digital learning

Several ideas for K-12 teachers from Monica Burns out at classtechtips.com

On 12/07/2024, in digital learning, digital video, education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, parents/guardians, podcasting, student-related, teachers, tools, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Focus on School-to-Home Resources for the Holidays — from classtechtips.com by Monica Burns

As the holiday season approaches, families might reach out to educators looking for resources to support learning over school break. By leveraging high-quality, vetted resources, you can ensure that the school-to-home connection stays strong, even during winter break. Today on the blog, I’m excited to share some resources for the holidays from the team at Ask, Listen, Learn.

Also see:

Tech-Savvy Approaches for a Differentiated Classroom with Dr. Clare Kilbane and Dr. Natalie Milman – Easy EdTech Podcast 296

In this episode, educational leaders and fellow ASCD authors Dr. Clare Kilbane and Dr. Natalie Milman share expert strategies for using EdTech to personalize learning. Explore insights from their book, Using Technology in a Differentiated Classroom, and discover practical tips to thoughtfully integrate digital tools and support diverse learners. If you’re ready to elevate all students’ learning journeys, this episode is a must-listen!

Also see:

Lesson planning resource — short, engaging videos for students
This post is sponsored by ClickView. All opinions are my own.

Where do you go to find engaging, high-quality content for your lesson plans? Searching for short videos for students might feel like a time consuming task. As a classroom teacher there were plenty of times when I knew watching a video clip would help students better understand a concept, but I couldn’t always find the right videos to share with them. ClickView is a platform with video resources curated just for K-12 educators.

Today on the blog we’ll take a look at ClickView, a video platform for K-12 schools designed to make lesson planning easier. Whether you’re introducing a new topic or diving deeper into a complex unit, ClickView’s range of videos and innovative features can transform the way you teach.

Two items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 11/27/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, research, skills, student-related, teaching & learning, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Notebook LM continues to make waves…

How to use NotebookLM for personalized knowledge synthesis — from ai-supremacy.com by Michael Spencer and Alex McFarland
Two powerful workflows that unlock everything else. Intro: Golden Age of AI Tools and AI agent frameworks begins in 2025.

What is Google Learn about?
Google’s new AI tool, Learn About, is designed as a conversational learning companion that adapts to individual learning needs and curiosity. It allows users to explore various topics by entering questions, uploading images or documents, or selecting from curated topics. The tool aims to provide personalized responses tailored to the user’s knowledge level, making it user-friendly and engaging for learners of all ages.

Is Generative AI leading to a new take on Educational technology? It certainly appears promising heading into 2025.

The Learn About tool utilizes the LearnLM AI model, which is grounded in educational research and focuses on how people learn. Google insists that unlike traditional chatbots, it emphasizes interactive and visual elements in its responses, enhancing the educational experience. For instance, when asked about complex topics like the size of the universe, Learn About not only provides factual information but also includes related content, vocabulary building tools, and contextual explanations to deepen understanding.

What DICE does in this posting will be available 24x7x365 in the future [Christian]

On 11/20/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, changing business models, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, experimentation, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, global / globalization, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, internet, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, library / librarians, lifelong learning, MBA, microlearning, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, remote teaching and learning, skills, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, training / L&D, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, Web3, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
First of all, when you look at the following posting:

What Top Tech Skills Should You Learn for 2025? — from dice.com by Nick Kolakowski

…you will see that they outline which skills you should consider mastering in 2025 if you want to stay on top of the latest career opportunities. They then list more information about the skills, how you apply the skills, and WHERE to get those skills.

I assert that in the future, people will be able to see this information on a 24x7x365 basis.

Which jobs are in demand?
What skills do I need to do those jobs?
WHERE do I get/develop those skills?

And that last part (about the WHERE do I develop those skills) will pull from many different institutions, people, companies, etc.

BUT PEOPLE are the key! Oftentimes, we need to — and prefer to — learn with others!

Using AI to brainstorm students own learning objectives [Potkalitsky] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 11/13/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Canvas - and other Instructure-related items, change, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, ethics, experimentation, faculty, formal learning, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, liberal arts, mathematics, morals/values, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, UK, United States, universities, vendors, youth, by Daniel Christian

“The Value of Doing Things: What AI Agents Mean for Teachers” — from nickpotkalitsky.substack.com by guest author Jason Gulya, Professor of English and Applied Media at Berkeley College in New York City

AI Agents make me nervous. Really nervous.

I wish they didn’t.

I wish I could write that the last two years have made me more confident, more self-assured that AI is here to augment workers rather than replace them.

But I can’t.

I wish I could write that I know where schools and colleges will end up. I wish I could say that AI Agents will help us get where we need to be.

But I can’t.

At this point, today, I’m at a loss. I’m not sure where the rise of AI agents will take us, in terms of how we work and learn. I’m in the question-asking part of my journey. I have few answers.

So, let’s talk about where (I think) AI Agents will take education. And who knows? Maybe as I write I’ll come up with something more concrete.

It’s worth a shot, right?

From DSC:
I completely agree with Jason’s following assertion:

A good portion of AI advancement will come down to employee replacement. And AI Agents push companies towards that.

THAT’s where/what the ROI will be for corporations. They will make their investments up in the headcount area, and likely in other areas as well (product design, marketing campaigns, engineering-related items, and more). But how much time it takes to get there is a big question mark.

One last quote here…it’s too good not to include:

Behind these questions lies a more abstract, more philosophical one: what is the relationship between thinking and doing in a world of AI Agents and other kinds of automation?

How Good are Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini at Instructional Design? — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr Philippa Hardman
A test of AI’s Instruction Design skills in theory & in practice

By examining models across three AI families—Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini—I’ve started to identify each model’s strengths, limitations, and typical pitfalls.

Spoiler: my findings underscore that until we have specialised, fine-tuned AI copilots for instructional design, we should be cautious about relying on general-purpose models and ensure expert oversight in all ID tasks.

From DSC — I’m going to (have Nick) say this again:
I simply asked my students to use AI to brainstorm their own learning objectives. No restrictions. No predetermined pathways. Just pure exploration. The results? Astonishing.

Students began mapping out research directions I’d never considered. They created dialogue spaces with AI that looked more like intellectual partnerships than simple query-response patterns.

The Digital Literacy Quest: Become an AI Hero — from gamma.app

From DSC:
I have not gone through all of these online-based materials, but I like what they are trying to get at:

Confidence with AI
Students gain practical skills and confidence in using AI tools effectively.
Ethical Navigation
Learn to navigate the ethical landscape of AI with integrity and responsibility. Make informed decisions about AI usage.
Mastering Essential Skills
Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the context of AI.

Expanding access to the Gemini app for teen students in education — from workspaceupdates.googleblog.com

Google Workspace for Education admins can now turn on the Gemini app with added data protection as an additional service for their teen users (ages 13+ or the applicable age in your country) in the following languages and countries. With added data protection, chats are not reviewed by human reviewers or otherwise used to improve AI models. The Gemini app will be a core service in the coming weeks for Education Standard and Plus users, including teens,

5 Essential Questions Educators Have About AI — from edsurge.com by Annie Ning

Recently, I spoke with several teachers regarding their primary questions and reflections on using AI in teaching and learning. Their thought-provoking responses challenge us to consider not only what AI can do but what it means for meaningful and equitable learning environments. Keeping in mind these reflections, we can better understand how we move forward toward meaningful AI integration in education.

FrontierMath: A Benchmark for Evaluating Advanced Mathematical Reasoning in AI — from epoch.ai
FrontierMath presents hundreds of unpublished, expert-level mathematics problems that specialists spend days solving. It offers an ongoing measure of AI complex mathematical reasoning progress.

We’re introducing FrontierMath, a benchmark of hundreds of original, expert-crafted mathematics problems designed to evaluate advanced reasoning capabilities in AI systems. These problems span major branches of modern mathematics—from computational number theory to abstract algebraic geometry—and typically require hours or days for expert mathematicians to solve.

Rising demand for AI courses in UK universities shows 453% growth as students adapt to an AI-driven job market — from edtechinnovationhub.com

The demand for artificial intelligence courses in UK universities has surged dramatically over the past five years, with enrollments increasing by 453%, according to a recent study by Currys, a UK tech retailer.

The study, which analyzed UK university admissions data and surveyed current students and recent graduates, reveals how the growing influence of AI is shaping students’ educational choices and career paths.

This growth reflects the broader trend of AI integration across industries, creating new opportunities while transforming traditional roles. With AI’s influence on career prospects rising, students and graduates are increasingly drawn to AI-related courses to stay competitive in a rapidly changing job market.

“AI Tutors Double Rates of Learning in Less Learning Time” [Hardman] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 11/01/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, CMS/LMS, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, liberal arts, platforms, podcasting, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

AI Tutors Double Rates of Learning in Less Learning Time — by drphilippahardman.substack.com Dr. Philippa Hardman
Inside Harvard’s new groundbreaking study

Conclusion
This Harvard study provides robust evidence that AI tutoring, when thoughtfully designed, can significantly enhance learning outcomes. The combination of doubled learning gains, increased engagement, and reduced time to competency suggests we’re seeing just the beginning of AI’s potential in education and that its potential is significant.

If this data is anything to go by, and if we – as humans – are open and willing to acting on it, it’s possible AI will have a significant and for some deeply positive impact on how we design and deliver learning experiences.

That said, as we look forward, the question shouldn’t just be, “how AI can enhance current educational methods?”, but also “how it might AI transform the very nature of learning itself?”. With continued research and careful implementation, we could be moving toward an era of education that’s more effective but also more accessible than ever before.

Three Quick Examples of Teaching with and about Generative AI — from derekbruff.org Derek Bruff

Text-to-Podcast.
Assigning Students to Groups.
AI Acceptable Use Scale.

Also from Derek’s blog, see:

From Mike Sharples on LinkedIn:

ChatGPT’s free voice wizard — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan
How and why to try the new Advanced Voice Mode

7 surprisingly practical ways to use voice AI
Opening up ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) is like conjuring a tutor eager to help with whatever simple — or crazy — query you throw at it. Talking is more fluid and engaging than typing, especially if you’re out and about. It’s not a substitute for human expertise, but AVM provides valuable machine intelligence.

Get a virtual museum tour. …
Chat with historical figures….
Practice languages. …
Explore books. …
Others…

Though not AI-related, this is along the lines of edtech:

MoodleMoot Global 24 Conference Notes — from onedtech.philhillaa.com by Glenda Morgan
A first look at Moodle under new leadership

Here’s the link to access it: https://t.co/kHq0S2r4aD

It’s only available in the US at the moment, but it works with a VPN.

Truly the best tool for learning a new subject I’ve tried so far.

— Paul Couvert (@itsPaulAi) October 31, 2024

…which links to:

Are ChatGPT, Claude & NotebookLM *Really* Disrupting Education? — from drphilippahardman.substack.com
Evaluating Gen AI’s *real* impact on human learning

The TLDR here is that, as useful as popular AI tools are for learners, as things stand they only enable us to take the very first steps on what is a long and complex journey of learning.

AI tools like ChatGPT 4o, Claude 3.5 & NotebookLM can help to give us access to information but (for now at least) the real work of learning remains in our – the humans’ – hands.

To which Anna Mills had a solid comment:

It might make a lot of sense to regulate generated audio to require some kind of watermark and/or metadata. Instructors who teach online and assign voice recordings, we need to recognize that these are now very easy and free to auto-generate. In some cases we are assigning this to discourage students from using AI to just autogenerate text responses, but audio is not immune.

10 ChatGPT prompts to extract everything from a book: pic.twitter.com/zzn4NrWu4l

— Farhan (@mhdfaran) October 12, 2024

Articulate AI & the “Buttonification” of Instructional Design — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
A new trend in AI-UX, and its implications for Instructional Design

1. Using AI to Scale Exceptional Instructional Design Practice
Imagine a bonification system that doesn’t just automate tasks, but scales best practices in instructional design:

Evidence-Based Design Button…
Learner-Centered Objectives Generator…
Engagement Optimiser…

2. Surfacing AI’s Instructional Design Thinking
Instead of hiding AI’s decision-making process, what if we built an AI system which invites instructional designers to probe, question, and learn from an expert trained AI?

Explain This Design…
Show Me Alternatives…
Challenge My Assumptions…
Learning Science Insights…

By reimagining the role of AI in this way, we would…

Recapping OpenAI’s Education Forum — from marcwatkins.substack.com by Marc Watkins

OpenAI’s Education Forum was eye-opening for a number of reasons, but the one that stood out the most was Leah Belsky acknowledging what many of us in education had known for nearly two years—the majority of the active weekly users of ChatGPT are students. OpenAI has internal analytics that track upticks in usage during the fall and then drops off in the spring. Later that evening, OpenAI’s new CFO, Sarah Friar, further drove the point home with an anecdote about usage in the Philippines jumping nearly 90% at the start of the school year.

I had hoped to gain greater insight into OpenAI’s business model and how it related to education, but the Forum left me with more questions than answers. What app has the majority of users active 8 to 9 months out of the year and dormant for the holidays and summer breaks? What business model gives away free access and only converts 1 out of every 20-25 users to paid users? These were the initial thoughts that I hoped the Forum would address. But those questions, along with some deeper and arguably more critical ones, were skimmed over to drive home the main message of the Forum—Universities have to rapidly adopt AI and become AI-enabled institutions.

Off-Loading in the Age of Generative AI — from insidehighered.com by James DeVaney

As we embrace these technologies, we must also consider the experiences we need to discover and maintain our connections—and our humanity. In a world increasingly shaped by AI, I find myself asking: What are the experiences that define us, and how do they influence the relationships we build, both professionally and personally?

This concept of “off-loading” has become central to my thinking. In simple terms, off-loading is the act of delegating tasks to AI that we would otherwise do ourselves. As AI systems advance, we’re increasingly confronted with a question: Which tasks should we off-load to AI?

The Tutoring Revolution [Korbey]

On 10/11/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, future, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, languages and translation, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, online learning, online media, personalized/customized learning, platforms, ubiquitous learning, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Tutoring Revolution — from educationnext.org by Holly Korbey
More families are seeking one-on-one help for their kids. What does that tell us about 21st-century education?

Recent research suggests that the number of students seeking help with academics is growing, and that over the last couple of decades, more families have been turning to tutoring for that help.
…

What the Future Holds
Digital tech has made private tutoring more accessible, more efficient, and more affordable. Students whose families can’t afford to pay $75 an hour at an in-person center can now log on from home to access a variety of online tutors, including Outschool, Wyzant, and Anchorbridge, and often find someone who can cater to their specific skills and needs—someone who can offer help in French to a student with ADHD, for example. Online tutoring is less expensive than in-person programs. Khan Academy’s Khanmigo chatbot can be a student’s virtual AI tutor, no Zoom meeting required, for $4 a month, and nonprofits like Learn to Be work with homeless shelters and community centers to give virtual reading and math tutoring free to kids who can’t afford it and often might need it the most.

How to do school with NotebookLM:

1. Record audio from class on your phone
2. Keep laptop closed. Just jot down short phrases to describe most important points
3. Upload audio and PDF scan of notes to NotebookLM
4. Ask Notebook to expand your notes with details from recording… pic.twitter.com/wfmCTJfRba

— Steven Johnson (@stevenbjohnson) September 26, 2024

Unlock deeper insights with NotebookLM: Now analyze YouTube videos & audio files alongside your docs. Plus, easily share your Audio Overview with a new sharing option!

Learn more: https://t.co/j1da9565aZ pic.twitter.com/9sULXX5Jud

— labs.google (@labsdotgoogle) September 26, 2024

According to Notebook LM on this Future U podcast — Searching for Fit: The Impacts of AI in Higher Ed — here are some excerpts from the generated table of contents:

Part 1: Setting the Stage

I. Introduction (0:00 – 6:16): …
II. Historical Contextualization (6:16 – 11:30): …
III. The Role of Product Fit in AI’s Impact (11:30 – 17:10): …
IV. AI and the Future of Knowledge Work (17:10 – 24:03): …
V. Teaching About AI in Higher Ed: A Measured Approach (24:03 – 34:20): …
VI. AI & the Evolving Skills Landscape (34:20 – 44:35): …
VII. Ethical & Pedagogical Considerations in an AI-Driven World (44:35 – 54:03):…
VIII. AI Beyond the Classroom: Administrative Applications & the Need for Intuition (54:03 – 1:04:30): …
IX. Reflections & Future Directions (1:04:30 – 1:11:15): ….

Part 2: Administrative Impacts & Looking Ahead

X. Bridging the Conversation: From Classroom to Administration (1:11:15 – 1:16:45): …
XI. The Administrative Potential of AI: A Looming Transformation (1:16:45 – 1:24:42): …
XII. The Need for Intuitiveness & the Importance of Real-World Applications (1:24:42 – 1:29:45): …
XIII. Looking Ahead: From Hype to Impactful Integration (1:29:45 – 1:34:25): …
XIV. Conclusion and Call to Action (1:34:25 – 1:36:03): …

The future of language learning — from medium.com by Sami Tatar

Most language learners do not have access to affordable 1:1 tutoring, which is also proven to be the most effective way to learn (short of moving to a specific country for complete immersion). Meanwhile, language learning is a huge market, and with an estimated 60% of this still dominated by “offline” solutions, meaning it is prime for disruption and never more so than with the opportunities unlocked through AI powered language learning. Therefore — we believe this presents huge opportunities for new startups creating AI native products to create the next language learning unicorns.

I never imagined I’d learn so much without paying for a course.

Here are 8 ChatGPT-4 prompts I wish I’d found sooner: pic.twitter.com/b9gqEGInSd

— Ryan Hart ? (@thisdudelikesAI) October 5, 2024

“The Broken Mirror: Rethinking Education, AI, and Equity in America’s Classrooms” — from nickpotkalitsky.substack.com by JC Price

It’s not that AI is inherently biased, but in its current state, it favors those who can afford it. The wealthy districts continue to pull ahead, leaving schools without resources further behind. Students in these underserved areas aren’t just being deprived of technology—they’re being deprived of the future.

But imagine a different world—one where AI doesn’t deepen the divide, but helps to bridge it. Technology doesn’t have to be the luxury of the wealthy. It can be a tool for every student, designed to meet them where they are. Adaptive AI systems, integrated into schools regardless of their budget, can provide personalized learning experiences that help students catch up and push forward, all while respecting the limits of their current infrastructure. This is where AI’s true potential lies—not in widening the gap, but in leveling the field.

But imagine if, instead of replacing teachers, AI helped to support them. Picture a world where teachers are freed from the administrative burdens that weigh them down. Where AI systems handle the logistics, so teachers can focus on what they do best—teaching, mentoring, and inspiring the next generation. Professional development could be personalized, helping teachers integrate AI into their classrooms in ways that enhance their teaching, without adding to their workload. This is the future we should be striving toward—one where technology serves to lift up educators, not push them out.

Giving ELA Lessons a Little Edtech Boost — from edutopia.org by Julia Torres
Common activities in English language arts classes such as annotation and note-taking can be improved through technology.

6 ELA Practices That Can Be Enhanced by EdTech

Book clubs.
Collective note-taking.
Comprehension checks.
Video lessons.
..and more

Using Edtech Tools to Differentiate Learning— from edutopia.org by Katie Novak and Mary E. Pettit
Teachers can use tech tools to make it easier to give students choice about their learning, increasing engagement.

3 UDL-Aligned EdTech Tools

Digital audiobook platforms.
Multimedia presentation tools.
Digital annotation tools.

“Google’s NotebookLM: A Game-Changer for Education and Beyond” [Spencer & Potkalitsky] + other items re: AI in our LE’s

On 09/25/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, faculty, future of higher education, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, multimedia, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, workplace, by Daniel Christian

FlexOS’ Stay Ahead Edition #43 — from flexos.work

People started discussing what they could do with Notebook LM after Google launched the audio overview, where you can listen to 2 hosts talking in-depth about the documents you upload. Here are what it can do:

Summarization: Automatically generate summaries of uploaded documents, highlighting key topics and suggesting relevant questions.
Question Answering: Users can ask NotebookLM questions about their uploaded documents, and answers will be provided based on the information contained within them.
Idea Generation: NotebookLM can assist with brainstorming and developing new ideas.
Source Grounding: A big plus against AI chatbot hallucination, NotebookLM allows users to ground the responses in specific documents they choose.
…plus several other items

The posting also lists several ideas to try with NotebookLM such as:

Idea 2: Study Companion

Upload all your course materials and ask NotebookLM to turn them into Question-and-Answer format, a glossary, or a study guide.
Get a breakdown of the course materials to understand them better.

Google’s NotebookLM: A Game-Changer for Education and Beyond — from ai-supremacy.com by Michael Spencer and Nick Potkalitsky
AI Tools: Breaking down Google’s latest AI tool and its implications for education.

“Google’s AI note-taking app NotebookLM can now explain complex topics to you out loud”

With more immersive text-to-video and audio products soon available and the rise of apps like Suno AI, how we “experience” Generative AI is also changing from a chatbot of 2 years ago, to a more multi-modal educational journey. The AI tools on the research and curation side are also starting to reflect these advancements.

Meet Google NotebookLM: 10 things to know for educators — from ditchthattextbook.com by Matt Miller

1. Upload a variety of sources for NotebookLM to use.
You can use …

websites
PDF files
links to websites
any text you’ve copied
Google Docs and Slides
even Markdown

You can’t link it to YouTube videos, but you can copy/paste the transcript (and maybe type a little context about the YouTube video before pasting the transcript).

2. Ask it to create resources.
3. Create an audio summary.
4. Chat with your sources.
5. Save (almost) everything.

NotebookLM summarizes my dissertation — from darcynorman.net by D’Arcy Norman, PhD

I finally tried out Google’s newly-announced NotebookLM generative AI application. It provides a set of LLM-powered tools to summarize documents. I fed it my dissertation, and am surprised at how useful the output would be.

The most impressive tool creates a podcast episode, complete with dual hosts in conversation about the document. First – these are AI-generated hosts. Synthetic voices, speaking for synthetic hosts. And holy moly is it effective. Second – although I’d initially thought the conversational summary would be a dumb gimmick, it is surprisingly powerful.

4 Tips for Designing AI-Resistant Assessments — from techlearning.com by Steve Baule and Erin Carter
As AI continues to evolve, instructors must modify their approach by designing meaningful, rigorous assessments.

As instructors work through revising assessments to be resistant to generation by AI tools with little student input, they should consider the following principles:

Incorporate personal experiences and local content into assignments
Ask students for multi-modal deliverables
Assess the developmental benchmarks for assignments and transition assignments further up Bloom’s Taxonomy
Consider real-time and oral assignments

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announces $120M fund for global AI education — from techcrunch.com by Anthony Ha

He added that he wants to avoid a global “AI divide” and that Google is creating a $120 million Global AI Opportunity Fund through which it will “make AI education and training available in communities around the world” in partnership with local nonprofits and NGOs.

Educators discuss the state of creativity in an AI world — from gettingsmart.com by Joe & Kristin Merrill, LaKeshia Brooks, Dominique’ Harbour, Erika Sandstrom

Key Points

AI allows for a more personalized learning experience, enabling students to explore creative ideas without traditional classroom limitations.
The focus of technology integration should be on how the tool is used within lessons, not just the tool itself

Addendum on 9/27/24:

Google’s NotebookLM enhances AI note-taking with YouTube, audio file sources, sharable audio discussions — from techcrunch.com by Jagmeet Singh

Google on Thursday announced new updates to its AI note-taking and research assistant, NotebookLM, allowing users to get summaries of YouTube videos and audio files and even create sharable AI-generated audio discussions…

NotebookLM adds audio and YouTube support, plus easier sharing of Audio Overviews — from blog.google

Today, I’m excited to share with you all the fruit of our effort at @OpenAI to create AI models capable of truly general reasoning: OpenAI’s new o1 model series! (aka ?) Let me explain ? 1/ pic.twitter.com/aVGAkb9kxV

— Noam Brown (@polynoamial) September 12, 2024

Introducing OpenAI o1 – from openai.com

We’ve developed a new series of AI models designed to spend more time thinking before they respond. Here is the latest news on o1 research, product and other updates.

The wait is over. OpenAI has just released GPT-5, now called OpenAI o1.

It brings advanced reasoning capabilities and can generate entire video games from a single prompt.

Think of it as ChatGPT evolving from fast, intuitive thinking (System-1) to deeper, more deliberate… pic.twitter.com/uAMihaUjol

— Lior? (@AlphaSignalAI) September 12, 2024

OpenAI Strawberry (o1) is out! We are finally seeing the paradigm of inference-time scaling popularized and deployed in production. As Sutton said in the Bitter Lesson, there’re only 2 techniques that scale indefinitely with compute: learning & search. It’s time to shift focus to… pic.twitter.com/jTViQucwxr

— Jim Fan (@DrJimFan) September 12, 2024

Something New: On OpenAI’s “Strawberry” and Reasoning — from oneusefulthing.org by Ethan Mollick
Solving hard problems in new ways

The new AI model, called o1-preview (why are the AI companies so bad at names?), lets the AI “think through” a problem before solving it. This lets it address very hard problems that require planning and iteration, like novel math or science questions. In fact, it can now beat human PhD experts in solving extremely hard physics problems.

To be clear, o1-preview doesn’t do everything better. It is not a better writer than GPT-4o, for example. But for tasks that require planning, the changes are quite large.

What is the point of Super Realistic AI? — from Heather Cooper who runs Visually AI on Substack

The arrival of super realistic AI image generation, powered by models like Midjourney, FLUX.1, and Ideogram, is transforming the way we create and use visual content.

Recently, many creators (myself included) have been exploring super realistic AI more and more.

But where can this actually be used?

Super realistic AI image generation will have far-reaching implications across various industries and creative fields. Its importance stems from its ability to bridge the gap between imagination and visual representation, offering multiple opportunities for innovation and efficiency.

Heather goes on to mention applications in:

Creative Industries
Entertainment and Media
Education and Training

NotebookLM now lets you listen to a conversation about your sources — from blog.google by Biao Wang
Our new Audio Overview feature can turn documents, slides, charts and more into engaging discussions with one click.

Today, we’re introducing Audio Overview, a new way to turn your documents into engaging audio discussions. With one click, two AI hosts start up a lively “deep dive” discussion based on your sources. They summarize your material, make connections between topics, and banter back and forth. You can even download the conversation and take it on the go.

Bringing generative AI to video with Adobe Firefly Video Model — from blog.adobe.com by Ashley Still

Over the past several months, we’ve worked closely with the video editing community to advance the Firefly Video Model. Guided by their feedback and built with creators’ rights in mind, we’re developing new workflows leveraging the model to help editors ideate and explore their creative vision, fill gaps in their timeline and add new elements to existing footage.

Just like our other Firefly generative AI models, editors can create with confidence knowing the Adobe Firefly Video Model is designed to be commercially safe and is only trained on content we have permission to use — never on Adobe users’ content.

We’re excited to share some of the incredible progress with you today — all of which is designed to be commercially safe and available in beta later this year. To be the first to hear the latest updates and get access, sign up for the waitlist here.

“Which AI tools do Instructional Designers use the most?” [Hardman] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 09/12/2024, in 21st century, accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, biology, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, media/film, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, Open AI, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vendors, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, writing, by Daniel Christian

The Most Popular AI Tools for Instructional Design (September, 2024) — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
The tools we use most, and how we use them

This week, as I kick off the 20th cohort of my AI-Learning Design bootcamp, I decided to do some analysis of the work habits of the hundreds of amazing AI-embracing instructional designers who I’ve worked with over the last year or so.

My goal was to answer the question: which AI tools do we use most in the instructional design process, and how do we use them?

Here’s where we are in September, 2024:
…

Developing Your Approach to Generative AI — from scholarlyteacher.com by Caitlin K. Kirby, Min Zhuang, Imari Cheyne Tetu, & Stephen Thomas (Michigan State University)

As generative AI becomes integrated into workplaces, scholarly work, and students’ workflows, we have the opportunity to take a broad view of the role of generative AI in higher education classrooms. Our guiding questions are meant to serve as a starting point to consider, from each educator’s initial reaction and preferences around generative AI, how their discipline, course design, and assessments may be impacted, and to have a broad view of the ethics of generative AI use.

The Impact of AI in Advancing Accessibility for Learners with Disabilities — from er.educause.edu by Rob Gibson

AI technology tools hold remarkable promise for providing more accessible, equitable, and inclusive learning experiences for students with disabilities.

An interesting idea — “Using Video Projects to Reinforce Learning in Math” [King]

On 09/06/2024, in digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education, education technology, engagement / engaging students, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, Learning Experience Design, mathematics, online media, student-related, teachers, tools, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Using Video Projects to Reinforce Learning in Math — from edutopia.org by Alessandra King
A collaborative project can help students deeply explore math concepts, explain problem-solving strategies, and demonstrate their learning.

To this end, I assign video projects to my students. In groups of two or three, they solve a set of problems on a topic and then choose one to illustrate, solve, and explain their favorite problem-solving strategy in detail, along with the reasons they chose it. The student-created videos are collected and stored on a Padlet even after I have evaluated them—kept as a reference, keepsake, and support. I have a library of student-created videos that benefit current and future students when they have some difficulties with a topic and associated problems.

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