It was good to be at NERCOMP for the Unlocking the Power of Generative AI in Higher Ed workshop, both to present some of our work (with John FitzGibbon, Noël Ingram, and Claire Angus) and to learn from other colleagues in the region.
Our talk was titled “Cultivating a Purposeful Approach to AI” and we used it to share some of what we’ve been doing to help faculty engage with AI through design-based, collaborative, experiential working groups. We feel this approach embodies the Formative Education principle of “reflection-in-action,” helping faculty make informed decisions about AI by trying something meaningful and reflecting while supported by a community of practice.
In this session, we shared our experiences:
- Hosting year-long interdisciplinary working groups to support faculty formation in a rapidly changing AI world,
- Facilitating hands-on AI experiments through building custom chatbots, and
- Creating a visual language for communicating the use of AI across different constituencies
I came away from Laura Roberts‘ session with some new ideas for how to help faculty and students communicate around AI, and it was great to chat with John Swope about his work building tools for educators. Thanks to Lance Eaton for organizing.