Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has many opportunities for educators and students, but it introduces several problems. One of the problems is how to use GenAI considering ethical issues. Specifically in assignments, GenAI can be utilized as a double-edged sword. On one side, it can accelerate the work of students, and on the other side, the entire homework can be done by GenAI. Thus, this study aims to investigate the opinions of teacher candidates about using GenAI in assignments with an emphasis on its ethical concern. 14 pre-service German language teachers who use GenAI in their educational lives were interviewed. Findings indicated that while most participants viewed GenAI advancements positively, they believed that using it for homework reduces student effort, which leads to laziness. GenAI-generated responses were described as non-creative and repetitive. Besides, some students reported that the use of GenAI for getting a general insight, conducting research or checking grammatical correctness was not a problem. They also considered the use of GenAI for homework without permission as something being unethical. Conversely, most participants admitted they did homework entirely by GenAI and without any detection whereas they emphasized the need for sanctions against unauthorized GenAI use. Also, most of them indicated educators may use GenAI for material development and idea generation but some underlined this would conflict with the nature of teaching. It can be concluded that integrating ethical GenAI use into educational curricula and developing clear guidelines to support both students and educators in navigating AI's role responsibly are needed.

Authors:
Hamdullah Sahin, Anadolu University, Turkey

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Hamdullah SAHIN is currently working in German Language Teaching Department, Faculty of Education, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey. His research interests are intercultural studies, interdisciplinary education, multilingualism, language program design, teacher training, and the use of technology in language education.

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