Aha Kūkā: Generative AI in Education, summarized by Generative AI

On Saturday April 8th, 80+ educators and students came together, unconference style, to talk about generative AI in education. We took notes on Jamboards. Here’s ChatGPT’s take on what we jotted down.

“Can you write a poem, in the style of Dr. Suess, which talks about [our conference]?”

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Oh, let's chat about AI, 
It's a topic that's worth a try. 
We need to talk about the gaps, 
And bridge them with digital maps.

Robots in therapy, oh my! 
Data collection, we can't deny. 
But concerns for student safety, 
Must be addressed, not just maybe.

Fairfax County Schools is on the way, 
Researching AI use every day. 
But how do we collect the data? 
And keep it safe from prying beta?

ISTE has an AI cohort, 
Teams can apply, it's not just for sport. 
Sharing learning, successes, and flaws, 
Community of learning, no one withdraws.

Data collection on a small scale, 
Teachers and students, don't bail! 
Use ChatGPT to document,
Meet periodically, it's not an experiment.

Plagiarism concerns, oh dear, 
AI in education, it's not clear. 
Include educators in the convo,
Let's make sure the uses aren't just for show.

Vertical conversations are key, 
Digital citizenship, it's plain to see. 
GIS and Native Maps, 
Unexpected ways, no one naps.

Tension between academia and tradition, 
But let's come together, no division. 
AI is moving fast, we need a values system, 
Data as waiwai, let's not miss 'em.

Editathons on Wikipedia, 
Representation for all, it's a criteria. 
Cultural inclusivity, let's get to work, 
Tools for translation, we won't shirk.

Personalized learning is a way, 
AI can help, let's not delay.
Creation of user guides and more, 
Let's empower non-teaching staff, we'll soar.

Structural changes are on the horizon, 
Empowerment for school leaders, it's not a disguise-yin.
Schedules, course selections, and requirements, 
AI will impact, let's not tire.

Students can use Chat GPT as a study mate, 
Instructional leaders, it's not too late. 
New teachers, let's prepare, 
Generative AI, let's not despair.

AI is a tool for learning, it's true, 
Let's teach students how to use it anew. 
Dall-e's authenticity, let's not miss, 
Integrate with the curriculum, don't dismiss.

Ethical use and student use, where's the line? 
Let's teach them how to use it fine. 
Evolve around student interest and tech tools, 
Let's not be afraid to break the rules.

Access and ethics, we must consider, 
Teachers need to understand, they're not a quitter. 
Collaborate and share, it's a must, 
Ethical lines, let's not bust.

So there you have it, AI and education, 
Let's not forget, it's for our next generation. 
Let's work together, side by side,
To make sure AI is used with pride.

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And there it is!  Our conference in verse.

Notes

I tried a variety of ways to summarize the notes from the jamboards.  And I tried to generalize the sentiment expressed in our closing waterfall exercise.  But it was harder than I expected?  I couldn’t get ChatGPT to listen to me.  I’d give it specific instructions (like: don’t summarize the next thing I paste in) and then it would go and do the exact opposite.

But it’s probably due to a couple of things:

• User error.  I’m still pretty new at this, and my prompt engineering isn’t that great.
• Content length.  We took kind of a lot of notes.  And our chat log was looooong.  In fact our chat log was too long for the thinking machine, so I had to clean it up by hand

The waterfall summary was still far easier than the jamboard notes.  After I cleaned the chat up (removing times, names and redundant messages), I just pasted in the messages and then asked ChatGPT what the common themes were.

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Based on the chat log you provided, some common themes that emerged are:

• Excitement about the potential of AI in education, including its ability to improve teaching and learning, its disruptive nature, and the potential for new tools and adaptations to serve the needs of students and educators.
• Emphasis on community and collaboration, including the importance of having conversations with all community partners, gathering the entire learning community around this topic, and co-creating with learners to bring this conversation into rural communities.
• Concerns about the ethical implications of AI in education, including the need to keep digital citizenship as a larger focus and the importance of reacting with curiosity rather than fear.
• Interest in using AI to enhance teaching and learning, including new ways to assess learning, finding nuanced ways of employing AI to enhance engagement and learning, and generating more essential questions and intended learning outcomes.
• Focus on students as the guides into the future, with a desire to bring in student voice in setting use protocols and co-design together as a community.
• Importance of authenticity in using AI in education, including concerns about counter mapping and the potential development of AI to enable emotions and personalities.

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That’s a solid summary!  And some cool thoughts!

But it wasn’t as easy with the jamboard notes.  I think it was because there were too many, but I kept getting weird responses.  I would ask for a sonnet, and it would give me prose.  And then I’d be like, “Yo, I said sonnet, like a poem”, and ChatGPT would be like “My bad! Here’s a poem”, but it would be a poem not at all related to any of the notes.

I know there are some limits around how far back in a conversation ChatGPT can look (and maybe I just need to subscribe to the plus version so I can use GPT-4), but man, those were some frustrating interactions.

That said, that was a pretty great poem.  Some rhymes were a little cheated, but that’s just picking nits.

Next steps: Illustrate each stanza with Midjourney and publish our children’s book :)

Hal, Updated

Finally, I’ll leave you with the intro video for the conference, created by our own Jack Solomon. Too good.