AI Training for Educators
Empowering Educators to Embrace AI’s Potential in Teaching and Learning
AI Training for Educators
Empowering Educators to Embrace AI’s Potential in Teaching and Learning
Learning Objective: Understand the evolution of AI and recognize the unique advancements that make ChatGPT stand out.
Key Topics:
A Brief History of AI: How we moved from simple, rule-based systems to powerful machine learning and generative models.
Introduction to ChatGPT:
How transformer-based models differ from traditional AI.
Real-world examples showcasing ChatGPT’s transformative impact across industries.
Interactive Activity:
Small Group Discussion: “What surprised you most about AI’s evolution?”
Participants share their initial reactions and identify any preconceived notions they may have had.
Resources:
Timeline of AI milestones
OpenAI’s ChatGPT FAQ
Learning Objective: Recognize the risks and best practices for using AI tools securely and responsibly.
Key Topics:
Data Privacy and Ethical Use: Understand the importance of protecting sensitive information.
Public AI vs. Private Institutional Tools: Learn how solutions like ChatGPT Edu can offer more secure environments.
Running Language Models Locally:
Ideal for disciplines with high data sensitivity (healthcare, finance).
Local models (e.g., Meta’s LLaMA) can help maintain compliance with regulations like HIPAA or GDPR.
Activities:
Case Study Analysis: Examine real incidents involving AI misuse or data breaches and discuss prevention strategies.
Brainstorming Session: Identify which majors or fields at your institution might benefit from local language models and what use cases make sense.
Resources:
ASU’s ChatGPT Edu model example
Tutorials for setting up local language models like LLaMA
Learning Objective:
Help educators understand how to align AI’s capabilities with meaningful, timely problems. By doing so, they can create value in their classrooms and teach students to apply the same thinking in their future careers.
Key Points:
Startups and Timing: Many startups fail not because their ideas are inherently flawed, but because they don’t solve a real, urgent problem at the right moment. Similarly, educators must learn to identify which educational or administrative challenges are truly worth addressing with AI.
Understanding AI’s Potential: By understanding what generative AI (GenAI) can and cannot do, educators can more effectively match AI capabilities to real problems, ensuring that the solutions they implement or teach students to use create genuine value.
Humanizing Work with AI: GenAI tools are becoming more “human-like” in their interactions, freeing educators and professionals from mundane tasks. This shift makes human work more human—centering on creativity, ethical judgment, and empathy. Educators need to embrace this perspective themselves before guiding students or businesses to do the same.
General-Purpose Technology: GenAI is akin to electricity in its transformative potential. Just as electricity revolutionized multiple industries, GenAI can reshape countless aspects of education and business. Its applications are limited only by our creativity and willingness to explore new possibilities.
Activity:
Guided Worksheet: Educators list pressing challenges they face—be it grading efficiency, curriculum design, language barriers, or student engagement—and then identify how AI’s capabilities might help solve these issues at the right time and in a way that creates lasting value.
Reflection Prompt: Consider how embracing GenAI’s “human-like” qualities can shift the focus from routine tasks to more meaningful, person-centered teaching and problem-solving.
Resources:
Co-intelligence by Ethan Mollick
Human + Machine by Paul Daugherty (CTO, Accenture)
Case studies of classrooms and businesses successfully integrating GenAI tools to tackle timely, real-world problems.
Quote Integration:
“As Dr. Herbert Simon said, ‘Learning results from thinking and doing.’ When we identify genuinely valuable problems and use GenAI thoughtfully, we create environments where students can think more deeply, apply what they learn, and ultimately generate solutions that matter.”
Learning Objective: Prepare educators to help students thrive in a workforce increasingly shaped by AI, with GenAI setting new standards for skill sets.
Key Topics:
AI as a Competitive Benchmark:
If a task can be done as well or better by AI, what unique human value remains?
Creativity, critical thinking, and validation of AI outputs become key differentiators.
What Businesses Want:
Validation Skills: The ability to assess AI-generated output for accuracy, bias, and relevance.
Augmentation: Integrating AI tools to enhance productivity and workflow.
Automation: Using AI for repetitive tasks, freeing humans for more strategic contributions.
Job Market Dynamics:
Cost-Cutting vs. Value-Creating Companies: Teaching students to excel in both environments.
Hybrid Skills: Technical AI proficiency plus soft skills like ethical judgment, communication, and adaptability.
Interactive Activities:
Job Posting Analysis: Examine recent job listings to see how AI skills are being emphasized.
Workflow Design: In groups, map out a simple business process and identify where GenAI could improve efficiency. Discuss the continued need for human oversight.
Resources:
Case studies of businesses successfully using GenAI tools (e.g., Jasper AI, UiPath).
Learning Objective: Understand the societal and ethical implications of AI and why it’s crucial to teach critical thinking about AI’s role in decision-making.
Key Topics:
Bias and Fairness: How AI systems can reflect and amplify societal biases (e.g., loan approvals, scholarship awards).
Invisible Gatekeepers: AI’s influence on job interviews, admissions, and resource distribution.
Fraud Detection and Oversight: The risk of AI missing fraudulent activity or unfairly targeting certain groups.
Educational Impact: Ethical dilemmas when over-relying on AI for assessments or resource allocation.
Activity:
Scenario Analysis: Small teams discuss real-life scenarios (e.g., AI in hiring, scholarship decisions) to identify ethical concerns and propose mitigation strategies.
Reflection Prompt: “How might these issues affect your students and institution?”
Resources:
Investigative reports (e.g., ProPublica) on AI bias
Tools for explainability and fairness in AI (e.g., LIME, SHAP)
Learning Objective: Discover concrete ways to integrate GenAI into your courses, using a Socratic approach to foster deeper inquiry and critical thinking.
Key Topics:
Subject-Specific Uses:
Business & MIS: Data cleaning, generating customer personas, writing SQL queries.
Humanities & Arts: Creative writing prompts, language practice, and lesson planning support.
Socratic Method with AI:
Using AI tools to prompt deeper questioning and exploration.
Encouraging students to ask better questions, explore diverse perspectives, and synthesize information.
Activity:
Hands-On Demonstration: Try out tools like ChatGPT or a SQL Mentor chatbot.
Group Brainstorm: How could these tools spark curiosity and active learning in your subject area?
Quote Integration:
“As Seth Godin said, ‘All learning is self-learning. The teacher’s job is to create conditions where students want to learn and have enough freedom from fear that they will learn.’ By incorporating GenAI thoughtfully, we’re not just teaching tools—we’re nurturing an environment where students feel encouraged to explore, create, and think independently.”
Resources:
Lesson integration templates and examples
Sal Khan’s work on Socratic approaches in education
Business Roundtable's Responsible AI Framework
Objective: Consolidate your learning and clarify your next steps.
Key Messages:
The world is changing rapidly with AI at the forefront. Educators must move beyond outdated methods and rethink assignments, assessments, and skill development.
Shift from seeing AI as a threat to viewing it as an enabler: a partner in fostering creativity, critical thinking, and ethical reasoning.
Activity:
Quick Quiz or Reflection: “What’s one way you plan to use AI in your teaching?”
Participants share concrete plans or insights for the road ahead.
Quote Integration:
“Dr. Patrick Winston, an esteemed MIT professor, reminded us that ‘your success in life will be determined by your ability to write, speak, and the quality of your ideas.’ In an era where AI can produce passable content, it’s these human capabilities—our authenticity, creativity, and wisdom—that truly stand out.”
Call to Action:
Update assignments to require validation of AI-generated content, encouraging originality and ethical use.
Equip students with skills to thrive in AI-rich workplaces, focusing on the human traits that machines cannot replicate.
Closing Thought:
The world is evolving, and so must our teaching. By embracing AI responsibly, we empower our students to become not just workers who use AI, but innovators who shape it.