Ed3 Weekly Issue #55: AI for Days
AI continues to push thinking about transformation in education
Hello web3 and education frens,
Welcome to all my new subscribers from this past week. If you haven’t subscribed yet, click here, or use the button below to join over 100+ others learning about the intersection of web3 and education.
AI is everywhere and you can’t hide from it. While we are still sorting through whether or not AI is truly part of the web3 ecosystem, I will keep posting and sharing resources about it. AI is too powerful and impactful to ignore, and I firmly believe that an AI-powered, web3-enabled future is where we are heading.
I have noticed some trends in AI resources for education. They fall into one of three camps:
The technologists spewing their ready-made viewpoints on what education should be doing
The cutting-edge educator that is pumping resource after resource of classroom-ready tools and applications
The thoughtful and patient education/futurist/technologist putting forth their thinking in a well-thought-out analysis
The resources for this week are a mix of all of these. Each has tremendous value and can help you generate your thinking about how AI will manifest in your teaching and learning. I even added a web3-specific resource just to remind us that it’s all part of the same revolution.
Enjoy the resources for the week:
📚 Professor shares his views on what AI literacy in schools could look like
📋 Must-read whitepaper by Getting Smart on AI in our schools
🤖 Is AI-powered personalized learning the answer?
🔗 Link to a presentation on web3 transformation in our schools
AI Literacy in Our K-12 Schools
Image by iStock/Getty
The question “Will AI replace teachers” is misguided. Computer science professor Peter Stone from the University of Texas at Austin addresses this in this interview from EducationWeek.
Rather than looking at teachers could be replaced, he responds to how education will be impacted.
How do you see AI disrupting or fundamentally changing K-12 education?
Is there a role for a teacher in that scenario? Or could they be replaced?
How do you prepare students for a labor market in which you don’t even know what jobs might exist five years from now?
His answers to these questions reinforce our need to rethink the role of education. Part of our task as educators is to prepare students for a world in which they will be changing jobs throughout their work lives. They will need to know how artificial intelligence will be a normal part of their working careers.
The Ultimate AI in Education Whitepaper
Image by Getting Smart
Are you looking for an extensive education-focused resource on all things AI? This whitepaper by Getting Smart is that resource.
This is not a static document either. It will be continually updated as the technology grows. They quote Tim Urban of Wait But Why, “In order to think about the future correctly, you need to imagine things moving at a much faster rate than they’re moving now.”
I haven’t had time to go through the entire thing, but these main concepts are at the heart of what they are sharing:
Integrate design thinking & data science into the K-12 curriculum
Build, measure, and develop human skills: social-emotional, agency, creativity, and entrepreneurial mindset
Create community agreements: a set of agreed-upon priorities, values, skills
Teach/practice digital discernment/ethics and renew a commitment to digital literacy for all learners.
Is It This Simple?
Image by Midjourney 4
The “AI revolution” has been interesting. Several futurists and technologists have become education experts overnight. Their knowledge about these systems is vast, but does that mean there is an understanding about distilling this into our education systems?
I am not an education purist, but we need to be incorporating thinking from a variety of disciplines in order to solve our education problem. This article suggests an overly simplified solution. I am curious to know what you all think. Is AI-powered personalized learning the cure to all our problems?
Don’t Forget About Web3
Remember web3? In this AI-saturated world, it appears like web3 has been pushed to the side in favor of focusing on AI. ASU has been at the forefront of web3, AI, and future-related technologies. I have attended (and presented!) at their events, and I am always amazed at the expertise that they attract.
This is their description of this talk from a recent event: “This panel will explore how blockchain, decentralized networks, and other web3 technologies create new opportunities for learners and educators. From virtual classrooms to decentralized marketplaces for educational resources, web3 technologies empower people to take control of their learning and give educators new tools to create engaging and effective learning experiences.”
Thank you for stopping by for another issue of my web3🤝education newsletter. If you’re on LinkedIn you can check out a version of this newsletter on my LinkedIn page and give me a follow. You can also link to all my work by checking out my blog or give me a follow on Twitter.