ChatGPT a Veritable Tool in Lesson Planning for Sustainable Education in the 21ST Century and Beyond: Pre-service Teachers’ Preparedness in the Usage of Digital Tool in Science

Abstract

ChatGPT was released to the public in November 2020, and research studies have expressed excitement or concern about its introduction into academia and education. While there are many questions to be asked, the current study examined pre-service teachers’ usage of ChatGPT and Al tools in lesson planning during teaching practice. The probable usage of ChatGPT and AI tools in teaching were discussed as revealed by the study. Purposive sampling techniques were used to obtain three hundred and twenty-five (325), out of which only two hundred and twenty-five (225) pre-service teachers across Colleges of Education, South-West Nigeria responded to the online questionnaires. The results of this research show that many of the pre-service teachers are quite aware of various ChatGPT and AI tools available, but majority are still in awe of using it for educational purposes, quite a number of them said there is no course devoted in their courses that is meant solely for learning the use of ChatGPT and other AI tools for teaching and learning, while many of them are using it for self- interest and self-learning, but not for lesson planning. In conclusion, the applications of ChatGPT for educational settings as come to stay hence effort must be put to good use to see that pre-service teachers are not left behind because they are the future of quality teaching in science. Finally, ChatGPT and its derivatives would create a new paradigm in education as a whole