Spotlight
Good afternoon all,
Last Tuesday, we officially kicked off our 2024 series of AI Roundtables. If you missed it, make sure to catch the recording of the first session here.
At the end of the session, we mentioned that we are planning a “community poster” session for our Pedagogy and Curriculum roundtable in April. During this “community poster” session, we’ll welcome faculty members, instructional designers, and others who want to share, in a short 8- or 10-min presentation (1 or 2 slides maximum), some innovative and practical ways in which they have been using GenAI tools in teaching and learning. If you are interested in presenting, express your interest here.
Also, ICYMI – HESA recently launched its AI Advisory Services. If your institution is struggling to develop its response to this new technology, or is simply in search of an extra hand, we might be able to help. Reach out to our team to discuss ways in which we could support your efforts.
Next Roundtable Meeting
Date: Tuesday, February 20th, 2024
Time: 12h00-1h00PM ET
Join us on Tuesday, February 20th, from 12:00PM to 1:00PM ET, for our next AI Roundtable, which will focus on opportunities, risks and considerations surrounding the use of GenAI tools in research, with a research integrity lens. We will have the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton, Associate Professor at the Werklund School of Education and the University of Calgary, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal for Educational Integrity and Council member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), who will share with us preliminary reflections on the issue before we open up the discussion to participants. Participants will be asked to fill a short survey upon registration to better align the discussion. This session will be facilitated by Amanda McKenzie, Director of the Office of Academic Integrity at the University of Waterloo. Register now (it’s free!) to save your spot!
If you missed last month’s AI Roundtables, you can watch the recording here.
News & Research
Christensen-Hughes, J. Academica Forum. February 1st, 2024
The author of this article, President and CEO of Yorkville University, shares that “from [her] perspective, with the shifts being caused by GenAI, we need a corresponding shift – explicitly and extensively – towards the development of transferable, future-proof skills and values, such as the ability to think critically, work collaboratively, assess information validity and apply knowledge and technology (such as GenAI) in solving problems and developing social innovations.”. “GenAI presents an opportunity for a shift to a future-proofed education across all disciplines”. She states that GenAI has the potential to bring many benefits, but that gaining these benefits will require for post-secondary institutions “to urgently develop distributed expertise amongst faculty and staff, as well as provide informed centralized oversight to ethically and safely guide such practice”. “With the advent of ChatGPT, it is more important than ever for the academy to revisit what students should be learning, how that learning should be facilitated and assessed, and how faculty should be supported in their evolving roles.”
Mohamud, A. CTV News Edmonton. January 29th, 2024
The University of Alberta signed a partnership with Amazon Web Services to launch an Artificial Intelligence Discovery Place on its downtown campus. “This initiative was designed to enhance research and innovation for students, researchers and industry professionals.”
Weil, D. Inside Higher Ed. February 1st, 2024
David Weil, Vice-President of Information Technology and Analytics at Ithaca College, shares seven questions that leaders should consider to help frame conversations about AI on their campuses: 1) How do we provide the skills and build the critical thinking competencies that students need to be prepared to enter a workplace that will use AI in key processes and tools?; 2) How can AI enhance our students’ experience?; 3) How can AI improve the effectiveness and efficiencies of our processes and support our strategic success?; 4) What will be the impact of AI on the required skills, roles and organizational structures of our workforce?; 5) What AI-related academic, research, ethical, data, privacy, acceptable use, intellectual property and other policy issues should our institution explore and develop?; 6) How does AI and its use align with our institutional philosophy, approach and core values?; and 7) What opportunities, drawbacks and potential threats does AI present for the fundamental missions of teaching, learning and research at our institution?.
Williams, T. Times Higher Education. February 1st, 2024
A recent survey led by the Higher Education Policy Institute with 1,250 undergraduate students from the UK shows that while more than half of students are already using tools such as ChatGPT to help in their studies, uptake is higher among those that come from a more privileged background. “Universities should consider funding subscriptions so students have equal access to the best GenAI tools, amid signs of an ‘emerging digital divide’”.
Sarofian-Butin, D. Times Higher Education. January 31st, 2024
In this piece, the author, who is a professor in the department of education and community studies at Merrimack College, talks about how GenAI tools can be used for cognitive offloading to help students succeed. This professor taught his students how to use ChatGPT to brainstorm an idea, develop a set of keywords to support further research, create a strong thesis statement and then organize all of it into an outline. He then showed them how to use ChatGPT to get feedback on their first draft. The author also shares two realizations he plans to build on this semester: that “students who had minimal engagement with ChatGPT got minimal results”, and that ChatGPT helps students better articulate their own ideas.
More Information
Want more? Consult HESA’s Observatory on AI Policies in Canadian Post-Secondary Education.
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