Discussions

Yesterday I presented to the faculty of Summit Preparatory School on the topic of AI in education. For some in attendance, it was their first exposure to this emerging technology. We started by looking at examples of what ChatGPT could do for teachers, including writing a difficult email, creating a new lesson, and giving directions to students on how to upload an assignment to Google classroom (using emojis!). After an interactive activity to get a better understanding of how the technology works, we started to play with the platform.

The faculty worked in small groups to experiment with ChatGPT. One group used ChatGPT to create a song in the style of Cher on the water cycle. Another group generated short stories and example essays. Some people created course outlines, syllabi, and an academic integrity policy for a progressive school. They modified text to create more challenging assignments to push gifted students. 

Elementary teachers used it to generate a short story from the perspective of a dog who wanted automated treats, and we discussed how it could be used to generate examples for classroom teachers on the fly, like this unique example of persuasive writing. 

The math teacher wanted her students to practice a very specific skill set. I don't remember all of the details, but it was something like using the quadratic formula with equations that started with a zero. She said she had spent a lot of time trying to research this online, and ChatGPT was able to create the exact examples she needed in a matter of seconds. The teacher was astounded, excited, and mad that it could do that. All valid emotions!

We even used Midjourney to image a "golden retriever in a spring desert" to see the possibilities of text to visual art.

We discussed ethics and bias in the technology, and the critical thinking skills we will need to impact students so they can successfully navigate a world in which this technology is prevalent. As a group, we grappled with Chatlogs as potential future learning artifacts. We discussed what that might look like from a teacher's perspective, and how grading might evolve. With AI, there are many issues to wrestle with, and some of them don't have easy answers. 

It was a wonderful experience to get together in person to explore the potential (both positive and negative) that AI can have for education. I'd like to invite you to have that same opportunity to be surrounded by your peers, and to hear from schools that are ahead of the curve at the AI Summit. AI will impact pedagogy, curriculum, and assessments. By attending the AI Summit, you can help your school navigate this disruption.

If you would like to join together with other school leaders from across the country to discuss these complex topics, register today for the ATLIS and NAIS Summit: Educational Leadership in the Age of AI. 

I had a member privately contact me and ask for more details. I am posting it here as well in case it is helpful to any of you:

This session was an hour and a half. That seemed to be a great amount of time to give the faculty their first introduction. It was roughly split into three 30-minute parts: 

• 30 minutes for the presentation, including an hands-on activity. I had them pull out their phones, open a new text message, and complete the sentence 'I like to...' using autocorrect. We discussed how it added one word at a time, and how each user had a different sentence because they 'trained' the AI by sending text messages. Each person has a unique tone, writing style, and subjects that are important to them. My goal behind this was to give them a tangible way to understand how they use AI daily, as well as how it works. That is oversimplifying it, of course, but from there I gave them a very high-level overview of neural nets and weights. I have details in the speaker notes if you would like to check it out.
• 30 minutes to get logged into ChatGPT and start playing with it. I kept the prompts up on the screen so they had several examples to choose from. We discussed how you shouldn't put in any private information about students.
  
  Here are a few of my example prompts:

  • • Write an email (or revise one)

    • Write lyrics in the style of [artist/genre] that educates students on [topic]

    • Write a short story or play that incorporates themes related to [topic] and can be performed in the classroom for [grade]

• Next, I had them co-edit with ChatGPT:

  • • Be more concise

    • Change the tone (friendlier, more professional, less passive-aggressive)

    • Change the point of view (i.e. rewrite in the third person)

    • Rewrite <text> for <grade level>

    • Create slides or a presentation outline from <text> (or on <topic>)

• The last 30 minutes we spent in small groups discussing:

  • • How do you see yourself using this?

    • How do you think this will impact your classroom in the following areas: 

    • Assignments

    • Assessments

    • Pedagogy

    • Additional thoughts?

• We ended the session by sharing out what they created with ChatGPT and what their groups discussed

Here is a link to my slide deck. Feel free to make a copy and use it in your own training!

Have you done faculty training yet? Share your story and tips below!

Yesterday I presented to the faculty of Summit Preparatory School on the topic of AI in education. For some in attendance, it was their first exposure to this emerging technology. We started by looking at examples of what ChatGPT could do for teachers, including writing a difficult email, creating a new lesson, and giving directions to students on how to upload an assignment to Google classroom (using emojis!). After an interactive activity to get a better understanding of how the technology works, we started to play with the platform.

The faculty worked in small groups to experiment with ChatGPT. One group used ChatGPT to create a song in the style of Cher on the water cycle. Another group generated short stories and example essays. Some people created course outlines, syllabi, and an academic integrity policy for a progressive school. They modified text to create more challenging assignments to push gifted students. 

Elementary teachers used it to generate a short story from the perspective of a dog who wanted automated treats, and we discussed how it could be used to generate examples for classroom teachers on the fly, like this unique example of persuasive writing. 

The math teacher wanted her students to practice a very specific skill set. I don't remember all of the details, but it was something like using the quadratic formula with equations that started with a zero. She said she had spent a lot of time trying to research this online, and ChatGPT was able to create the exact examples she needed in a matter of seconds. The teacher was astounded, excited, and mad that it could do that. All valid emotions!

We even used Midjourney to image a "golden retriever in a spring desert" to see the possibilities of text to visual art.

We discussed ethics and bias in the technology, and the critical thinking skills we will need to impact students so they can successfully navigate a world in which this technology is prevalent. As a group, we grappled with Chatlogs as potential future learning artifacts. We discussed what that might look like from a teacher's perspective, and how grading might evolve. With AI, there are many issues to wrestle with, and some of them don't have easy answers. 

It was a wonderful experience to get together in person to explore the potential (both positive and negative) that AI can have for education. I'd like to invite you to have that same opportunity to be surrounded by your peers, and to hear from schools that are ahead of the curve at the AI Summit. AI will impact pedagogy, curriculum, and assessments. By attending the AI Summit, you can help your school navigate this disruption.

If you would like to join together with other school leaders from across the country to discuss these complex topics, register today for the ATLIS and NAIS Summit: Educational Leadership in the Age of AI. 

Yesterday I presented to the faculty of Summit Preparatory School on the topic of AI in education. For some in attendance, it was their first exposure to this emerging technology. We started by looking at examples of what ChatGPT could do for teachers, including writing a difficult email, creating a new lesson, and giving directions to students on how to upload an assignment to Google classroom (using emojis!). After an interactive activity to get a better understanding of how the technology works, we started to play with the platform.

The faculty worked in small groups to experiment with ChatGPT. One group used ChatGPT to create a song in the style of Cher on the water cycle. Another group generated short stories and example essays. Some people created course outlines, syllabi, and an academic integrity policy for a progressive school. They modified text to create more challenging assignments to push gifted students. 

Elementary teachers used it to generate a short story from the perspective of a dog who wanted automated treats, and we discussed how it could be used to generate examples for classroom teachers on the fly, like this unique example of persuasive writing. 

The math teacher wanted her students to practice a very specific skill set. I don't remember all of the details, but it was something like using the quadratic formula with equations that started with a zero. She said she had spent a lot of time trying to research this online, and ChatGPT was able to create the exact examples she needed in a matter of seconds. The teacher was astounded, excited, and mad that it could do that. All valid emotions!

We even used Midjourney to image a "golden retriever in a spring desert" to see the possibilities of text to visual art.

We discussed ethics and bias in the technology, and the critical thinking skills we will need to impact students so they can successfully navigate a world in which this technology is prevalent. As a group, we grappled with Chatlogs as potential future learning artifacts. We discussed what that might look like from a teacher's perspective, and how grading might evolve. With AI, there are many issues to wrestle with, and some of them don't have easy answers. 

It was a wonderful experience to get together in person to explore the potential (both positive and negative) that AI can have for education. I'd like to invite you to have that same opportunity to be surrounded by your peers, and to hear from schools that are ahead of the curve at the AI Summit. AI will impact pedagogy, curriculum, and assessments. By attending the AI Summit, you can help your school navigate this disruption.

If you would like to join together with other school leaders from across the country to discuss these complex topics, register today for the ATLIS and NAIS Summit: Educational Leadership in the Age of AI.