Can Guided ChatGPT Use Enhance Students’ Cognitive and Metacognitive Skills?

In the rapidly evolving landscape of education, the information underpinning advancements during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries fell short in acquiring and applying the skills, knowledge, and competencies highly demanded in the twenty-first century. Therefore, integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) can significantly change the traditional teaching and learning paradigms and cultivate essential 21st-century skills. ChatGPT has the potential to empower students in their learning journey. Based on a literature review and classroom practice, this paper discusses the possibilities of leveraging the ChatGPT AI tool as a valuable resource to develop students’ cognition and metacognition. While acknowledging the utility of ChatGPT in education, this paper advocates for a guided approach to harness the full potential of this AI tool. The paper also proposes practical strategies to equip teachers and students with novel approaches for effective integration and purposeful use of ChatGPT in a dynamic educational environment that focuses on enhancing personalized learning and fostering critical and fundamental skills.