You probably know that prioritizing time, eliminating distractions, taking notes, and using friends can all benefit your studies, but what about the ever evolving world of technology and artificial intelligence? That’s a great question that scientists and education experts are going to be studying for a while, and their findings may differ. For the purpose of helping you survive and thrive in college, let’s remember something important: there’s nothing wrong with being a traditional hard-working student.
You’re not going to find a truly adequate short-cut to success. Ultimately, where you end up will depend on the character you build within yourself. Therefore, the technology you use to improve your grades, maximize your time, really doesn’t matter in the end. What’s important is that you build yourself into the student that’s going to carry amazing skills and work ethic into your career.
Let’s imagine two students. One is Janice, the other is Jay.
Janice has all the toys. Her bright white, shiny laptop and her numerous tablets make her trendy and smooth at the library. She also makes sure to maximize her use of AI, having it compile notes for her and help her brainstorm ideas. She looks and feels like a blogger dream, right up to her sweet new sublimation printed thermos that says “Future President.”
Jay, on the other hand, isn’t so trendy. His laptop takes a half hour to start up on a good day. He usually finds himself scribbling notes in binders of notebook paper. When he has to write a paper, he stays in the library until it closes at midnight and emails himself what’s left of the paper even though people have told him he can just use the cloud. He’s behind the times but he has managed to get good grades. His teachers praise his writing voice and original thoughts.
See that’s where Jay is winning. Originality, because that’s what his professors are looking for.
But Janice with her toys. She starts to realize that an AI will do the work for her. She can brainstorm, format, compile, and turn in acceptable work in a fraction of the time by having a computer think for her. The only problem is, even before AI checks on her work, her writing feels stale with a hint of uncanny valley. Is she cheating? Maybe, maybe not, but she’s getting away with work that would make the old school great minds of universities past flip over and hurl in their graves.
That’s because she forgot that she’s going to college to learn and grow herself, not just find fast ways to turn things in.
The real case study for these two would be to see which one thrives more outside of college. Surely, both will find AI a part of their workplace, but one will have the stronger study and work muscles. Can you tell which one? Probably the person who worked harder to begin with.
When you get to school, make sure to see what technological expectations your professor has written into your course’s syllabus. If they say no computers, just don’t use any computers. Even if what you’re doing isn’t technically cheating, shortcuts of any kind won’t do you any long term favors. Be adaptable to your school and professor’s expectations first and foremost.
Got any more tips about technology and school? Try out the comment section.
This article is an excerpt from an upcoming book How to Survive College by Art Ridley. Find it soon on Amazon.
