How to Boost Your Learning with ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that was developed by the OpenAI research laboratory, and released in November 2022. It has truly taken the world by storm! As of April 2023, roughly 1.5 billion people were actively using it.
This post isn't going to go into the ethical debate of the tool, or even the specifics of how it works. I want to look at how best to leverage this new technology for boosting learning.
I work in the field of Learning & Development, and naturally I am passionate about learning and professional up-skilling. Workers are finding themselves in situations where they have less time to devote to learning and training, yet the pressure to learn new skills is growing.
According to the World Economic Forum, 1/3 of core job skills will change in the next 5 years. If workers want to thrive going forward, they will need to become strong learners, and I believe ChatGPT can play an important role in this.
Here are 4 steps to use ChatGPT for your own learning.
Step 1: Use the 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 principle, or the law of the vital few comes from The Pareto principle. In its essence this principle states that roughly 80% of effects or consequences come from 20% of causes. This ratio of 80/20 can be seen throughout so many different fields, including education.
The Pareto principle allows you to drill down and focus on those things that are truly essential for that topic. Let's say you want to learn to play the guitar. One of the first things you might do is write a list of all the things you need to learn. The 80/20 rule states that only 20% of those things are truly vital. Those 20% are the vital few, and since time is limited it's best to focus on those key skills.
Using the example of learning how to play the guitar, you can ask it the following question:
I want to learn how to play the guitar. Can you use the Pareto principle to identify the 20% of the topic that would yield 80% of the results, to create a focused learning plan for me?
Step 2: Time to Create a Study Plan!
Now that we know what areas and topics we should focus on, it's time to develop a study plan. The secret to a good study plan is making sure that it's realistic. If you know that you won't be able to commit more than 3-4 hours a week for studying, then don't create a plan that has you studying for 7-8 hours. You won't follow the plan, and it'll end up making you feel like you failed. Be realistic and look at what your other commitments you have.
Using ChatGPT, you can enter the following as an example:
Create a study schedule for all the above in an appropriate amount of weeks. I can spend 2 hours a day studying, every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. Please include some time for practice.
That prompted ChatGPT to create a 12-week study plan, all around the major areas of focus for learning the guitar.
I would recommend showing this study plan to a friend who knows how to play the guitar, just to get their input. Based on what they say, you can always tweak the plan before diving in.
Step 3: Resources, Resources, Resources
We know what we need to focus on, and we have a detailed study plan, that means it's time to find some resources. Finding resources isn't difficult, especially with the internet, but finding the right resources can be tricky, and usually takes a lot of time. You can always ask that friend who plays the guitar to point you to good resources, but let's see if we can use ChatGPT to curate some first.
Just enter the following sentence:
Can you suggest me various learning resources (like books, videos, podcasts, or articles) for the above topic?
Some of the resources that ChatGPT recommended to me include the book Guitar Chords for Beginners: A Simple Guide to Learning Guitar Chords by Kyle C. Robinson, Fingerpicking for Beginners - Play Guitar in 12 Minutes by Andy Guitar on YouTube, and the website fret jam.com.
Step 4: Create a Project or Assignment
Learning doesn't stick unless you are applying what you are learning. That's why many people who are learning programing will give themselves a project such as create a website or a video game. The project forces you to be in an active mode, and it will speed up your learning.
For our example, you can ask ChatGPT the following:
I am a beginner learning how to play the guitar. Can you give me some beginner project ideas to help strengthen my guitar playing skills?
Some example projects that ChatGPT recommended me include:
Practicing with a metronome
Play along with a song
Playing along with others
Voila! Using these 4 steps, you can easily leverage ChatGPT in order to help boost your learning.