Practical AI for instructors and students - A Wharton interactive crash course

 This series of five videos, from the Wharton School, provides good overviews of integrating AI into education. Each video is around 11 minutes. The contexts are for higher and compulsory education. 

The first video introduces the important concepts of AI. The second covers Gen AI and large language models.

The next three videos provide demonstrations, examples and discussion on prompt engineering, how to use AI as a teacher, and how AI can be used as a personal tutor by students. All emphasise the importance of prompt engineering which in turn relies on learners' foundational literacies and subject conceptual knowledge to be able to evaluate AI outputs and then work out the correct prompts to use, to improve the relevance and quality of outputs. The ability of 'personalised tutors' utilising AI will need to be examined with respect to the academic and foundational literacies required to access the power of AI to support personalised learning environments (PLEs). 

The two presenters Associate Professor Ethan Mollick (faculty director) and Dr. Lilach Mollick (Director of Pedagogy) provide quick overviews and encourage teachers to draw on their experience to make the most that Gen AI offers. 

Two recent papers summarise the work undertaken which are applied in the videos:

Mollick, Ethan R. and Mollick, Lilach, Using AI to Implement Effective Teaching Strategies in Classrooms: Five Strategies, Including Prompts (March 17, 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4391243 

Mollick, Ethan R. and Mollick, Lilach, Assigning AI: Seven Approaches for Students, with Prompts (June 12, 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4475995

Sal Khan - How AI could save (not destroy) education

 Another inspirational video from Sal Khan of Khan Academy.

He provides a pathway for all educators to take heed. Content is no longer the focus of education and has not been for many decades. Its the skills required to evaluate and utilise content which are the keys to the future. A future whereby AI is poised to take over 300 million jobs and change the nature of work for billions. The use of AI as a personalised learning tool is one way to democratise education and to provision education for all with access to digital devices and infrastructure. 

AI may not take all jobs - including those which require those which are really creative, those requiring the deployment of complex interpersonal skills and relationships, and jobs that require mobility, dexterity and problem solving abilities (i.e. may craft trades).

Khan academy already provisions opportunities to use it for personalised practice and mastery, especially of STEAM skills at the compulsory / foundational school levels. These fundamental skills of literacy and numeracy along with the conceptual understanding of our the world works, are essential for all to springboard from when working with AI agents. Otherwise, AI generated content becomes uncritically accepted and this will lead to a decline in critical thinking. Thinking is a deliberate and learned act, therefore, practice essential in ensuring that foundational skills are well embedded before relying on AI generated solutions. 

Humanising personalised learning

 A good overview of how to 'humanise' personalised learning By Paul E. France. The post summarises the premises in his book 'Reclaiming personalised learning: A pedagogy for restoring equity and humanity in our classrooms' and mirrors the philosophies and call for 'hybrid pedagogy' see this post for links and summary. 

In short, there is a need to honour the 'personalised' which has been hijacked by 'technology'. Issues of digital equity and literacy need to be addressed before 'technology solutions' are decided on. However, the right support systems allow for the affordances of 'digitally-supported' to be possible. Therefore, a balancing act as always. 

It is important to start with what the learner presently is able to do with the technology and digital literacies available. Then leverage off these 'first steps' to improve learners' digital literacies and put emphasis into ensuring barriers to attaining hardware and digital infrastructures are surmounted to provide for the best solutions required to support their learning. Therefore, inportant to not have a 'one-size fits all' approach but to be prepared to 'customise' where possible. Putting 'the learner at the heart' of learning is challenging and requires commitment, resourcing and capability building. Otherwise, we end up with disillusioned learners, facing (to them) insurmountable odds to attain the learning to help them through their learning journey.