{"id":7431,"date":"2023-02-13T16:21:26","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T16:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gatlabs.com\/education\/?p=7431"},"modified":"2026-03-23T16:00:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T16:00:50","slug":"google-admin-are-you-ready-for-artificial-intelligence-tools-at-your-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gatlabs.com\/education\/blog\/google-admin-are-you-ready-for-artificial-intelligence-tools-at-your-school\/","title":{"rendered":"K-12 Admin, Are you Ready for Artificial Intelligence Tools at your School?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everybody has heard about some artificial intelligence tools so far. Let\u2019s say it straight out: an AI global revolution has just started, and it’s already impacting the education sector. That\u2019s why you, K-12 Admin, must also keep an eye on AI tools.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ChatGPT Phenomenon<\/h2>\n

This is one of the free artificial intelligence tools launched by OpenAI in November 2022. <\/span>By February 2023, it had become extremely popular and had gained more than 100 million users<\/span><\/a>. Every day, millions of people around the world use artificial intelligence-based apps, like ChatGPT, to search for information and create various types of texts in response to a prompt.<\/span><\/p>\n

The chatbot can write essays, articles, or even poems within seconds. Students also quickly realized that the program could work perfectly for doing their homework or exams, especially in Google Classroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s coming true.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Have a look at <\/span>this real story<\/span><\/a>. The teacher gave the assignment to write a few sentences about an article the students were reading in the online class.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jerry turned his in. It was a lot longer than I expected – 1900 words, 3 paragraphs, impeccably spelled and punctuated.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Jerry has not written 1900 words total over the entire school year so far. Of the words he has written, he has not shown me that he understands punctuation or spelling very well.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Also, from document creation time to submit … so how long Jerry took to “write” this … 2 minutes and 43 seconds. I’m a damn good writer, and I couldn’t write 1900 words in 2 minutes 43 seconds. 163 seconds. That’s like 12 words a second.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

After trying to fool the teacher into thinking it was his own text, Jerry quickly admitted that ChatGPT had written it and accepted the grade of 1.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new tool worries many teachers. It\u2019s developing so fast and influencing the daily life of education, especially e-learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can teachers really evaluate students\u2019 work if they can ask an artificial intelligence tool for any text and the result will be impeccable? Can teachers verify that their students have learned anything in class? How to deal with this new challenge now facing teachers and K12 admins?<\/span><\/p>\n

To block or not to block? That is the question.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Option 1. Block it for the Entire Domain<\/h2>\n

Some schools came to the conclusion that the most effective way is to block ChatGPT on the public network and on students\u2019 laptops. What scares teachers is the real risk of cheating on exams and homework. And they are right because <\/span>ChatGPT is capable of passing the MBA exam.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

But students will always find a way to use the internet. Everyone has a smartphone with access to the network, and it\u2019s no big deal for them to use it in the classroom in hiding. But if they are using Chromebooks at school, don\u2019t make life easier for them, Google Workspace Admin.<\/span><\/p>\n

To block or restrict ChatGPT in your school, use the <\/span>GAT Shield<\/span><\/a> Chrome extension. The tool allows you to remove access to the program on all Chromebooks and all students\u2019 Chrome browsers in your domain. <\/span>Check out how Site Access Control works to block specific URLs in Chrome<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Option 2. Block it Only for Students<\/h2>\n

Because ChatGPT can be a real lifesaver for teachers.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the K-12 Admin blocks access to the program on students\u2019 computers and lets it go on teachers\u2019 ones, it could save them a lot of time. Artificial intelligence will help them with work that few people see, such as writing lesson plans, emails, assignments, or letters of recommendation. The IA tool can create an entire text based on teachers\u2019 prompts and allows users to personalize it later by adding some human touch.<\/span><\/p>\n

This teacher<\/span><\/a> really appreciates the new tool:<\/span><\/p>\n

I just want to say that all is not doom and gloom and that ChatGPT just saved me a massive headache. I just received a delightfully unhinged email from a parent and I just did not have the brain power nor the willpower to respond to it.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

…So I just had ChatGPT write the email for me!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In the<\/span> GAT Shield<\/span><\/a>, you can also restrict access to the ChatGPT website only for specific users<\/a> (in this case, students)<\/span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n