Accenture announces jaw-dropping $3 billion investment in AI — from venturebeat.com by Carl Franzen; via Superhuman

Excerpt:

The generative AI announcements are coming fast and furious these days, but among the biggest in terms of sheer dollar commitments just landed: Accenture, the global professional services and consulting giant, today announced it will invest $3 billion (with a “b”!) in AI over the next three years in building out its team of AI professionals and AI-focused solutions for its clients.

“There is unprecedented interest in all areas of AI, and the substantial investment we are making in our Data & AI practice will help our clients move from interest to action to value, and in a responsible way with clear business cases,” said Julie Sweet, Accenture’s chairwoman and CEO.

Also related/see:

Artificial intelligence creates 40,000 new roles at Accenture — from computerweekly.com by Karl Flinders
Accenture is planning to add thousands of AI experts to its workforce as part of a $3bn investment in its data and artificial intelligence practice

Why leaders need to evolve alongside generative AI — from fastcompany.com by Kelsey Behringer
Even if you’re not an educator, you should not be sitting on the sidelines watching the generative AI conversation being had around you—hop in.

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

Leaders should be careful to watch and support education right now. At the end of the day, the students sitting in K-12 and college classrooms are going to be future CPAs, lawyers, writers, and teachers. If you are parenting a child, you have skin in the game. If you use professional services, you have skin in the game. When it comes to education, we all have skin in the game.

Students need to master fundamental skills like editing, questioning, researching, and verifying claims before they can use generative AI exceptionally well.

GenAI & Education: Enhancement, not Replacement — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philipa Hardman
How to co-exist in the age of automation

Excerpts (emphasis DSC):

[On 6/15/23, I joined] colleagues from OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Stanford, Harvard and other others at the first meeting of the GenAI Summit. Our shared goal [was] to help to educate universities & schools in Europe about the impact of Generative AI on their work.

how can we effectively communicate to education professionals that generative AI will enhance their work rather than replace them?

A recent controlled study found that ChatGPT can help professionals increase their efficiency in routine tasks by ~35%. If we keep in mind that the productivity gains brought by the steam engine in the nineteenth century was ~25%, this is huge.

As educators, we should embrace the power of ChatGPT to automate the repetitive tasks which we’ve been distracted by for decades. Lesson planning, content creation, assessment design, grading and feedback – generative AI can help us to do all of these things faster than ever before, freeing us up to focus on where we bring most value for our students.

Google, one of AI’s biggest backers, warns own staff about chatbots — from reuters.com by Jeffrey Dastin and Anna Tong

Excerpt:

SAN FRANCISCO, June 15 (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) is cautioning employees about how they use chatbots, including its own Bard, at the same time as it markets the program around the world, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Google parent has advised employees not to enter its confidential materials into AI chatbots, the people said and the company confirmed, citing long-standing policy on safeguarding information.

The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier — from mckinsey.com
Generative AI’s impact on productivity could add trillions of dollars in value to the global economy—and the era is just beginning.



Preparing for the Classrooms and Workplaces of the Future: Generative AI in edX — from campustechnology.com by Mary Grush
A Q&A with Anant Agarwal


Adobe Firefly for the Enterprise — Dream Bigger with Adobe Firefly.
Dream it, type it, see it with Firefly, our creative generative AI engine. Now in Photoshop (beta), Illustrator, Adobe Express, and on the web.


Apple Vision Pro, Higher Education and the Next 10 Years — from insidehighered.com by Joshua Kim
How this technology will play out in our world over the next decade.



Zoom can now give you AI summaries of the meetings you’ve missed — from theverge.com by Emma Roth


Mercedes-Benz Is Adding ChatGPT to Cars for AI Voice Commands — from decrypt.co by Jason Nelson; via Superhuman
The luxury automaker is set to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot into its Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) feature in the U.S.


 

Teaching With Music: 5 Tips for Using it With Any Subject — from by Erik Ofgang
Tips for teaching with music as a helpful learning tool regardless of the subject from school social worker Sherena Small

Excerpt:

Teaching with music can enhance learning in almost any subject area, says Sherena Small, a school social worker at Champaign Unit 4 School District in Illinois.

“It’s just such a good way to enhance what kids are learning,” says Small, who uses hip-hop and other music to teach social-emotional learning skills, including empathy and active listening. Earlier this year, Nearpod recognized Small as an Educator of the Year for her innovative efforts using Nearpod’s Flocabulary tool to incorporate music into class.


Speaking of multimedia, also see:

A DEEP DIVE INTO PEER LEARNING AND STUDENT VIDEO CREATION WITH KRISTEN BROOKS – EASY EDTECH PODCAST 218


And here’s another interesting item from Dr. Burns:

HOW MICROLEARNING IS RESHAPING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT – BONUS EPISODE WITH BRITANNICA EDUCATION

 

15 Creative Activities Inspired By The Gratitude Tree

Excerpt:

Prepare to plant seeds of gratitude in your classroom with our collection of 15 unique activities featuring The Gratitude Tree. These creative experiences aim to nurture a culture of appreciation among your students; empowering them to recognize and celebrate the positive aspects of their lives.

Gratitude Rocks


20 If I Were President Activities: Empowering Students To Lead And Make A Difference

Excerpt:

As teachers, it’s our responsibility to encourage our students to be the best versions of themselves! As a spin from this, why not encourage your students to envision themselves as future presidents! The following activities are designed to foster critical thinking, develop leadership skills, and ignite a sense of civic responsibility in our young learners. Together, we’ll inspire our students to explore their ideas and values as well as the power they hold to create positive change in their communities!


18 Fun Elephant Activities For Preschoolers 

Excerpt:

Get ready to explore the enchanting world of elephants through a variety of engaging activities designed specifically for preschoolers. Our collection of 18 activities will not only ignite their imagination but also help them develop essential skills across different domains. Let’s dive right in and make learning a trunkload of fun!


23 Quirky Math Activity For Kindergarteners 

Excerpt:

Let’s make math exciting and engaging for your little learners! With the help of our 23 unique activities, you’ll be able to help your littles develop essential math skills while having a blast. We’ve covered everything from basic number concepts to shape and pattern recognition. So, without further adieu, let’s get the party started with a number hunt!

 

Online learning: Is it worth trying? — from social-and-emotional-learning.educationtechnologyinsights.com by Dr. Miko Nino


From DSC:
Dr. Nino makes several solid points in this article. The article won’t let me copy/paste some excerpts for you, but I would encourage you to look at it. 

I would add a few things:

  • The huge advantage of online-based learning is that a significant amount of learning-related data is automatically captured and doesn’t need to be manually entered (if such manually entered data ever does get entered…which most of it doesn’t).
  • Learners have much more control over the pacing within the digital realm — i.e., which media they want to use as well as stopping/fast-forwarding/rewinding certain kinds of media.
  • Most people are now required to be lifelong learners — where convenience and time-savings become very important factors in continuing one’s education
  • And finally, as AI and other technologies continue to make their way forward, it will be hard to beat online-based and/or hybrid-based learning. 
 

Why L&D should be at the forefront of the AI revolution — from managementtoday.co.uk by Bill Borrows
AI means that 50% of all employees will need reskilling or upskilling by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Ernst and Young dug a little deeper. “Today’s disruptive working landscape requires organisations to largely restructure the way they are doing work,” they noted in a bulletin in March this year. “Time now spent on tasks will be equally divided between people and machines. For these reasons, workforce roles will change and so do the skills needed to perform them.”

The World Economic Forum has pointed to this global skills gap and estimates that, while 85 million jobs will be displaced, 50% of all employees will need reskilling and/or upskilling by 2025. This, it almost goes without saying, will require Learning and Development departments to do the heavy-lifting in this initial transformational phase but also in an on-going capacity.

“And that’s the big problem,” says Hardman. “2025 is only two and half years away and the three pillars of L&D – knowledge transference, knowledge reinforcement and knowledge assessment – are crumbling. They have been unchanged for decades and are now, faced by revolutionary change, no longer fit for purpose.”


ChatGPT is the shakeup education needs — from eschoolnews.com by Joshua Sine
As technology evolves, industries must evolve alongside it, and education is no exception–especially when students heavily and regularly rely on edtech

Key points:

  • Education must evolve along with technology–students will expect it
  • Embracing new technologies helps education leverage adaptive technology that engage student interest
  • See related article: AI tools are set to impact tutoring in a big way


Welcome to the new surreal. How AI-generated video is changing film. — from technologyreview.com by Will Douglas Heaven
Exclusive: Watch the world premiere of the AI-generated short film The Frost.

.



The Future Of Education – Disruption Caused By AI And ChatGPT: Artificial Intelligence Series 3 Of 5 — from forbes.com by Nicole Serena Silver
Here are some ways AI can be introduced at various age levels


 
 

Hire Instructional Designers: The Complete Guide — from teamedforlearning.com

Excerpt:

So you think you want to hire an instructional designer. Great choice. Instructional designers are eLearning industry superheroes. They create learning experiences and develop instructional materials to make learning accessible. Whether you’re creating training modules for your employees or building online courses for students, an instructional designer is an essential member of your eLearning team.


Addendum on 6/6/23, a somewhat relevant posting:

Professional Organizations for Instructional Designers — from christytuckerlearning.com by Christy Tucker
What professional organizations are useful for instructional designers? The Learning Guild, ATD, TLDC, Training Magazine Network, and LDA.

 

ChatGPT Prompts for Learner Motivation — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
Three mega-prompts to motivate your learners like a pro

So, what can we – as educators and creators of ed-tech – do to build our learners’ intrinsic motivation and, in the process, drive both inclusion and achievement?

To help answer this question, I’ve put together a short guide. The guide includes:

  1. A whistle-stop tour of the science of intrinsic motivation.
  2. Three ChatGPT mega-prompts so you can apply the theory to the way you design learning experiences (and, perhaps, ed-tech products) and optimise for intrinsic motivation today.

How will Artificial Intelligence change higher education? — from chronicle.com by various
ChatGPT is just the beginning. 12 scholars and administrators explain.

Even discounting for hyperbole, the release of ChatGPT suggests that we’re at the dawn of an era marked by rapid advances in artificial intelligence, with far-reaching consequences for nearly every facet of society, including higher education. From admissions to assessment, academic integrity to scholarly research, university operations to disappearing jobs, here’s how 12 professors, administrators, and writers answer the question: How will AI change higher education?


Improving mathematical reasoning with process supervision — from openai.com

Excerpt:

We’ve trained a model to achieve a new state-of-the-art in mathematical problem solving by rewarding each correct step of reasoning (“process supervision”) instead of simply rewarding the correct final answer (“outcome supervision”). In addition to boosting performance relative to outcome supervision, process supervision also has an important alignment benefit: it directly trains the model to produce a chain-of-thought that is endorsed by humans.

 


From DSC:
I also wanted to highlight the item below, which Barsee also mentioned above, as it will likely hit the world of education and training as well:



Also relevant/see:


 

Changed by Our Journey: Engaging Students through Simulive Learning — from er.educause.edu by Lisa Lenze and Megan Costello
In this article, an instructor explains how she took an alternative approach to teaching—simulive learning—and discusses the benefits that have extended to her in-person classrooms.

Excerpts:

Mustering courage, Costello devised a novel way to (1) share the course at times other than when it was regularly scheduled and (2) fully engage with her students in the chat channel during the scheduled class meeting time. Her solution, which she calls simulive learning, required her to record her lectures and watch them with her students. (Courageous, indeed!)

Below, Costello and I discuss what simulive learning looks like, how it works, and how Costello has taken her version of remote synchronous teaching forward into current semesters.

Megan Costello: I took a different approach to remote synchronous online learning at the start of the pandemic. Instead of using traditional videoconferencing software to hold class, I prerecorded, edited, and uploaded videos of my lectures to a streaming website. This website allowed me to specify a time and date to broadcast my lectures to my students. Because the lectures were already prepared, I could watch and participate in the chat with my students as we encountered the materials together during the scheduled class time. I drove conversations in chat, asked questions, and got students engaged as we covered materials for the day. The students had my full attention.

 

 

Professors Plan Summer AI Upskilling, With or Without Support — from insidehighered.com by Susan D’Agostino
Academics seeking respite from the fire hose of AI information and hot takes launch summer workshops. But many of the grass-roots efforts fall short of meeting demand.

Excerpt:

In these summer faculty AI workshops, some plan to take their first tentative steps in redesigning assignments to recognize the AI-infused landscape. Others expect to evolve their in-progress teaching-with-AI practices. At some colleges, full-time staff will deliver the workshops or pay participants for professional development time. But some offerings are grassroots efforts delivered by faculty volunteers attended by participants on their own time. Even so, many worry that the efforts will fall short of meeting demand.

From DSC:
We aren’t used to this pace of change. It will take time for faculty members — as well as Instructional Designers, Instructional Technologists, Faculty Developers, Learning Experience Designers, Librarians, and others — to learn more about AI and its implications for teaching and learning. Faculty are learning. Staff are learning. Students are learning. Grace is needed. And faculty/staff modeling what it is to learn themselves is a good thing for students to see as well.


Also relevant/see:

It takes a village… Reflections on sustainable learning design — from The Educationalist (educationalist.substack.com) by Alexandra Mihai

Excerpts:

This can be done first and foremost through collaboration, bringing more people at the table, in a meaningful workflow, whereby they can make the best use of their expertise. Moreover, we need to take a step back and keep the big picture in mind, if we want to provide our students with a valuable experience.

This is all about creating and nurturing partnerships. Thinking in an inclusive way about who is at the table when we design our courses and our programmes and who we are currently missing. Generally speaking, the main actors involved should be: teaching staff, learning design professionals (under all their various names) and students. Yes, students. Although we are designing for their learning, they are all too often not part of the process.

In order to yield results, collaborative practice needs to be embedded in the institutional fabric, and this takes time. Building silos happens fast, breaking them is a long term process. Creating a culture of dialogue, with clear and replicable processes is key to making collaborative learning design work.

From DSC:
To me, Alexandra is addressing the topic of using teams to design, develop, and teach/offer courses. This is where a variety of skills and specialties can come together to produce an excellent learning experience. No one individual has all of the necessary skills — nor the necessary time. No way.

 


Webinars from Tom Barrett regarding AI for Education — a free webinar series

  • Webinar 6 replay
    • Miriam Scott – Head of Digital Education at Hillbrook Anglican School, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
    • Laura Bain – Head of Emerging Technologies and Innovation, Matthew Flinders Anglican College, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
    • Nicole Dyson – Founder & CEO, Future Anything, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
  • Webinar 5 replay
    • In the fifth free webinar on AI for Education, I am joined by Dean Pearman, Head of Education at Beaconhills College and Tom Oliphant, Head of Technology and Enterprise at St John’s Grammar School. We explore questions about creativity, design and the new skills that are emerging. Join us to invest in your AI Literacy. Expand your toolset, broaden your understanding, and challenge your thinking.
  • Webinar 4 replay
    • You are watching the fourth free webinar, a dialogue about AI for education with Sophie Fenton, Steve Brophy and hosted by Tom Barrett Building Blocks – key AI concepts to learn. Practical frameworks for navigating the challenges of AI for education. Be part of a dialogue on provocations about AI and human centred education, truth and identity.
  • Webinar 3 replay – Claire Amos and Philly Wintle
  • Webinar 2 replay – Gemma Rainger and Dr Nick Jackson
  • Webinar 1 replay – Chantelle Love, Pip Cleaves and Steve Brophy

Using ChatGPT in Math Lesson Planning — from edutopia.org by Kristen Moore
Artificial intelligence tools are useful beyond language arts classes. Math teachers can use them to save time and create interesting lessons.


Democratic Inputs to AI — from openai.com
Our nonprofit organization, OpenAI, Inc., is launching a program to award ten $100,000 grants to fund experiments in setting up a democratic process for deciding what rules AI systems should follow, within the bounds defined by the law.


AI Canon — from a16z.com (Andreessen Horowitz) by Derrick Harris, Matt Bornstein, and Guido Appenzeller; via The Neuron newsletter

Excerpts:

Research in artificial intelligence is increasing at an exponential rate. It’s difficult for AI experts to keep up with everything new being published, and even harder for beginners to know where to start. So, in this post, we’re sharing a curated list of resources we’ve relied on to get smarter about modern AI. We call it the “AI Canon” because these papers, blog posts, courses, and guides have had an outsized impact on the field over the past several years.

Table of contents

  • A gentle introduction
  • Foundational learning
  • Tech deep dive
  • Practical guides to building with LLMs
  • Market analysis
  • Landmark research results

Generative AI hits Adobe Photoshop!

Generative AI hits Adobe Photoshop!

 

From DSC:
And how long before that type of interactivity is embedded into learning-related applications/games?!


 


AI in Learning: The Impact of ChatGPT on L&D & Workflow Learning — from linkedin.com; this event by Bob Mosher features his conversation with Donald Clark

AI in Learning: The Impact of ChatGPT on L&D & Workflow Learning -- from linkedin.com; this event by Bob Mosher features his conversation with Donald Clark



Bill Gates says AI is poised to destroy search engines and Amazon — from futurism.com by Victor Tangermann
Who will win the AI [competition]? (DSC: I substituted the word competition here, as that’s what it is. It’s not a war, it’s a part of America’s way of doing business.)

“Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you’ll never go to Amazon again,” Gates said during a Goldman Sachs event on AI in San Francisco this week, as quoted by CNBC.

These AI assistants could “read the stuff you don’t have time to read,” he said, allowing users to get to information without having to use a search engine like Google.


EdX launches ChatGPT-powered plugin, learning assistant — from edscoop.com
The online learning firm edX introduced two new tools powered by ChatGPT, the “first of many innovations” in generative AI for the platform.

The online learning platform edX introduced two new tools on Friday based on OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology: an edX plugin for ChatGPT and a learning assistant embedded in the edX platform, called Xpert.

According to the company, its plugin will enable ChatGPT Plus subscribers to discover educational programs and explore learning content such as videos and quizzes across edX’s library of 4,200 courses.


Bing is now the default search for ChatGPT — from theverge.com by Tom Warren; via superhuman.beehiiv.com
The close partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI leads to plug-in interoperability and search defaults.

Excerpt:

OpenAI will start using Bing as the default search experience for ChatGPT. The new search functionality will be rolling out to ChatGPT Plus users today and will be enabled for all free ChatGPT users soon through a plug-in in ChatGPT.



How ChatGPT Could Help or Hurt Students With Disabilities — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie

Excerpt:

  • Students with mobility challenges may find it easier to use generative AI tools — such as ChatGPT or Elicit — to help them conduct research if that means they can avoid a trip to the library.
  • Students who have trouble navigating conversations — such as those along the autism spectrum — could use these tools for “social scripting.” In that scenario, they might ask ChatGPT to give them three ways to start a conversation with classmates about a group project.
  • Students who have trouble organizing their thoughts might benefit from asking a generative AI tool to suggest an opening paragraph for an essay they’re working on — not to plagiarize, but to help them get over “the terror of the blank page,” says Karen Costa, a faculty-development facilitator who, among other things, focuses on teaching, learning, and living with ADHD. “AI can help build momentum.”
  • ChatGPT is good at productive repetition. That is a practice most teachers use anyway to reinforce learning. But AI can take that to the next level by allowing students who have trouble processing information to repeatedly generate examples, definitions, questions, and scenarios of concepts they are learning.

It’s not all on you to figure this out and have all the answers. Partner with your students and explore this together.


A new antibiotic, discovered with artificial intelligence, may defeat a dangerous superbug — from edition.cnn.com by Brenda Goodman



8 YouTube Channels to Learn AI — from techthatmatters.beehiiv.com by Harsh Makadia

  • The AI Advantage (link)
  • Jason West (link)
  • TheAIGRID (link)
  • Prompt Engineering (link)
  • Matt Wolfe (link)
  • Two-Minute Papers (link)
  • Brett Malinowski (link)
  • 10X Income (link)

AI and the Future of Teaching and Learning | Insights and Recommendations from the Office of Educational Technology

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning | Insights and Recommendations — with thanks to Robert Gibson on LinkedIn for this resource


Ai Valley -- the latest source of AI tools and prompts

 

It takes a village… Reflections on sustainable learning design – from educationalist.substack.com; The Educationalist by Alexandra Mihai

Excerpt:

For the purpose of this article I want to look at learning design in a more holistic way, as a practice that takes place at institutional level. Because we are actually not designing the learning, we are designing for learning. It’s all about an ecosystem with many variable components, including people, institutions, pedagogy, disciplinary content, technology. Some of them more controllable or predictable, some of them less so. So learning design is (should be!) all about being adaptive, iterative, empathic, but also efficient, sustainable (from different points of view, I will come back to that later), scalable.

 

Orly Friedman on Red Bridge School and Educating for Agency — from gettingsmart.com

Key Points

  • Grouping is based on autonomy levels rather than grade levels and students move forward based on their own decision. This autonomy level is decoupled from academics.
  • Compliance vs Agency – Agency is what young people really need for the future.

Nobody ever washed a rented car. If you’re going to care of something, you need to feel a sense of ownership of it.

Orly Friedman

 

 
© 2024 | Daniel Christian