Bloom's Sixth

By Doug WardResearch about learning and artificial intelligence mostly reinforces what instructors had suspected: Generative AI can extend students’ abilities, but it can’t replace the hard work of learning. Students who use generative AI to avoid early course material eventually struggle with deeper learning and more complex tasks. On the other hand, AI can improve learning among motivated students, it can assist creativity, and it can help students accomplish tasks they might never have tried on their own.Keep in mind that nearly all the research over the past three years focuses on AI…

By Doug WardA few eye-popping statistics help demonstrate the growing reach of generative AI:Use of ChatGPT has quadrupled in the past year, to 700 million weekly users. It has become the fifth-most-visited website.ChatGPT accounts for more than 80…

 By Doug WardThe KU version of Copilot now allows the creation of agents, which means you can customize Copilot and give it instructions on what you want it to do, how you want it to respond, and what format its output should follow. An agent still uses Copilot’s foundational training, but the instructions can reduce the need for long, complex prompts and speed up tasks you perform regularly. You can also direct the agent to websites you would like it to draw on, and create starter prompts for users.Copilot has also gained another…

By Doug WardAdapting colleges and universities to generative artificial intelligence was never going to be easy. Surveys released over the past two weeks provide evidence of just how difficult that adaptation will be, though.Here’s a summary of what I'm seeing in the results:Faculty: We lack the time, understanding, and resources to revamp classes to an AI age. A few of us have been experimenting, but many of us don’t see a need to change.Administrators: We think generative AI will allow our institutions to customize learning and improve students' research skills, but we need to make…

By Doug WardThe shock has worn off, but the questions about how to handle generative artificial intelligence in teaching and learning seem only to grow.Those questions lack easy answers, but there are concrete steps you can take as we head into the third year of a ChatGPT world:Create a clear policy about generative AI use in your class.Talk with students about generative AI frequently. Encourage questions.Talk frequently about the skills students gain in your class. Explain why those skills are important and how students can use them. Do this early in the semester and then with each…

By Doug Ward Kansas ranks near the bottom in the percentage of schools offering foundational computer science education, according to a study by Code.org, the Computer Science Teacher Association, and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance. Nationwide, 57.5% of schools offered a computer science class in 2023. Kansas was more than 20 percentage points below that average, with 36% of schools offering a foundational course. Only three states had lower percentages: Louisiana (35%), Montana (34%) and Minnesota (28%). That has…

By Doug Ward As I prepared to speak to undergraduates about generative artificial intelligence last October, I struggled with analogies to explain large language models. Those models are central to the abilities of generative AI. They have analyzed billions of words, billions of lines of code, and hundreds of millions of images. That training allows them to predict sequences of words, generate computer code and images, and create coherent narratives at speeds humans cannot match. Even programmers don’t fully…

By Doug Ward Canvas will soon be absorbed by KKR, one of the world’s largest investment firms. That is unlikely to have any immediate effect on Canvas users. The longer-term effects – and costs – are impossible to predict, though. Instructure, the company behind Canvas, has agreed to be acquired by KKR for $4.8 billion. KKR and similar companies…

By Doug Ward The future of colleges and universities is neither clear nor certain. The current model fails far too many students, and creating a better one will require sometimes painful change. As I’ve written before, though, many of us have approached change with a sense of urgency, providing ideas for the future…

By Doug Ward Colleges and universities in Kansas will receive more than $100 million this year from congressional earmarks in the federal budget, according to an analysis by Inside Higher Ed. That places Kansas second among states in the amount earmarked for higher education, according to Inside Higher Ed. Those statistics don't include $22 million for the Kansas…