Whether you’re aware of it or not, the recent release of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots is transforming the way we interact with technology. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, allows anyone to engage with it in a human-like manner to achieve a response. Over the past few months, scores of GPT-powered web apps and browser extensions have appeared due to AI-powered chatbots resulting from the release of the OpenAI’s GPT API (applications programming interface). The API allows apps to work with ChatGPT. This allows software developers to create more powerful applications. The browser extensions described below will help language instructors use ChatGPT more effectively to enhance their lessons and daily digital tasks.
(Please note that the terms “plug-ins,” “extensions” and “add-ons” are used interchangeably in this post.)
As language instructors, we are not worried about how the API integration works, but we are interested in tools that can enhance our lesson preparation and make our administrative duties more efficient. I have compiled a list of useful browser add-ons. If you know of any that may benefit your peers, please share the name and link in the comments below.
ChatGPT Browser Extensions
Browser plug-ins are easily installed with just a few clicks. Currently, there are dozens of ChatGPT extensions available for most web browsers making them easily accessible to users. Be aware that to use these extensions, you must be logged in to ChatGPT.
Enhance Your Internet Search & Add ChatGPT Prompts
ChatGPT for Search Engines enhances web searches by positioning itself to the right of the expected search result. It gives ChatGPT’s result in a vertical oriented panel. At the bottom of this panel, end users can refine or drill down further into the topic with additional ChatGPT prompts. An added feature of this add-on is the provision of more than eighty ChatGPT prompt templates. These prompt templates superpower educators when they are generating targeted output. An example of a template is the Case Study Problem Statement. The end user is presented with a set criterion in a form format. After the form is completed by the end user, the style and tone and the output language are chosen. After the form is submitted a case study problem statement is created.
Hasten Your Emailing Tasks
The ChatGPT Writer add-on is designed to streamline responses to emails and write emails from scratch. The professional version fixes grammar mistakes, rephrases text, changes writing tone, or summarizes text. Primarily, this tool potentially can save much time replying to most emails. To start an email, the Email context can be established along with the details required for the email. These can be further refined in the prompt generated, and this can then be sent through your email program.
Speak & Listen to ChatGPT
For those expecting the ‘Star Trek’ experience, the Voice Control for ChatGPT extension is essential. It allows end-users to speak their ChatGPT prompts out loud and listens to the responses through the device’s speaker. This feature is multilingual and offers a reading speed slider to change the speed of the response feedback. At the time of writing this post, it offers three Google voices. At any time, the feature can also be set to mute.
Generate Quick Summaries of Your YouTube Videos
The YouTube Summary with ChatGPT extension provides a transcript of YouTube videos and, more importantly, summarizes YouTube videos into short paragraphs or points. This extension offers teachers who are extremely busy the opportunity to learn from long webinars or lectures within a few minutes.
Access Current Information with Your ChatGPT Prompts
When learning about ChatGPT, one of the first limitations realized is that ChatGPT only has information in its language model or database up to 2021. The WebChatGPT extension extends ChatGPT’s knowledge to the present day by allowing it to access the internet. This extends the knowledge of ChatGPT. This extension rests under the ChatGPT prompt field and can be toggled on and off with a single click. It also allows further prompt refinement by recent times, number of responses, languages and by country. These options provide single-click access to prompt refinements, which streamlines the ChatGPT experience.
Summarize and Drill into Your PDFs
This is not a browser extension, but the Chat with any PDF website feels like one. Simply by dropping a PDF onto a web page, ChatGPT processes the PDF’s content and offers three relevant questions for you to explore. Each question can be clicked as a button and ChatGPT provides an analysis and summary with a page reference to the information’s location in the document. The end user can further explore the document with prompts at the bottom of the screen. Imagine if this was available when you were taking that last degree? Surely, you would have used it (Ethically, of course!).
Summary & Let’s Work Together
In conclusion, ChatGPT for Search Engines enhances your web search with ChatGPT and supplies you with more than eighty prompt templates, the ChatGPT Writer makes replying to emails easier, the Chat with any PDF resource simplifies and allows for fast exploration of long PDF documents or books, the Voice Control for ChatGPT allows teachers to speak and listen to ChatGPT, the YouTube Summary with ChatGPT helps teachers get the gist of long videos without having to watch them and the WebChatGPT extends the knowledge of ChatGPT to present day for current responses.
I hope by sharing experiences and information about artificial intelligence tools and practices, our educational community will have a better teaching experience going forward. Please consider starting conversations in your staffrooms, meetings, teacher forums and professional development events to raise awareness of the challenges and solutions that AI is imposing on teaching and learning.
I asked ChatGPT to write a blog using the same title and 6 resources. See the result here.
Browser plug-ins, extensions and add-on resources:
ChatGPT, https://chat.openai.com
ChatGPT for Search Engines https://chatonai.org
ChatGPT Writer https://chatgptwriter.ai
Chat with any PDF, https://www.chatpdf.com
Chrome extensions, https://chrome.google.com/webstore
Chrome Voice Control for ChatGPT, https://tinyurl.com/34b7wrzt
Chrome YouTube Summary with ChatGPT, https://tinyurl.com/3a2d9948
Chrome WebChatGPT, https://tinyurl.com/3cemns5h
Edge, Microsoft Edge Add-ons – chatgpt
Firefox, https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?q=chatgpt
John Allan @mrpottz
Hi—I'm John Allan. I am an educator who works in the technology enhanced language learning field. I create online learning opportunities and mentor instructors on the Avenue project. I have experience teaching ESL and EFL in Canada and the Middle East. I hold an MSC in Computer Assisted Language learning, a M.Ed. in Distance Education, TESL B. Ed., a B.Ed. (OCT), and a variety of TESL relevant certifications from TESL Canada, TESL Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of Education. For more articles, learning objects, projects and blog links see https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnharoldallan
This blog seems to promote the use of ChatGPT mostly for personal convenience such as daily admin tasks and not for teaching or learning. As an academic integrity practitioner and an ESL professional with extensive teaching experience, I am wondering about the ethics of such blogs. How ethical is it for teachers (ESL or of other disciplines) to use AI tools to summarize YouTube videos that they don’t have the time to watch or to write summaries with questions for analysis? I am just wondering where we draw the line between ethical and non-ethical use of AI tools when we are the ones who are supposed to model the ethical use of AI tools to students.
Iryna,
Thank you for your comment. I am very interested in promoting discussion on all aspects of ChatGPT as it relates to the language teaching and settlement sector. In fact, there will be an online venue for discussion on this topic on May 24th. See https://www.teslontario.org/tesl-dialogue-sessions#ArtificialIntelligenceChat for details. Among the questions set is be ethics related to this technology.
I agree with your comment, “This blog seems to promote the use of ChatGPT mostly for personal convenience such as daily admin tasks and not for teaching or learning.” That was my intention as the title clearly states, “ChatGPT Extensions: Make it Your Personal Assistant.”
This is a relatively new technology. There are many possible perspectives on AI chat tools. One of my intentions is to promote efficiencies in the workplace. Not only do these tools offer us streamlined means of working, but essential skills to be competitive from this point forward in the job market and technical insights in tools that our students are already using.
Is it this type of blog, this particular blog post or the use of AI technologies to make the workday efficient or teachers taking short cuts make you wonder? All of us can contribute to this at the TESL Dialogue. Looking forward to discussing this.
As a side note, I have written, but not yet posted, a blog about the stages of emotions (one is guilt) one experience as they adopt ChatGPT for professional and personal purposes. I am infomrally interviewing peers to see if it matches their experiences as well.
thanks for starting this discussion,
John
There will be lots of question for/to teachers about uses and/or misuses of AI…and ethical issues…so this is an appropriate question. We will also be “expected to teach students how to use the tools”..( I just read that in Edtech Week Leader). Analogy given with the calculator….calculators here to stay…but now teachers first teach how to do arithmetic without a calculator..then how to use a calculator. Ditto for subjects with AI…Seems to me that we will (should? have to?) affix a note attributing use of ChatGPT (or other tool) …iow disclosure. How does that sound to you Irina?
Apologies Iryna for misspelling your name.