Technology, Literacy, and Social Inclusion
Presentation to Pens & Pixels�July 13, 2023
Mark Warschauer�Professor of Education and Informatics�University of California, Irvine
Based on GPT-3 “Large Language Model”
“Write me an essay about why ‘home’ is the most important theme in Homer’s Odyssey.”
Ideation
Summarizing
Counterarguments
Feedback
Translation
Create lesson plans & assignments
Create quizzes and tests
Prompt:
Generate 10 bilingual narrative ebook ideas (for children ages 4-6) that are culturally relevant to Spanish-speaking families
Results:
“The Little Tortilla Boy”: Follow a young boy as he learns the importance of patience, hard work, and perseverance while helping his abuela make tortillas from scratch.
"The Magical Piñata" - A story about a group of friends who embark on a magical adventure to find the perfect piñata for their celebration, learning about teamwork and friendship along the way.
"Counting with Abuela" - A counting book that teaches children how to count from 1 to 10 in both Spanish and English, while also introducing them to different cultural traditions and foods.
What Does a Professor Look Like? - Midjourney
Who Stands to Benefit?
Who Stands to Benefit?
Who Stands to Benefit?
Who Stands to Benefit?
Imitation Contradiction�
Imitation Contradiction
English learners and developing writers are constantly told they need to imitate native speakers’ or expert writers’ language use. But when they borrow exact phrases from sources, they can be accused of plagiarism.
Imitation Contradiction�
Imitation Contradiction�
The “Rich Get Richer” Contradiction
The Rich Get Richer Contradiction
AI is incredibly powerful for assisting communication
The Rich Get Richer Contradiction
AI is incredibly powerful for assisting communications
To get the most out of it, you need to know how to prompt it well, critically evaluate its output, and edit and incorporate it into your work
The “With or Without” Contradiction
The “With or Without” Contradiction
If students never learn to use AI, they will be at a disadvantage in their study and careers.
The “With or Without” Contradiction
If students never learn AI, they will be at a disadvantage in their study and careers.
If they use AI too much and too early, they will also be at a disadvantage as they will be robbed of foundational skills necessary to use it well.
Photo Courtesy of David Thornburg
Digital Literacy
“Skills, knowledge and attitudes to use digital technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information” �
AI Literacy
AI Literacy
Emily Thomforde AIforCA
CodeAI�
CodeAI�
CodeAI�
CodeAI�
Wikipedia
Open Access Textbooks
Children’s Literature from Project Gutenberg
CodeAI�Student Language Innovation Model (SLIM)�
Wikipedia
Open Access Textbooks
Children’s Literature from Project Gutenberg
YouthVoices.live
Generative AI in Engineering Writing Courses
Generative AI in Engineering Writing Courses
Teacher Interface
Generative AI in Engineering Writing Courses
Teacher Interface
Student Use
Generative AI in Engineering Writing Courses
Teacher Interface
Student Use
Usage logs available for both instructors and researchers
The Writing Process of Kailing Hua
I want to incorporate large language models into the design of educational technologies for children aged 8-10 years to learn math. Give me 10 ideas.
Please elaborate on the 7th idea of a story generator. Tell me in detail how it will work and how it will interact with the users.
What are some potential concerns about this tool?
Now, let's go back to the story generator idea. I want the generator to generate math-related stories for children aged 8 to 10 years in collaboration with teachers. Teachers can input story configurations, such as setting, math concepts, etc. After the story is generated, teachers will review and modify the story to make sure it's appropriate. Tell me the pros and cons of this idea.
How do narrative stories help young children learn math? Tell me 10 researchers that on narrative stories in math.
The African-American community has a rich tradition in oral storytelling. Tell me about their oral practices. For example, what are the common themes of African-American oral practices? What do the oral practices look like between family members. Also, tell me 10 researchers who conduct work in this field.
Among the 10 researchers, whose research is the most relevant to the oral storytelling among African-American families. Briefly summarize his/her research.
Tell me 10 research projects on math education funded in Georgia over the past 10 years.
Write a research proposal according to the bullet points below:
1. Background
2. Solution - A math narrative generation platform
Revise this paragraph using academic language.
The proposed study will recruit 15 parent-child pairs from a local non-profit organization, Atlanta ARISE. ARISE is a community partnership of parents, eaders, community agencies, and schools dedicated to improving learning in reading, math, and social-emotional development for all children ages 5-12 in Atlanta Our lab has been collaborated with ALIVE to recruit participants for our series of studies on developing AI for children. For the present study, we will have ALIVE distribute the study flyer to families in its pool and get their contact information. We will then reach out to these families by phone to confirm their willingness to participant in the study.
by Jacob Guttierez & Adam Nam
Vertical Reading
Digging Deeper in a Document or Site
Artificial intelligence (AI) language models, such as ChatGPT, can not be used for course assignments. The following actions are prohibited in this course:
Ryan Baker, University of Pennsylvania
Within this class, you are welcome to use foundation models (ChatGPT, GPT, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, GitHub Copilot, and anything after) in a totally unrestricted fashion, for any purpose, at no penalty. However, you should note that all large language models still have a tendency to make up incorrect facts and fake citations, code generation models have a tendency to produce inaccurate outputs, and image generation models can occasionally come up with highly offensive products. You will be responsible for any inaccurate, biased, offensive, or otherwise unethical content you submit regardless of whether it originally comes from you or a foundation model. If you use a foundation model, its contribution must be acknowledged in the handin; you will be penalized for using a foundation model without acknowledgement. Having said all these disclaimers, the use of foundation models is encouraged, as it may make it possible for you to submit assignments with higher quality, in less time.
The university's policy on plagiarism still applies to any uncited or improperly cited use of work by other human beings, or submission of work by others as your own.
Technology: Gregory Bateson (1972)
Suppose I am a blind man, and I use a stick. I go tap, tap, tap. Where do I start? Is my mental system bounded at the handle of the stick? Is it bounded by my skin? Does it start halfway up the stick? Does it start at the tip of the stick?
But these are nonsense questions. The stick is a pathway along which transformations of difference are being transmitted. The way to delineate the system is to draw the limiting line in such a way that you do not cut any of these pathways in ways which leave things inexplicable. If what you are trying to explain is a given piece of behavior, such as the locomotion of the blind man, then, for this purpose, you will need the street, the stick, the man. (Bateson, 1972)
Technologies are not mere exterior aids but also interior transformations of consciousness and never more than when they affect the word.
Technologies are artificial, but - paradox again - artificiality is natural to human beings. Technology, properly interiorized, does not degrade human life but on the contrary enhances it.
Literacy: Walter Ong (1982)�
Social Inclusion: Shoshana Zuboff (1988)
Automate
Automate
Informate
The informated organization relies on the human capacities for teaching and learning, criticism, and insight….It reflects the interdependence between the human mind and one of its most sophisticated productions. As one worker mused,
“If you don’t let people grow and develop and make more decisions, it’s a waste of human life – a waste of human potential. If you don’t use your knowledge and skill, it’s a waste of life. Using the new technology to its full potential means using the person to their full potential.”
Social Inclusion: Shoshana Zuboff (1988)
Thank you!