Part 1 Teaching “with” or “about” AI

Machine bots are generated by a series of algorithms to communicate over the internet at produce something.  What is produced or what the “bot” (basically internet robot) is tasked with varies in use.  They can be used to gather data, mimic human activity/thinking, complete repetive tasks, complete academic funtions, or even act maliciously to harm something in some way.  Unintended bias can be applied to bot functions by the individual creating the bot or what they call doing the “training”.  This is also referred to as training data.  If the training data includes prompts with some bias, it will be reflected in the responses and tasks the AI generates.  

I loved the video presentation of Khanmigo.  The tools it presented and had readily available, I thought, looked very interesting and applicable for the classroom.  They appear to help in creation of assignments, activities, and assessment tools which in turn, is a huge time saver for educators looking to differentiate.  I loved the “refresh my knowledge” and the “co-create a rubric” especially. The “refresh my knowledge” seemed so cool and appropriate for filling gaps in areas when students need re-teaching and for extension activities to enrich learning for those ahead.  It is difficult to personally create activities for students in one room at four different paces and this alleviates the time constraints of making such materials.  I could see this as very valuable in AIS courses, for students who are making up time from a long absence or even those on home instruction.  For enrichment and extension activity this would be great as well for those who are always way ahead in my classes.  The “co-create a rubric” I liked as well.  I love using rubrics for grading.  They make the process of grading easy, give clear expectations to students, and provide them with meaningful feedback.  This Khanmigo rubric tool offers a way to create these quickly and most importantly, with the collaborative input of other educators.

Machine Bots work by training them on data sets.  The example in the video was training a bot to identify fish versus other objects.  Bias can an issue because these bots rely on the person that is training them and their biases can be transferred to the toll simply by how they train them.

Khanmigo is an example of a tool that is built specifically for classroom use.  It becomes a teaching assistant for teachers giving you easy access to information you need. it can reteach you some information you may need to brush up on and a bunch of other tools that can help you with time.

I think that using AI in this way is probably the best entry point for educators.  Who doesn't want to save time? Once you get comfortable with what these tools can do well, you can start to think about ways that they may be helpful for your students.

A machine bot is designed to perform various tasks automatically.  They can be programed to gather information, answer questions and complete tasks.  A machine bot would use data it was provided with to look for patterns.  The more data used, the more accurate results can be.  However, depending on the type of information and data provided to a bot, there may be unintentional biases that emerge.  If a bot is trained by limited data or by a specific network, results could be skewed.  As a result, creators of machine bots should strive to gather as much information as possible to ensure diverse opinions are represented.

Khanmigo offered 3 different ways to aid in the classroom.  It could create a Class Snapshot, "Refresh My Knowledge" on a subject and Co-Create Rubrics.  Class Snapshot takes a look at your students' progress over the past 7 days.  It can showcase students that have mastered a subject, group students that may need additional support and celebrate students who have reached a specific level. This feature can even draft progress reports and emails to parents.  I was impressed at the speed of how quickly information was generated and processed.  In what may have taken hours to review grades on schoology, group students and sift through exit tickets, Khanmigo did in seconds.  
I could foresee using Khanmigo's "refresh my knowledge" to help students prep for a quiz or test where they could have to explain concepts, events, people, etc. from a unit.  If students could not tell the TA about a topic, they could offer information and feedback.   This AI tool would save educators a ton of time and could enhance classroom instruction and learning.