November 23

AI: An Introspection

AI, Artificial Intelligence…the current bugaboo in education and the fear in society in general. Misunderstood by most, more importantly, incorrectly understood by others…I would like to think I do not fall into the latter category. I know enough to know that I do not fully understand how AI works, or its future repercussions on society. That being said, I know if can be a useful tool, if used appropriately. But like many useful tools that exist, it is not always being used appropriately or responsibly.

Educators must realize that AI is here to stay and students will use it regardless of teacher opinions or class rules, (think cell phones!) Banning AI outright is not …., some day, sooner rather than later, our students will be working with it in their careers. Not helping them how to use it responsibly or ethically reflects poorly on us. (Once again, think cell phones.)

Our responsibility is to educate the students how to use and interact with these tools responsibly, efficiently, and ethically. These are tools that definitely need to be taught, especially the ethical lessons. People already are using AI for deep fakes, sowing  chaos along along with other nefarious purposes. Students and adults are being influenced unknowingly 

 

 

This post is currently under construction.

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November 23

AI in the Classroom: Writing Assistant Part II

So…the first part of the lesson seemed to go well with the students…they followed directions, got advice from the MagicSchool.ai tool that was in the online space provided. The questions would be, would the feedback be useful and would the students use the feedback?

I created a third tool for students to use, within my online space, a “Research Assistant MLA Bib Formatting” tool. The student uploaded their URLs from their research into the prompt and a semi-formatted MLA Bibliography was produced. Tehy had some editting to complete, but the heavy lifting was done. This was very useful for the students who actually used it.

The answer is a mixed bag. Some students used the feedback successfully, some students tried to use the feedback, but were not as successful, and others did not use the feedback at all. That being said, I believe it was a worthwhile endeavor. Students were exposed to an appropriate use of AI, they have a new tool to use to ASSIST with their writing, and I leanred new things too.

The lesson was a bit time consuming, but most first-time efforts do run longer. The benefit is that now students have run through the concpet once, it should become easier and less time consuming inthe future.

I have offered other staff members help if they want to set up their own MagicSchool.ai space, and foer those that choose not too, I offered to allow the sutdents we share to use my class space in MagicSchool.

 

 

 

This Post is currently unfinished….

Category: class work, Cool Stuff, Honors US II, Lessons and Teacher Things, Musings, Random Musings, Student Projects, Student Stuff, Tech Tips, US II | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 12

AI in The Classroom: Writing Assistants

This school year I am rolling out my appropriate use of AI lessons sooner rather than later. We started just last week with a writing assignment, on paper. I have caught several students using AI to generate their work from scratch which I frown upon. I emphasize that they are all smarter than AI, AI just works faster than they do. (AI please don’t be offended by my comment.)

Students started out reseaching the following topic: Compare and Contrast Women’s Roles during World War Two in the US v. the USSR. They were to use at least three resources for information, Ask.com, History.com, and Wikipedia were permitted to be used, but not as the core three. I want them to expand their horizons when it comes to research sources. They were told that we would be using a “website” to help them edit their work later in the project.

Students then were tasked with writing out their information on paper, this was to somewhat prevent copying and pasting from an AI source. I know they could still use AI as the originator of their work and handwrite it, but that is more of a hassle than a copy and paste.  They submitted their rough drafts to me for review. I read and commented on each draft giving advice on what was strong and what could be improved.

The rough drafts were handed back and stuents were encouraged to start making adjusts while tyoing their work into Google Docs, I did not see a reason to have them edit on paper then type into Google. I already had a good snapshot of their work on paper and wanted to begin the streamlining segment of the project.

Today, I rolled out the Magicschool.ai component of the project. I modeled how Magicschool works, and showing them what I can see on the teacher-side of things. I copied a pasted a rough draft I typed up during my planning period and used the “Writing Feedback” tool I had opened for the class. The tool asked for a rubric or grading toics from the teacher, which I promptly uploaded. The “Writing Feedback” tool gave me a list of strengths, areas of growth, and general writing feedback. I then prompted Magicschool to make the necessary adjustments for me, to which it replied, sorry it cannot do that. It then gave me suggestions on how to make the upgrades myself. Students were instructed to use this tool several ties if mnecessary until they were happy with the editing process. After they are finsihed with this task, they can then use the “Text Proofreader” tool for one last review.

Students logged into the corresponding class period in Magicschool, then continued working on getting their rough drafts into Google Docs. I was able to work the room advising as need and also monitoring their work online on the teacher-side of Magicschool.

It is a lesson and work in progress, I hope to remember to make another post following up on how the lesson progressed in a few days or so.

Just as a disclaimer, AI was not used in the writing of this post…

 

 

Category: AI, class work, Cool Stuff, Honors US II, Lessons and Teacher Things, Musings, Random Musings, Student Stuff, Tech Tips, US II, World War II | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 2

Fear of Technology…so unfounded…

This post was originally posted in my Substack.

Yesterday, I had an unexpected change in plans. Instead of my usual Saturday routine, Zoom meeting with the PAECT President, recording my class podcast, and grading student work, I spent the day away from home with a family health issue. All is well now, but my usual schedule was thrown off.

Those who know me, yes my OCD flared up, but I was able to switch up and work on some class tasks using…mobile technology. Accomplishing a lot during down time and saving me from wasting more time today to get caught up, plus work on my usual Sunday routine. 

Many people fear technology and do not see a use for it in an educational setting. Technology, mobile technology specifically, gave me the ability to be away from home and still be productive with my classwork. I set up lessons, adjusted information for my classes, built out resources, all from a remote location. 

None of this could be accomplished without mobile technology, don’t fear it, learn how to use it efficiently. 

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January 4

Saturday Mornings

This post was first published on my Substack.

“Saturday Mornings” a time for productivity. I used to wake up on Saturday mornings rather late, since I was usually up late on Friday nights. As that changed, I would get up early on Saturday and participate in an educational “#satchat” on Twitter, mostly lurking and answering only on occasion.

Then, I restarted my Saturday morning podcasts back up for my classroom. I switched to being a creator over being just a consumer. That counts, even if few people consume what I produce.

Now that I have added the title of Vice President of PAECT to my responsibilities, my Saturdays have become even more productive. The President of PAECT, Eric Verno has a weekly meeting where we collaborate on PAECT business. Saturday mornings work best for our schedules, so on top of my weekly podcast, I have added a weekly meeting, and from there I wrap up some tasks we discuss. My thought is that everything is fresh in my mind and I already have my computer open, so just keep going. That then frees up the rest of the day for relaxation and fun.

Category: Cool Stuff, Podcast, Random Musings | Comments Off on Saturday Mornings
November 2

Gen Alpha: What a Different Perspective

In my US History class we were discussing rationing and the black markets of World War Two. I asked the class what they envisioned black markets looked like or where they too place and what black marketeers looked like. Man, was I surprised.

I know Gen Z and Gen Alpha perceive the world differently than me and my fellow Gen Xers and Millennials, but a student’s comments totally blindsided me.

The student responded to my queries by saying when they thought of the balck market they thought of the Internet and a hacker as a black marketeer.

This is a far cry from my first thoughts of the black market being an alleyway, vacant building, or the trunk on a late 1970’s Pontiac. A black marketeer to me is a shady character in a trench coat or maybe a Robert DeNiro type from Goodfellas.

The difference between the two views was canyon-like, I realize the Internet and “Dark Web” have a plethora of ways to buy contraband, however the generational divide with my students was such that they did not envision my concept of a black market or black marketeer.

It makes me wonder how many others concepts we differ on.

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June 6

SketchNoting

I am participating in a PAECT Book Study, the book is Thrive Through the Five, by Dr. Jill M. Siler. At the end of each chapter, she includes a Sketchnote of ideas to summarize the chapter content. I attended a series of webinars through PAECT on Sketchnoting with Sylvia Duckworth, and have shown the concept to my classes. I need to revisit this skill over the summer and utilize it in my classes for my more visual learners. I am not adept enough of an artist to Sketchnote while taking notes, I would focus too much on the art and lose the content. I am better at revisiting the content after I take notes in a traditional format and converting them into images.

I will add this to my Summer To-Do List.

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March 5

#Sal308 Volume I

I am still sifting through information from PETE & C 2016 and implementing ideas into my professional self.  One idea that I especially liked was from George Couros, whom I follow on Twitter and via his blog, Connected Principals.

The idea was to daily Tweet something you or your students do in your classroom, adding a hashtag so you can easily track your Tweets.  I have started that process, which is not very difficult to accomplish; there should be tons of ideas that can be promoted in your day if you just pay attention to what is going on…I am using the hashtag #Sal308.

This is my first weeks’ effort archived via Storify.com.

 

Category: KTI, Lessons and Teacher Things, PAECT, PETE&C, Storify | LEAVE A COMMENT