As a retired K-8 school librarian, I got chills reading the article about ChatGPT. It reminded me of the year 2001, when Wikipedia came into existence. Many teachers and librarians (including me) dealt with the new on-line encyclopedia, with articles crafted by unknown authors, by simply barring its use in student research: “You are to use three sources for your research, excluding Wikipedia.”
As on-line sources proliferated, the situation got even more complicated. Ultimately, I could only “embrace, elucidate and educate” about media literacy (“Ask yourself about the purpose and quality of your source.” “What authority stands behind this source?” etc.) and honesty (“Have I followed my teacher’s guidelines?” “Have I accurately cited all my sources in the bibliography or footnotes?”)
With assignments well-crafted and guidelines crystal clear, one could still only hope that students took the issue of academic honesty seriously. Crafting clear expectations and instilling integrity seems to me to remain at the heart of all teaching. I don’t envy librarians and teachers in today’s internet “Wild West” but I have confidence that Brookline’s educators will arrive at clear guidelines for their students; of course, I hope students come to understand the importance of personal integrity.
Rusty Browder, Brookline
Rusty Browder was the librarian at the Lawrence School.