On Feb. 7, Fordham’s Graduate School of Education hosted a panel discussion at the Lincoln Center campus, “Threat or Opportunity? The Impact of AI on Education,” where five experts explored how AI can impact students at all grade levels—and why sometimes, we learn better without fancy chatbots. 

A Tool for Bilingual Learners

Artificial intelligence can provide personalized learning experiences for students, particularly bilingual learners, said Rogelio Fernández, Ph.D., GSE ’95, an education consultant and adjunct professor at Fordham and CUNY. AI can not only provide multisensory engagement but also provide a low-risk environment where students can learn English, he said. 

“They can put on headphones and listen to the English language, perhaps poems and songs, and take risks that they did not take in general classrooms where there are four, five students who are English speakers—who might make fun or bully them because of their accent or because of their incorrect grammar,” said Fernandez. 

AI can also be a time-saving tool, said Layla Munson, a New York City Department of Education administrator and GSE doctoral student in curriculum and instruction. It can generate a basic first draft of an assignment or project, which students can enhance, she said. In addition, AI could help students below grade level catch up with their peers. 

Potential Perils of AI 

However, one of the biggest issues with programs like ChatGPT is bias, said the experts. ChatGPT, for example, relies on data available to the general public in order to provide information to users. But the sourced data focuses on dominant voices, while leaving out the marginalized.

AI can also widen the educational divide for already marginalized students, said Nicole Zeidan, Ed.D., Fordham’s assistant director of emerging educational technology and learning space design and an adjunct professor at GSE.  

“Some of those digital divides can include the lack of access to the actual technology itself, a lack of internet connectivity … the lack of devices … biases in AI, and algorithms in data can have a lack of cultural sensitivities,” said Zeidan. “The technology may not be able to understand certain perspectives or experiences in different cultures as well.” 

Why You Should Still Memorize Your Multiplication Tables

Edgar McIntosh, Ed.D., GSE ’20, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and assessment at Scarsdale Public Schools, recalled a group of fifth graders who told him they wanted to get rid of homework—and for a legitimate reason. “Homework is so boring that I can just ask Alexa, and Alexa can [give me the answer],” said one boy.  

We need to rethink some homework assignments, said McIntosh. But there is still value in asking students to do things like memorize their multiplication tables, rather than rely on a calculator. This builds a foundation of information inside our brains that we can convey at the tip of our tongue—sometimes, even faster than the time it takes to type a problem into a calculator, he said. From that knowledge, we can build a deeper and more complex understanding of how our world works.

The Singularity of the Human Voice 

There is also value in writing essays without the help of artificial intelligence. ChatGPT can write an essay, but even middle school students can tell that it wasn’t written by a person, said McIntosh.

“They knew, as eighth graders, that this essay lacked a real voice,” said McIntosh, who spoke with students in his district that experimented with the chatbot. “It sounded a little canned, even if it was doing tricks and writing in certain styles. They were able to identify that it was lacking a certain human quality and that the machine does not have the sophistication yet—or may never have the sophistication—to provide the kind of nuance that a human being can.” 

Future of AI in Education

There are still big questions about using artificial intelligence in the classroom, said the experts. How do we train educators to use AI in the classroom? What do teachers do with the free time gained from efficiently using AI? Should AI be regulated, and if so, by whom? (“We cannot leave it in the hands of the industry. It didn’t work out well with social media,” quipped the event moderator, Robert Niewiadomski, an assistant clinical professor at GSE.) 

AI also poses an important philosophical question, said Kevin Spinale, S.J., Ph.D., an assistant professor in curriculum and teaching at GSE: “We have to dwell on what this tool is and what its capacities are, but at the same time, to reconsider who we are. … We want, desperately, a human response, who hears what is important to us and responds to it in their own importance.”

No matter how much our technology changes, it’s important that we remember one thing—the unique power that each person possesses, said Munson. 

“Our voices are powerful. We’re going to leverage these tools in very responsible ways,” she said. “And we’re going to be better—together.” 

Technology for a New Generation of Teachers

About 50 people attended the panel, mostly students who are, or aim to be, educators themselves. 

Onica Jackson, a GSE doctoral student and a sixth grade English teacher in Queens, New York, said she thought the event was a good introduction to helping students. 

“Another big takeaway was the collaboration of teachers to start the conversation around it, but there are many limitations contingent on the equality of the use of AI,” she said. 

Gabriela Shpijati, FCRH ’24, a psychology major in the five-year education track program with GSE, said she came to the event because she was interested in learning more about AI—one of the most significant forms of technology in her generation. 

“I came into the event not knowing if I sided with AI or against it. But after learning more about it, I think it’s mostly important to …  understand that it has to be used as an enhancer in order for the best results to come from it,” she said. 

The event was co-hosted by the Kappa Delta Pi honor society and GSE’s Innovation in Curriculum and Instruction Ph.D. Program, with support from Diane Rodriguez, Ph.D., associate dean of GSE; Aida A. Nevárez-La Torre, Ed.D., chair of GSE’s curriculum and teaching division; Annie George-Puskar, Ph.D., an assistant professor in curriculum and teaching; and event moderator Robert Niewiadomski, who leads the Kappa Delta Pi honor society committee that hosted the event. The panel is part of an inaugural GSE speaker series called Critical Issues and Contemporary Education, which will host events twice a year. 

“You’re going to be making decisions from day one about who you want to be, and part of the wisdom that we want to give you today is that being a good and decent person will make you happier,” Tetlow said to about 400 students at the Lincoln Center campus on Aug. 18. “We want you to think about … who you’re trying to be in the world, to never lose sight of that.”

The Professionalism Panel, a time-honored tradition at the Law School sponsored by the Fordham Law Alumni Association, was a unique part of orientation programming for first-year law students. It was the only time that the entire class would gather in the same room besides their graduation ceremony, said the Law School’s dean, Matthew Diller, and a place where they formally take the “Oath of Professionalism” at a ceremony joined by faculty and alumni. But on a deeper level, the event showed the students what it takes to build a meaningful career and life, no matter how they decide to use their degree. 

A Personal Reflection From President Tetlow

The professionalism panel began with an introduction from Tetlow, who recalled her own experience in the legal profession. 

“It was 30 years ago this week that I was starting law school, feeling absolutely terrified and thrilled at the same time,” said Tetlow, who would go on to collaborate on cases with the FBI and lead a domestic violence clinic at Tulane Law School. “There will be 1,000 tiny [decisions]about who you want to be as a professional, and most of all, as a human being.”

To a lawyer, professionalism is more than being polite—it’s acknowledging that lawyers wield enormous power, she said.

“I remember sitting in your shoes, not feeling terribly powerful. But you are, in fact, about to garner a whole lot of power … to do right by your clients, even when you’re really busy and exhausted; to follow the rules, even when it’s tempting not to, and fundamentally … to uphold our democratic systems or to chip away at them,” she said.   

‘Look At a Case as a Person’ 

Tetlow then moderated a panel of accomplished alumni whose careers have taken them to different sectors of the law: Jojo Annobil, LAW ’90, executive director of Immigrant Justice Corps, a nonprofit that trains lawyers to assist immigrants in need; Palmina Fava, LAW ’97, a partner at Vinson & Elkins, LLP, who has tried and defended cases in federal and state courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court; Sam Khichi, LAW ’98, an executive vice president and general counsel at multinational medical technology firm Becton, Dickinson and Company; Hon. Katherine H. Parker, LAW ’92, U.S. magistrate judge for the Southern District of New York; and David Tanen LAW ’96, co-founder and partner of Two River, a venture capital firm that assists life science companies. 

For about an hour, the panelists reflected on their own careers and how their Fordham education has made a difference. 

Khichi, an immigrant and veteran who graduated from law school at age 31, said he found a “hardworking, gritty, good” community at Fordham, where he balanced evening classes with a daytime job. He said that the Jesuit values he learned at Fordham helped him to distinguish himself from his other colleagues. 

Annobil, a lawyer who has protected immigrants’ rights for nearly two decades, described how his career embodies a Jesuit education. “You look at a case as a person,” said Annobil, who is an immigrant himself. “I try my best to see how I can [meet]that person’s hopes, fears, and aspirations.” 

Fava said that her pro bono legal services are inspired by her identity as the daughter of immigrants and a veteran, as well as the mother of four children with different learning styles. “I look at my pro bono service in keeping with those issues, with immigrants’ rights and veterans’ rights [and education],” said Fava. “Those are the ways that I try to channel the things that are interesting to me, that I have some experience with, that I understand, and [where I]can make some changes.”  

Personal Advice From the Panelists

In addition, the panelists shared practical advice that can be applied to not only the courtroom, but professions in every field: 

Don’t forget to invest in your personal relationships, even when life gets busy. “Relationships really matter, and they’ll carry you when things are tough,” said Khichi. “I can tell you that when things were tough for me throughout my career, it was the Fordham relationships that I made, whether they were with faculty or folks I attended school with, that I relied on for advice.” 

Take care of yourself before you help someone else. Otherwise you’ll burn out, said Annobil. He urged the students to exercise, sleep, and to devote time to themselves. “It’s OK to say, no, I can’t take this case because I have too many things going on in my life right now,” he said. 

Put yourself in another person’s shoes. Tetlow asked the students if they had ever had to engage with a lawyer or knew someone who did. Half of them raised their hands. “Remember that feeling of hoping your lawyer is going to return your call, of hoping that they are prepared, that they actually care about you and your case,” she said. “It wasn’t until I was 40 that I actually had to hire a lawyer for something. It was a very humbling experience.” 

Don’t be afraid to admit when you don’t know something. Be truthful when you don’t have a fact or case at your fingertips, said Judge Parker. “Be able to say, ‘I’m not sure about that. I can get back to you tomorrow in a letter,’ or something like that.” 

Don’t underestimate the power of EQ. “Someone’s ability to get along with others is just as important, if not sometimes more important, than their pedigree of service,” said Khichi. 

Treat all people with respect—including your adversaries. Judge Parker said she asks people for their pronouns and honorifics, checks to see if they require accommodations, and encourages firms to allow their junior associates time to talk. She also said that it’s important to be courteous to your adversaries in the courtroom. “There’s a belief that some lawyers have that in order to be aggressive and zealous in representing your client, that means being a jerk to your adversary, and that’s not the case. You can be very effective, but still be cooperative,” she said.  

Be prepared to pivot. Tanen said he always wanted to be a criminal defense attorney. When that career path didn’t work out, he was devastated, but he later found another opportunity and went on to co-found several companies. “Fordham teaches you to be a gritty attorney,” he said. “There is no job too big. There is no job too small.” 

Fordham’s Department of Military Science will be presenting a panel discussion, First Response on 9/11, on Wednesday, November 10, from 6 to 7 p.m., in the Moot Court Room 1-01 at the Fordham Law School at Lincoln Center.

The panelists will share their personal experiences as first responders to Ground Zero on 9/11: