A futuristic drawing of students in a tech-driven classroom. Image is marked as AI generated.

AI in Education

…a Somewhat-Regularly-Updated Brief for Educators, Professors, and School Leaders

Maintained by Dr. Jason Neiffer, Executive Director, Montana Digital Academy

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-neiffer 

Updated 7/3/2024

[Note: substantial update in progress! Yay summer!]

Thanks for checking out my brain dump incredibly useful guide for educators on AI in education.  This is where I will continue to curate resources on the topic as it evolves in the coming weeks and months.  If you have suggestions for additions, contact me via email or social media.  I attempt to avoid snake oil (which is prolific in this space), but, as with anything that evolves quickly, resources will come and go!

The latest version of this document is always available at: https://halfpint.link/aibrief.    

*🤘🏽denotes an excellent resource if you are strapped for time

*🆓denotes a tool that is free or has a free tier

Want to discuss this with like-minded people?

Montana Digital Academy hosts twice-monthly “drop in” discussion hours to engage in AI and learning.  Jason and Caitlin Byers from MTDA facilitate these chats.  Sign up for notifications here.

No Time?  Start and End HERE!

Play with at least one of these tools for 30 minutes to get a sense of how it works:

  • ChatGPT from OpenAI (the original and most talked about; the most advanced version is free)🆓
  • Claude 3 from Anthropic (like ChatGPT, but with more protections built-in; the basic version is free… it has magic powers with processing documents!)🆓
  • Google Gemini (Google’s competitor; some like it better; currently free)🆓
  • DALL-E2 from OpenAI (image generator)🆓
  • Ideogram (next level image generator setup as a social network)🆓
  • Magic School (the best comprehensive educational tool I have seen thus far; free for right now, but surely they will charge later[1])🆓

Read these important perspectives on how AI changes everything:

Read these important perspectives on how AI changes nothing:

Do you need a more guided learning experience?  Try Harvard’s AI Pedagogy Project’s “AI Guide”

Do you want your school to jump into this with both feet and need guidance? Here’s your next step:

⚒️Tools!  Tools!  Tools!

[While I think “tool shares” are a very small baby step towards figuring out AI’s impact and influence in education, there are SO many now it helps to have a curated list!]

“ChatBots” Like ChatGPT

  • ChatGPT: Headline-generating technology🤘🏽🆓
  • Claude 2 by Anthropic: (like ChatGPT, but with more protections built-in; the basic version is free… it has magic powers with processing documents!)🤘🏽🆓
  • Google Bard: Google’s generative AI chatbot (coming soon, widespread availability of Bard-based tools in Gmail and Google Drive)🤘🏽🆓
  • Microsoft Bing: ChatGPT plus Bing Search🤘🏽🆓
  • [Expert Mode] Poe: All the major chat models available free (limited) or $20 a month (unlimited)🆓
  • [Expert Mode] Hugging Face:  Hub for AI experts; many interesting free and paid models are posted there, but, it is really next-level nerdy.🆓

Image Generators/Design Tools

  • Ideogram (next-level image generator setup as a social network)🤘🏽🆓
  • Canva: Social graphic and media design tool with AI “magic.”🆓
  • MidJourney: Best-in-class Image generation
  • Leonardo.AI: Promising platform for image generation; seems more focused on non-photographic images
  • Tome.App: Autogenerated “stuff,” including presentations, reports, and learning objects

Platforms Aimed at Teachers

  • Research Rabbit: An advanced platform for finding and using scientific and scholarly literature🆓
  • Fetchy: AI toolset for teachers🆓
  • Notion AI: Notetaking platform with AI enhancements🆓
  • Magic School AI: Early platform with a comprehensive list of tools to help teachers “lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly, and more”🆓🤘🏽
  • Education Copilot: Content Generation and Development🤘🏽🆓
  • Merlyn Mind: Early attempt at an “education-focused” large language model
  • Nolej.io: “Microlesson” Development🆓
  • Conker: Simple, formative assessments using AI🆓
  • Lesson PLan Generator: Pretty wild generator tool🆓
  • PolyMath.AI: “CoPilot” for teachers🆓

Tools & Platforms Aimed at Kids

  • PInwheelGPT: Interesting model aimed at children, monitored by parents.  Free tier is limited, but is an interesting demonstration🆓
  • Khanmigo: Khan Academy’s attempt at an AI study tutor🤘🏽🆓

Tools & Platforms for Organization, Productivity, and Workflow

  • WhisperMemos: Talk to your phone, get a transcript in your email (iOS Only)🆓
  • Glasp: YouTube → ChatGPT Plugin for Chrome🤘🏽🆓

Tools & Platforms for Media Creation

Tools & Platforms for Learners (of all ages)

  • Socratic: App-based learning assistant owned by Google.

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General AI Information

Great Guides to Generative AI in Education

Good Ideas About Initial Approaches to AI in Education

  • The AI Skills Students Really Need (Emily Pitts Donahoe; discusses the varying effects of generative AI on the writing process and the need for students to reflect and experiment to understand its impact on their development)

Resources on Learning Design in a Generative AI World

Perspectives: Generative AI Will Change Everything!

Perspectives: Generative AI is Overhyped; Will Change Nothing!

Perspectives: Generative AI and Creativity

Frameworks for Schools to Plan Around This

Policy Development Resources

All About “Detecting AI”

  • GENAI DETECTION TOOLS, ADVERSARIAL TECHNIQUES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR INCLUSIVITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
  • AI Text Detectors (Torrey Trust, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst)🤘🏽
  • Is AI-Generated Content Actually Detectable? (University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences; gives a good early look at the debate over “detecting” AI-driven content)

P-Doom!  The Chance AI Ends It All

Early Frameworks for Teaching and Learning

In the Weeds: What is generative AI?  What are large language models?

All About Prompting

There is a frequent debate about whether or not it is useful or necessary to “learn” prompting, as there seems to be an expectation prompting will not be needed in future AI tools.

That may be true, but as of right now (last updated June 2024), prompting is the best way to get the best output from tools.

Prompting Resources

Next Level Prompting

[Once you have established basic competency with prompting an G.A.I., you’ll find you can do some pretty amazing things by just thinking outside the box.  Witness:]

Chat Bot Prompt Examples for Education

Let A ChatBot Teach You About Itself

I am a school teacher/principal/counselor and I’m new to [tool].  Can you give me some example prompts that you think might be useful to me for my job?

Proofread and Edit Copy

Please review the [type of writing below] for [what you are asking for editing help with].  Fix mistakes and make additional recommendations.

Examples: Please review this email to parents for clarity, brevity, and kindness.  Fix mistakes and make additional recommendations.

Summarize Text

Condense the following text, highlighting its crucial information and main insights in a concise list of bullet points:

Alternative: Condense the following text aimed a beginner level, highlighting its crucial information and main insights in a concise list of bullet points:

“Multiple-Shot Prompting”

Ask a chat bot to create something based on other documents.

Example: I need to write a job description with the following sections:

Job Title

Job Summary

Responsibilities and Duties

Qualifications and Skills

Salary and Benefits

I am going to copy and paste five other examples that I what you to draw from to write the job description.  If you understand what I am asking you, say, “You Understand,” and then ask to paste the separate prompt.

Ask for Information Summaries

Give me a chapter-wise summary of the [book name] book. Organize them in bullet points, highlighting the main point of every chapter.

ChatBot Hints

Ask a ChatBot to Write in a Specific Style or Tone

Compassionate

Conversational

Creative

Empathetic

Encouraging

Funny

Humorous

Personal

Persuasive

Professional

Thoughtful

Witty

Provide a ChatBot a “Style Guide”

Paste “style guides” at the beginning of your prompt and it will attempt to write in the style.

Style Guide: Keep your sentences brief and illustrative. Aim for the precision of a word smith. Frequent use of short, impactful sentences is encouraged.

Style Guide: Write as if you're chatting with a friend, using a casual, amiable tone. Incorporate language and phrases that feel natural and authentic, much like in everyday conversations.

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also © Jason Neiffer

[1] Maybe they will or maybe they will not.  And stop calling me Shirley.