CHATGPT’S IMPACT ON EDUCATION

“ChatGPT is a powerful tool, but whether it is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for education depends on how it’s being used,” says Patricia Alviano, Assistant Head of the Middle School.

ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI that uses deep learning techniques to generate humanlike responses to natural language input. It is capable of performing a wide range of language-related tasks, including conversation, translation, summarization, and question-answering.

With its easy-to-use interface, students can use ChatGPT to generate a neat summary, but the distance between this and plagiarizing an essay is short and there is widespread concern about how to detect possible cheating. On the other hand, the same functionality can be used by teachers to create unit recaps, develop lesson plans, and simplify complex concepts.

When asked during a recent meeting how AI programs like ChatGPT might influence their pedagogy, Middle School teachers provided a wide variety of responses. One said they might shift their teaching focus to the learning process rather than the final outcome. Focus more on verbal discussions and reflections over written work, suggested another. The answer may lie somewhere in between. One teacher posited that using a blend of synthesized material and creating original products might be the sweet spot.

While educators continue to examine the benefits and drawbacks with a critical eye, Crescent is taking a broad “adaptability” approach to AI tools like ChatGPT. “It’s important that teachers understand the ways in which these tools can enhance learning,” says Alviano. “This is the world our students are graduating into and we need to teach alongside it.”

Rohan Jain ’18 has worked to enrich the lives of people with disabilities. His passion started at home. Recently he was recognized with a prestigious David C. Onley award

When Rohan Jain ’18 was young, he didn’t pay much attention to his younger brother, Niam. “Like any older brother, I just saw him as annoying and someone I could boss around!”

But gradually he began to notice that his brother’s life was very different from his own. “I had lots of great opportunities to learn, while Niam was being shuffled from class to class. I knew we weren’t starting on the same baseline, and I knew I wanted to do something about that.”

Niam has autism and is mostly nonverbal. At the age of six, Jain took training in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), the therapeutic approach often used with children with autism, so he could help his brother. As he got older, he became more involved, collecting learning materials for Niam, and eventually creating them. It started with cooking. “We wanted Niam to know how to cook safely, so we started with four basic recipes.”

Jain and his mother, Nina, began to get more and more requests from parents and educators to use Niam’s materials. Says Jain, “We thought, okay, let’s put it out there—and it just took off!” Today, Able2Learn, the website they developed, has more than 1,100 lesson plans, some 40,000 pages, and 100 videos. More than 25,000 professionals around the world use the resource. Able2Learn has become the world's largest educational platform for children with developmental disabilities with an estimated outreach of more than 500,000 students

“Early intervention makes a big difference,” says Jain, “but the costs are prohibitive and there are huge waitlists. We want everyone to have the opportunity to learn.” The Able2Learn resources are available online at no charge. Although Jain is no longer directly involved in the day-to-day operations of Able2Learn, he is helping build a strategy for the future.

“We’re having a big impact, and we want to keep growing.”

Jain worked on Able2Learn while he was at Crescent, but also found time for choir, band, robotics, Model UN, and much more. “I tried to do as much stuff as I could so I could get a grasp on what I wanted to do,” he says. He took many important lessons with him from his 10 years at Crescent. “I learned the value of community and building relationships, and the importance of doing the right thing, even when it’s hard to do.”

In addition to Able2Learn, Jain is giving back as a committed advocate for climate action. He developed draft legislation on single-use plastics, which he presented to Prime Minister Trudeau in 2019, and a comprehensive plan for a green economy in Canada. He is also leading efforts to retrofit buildings in his family business to be more climate-friendly. Now a student at Osgoode Hall, he is committed to using his legal skills to fight for climate justice and equity for people with disabilities. “Social movements drive change,” he says. “They give fuel to the legal, regulatory, and financial sectors to make the change.”

In December 2022, Jain received the David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility, named for Ontario’s former Lieutenant Governor, in recognition of his work with Able2Learn. “It was surreal,” he says. “I felt very humbled and privileged, not only to receive the award but also to meet Mr. Onley.” Onley died in January 2023.

In the end, though, it all comes back to Niam. He has become a celebrated abstract artist, with a style compared to Riopelle and Pollock. He is also a musician and athlete. “Niam was the inspiration behind the whole Able2Learn project,” says Jain. “Seeing my brother grow into the person he has become today means everything.”

01

Jain was presented with the David C. Onley Award by the late David C. Onley, Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, and Honourable Raymond Sung Joon Cho

02 & 03

Images from Able2Learn’s How to Order from a Coffee Shop program

04

Examples of visual recipes that are designed in accordance with research regarding autism and similar neurotypes

05

Rohan Jain ’18 standing in front of his brother Niam’s painting

06

Niam working on an abstract painting in his studio

07

Jain presenting a draft legislation banning single-use plastics to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

08

Jain with his mother and Able2Learn co-founder Nina Jain as she is presented with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2013 by former Premier Kathleen Wynne

WRITTEN BY PAT PHOTOGRAPHYMORDEN BY LYNDON FRENCH

It’s odd, the small things that can change a life trajectory.

For William Chyr ’05, it was a moment in the final year of his degree in physics and economics at the University of Chicago. He noticed his roommate sitting on his bed reading a math textbook. Chyr asked which course the text was for, and his friend said it wasn’t for any course. “I realized that he was reading a math textbook for fun,” says Chyr. “I knew I’d never read a physics textbook for fun.”

Tellingly, the book that Chyr was reading at the time was about Cirque de Soleil. It was a hint of his future career in visual arts, one that led to the creation of his acclaimed computer game and William Chyr Studio.

Chyr attended Crescent for Grades 11 and 12. As valedictorian, he reflected that going to Crescent was like being presented with an empty canvas and learning to create his own painting. “My classmates really helped me find out who I was.”

Still, he envisioned a fairly conventional academic career for himself. Fascinated by physics as a way of understanding how the world fundamentally works, he was encouraged to attend the University of Chicago, known for the excellence of its physics program. The natural assumption was that he’d continue to a Ph.D.

During the summer after his first year, he learned to juggle and then joined the student circus. He earned money through university by making balloon animals at birthday parties. After third year, he considered joining a circus for the summer but decided instead to take a research position in Italy. During his final year, he applied for a small grant from the university and created a large science-inspired sculpture made of balloons on campus.

That summer he was commissioned by the Museum of Science and Industry to make a massive balloon sculpture at Millennium Park in downtown Chicago, part of a summer-long travelling museum project. His work began to attract notice.

01

William

02 & 03

In

04

05

While his career as an artist gathered steam, he worked for the international advertising firm Leo Burnett in Chicago. Although he wasn’t in the creative department, he made ads in his spare time. One, a daring ad for feminine hygiene products that used the color red instead of the usual pale blue, was actually used by a client. He also spent six months helping create science museum exhibits with a small company in Toronto.

His big break came when an ad agency selected an image of one of his balloon art forms to be featured on bottles of Beck’s beer destined for the U.S. market. He soon had commissions for one balloon installation after another across North America. Although the work was steady and well received, it was physically demanding, involving long days, and Chyr began to develop a latex allergy. “I was getting typecast as the balloon artist, and the novelty of the medium overshadowed anything I wanted to say.”

In search of a new medium, Chyr decided to give digital art a whirl. He gave himself three months to develop a computer game. Three months became seven years, but the result was extraordinary. Manifold Garden , a first-person puzzle game, was inspired by the movie Inception and the art of M.C. Escher. Chyr describes it as a “counter-factual physics game where you explore a unique world in which the rules of physics and architecture are different.”

Released in 2019, the game is available on a variety of platforms, including PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox. Reviewers have commented on the “brilliant puzzles with stunning graphics,” and called the game “mind-blowing,” “incredibly satisfying,” and “absolutely gorgeous.” Manifold Garden has been nominated for several awards and was selected as one of the New Yorker ’s best games of 2019.

Although he considered other artistic mediums once Manifold Garden was released, Chyr realized that he wasn’t ready to move on. He started developing a new game, this time using VR technology to create an even more immersive experience. “What’s exciting about gaming is that the industry is always changing,” he says. “I feel like I’ve just cracked the surface.”

Chyr is also taking time to build his studio and develop a company structure and culture. He and his team have settled on three pillars to guide future projects: games will have a 3-D architecture focus, use striking visuals, and open the door to experiences that are impossible in real life. Chyr is also teaching at Columbia College and the University of Chicago, in part as an opportunity to mentor younger developers and honour those who helped him early in his career.

So, is it art? Chyr admits his ideas about that have changed. “We’re mindful of the commercial context and industry forces, of course. But I see it as art because, at the end of the day, it’s still a vehicle of self-expression.”

Ben Sokolowski ’02 is a screenwriter and television producer splitting his time between Los Angeles and Toronto. He has written for Arrow, The Flash, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, and Tales of The Walking Dead while also developing projects for Warner Bros., MGM, Fox, Netflix, and Disney. He probably won’t ever win an Oscar but has come to peace with that. Sort of.