Program Overview
Artificial intelligence, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, presents significant technological challenges to education; but with significant challenge comes significant opportunity.
A recent Course Hero survey of 1,000 higher education faculty shows that faculty still see more unknowns than knowns with regards to the role of generative AI in higher education. And when it comes to responding to the challenge of AI, educators are often on their own, with little guidance, and even less training.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to come by professional learning that can provide educators with the critical tools and skills to address technological challenges. Course Hero’s AI Academy will provide community-driven, inquiry-based professional learning for educators to help them respond creatively, critically, constructively, and ethically to the opportunities AI offers.
Facilitators
Dr. Stephanie Speicher
Stephanie is an associate professor and the Digital Fluency Faculty in Residence at Weber State University teaching courses focusing on instructional design, assessment, and curriculum theory. Specializing in the implementation of classroom learning communities and the bridging of social justice ideology into experiential education methodology, Stephanie assists educators across disciplines how to enhance their teaching, leadership, and relationship skills. Recently awarded the Presidential Teaching Excellence Award at her University, Stephanie enables others to share their wisdom and ideas in an environment that thrives on collaborative thought, effort, and action.
Dr. Anne Arendt-Bunds
Anne is an associate dean for the College of Engineering and Technology and a faculty member in Technology Management. Her emphasis areas are open access, ethical issues in technology innovation, and process management. She has served as a faculty senate president, director of web and application development, and department chair, among other roles. She is a principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a certified American Society for Quality six sigma black belt.
Course Format
This is a highly collaborative and community-based course, so please join in as much as you are able throughout the week: write posts, read posts, upload new resources, send videos and audio, link to useful sites online, and more.
We build upon each other’s work, we write together, we brainstorm, we find solutions for each other, we draft off of the innovations of our community, and we rely on others to do some of the heavy lifting when we are unable. So, participation in this course is really important.
When we show up for others, they are better able to do their work, and vice versa. That said, this course is your learning experience, and you should participate here as best suits your goals for that experience.
Yellowdig
This is the primary place we’ll ask questions, answer questions, and share the results of our work with each other. Yellowdig is a community discussion platform, a bit like a discussion forum, a bit like a text messaging platform. Each week, there will be an overview for the week, along with activities, readings, questions, and provocations to get you started.
Community Hour
Each Friday at 12 pm (Noon) Eastern, we’ll have a live synchronous community conversation via Zoom. These sessions will be audience-generated discussions, during which we’ll work through whatever has come up for us during the week.
These gatherings are not required for completion of the course, but will provide an opportunity for us to learn together in the moment, to meet one another, and to raise important questions. Zoom links will be posted in Yellowdig at the beginning of each week.
Community Hour Dates
- October 6 @ 12 pm Eastern
- October 13 @ 12 pm Eastern
- October 20 @ 12 pm Eastern
- October 27 @ 12 pm Eastern
Guest Presentations
Each week a guest speaker who has expertise within a specific area of AI will share their thoughts and ideas within a live, synchronous Zoom presentation. The link to the event will be shared in Yellowdig.
Mark your calendars to watch our guest speakers.
- October 4 @ 12 pm Eastern: Edward Tian – AI How-To Guide for Teachers
- October 11 @ 12 pm Eastern: Manal Saleh – Assessment Design with AI
- October 18 @ 12 pm Eastern: Antonio Byrd – AI and Academic Integrity
- October 25 @ 12 pm Eastern: Owen Terry – How Students Use AI
Essential Questions
- How is generative AI being used effectively in educational settings?
- How can one use AI as a professional learning assistant to support quality teaching and learning?
- How might AI be implemented in teaching and learning practices?
- How can ethical use of AI be communicated?
- How are authentic assessments designed using AI?
- How is media literacy addressed with AI?
Learning Outcomes
Participants who complete the certificate program will:
- Better understand how AI is being used in educational and professional settings (Week 1-4)
- Communicate ethical use of AI (Week 1)
- Demonstrate academic integrity with the use of AI (Weeks 1 & 3)
- Design authentic assessments with AI (Week 2)
- Apply media literacy with AI access to learning resources (Weeks 1-4)
- Implement AI in teaching and learning practices (Week 4)
- Create a professional statement about AI within classroom practices (Final Reflection/Assessment)
Professional Learning Standards
This course is designed in alignment with Learning Forward’s 2022 Standards for Professional Learning. The Standards for Professional Learning are research-based guideposts for the conditions, content and process for professional learning that leads to high-quality teaching and learning practices. The American Institutes of Research (AIR) found consistent evidence in improved teaching and learning outcomes. This course aligns with the following seven Standards for Professional Learning. The complete list of eleven Standards may be viewed at this link: https://standards.learningforward.org/standards-for-professional-learning/ .
STANDARD 2: CURRICULUM, ASSESSMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. Professional learning results in equitable and excellent outcomes for all students when educators prioritize high-quality curriculum and instructional materials for students, assess student learning, and understand curriculum and implement through instruction.
STANDARD 3: PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE. Professional learning results in equitable and excellent outcomes for all students when educators apply standards and research to their work, develop the expertise essential to their roles, and prioritize coherence and alignment in their learning.
STANDARD 4: EQUITY DRIVERS. Professional learning results in equitable and excellent outcomes for all students when educators prioritize equity in professional learning practices, identify and address their own biases and beliefs, and collaborate with diverse colleagues.
STANDARD 5: EVIDENCE. Professional learning results in equitable and excellent outcomes for all students when educators create expectations and build capacity for use of evidence, leverage evidence, data, and research from multiple sources to plan educator learning, and measure and report the impact of professional learning.
STANDARD 9: CULTURE OF COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY. Professional learning results in equitable and excellent outcomes for all students when educators engage in continuous improvement, build collaboration skills and capacity, and share responsibility for improving learning for all students.
STANDARD 10: LEADERSHIP. Professional learning results in equitable and excellent outcomes for all students when educators establish a compelling and inclusive vision for professional learning, sustain coherent support to build educator capacity, and advocate for professional learning by sharing the importance and evidence of impact of professional learning.
STANDARD 11: RESOURCES. Professional learning results in equitable and excellent outcomes for all students when educators allocate resources for professional learning, prioritize equity in their resource decisions, and monitor the use and impact of resource investments.
Weekly Expectations
Each week, there will be an overview for the week, along with readings, viewings, questions, and provocations to get you started. You’ll share your own questions, resources, and curiosities.
Community Agreements
- Be responsible for your own learning and contribute to the learning of others – ask questions, make connections, voice your thinking
- Acknowledge challenges but seek ways forward
- Commit to your own growth as a specialist
- Be willing to accept the discomfort of uncertainty and lack of closure
- Assume positive intentions of all
- Keep in mind that high-quality professional learning should challenge you to stretch your thinking and your actions
💡 Are there any other agreements that you would like to bring to our space or would you like any of these to be reworded? If so, mention them in the Yellowdig #community-agreement discussion.
Week 1: Practical AI Skills for Teachers
Learning Objectives
Participants who complete Week 1 will:
- Better understand how AI is being used in educational and professional settings.
- Communicate ethical use of AI.
- Demonstrate academic integrity with the use of AI.
🗣️ Guest Speaker: Join us on Wednesday, October 4 at 12 pm Noon Eastern (see the announcement within Yellowdig for the Zoom link, which you’ll also get in an email reminder) for a presentation by our guest speaker, Edward Tian about practical AI skills for teachers.
🕛 Synchronous Community Session: Friday, October 6 at 12 pm Noon Eastern (see the announcement within Yellowdig for the Zoom link, which you’ll also get in an email reminder)
Resources
- Watch the orientation video from Dr. Stephanie Speicher
- Resources to read and view are within Course Hero Faculty Club and the AI Academy Bibliography within Yellowdig.
Discussion Questions
- How is AI being used effectively in educational settings?
Consider sharing examples of how AI is being used effectively in educational settings. - How do instructors explain their usage and their students’ usage of AI in their syllabi?
- What are examples of how the ethical use of AI is being communicated with faculty and students?
- Consider sharing examples of how ethical use of AI is being communicated. Consider how you will be using AI ethically within your teaching practices. Consider how students will be using AI ethically within their learning practices.
Week 1 Assignment
Choose two AI tools from this list:
- Bard
- Bing AI
- Chat GPT
- Cloyd.AI
- Course Hero
- Fetchy
- GPTZero
- Grammarly
Complete a critical evaluation for each of the digital tools selected answering the following questions:
- Who owns the tool? What is the name of the company, the CEO? What are their politics? What does the tool say it does? What does it actually do? What dependencies does the tool have on other external resources in order to properly function?
- What personal data are we required to provide in order to use the tool (login, e-mail, birthdate, etc.)? What flexibility do we have to be anonymous, or to protect our data? Where is data housed; who owns the data; for how long is it stored? What are the implications of this requirement for in-class use? Will others be able to use/copy/own our work there?
- How does this tool act or not act as a mediator for our pedagogies? Does the tool attempt to dictate our pedagogies? How is its design pedagogical? Or exactly not pedagogical? Does the tool offer a way that “learning can most
By the end of Week 1, post a summary in Yellowdig of your evaluation of the two digital tools you selected in Yellowdig Week 1. Use the Yellowdig topic: WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENT
Week 2: Assessment Design with AI
Learning Objectives
Participants who complete Week 2 will:
- Better understand how AI is being used in educational and professional settings.
- Design authentic assessments with AI.
- Apply media literacy with AI access to learning resources.
🗣️ Guest Speaker: Join the facilitators and other participants on Wednesday, October 11 at 12 pm Noon Eastern (see the announcement within Yellowdig for the Zoom link, which you’ll also get in an email reminder) for a presentation by our guest speaker, Manal Seleh.
🕛 Synchronous Community Session: Join the facilitators and other participants on Friday, October 13 at 12 pm Noon Eastern (see the announcement within Yellowdig for the Zoom link, which you’ll also get in an email reminder).
Resources
Resources to read and view are within the Course Hero Faculty Club and AI Academy Bibliography within Yellowdig
Discussion Questions
- How can AI support authentic assessment?
- How can AI support the design of assignments?
- How do instructors design assignments and assessments with AI?
- How do instructors apply media literacy practices when accessing learning resources using AI?
Assignment
At the end of Week 2, participants must post an example of an assessment or assignment that incorporates AI either in the design or in the students’ work. Explain the subject matter/context of the course along with the assessment.
Use the Yellowdig topic: WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT
Week 3: AI and Academic Integrity
Learning Objectives
Participants who complete Week 3 will:
- Better understand how AI is being used in educational and professional settings.
- Demonstrate academic integrity with the use of AI.
- Apply media literacy with AI access to learning resources.
🗣️ Guest Speaker: Join the facilitators and other participants on Wednesday, October 18 at 12 pm Noon Eastern (see the announcement within Yellowdig for the Zoom link, which you’ll also get in an email reminder) for a presentation by our guest speaker, Antonio Byrd.
🕛 Synchronous Community Session: Join the facilitators and other participants on Friday, October 20 at 12pm Noon Eastern (see the announcement within Yellowdig for the Zoom link, which you’ll also get in an email reminder).
Resources
Resources to read and view are within Course Hero Faculty Club and the AI Academy Bibliography within Yellowdig.
Discussion Questions
- How can ethical use of AI be communicated?
- How do instructors and students use AI tools with academic integrity?
- How do instructors and students evaluate the integrity of AI use?
Assignment
At the end of Week 3, participants write a statement of ethical use of AI for your syllabus along with 3 to 5 discussion questions to use in the classroom to have a conversation about ethical use of AI with your students. Use the yellowdig topic: WEEK 3 ASSIGNMENT
Week 4: Teaching Practical AI Skills to Students
Learning Objectives
Participants who complete Week 4 will:
- Better understand how AI is being used in educational and professional settings.
- Implement AI in teaching and learning practices.
- Create a professional statement about AI within classroom practices. (Final Reflection/Assessment)
🗣️ Guest Speaker: Join the facilitators and other participants on Wednesday, October 25 at 12 pm Noon Eastern (see the announcement within Yellowdig for the Zoom link, which you’ll also get in an email reminder) for a presentation by our guest speaker, Owen Terry.
🕛 Synchronous Community Session: Join the facilitators and other participants on Friday, October 27 at 12pm Noon Eastern (see the announcement within Yellowdig for the Zoom link, which you’ll also get in an email reminder).
Resources
Resources to read and view are within Course Hero Faculty Club and the AI Academy Bibliography within Yellowdig.
Discussion Questions
- What are practical AI skills for students to learn?
- How might instructors state how they will use AI within classroom practices?
Assignment
At the end of Week 4, participants post a plan for what skills you plan to teach students within your course(s), how you will share this information with students, and why this plan is important for teaching and learning. Use the Yellowdig topic: WEEK 4 ASSIGNMENT
Final Project for Certification
Participants seeking a certificate of completion for Teaching with AI and 10 CEUs need to submit a professional statement about how AI will be implemented within your classroom teaching and learning practices. This may include your definition of AI and how you plan to use AI as well as how you would like students to address their use of AI.
This statement could be used within a course syllabus and is due the Friday following Week 4 on November 5, 2023 by 11:59 pm Eastern. Written feedback will be sent by the facilitators by November 11, 2023.
Certificates will be sent via email the week of November 13.