I became more interested in examining teachers' perceptions and experiences with Artificial Intelligence in career education for secondary school students in Nigeria after chatting with one of my students about career readiness and skills to explore as a secondary school graduate.
During our chat, she narrated how she used AI, particularly ChatGPT, to seek career advice and other personal consultations.
Instantly, I felt a bit worried but more curious and asked further...
How do you feel about having such a chat with an AI tool? Do you think it is that safe? Are you satisfied with the feedback? And do they resonate well with your circumstances?
Her responses were positive, to the extent of feeling safe sharing with and learning from ChatGPT about things she might not want to discuss with a teacher or a counsellor.
Even though I was happy that she could leverage technology to explore learning, I was skeptical about its impact on the teacher-student relationship.
I also wanted to know if #ChatGPT could offer the career education support she needed, and I also had another thought on personalised learning.
In no time, I reflected on the challenging issues facing career education in #Nigeria, especially for public secondary school students. One issue is the lack of quality career guidance and required resources in public secondary schools.
I further discussed this with Tarek and some teachers, thinking of how AI could be effectively leveraged to mitigate those challenges.
This curiosity and interest in #AI led me to research and create an AI-integrated Career Education Mobile app (prototype) for one of my courses— #Designing #Technology for #Learning. While testing the #prototype with my colleagues, some critiques made me reflect further on AI's benefits and other related concerns in education, specifically career education.
After that, I decided to make it my research study— to examine teachers' perspectives regarding using ChatGPT in career education, considering their significant roles in leveraging technology in education.
Initially, I had little understanding of how to go about it until I had deeper conversations with Tarek and engaged in some related discussions within the Teach For All network.
I got more clarity from my supervisor's feedback and constant support.
I want to thank my participants for sharing helpful insights from their experiences with AI and #CareerEducation, and Hammed Kayode and Damilola Olaniyan for their reviews and feedback. Thanks to the Chevening Awards and the University of Bristol for making this journey possible.
It's interesting how this curiosity led to a study that took me almost four months to explore. This period was the most exciting part of my studies and my #Edtech research journey.
I hope to share, learn, and engage more in discussions and research around AI and other related technologies that could be leveraged to prepare secondary school students for the future workforce.
Afeez Olalekan SAKA
#sakaspeaks
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