speaker: That's what Jesus modeled when he taught in parables. That's what Jesus modeled his presence, his incarnational presence, when he asked questions to his disciples and to others.
Speaker: That's what Jesus modeled, his presence, his incarnational nature, when he walked with his disciples. So how do we teach like humans amid all of this technology?
Speaker: How do we teach like humans in an age of AI? For our big question today, I want to give you four practical moves for us as Christian educators when it comes to this question of how do we teach like humans in this age of AI.
Speaker: The first move that we need to keep in mind as Christian educators is we have to remember who we are and whose we are. We have to start with our identity.
Speaker: Before our school's tech policies, before our lesson plans, we have to remind ourselves that each and every one of us are called to form image bearers.
Speaker: At my school, Fredericksburg Christian School, we're called to edge educate Christian leaders for life. That calling to help and to come alongside God and parents to help form image bearers of God.
Speaker: to educate future Christian leaders, that calling can't be automated, can't be put into a large language model. So it's important to remember as we think about how it is that we teach in an age of AI, we have to remember who we are, whose we are, and who we're teaching.
Speaker: Genesis 1, 27, God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created a male and female. He created them. And Paul reminds us in Colossians 3.23, whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men.
Speaker: Teaching is more than information transfer. It's participating in God's creative work by forming minds and hearts that reflect his image. As we're teaching in in the age of AI,
Speaker: Not only must we remember who we are, our identity, but we have to, number two, keep relationships central. Look, AI can analyze data far faster than you and I. It is much better at us than that.
Speaker: But here's what AI can't do. It can't look a student in the eye. It can't discern that that student is not acting himself or herself.
Speaker: AI doesn't make space for conversation. Drop what it's doing to say a prayer with students. AI can't reflect on how things went.
Speaker: AI cannot grade with empathy. It can't mentor through feedback. AI can't just listen.
Speaker: See, you're doing work as a Christian educator that no algorithm, no technology, No AI can touch. 1 Thessalonians 2.8 tells us, Having so fond an affection for you, Paul writes to the Thessalonians, we were pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you have become very dear to us.
Speaker: Did you catch that, friends? We imparted our own lives. That's what we do as Christian educators. Christian teaching by Christian educators It's always relational.
Speaker: It's always about sharing truth and life with our students.
Speaker: A third way to remember how to teach in the age of AI is to use AI as a servant. not as a substitute. Use AI as a servant, not as a substitute. I mentioned Dr. Dave Mulder earlier from Dort University who has written extensively upon AI and theology.
Speaker: Dr. Mulder calls this restoration-oriented use, letting AI free time for ministry. That's letting AI be your servant or letting AI free time for education and teaching.
Speaker: in our case, you know use it to draft rubrics or summarize data, but never use AI to replace discernment or relationships.
Speaker: Remember, AI is a great servant, but it's a terrible master. And so as we walk into this journey of trying to figure out how it is that we can be Christian educators in the age of AI, it's always important to remember The AI has its place as a servant, but not as a substitute for us.
Speaker: 1 Peter 4.10, as each one has received a special gift, employ it in servicing and serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. See, AI should serve us, serve our calling, not replace us, and it certainly doesn't replace our calling.
Speaker: Using technology as a tool for stewardship and service and not as a shortcut to avoid the sacred work of teaching is where we need to be as educators.
Speaker: Lastly, when it comes to teaching in the age of AI, model wisdom and discernment. Let students see you evaluate an AI response.
Speaker: In the middle of class, say, hey, let's test if this is true or not. That practice trains them to engage in their own discernment, their own seeking of truth over convenience.
Speaker: Paul, writing to the church at Philippi, said this, it goes right along with this point. Finally, brethren, whatever's true Whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there's any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Speaker: You see, we Christian educators model discernment by teaching students to filter ideas through God's standard of truth and goodness.
Speaker: move on to this next segment of our show where we feature a tool or a resource. And already in this episode, you have heard me refer to Dr. Dave Mulder of Dort University. And so today's featured resource for this podcast is Teach Like a Human by Dr. Dave Mulder. both a theological and practical guide to reclaiming the joy of relational teaching.
Speaker: This tool can be useful because it can be a framework for us. It could be used as a staff ah study. could be used as a book club. It can be used for personal use.
Speaker: But that's a great resource to pick up and to read and to use and to let it ask questions of you. Teach Like a Human by Dr. Dave Mulder.
Speaker: Now to that segment where we share a prompt of the week or a quick tip. Try this prompt to help you reflect biblically on your own AI use.
Speaker: You are a Christian educator. Ask me five questions to help me reflect on whether my use of AI and lesson planning honors God's design for creativity, stewardship, and truth. After I answer, summarize my reflection as a short AI integrity statement I can share with my students.
Speaker: You can take that prompt, which I'll include in the show notes, and you can go ahead and put it in your favorite large language model, your favorite chatbot, whether that be ChatGPT, Gemini, Grop, Perplexity, whatever it is.
Speaker: And you can begin to form your own AI integrity statement for you as an educator that you can share with students. And this will help to clarify your own boundaries.
Speaker: before setting boundaries for your students. This is an important thing to give some thought to. And again, we can leverage and redeem the AI to help us in this, to help us in this.
Speaker: Now, let's move on to our next segment and our time of prayer.
Speaker: So if you would kindly join me in a word of prayer, let us pray. Lord God, we thank you so much for all of your wonderful blessings that you pour out upon us each and every day of our lives.
Speaker: We thank you, O God, for the tools and resources that you have given to us so that we might fu fulfill your great commission to go into all the world and to teach and to share your good news, to baptize.
Speaker: And Father God, we pray for your wisdom and for your discernment as Christian educators about how best to do that. Help us always to remember that AI is not a substitute, but is a tool and a servant that you have given to us so that we can use it to help our students be your image bearers.
Speaker: We pray all this in the powerful name of your Son and our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Speaker: That brings us towards the end of our episode. If this episode encouraged you, want to ask you to leave a rating and review wherever it is that you listen and you have found this podcast. Subscribe and share it with a colleague who might need a reminder that God has called them to teach like a human and that we can teach like a human as image bearers of God, even in an age of AI.
Speaker: And so as you go remember this. Go and redeem ai for education. Go and redeem AI for the furtherance of the gospel. And may you go in God's peace.
