From DSC:
I’m told by a reliable source (i.e., our oldest daughter, who is now a third-grade teacher) that Blooket is an effective, highly-engaging tool! She said students find these online-based games to be fun. She said it’s competitive, so you may want to make a note of that as well.
Introducing Q-Chat, the world’s first AI tutor built with OpenAI’s ChatGPT — from quizlet.com by Lex Bayer
Excerpt:
Modeled on research demonstrating that the most effective form of learning is one-on-one tutoring1, Q-Chat offers students the experience of interacting with a personal AI tutor in an effective and conversational way. Whether they’re learning French vocabulary or Roman History, Q-Chat engages students with adaptive questions based on relevant study materials delivered through a fun chat experience. Pulling from Quizlet’s massive educational content library and using the question-based Socratic method to promote active learning, Q-Chat has the ability to test a student’s knowledge of educational content, ask in-depth questions to get at underlying concepts, test reading comprehension, help students learn a language and encourage students on healthy learning habits.
Unboxing the Future of Education:“A Sneak Peek into a Day in the Life of a Student in 2040” — from thinklearningstudio.org by Russell Cailey
Excerpts:
To explore this question, I collaborated with my new friend Chat GPT to create a concept of what a day in the life of a 2040 student might look like. The results were fascinating, providing a glimpse into the possible future of education.
In response to our collaborative moment, I would like to pose three guiding questions to the audience:
How might we re-imagine education to create a more holistic and meaningful learning experience for our students as we move forward towards 2040?
How might we cultivate a sense of curiosity, wonder, and creativity in our students, and how might this foster a deeper engagement with learning?
How might we expand the definition of “education” beyond the confines of the classroom and foster lifelong learning and growth in our students?
From DSC:
I appreciated this interesting thought experiment re: the future of learning in the year 2040. I appreciate Russell’s statement where he says:
To conduct a thorough and accurate foresight project, it is crucial to explore multiple potential futures. While the scenario presented here is intended to be playful and imaginative, it represents only one possible outcome among many. I encourage readers to share their scenarios and perspectives in the comments, as this will help to create a more robust and diverse exploration of the future.
Blogs are back baby — from blog.edtechie.net by Martin Weller
Excerpt:
The conclusion I take from all this (which I carefully assembled so I could draw the conclusion I want), is that there is a desire to have a core place on the net, that is not subject to the whims of billionaires, institutions or markets, where you can engage in a range of dialogue, from personal to professional, and that you enjoy revisiting. Ladies and gentleman, I give you, the blog.
From DSC:
I hope you’re right Martin!!! I still really appreciate blogs, as readers of this Learning Ecosystems blog might have guessed.
? I’m in love with this instructional routine: Slow Reveal Graphs! Start with a graph stripped of context and gradually reveal its labels, numbers, and title as students talk about what they see. Genius!
Thanks @jennalaib! (via @ericcurts)https://t.co/4WsI87EQWF
— Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent) February 9, 2023
Along the lines of tools, also see:
6 Apps and Websites to Make Video Journals — from classtechtips.com by Monica Burns
Excerpt:
Have you made video journals with your students? Earlier this year on the blog, I shared some of the reasons why this medium is worth considering. Today on the blog, we’ll look at six apps and websites to make video journals alongside a few more reasons why video journals are worth considering.
There are several reasons why a teacher might introduce video journals to their students. First, video journals can be a powerful tool for self-reflection and personal growth. By creating and reflecting on videos of themselves, students can better understand their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and identify areas for improvement.
Video journals can also provide a creative outlet for students to express themselves. Students may enjoy experimenting with different video-editing techniques and sharing their work with their peers. This experience using video tools can transfer to additional learning experiences, especially because video journals can help students practice their communication skills in speaking and visual storytelling.
And speaking of tools and technologies, also see:
A Valentine for Education Technology — from campustechnology.com by Mary Grush and Gardner Campbell
Excerpt:
However, in making some adjustments for an online experience, I soon realized that I was able, actually, to enhance aspects of the Read-a-thon and thus the course as well. For the first time, I could choose to invite the wider Milton community to the event, encouraging people to join from many different points across the country and potentially around the globe!
I like certain kinds of management technologies that help me with record keeping and organization. But I don’t love them. I love technologies of communication because, I think, they’re at the heart of teaching and learning — creating opportunities for human beings to think together, to study something together.
Five Predictions for the Future of Learning in the Age of AI — from a16z.com by Anne Lee Skates
Excerpts:
Seeing as education is one of AI’s first consumer use cases, and programs like ChatGPT are how millions of kids, teachers, and administrators will be introduced to AI, it is critical that we pay attention to the applications of AI and its implications for our lives. Below, we explore five predictions for AI and the future of learning, knowledge, and education.
Introducing: ChatGPT Edu-Mega-Prompts — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman; with thanks to Ray Schroeder out on LinkedIn for this resource
How to combine the power of AI + learning science to improve your efficiency & effectiveness as an educator
From DSC:
Before relaying some excerpts, I want to say that I get the gist of what Dr. Hardman is saying re: quizzes. But I’m surprised to hear she had so many pedagogical concerns with quizzes. I, too, would like to see quizzes used as an instrument of learning and to practice recall — and not just for assessment. But I would give quizzes a higher thumbs up than what she did. I think she was also trying to say that quizzes don’t always identify misconceptions or inaccurate foundational information.
Excerpts:
The Bad News: Most AI technologies that have been built specifically for educators in the last few years and months imitate and threaten to spread the use of broken instructional practices (i.e. content + quiz).
The Good News: Armed with prompts which are carefully crafted to ask the right thing in the right way, educators can use AI like GPT3 to improve the effectiveness of their instructional practices.
As is always the case, ChatGPT is your assistant. If you’re not happy with the result, you can edit and refine it using your expertise, either alone or through further conversation with ChatGPT.
For example, once the first response is generated, you can ask ChatGPT to make the activity more or less complex, to change the scenario and/or suggest more or different resources – the options are endless.
Philippa recommended checking out Rob Lennon’s streams of content. Here’s an example from his Twitter account:
Everyone’s using ChatGPT.
But almost everyone’s STUCK in beginner mode.
10 techniques to get massively ahead with AI:
(cut-and-paste these prompts?)
— Rob Lennon ? | Audience Growth (@thatroblennon) January 3, 2023
Also relevant/see:
3 Trends That May Unlock AI’s Potential for L&D in 2023 — from learningguild.com by Juan Naranjo
Excerpts:
AI-assisted design and development work
This is the trend most likely to have a dramatic evolution this year.
…
Solutions like large language models, speech generators, content generators, image generators, translation tools, transcription tools, and video generators, among many others, will transform the way IDs create the learning experiences our organizations use. Two examples are:
1. IDs will be doing more curation and less creation:
2. IDs will spend less, and in some cases no time at all, creating learning pathways
AI engines contained in LXPs and other platforms will select the right courses for employees and guide these learners from their current level of knowledge and skill to their goal state with substantially less human intervention.
The Creator of ChatGPT Thinks AI Should Be Regulated — from time.com by John Simons
Excerpts:
Somehow, Mira Murati can forthrightly discuss the dangers of AI while making you feel like it’s all going to be OK.
…
A growing number of leaders in the field are warning of the dangers of AI. Do you have any misgivings about the technology?
This is a unique moment in time where we do have agency in how it shapes society. And it goes both ways: the technology shapes us and we shape it. There are a lot of hard problems to figure out. How do you get the model to do the thing that you want it to do, and how you make sure it’s aligned with human intention and ultimately in service of humanity? There are also a ton of questions around societal impact, and there are a lot of ethical and philosophical questions that we need to consider. And it’s important that we bring in different voices, like philosophers, social scientists, artists, and people from the humanities.
Whispers of A.I.’s Modular Future — from newyorker.com by James Somers; via Sam DeBrule
Excerpts:
Gerganov adapted it from a program called Whisper, released in September by OpenAI, the same organization behind ChatGPTand dall-e. Whisper transcribes speech in more than ninety languages. In some of them, the software is capable of superhuman performance—that is, it can actually parse what somebody’s saying better than a human can.
…
Until recently, world-beating A.I.s like Whisper were the exclusive province of the big tech firms that developed them.
Ever since I’ve had tape to type up—lectures to transcribe, interviews to write down—I’ve dreamed of a program that would do it for me. The transcription process took so long, requiring so many small rewindings, that my hands and back would cramp. As a journalist, knowing what awaited me probably warped my reporting: instead of meeting someone in person with a tape recorder, it often seemed easier just to talk on the phone, typing up the good parts in the moment.
Microsoft Teams Premium: Cut costs and add AI-powered productivity — from microsoft.com by Nicole Herskowitz
Excerpt:
Built on the familiar, all-in-one collaborative experience of Microsoft Teams, Teams Premium brings the latest technologies, including Large Language Models powered by OpenAI’s GPT-3.5, to make meetings more intelligent, personalized, and protected—whether it’s one-on-one, large meetings, virtual appointments, or webinars.
Best Document Cameras for Teachers — from techlearning.com by Luke Edwards
Get the best document camera for teachers to make the classroom more digitally immersive
Along the lines of edtech, also see:
Tech & Learning Names Winners of the Best of 2022 Awards — from techlearning.com by TL Editors
This annual award celebrates recognizing the very best in EdTech from 2022
.
The Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Best of 2022 celebrate educational technology from the last 12 months that has excelled in supporting teachers, students, and education professionals in the classroom, for professional development, or general management of education resources and learning. Nominated products are divided into three categories: Primary, Secondary, or Higher Education.
