^{Themes: Assessment, How I’ve been using AI, Lesson planning, Specific AI Tool(s), Teaching Strategies
Audience & Subject: General (All Grades); Mathematics}

Introduction

The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers unprecedented tools for educational enhancement, particularly in specialized academic fields like mathematics. In Ontario, the Ontario Association for Mathematics Education (OAME) has taken on the challenge with the development of chatOAME^[1], an AI chatbot designed to support Ontario mathematics teachers when and how they want or need assistance, reflection or growth. Grounded in OAME’s mission “to promote, support and advocate for excellence in mathematics education” (OAME, n.d.) and its vision of everyone experiencing “high-quality, research-informed, and engaging activities that promote critical thinking,” (OAME, n.d) chatOAME provides a venue to engage in a productive and engaging pedagogical discussion for Ontario mathematics educators.

While developing chatOAME, the intent was not to develop a simple technological tool. Instead, the vision was to create a pedagogical partner—a critical friend or Vygotsky-inspired (1978) More Knowledgeable Other—to move teachers from where they are now to where they want to be, especially for teachers in remote or underserved areas. Furthermore, the intent was to amplify the existing strengths of the Ontario mathematics community, drawing on a half-century of OAME’s educational resources. Notably, the collective wisdom and pedagogical heritage shared by Ontario’s educators through peer-reviewed articles, educational editorials, presentations, and podcasts. It is a unique and special lens on mathematics as experienced in, and envisioned for, the classrooms of this province.

Philosophical Pillars

Building from previous frameworks, the three key pillars that underpin chatOAME include:

1. OAME Publications: Utilizing a deep archive of peer-reviewed publications like the Gazette and Abacus, material from the “OAME Talks” podcast, professional development webinars from respected educators, and mathematical activities designed using well-defined pedagogical approaches, chatOAME ensures its responses are deeply rooted in Ontario’s educational discourse.
2. Growing Success: This cornerstone document from the Ontario Ministry of Education (2010) shapes chatOAME’s teaching, learning and assessment approach, promoting research-informed practices and constructive feedback mechanisms. Every response the AI generates is required to promote some aspect of Growing Success.
3. Indigenous Knowledge Integration: Acknowledging the importance of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) perspectives, chatOAME incorporates these methodologies to foster inclusive and culturally responsive learning environments.

chatOAME Application Process

chatOAME is more than just a response generator; it focuses on meaningful dialogues with educators, challenging them to deepen their pedagogical understanding and reflect on their practice. Every response is cycled back through the AI to produce a question asking the teacher a next step—prompting them through Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development towards their extended understanding of the focus at hand. The four-step process includes personalized learning support, enhancing assessment, promoting culturally responsive pedagogy, and facilitating professional collaboration, which I outline in further detail below.

Four-Step Process

Step 1: Personalized Learning Support

One of the critical advantages of AI chatbots is their ability to provide personalized learning experiences. chatOAME adapts its responses based on individual teachers’ specific needs, interests, and skill levels. Fostering the personalized approach can help address the diverse learning needs within Ontario’s classrooms, promoting equity and inclusivity in mathematics education. For example:

• Generating differentiated math problems and activities tailored to various learning styles and abilities within the unique focus and perspective of Ontario Ministry Curricula and assessment protocols; and
• Recommending resources and strategies aligned with a teacher’s own professional development goals.

Step 2: Enhancing Assessment

chatOAME supports teachers in implementing effective formative and summative assessment practices as it helps them gain a more comprehensive understanding of student learning and make data-driven decisions to improve their practice. For example, by engaging in ongoing dialogue with the AI, educators can:

• Quickly generate a variety of assessment tasks and questions aligned with Ontario’s curriculum expectations and created with a lens of “best practices” from pivotal mathematics educational research;
• Explore different strategies for using assessment to inform instruction and support student growth;
• Provide feedback on (anonymized) student responses to ensure consistency and quality of insight based on rubrics.

Step 3: Promoting Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

Integrating Indigenous knowledge and methodologies is a critical feature of chatOAME as the focus on cultural responsiveness aligns with Ontario’s commitment to reconciliation, potentially helping to create more inclusive and engaging learning environments (Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, 2022). By infusing FNMI perspectives into its responses, the AI can help teachers:

• Develop math tasks and activities that reflect the cultural experiences and ways of knowing within Indigenous communities;
• Incorporate Indigenous storytelling, art, and real-world examples into math lessons; and
• Gain a deeper understanding of culturally responsive teaching practices.

Please note that OAME is actively working to involve FNMI communities to ensure we aren’t fostering a superficial layer of knowledge. We look forward to future collaborations to ensure that the process is successful. Truth and Reconciliation expects and requires that the knowledge base and instructions to the AI service promote a thorough understanding of, and appreciation for, their wisdom.

Step 4: Facilitating Professional Collaboration

chatOAME serves as a platform for professional collaboration and knowledge sharing among Ontario mathematics teachers by facilitating professional dialogue and resource sharing. We aim to ensure that chatOAME helps build a robust and supportive community of practice for mathematics education in Ontario. Through interactions with the AI, educators are:

• Accessing a wide range of lesson ideas, instructional strategies, and research-based practices developed with the distinct lens of the OAME community,
• Engaging in reflective discussions about their teaching practices and receiving feedback from the AI’s “knowledgeable other” perspective,
• Connecting with the collective wisdom and experience of Ontario math teachers, even in remote or isolated settings.

chatOAME in Action

A teacher using chatOAME has allowed us to share two of her early conversations as she developed lessons for first a grade seven class (https://bit.ly/psctm-grade7) and then a grade eight class (https://bit.ly/psctm-grade8). The teacher first wanted to know who she was dealing with and enquired about chatOAME’s abilities before explaining her teaching environment and goals. Then, she engaged in a back-and-forth with chatOAME until she was satisfied with the results. The approach highlights best practices when a teacher interacts with an AI service: Prompts should be conversational, descriptive, and use adjectives and adverbs. Simple nouns do not provide the chatbot with sufficient context to provide a thorough response.

Challenges and Ethical Considerations

While the potential benefits of chatOAME are significant, it is vital to acknowledge the challenges and ethical considerations associated with AI in education:

• Protecting data privacy and security in the use of AI systems. chatOAME collects no personal information, and prompts and responses are anonymous. While the interactions improve the service, data is not associated with the user. As a professional learning organization, OAME exists only to support and not to evaluate,
• Mitigating potential biases in AI algorithms and ensuring culturally sensitive responses. No environment lacks bias, and so a continual awareness of, and coping with, bias is necessary,
• Balancing the role of AI with the importance of human interaction and relationship-building in education.

Future Directions and Research

Ongoing research, engagement from various communities, and policy development will be essential to address these challenges and ensure the responsible and effective integration of AI in Ontario’s mathematics classrooms. As chatOAME continues to evolve, there are several potential avenues for future development and research:

• Expanding the AI’s knowledge base to include a broader range of educational research, pedagogical approaches, and cultural perspectives. Refining its understanding of Ontario (versus American) mathematics expectations, levels and sequencing will make responses to teachers’ requests more effective.
• Integrating multimedia features, such as visualizations and simulations, to support multimodal learning experiences. Mathematics learning relies heavily on visual representations, from fractions in elementary grades to graphs in senior.
• Conducting empirical studies to evaluate the impact of chatOAME on teacher practice, student achievement, and equity outcomes. It is important to know what is working, what needs to change, and what we’ve learned from the experience to aid other professional learning organizations grow.
• Exploring the potential for chatOAME to support cross-curricular connections and interdisciplinary learning in mathematics education. We aim to partner with other professional learning organizations within Ontario to help left all boats.
• Continued collaboration among OAME, educators, researchers, and the broader community will be crucial to realizing the full potential of AI in supporting high-quality, equitable mathematics education in Ontario.

Conclusion

chatOAME represents an innovative approach to harnessing the power of AI to enhance mathematics teaching and learning. By leveraging the rich knowledge base of the Ontario mathematics education community, incorporating culturally responsive practices, and providing personalized support for teachers and students, chatOAME can potentially transform mathematics education in the province. As we continue to explore the opportunities and challenges of AI in education, it is essential to remain grounded in the values of equity, inclusivity, and human-centred pedagogy that lie at the heart of OAME’s mission and vision.

References

Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. (2022, February 16). First Nations, Métis and Inuit education. https://etfofnmi.ca/

Ontario Association for Mathematics Education [OAME]. (n.d.) Guiding principles. Retrieved May 2024, from https://oame.on.ca/main/index.php?lang=en&code=principles

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2010). Growing success: Assessment, evaluation, and reporting in Ontario schools. Retrieved May 2024, from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growSuccess.pdf

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.

About the author

name: Cal Armstrong

Cal Armstrong is a long-time mathematics educator and board member of OAME, and his most significant earlier development project was what became the OneNote Class Notebook. He has been deeply engaged in technology and education for decades, and his primary motivations are to save teachers time, personalize the student experience and enhance the educational journey for both learners and teachers. He has worked with AI since 2017 and is excited to join the Generative AI project to aid OAME members. Outside the classroom & away from devices, he is an avid outdoorsman, a motorcyclist and an active volunteer in his community.