Introduction
AI writing tools such as ChatGPT create text responses that are meant to simulate human responses in a variety of styles and formats. They work by sifting through terabytes of available data and using algorithms to pull words to create responses. ChatGPT is currently the most well-known, but Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and more are all working on or have already released similar AI programs. Though AI writing and data is not always accurate and has limitations, you and your students may find ways to use it that can positively support your work: It can help students get started on an assignment by providing ideas for how to structure their writing. It can help you get a jump start on research by listing sources that you can then explore more thoroughly. For those learning English, these tools can provide language that they can adapt to express their ideas. You can even use AI to help with tasks such as writing syllabi and assignment prompts.
In this web page, you can learn more about how AI is being used at DU and resources for incorporating and navigating AI usage in your classroom.
In This Web Page:
AI Tools
The OTL Recommends: AI Edition
Events & Consultations
Additional Resources
AI Tools
Stay ahead with our continuously updated document on educational AI tools! Our document is curated to include descriptions of various educational AI tools and information on whether they are free to use. Regular updates ensure you have access to the most current information, helping you choose the best tools for your learning or teaching needs.
The OTL Recommends: AI Edition
Kellie Ferguson
Hi, I’m Kellie Ferguson (she/her) the Faculty Developer of Integrative and Experiential Learning. I am interested in learning more about bias in AI and the environmental impact of these technologies. Lately, I have been using these resources to explore bias with students:
- Diffusion Bias Explorer: a tool that uses text-to-image AI tools to show social biases that exists in these tools
- Associated paper: Stable Bias: Evaluating Societal Representations in Diffusion Models
I have also been curious about the environmental impacts of AI, particularly its role in exacerbating climate change and contributing to environmental injustices. These two articles provide a solid starting point for diving into these complex issues, whether for your own personal learning or to spark some classroom discussions:
Stephen Riley
Hi, I’m Stephen Riley (he/him) the Director of Academic Assessment. I have spent serious time trying to familiarize myself with various generative-AI tools and find ways that they can be employed to help us learn, revise, and assess. A few resources that have been particularly helpful to me are:
Guidance for generative AI in education and Research from UNESCO. This short guide offers a helpful introduction to what generative AI is about, some of the areas of concern, and some examples of use cases in education and research. The bibliography is also full of helpful resources.
Another set of works that have helped engage well are
- Bowen, J. A., & Watson, C. E. (2024). Teaching with AI: A practical guide to a new era of human learning. Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Austen, D. (2024). AI for Educators: Embrace new technologies to enrich curriculum, improve teaching methods, reduce burnout, and save time and energy. Self-published.
- Douglas, A. (2024). The AI-Powered Classroom: A practical guide to enhancing teaching and learning with artificial intelligence. Self-published.
These three works all dive into possible uses cases for generative Ai in education. They all have helpful explanations of generative-AI, thought provoking engagement with many of the concerns people are raising about AI, and examples of prompt engineering for educational use cases. Any of the three would be a worthwhile read.
Finally, two other works are helping me think about the future of what it will mean to be human in a world influenced by AI.
- Tegmark, M. (2017). Life 3.0: Being human in the age of artificial intelligence. Knopf.
- Susskind, R., & Susskind, D. (2015). The future of the professions: How technology will transform the work of human experts. Oxford University Press.
These two books offer engaging reflections on the nature of work and human endeavors considering ever evolving AI potential. The way we answer the questions about what it means to be human will continue to be important and shape our responses to technological advances.
Terri Johnson
Hi, I’m Terri Johnson (she/her), Senior Faculty Developer. I am interested in thinking through ways to assist faculty in integrating AI into their courses. This includes guiding them on how to help students use AI responsibly and leveraging AI to enhance their own course design and teaching activities. These resources have helped me explore those approaches to AI through a teaching and learning lens:
Must-Have Competencies and Skills in our New AI World: A Synthesis for Educational Reform: an interesting framework to help us consider the competencies students, faculty, and educational professionals can develop to use AI thoughtfully
Augmented Course Design: Using AI to Boost Efficiency and Expand Capacity: ideas for how to use AI to enhance course design, content creation, and teaching strategies
Jasmine Yap
Hi, I’m Jasmine Yap (she/her), the Director of Inclusive Teaching Practices. I am interested in leveraging AI as a tool to advance equity in learning by enhancing the educational experience of students. However, I’m also mindful of AI’s limitations and the potential negative impacts on marginalized students as I explore its integration into teaching.
I have been reading Ethan Mollick’s book, Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, available through the DU Libraries. In this book, Mollick explores the evolving relationship between humans and AI, highlighting how AI can act as a co-worker, teacher, and coach to boost creativity, decision-making, and learning. Mollick emphasizes AI’s potential to transform teaching and personalize student engagement, while also warning against over-reliance on AI. The author stresses the importance of recognizing AI’s limitations and ensuring educators maintain control over its use in the classroom to protect the integrity of the learning process.
Virginia Pitts
Hi, I’m Virginia Pitts (she/her), Director of University Teaching. I am interested in how AI can help us all become better learners. In particular — given my background in the Learning Sciences — I am interested in how we can leverage our understanding of learning as a constructive, interactive, social, emotional process to engage with AI in ways that enhance learning and help us realize our unique gifts/creative potentials.
A few resources that have intrigued me as of late include:
- At the Crossroads of Innovation: Embracing AI to Foster Deep Learning in the College Classroom (Educause Article, July 2024). I found this to be a very thought-provoking article on how AI creates an opportunity – even an imperative – to double-down on learner-centered teaching.
- This podcast episode of the Ted AI show with Sam Kahn on AI in education. In this podcast episode, the creator of the Kahn academy describes a compelling example of how AI can be used as a tutor that works with both teacher and students.
- Assigning AI: Seven Approaches for Students, with Prompts. This resource, created by Ethan and Lilach Mollick, provides some great concrete examples of how AI can be used to support more learner-centered, even learner-directed learning. Specifically, it provides examples of prompts that can be used to have AI play the role of mentor, tutor, coach, teammate, and simulator, along with a description of the guidelines and risks for using AI in each of these ways.
Events & Support
OTL AI Programing
Teaching with AI Workshop Series
Join us fall 2024 to explore many different topics related to using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the classroom, including how AI can help you build and enrich course content and prepare for navigating student use of AI.
Thriving with AI Faculty Learning Community (FLC) 2024-2025
The OTL is excited to offer a new Faculty Learning Community (FLC) specifically focused on AI in education for the 2024-2025 academic year. An FLC can be defined as a year-long program with a cohort of faculty (10-15) that meets regularly (every 3-5 weeks) to discuss certain teaching topics, investigate teaching methods, and work towards integrating a teaching project. Thriving in AI FLC, we will be covering topics related to AI in higher education including AI literacy, addressing bias in AI, accessibility considerations, ethics, creative/innovative use cases for AI in teaching and learning, and more. As a participant in this cohort, you will also be working towards a teaching and learning project related to AI, which you will plan to incorporate into a 2025-2026 course.
Exploring AI as a Learning Tool Community of Practice (CoP) 2024-2025
This CoP is ideal for faculty who are new to using artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom and anyone interested in addressing barriers to incorporating AI in teaching and learning. This group will explore AI as a learning tool in the classroom. It aims to provide an open space for participants to engage in shared, authentic, and scholarly conversations while examining various aspects of potential concerns, interest, and insights of AI adoption. Faculty members will have an opportunity to examine and discuss current literature on AI use in the classroom and explore productive ways in which AI could serve as a learning resource for students, while also engaging in meaningful conversations to address issues such as ethics, equity, and technology use. Participants will be challenged to devise practical, evidence-informed methods for using AI in the classroom and evaluate its effectiveness.
Want to learn more about AI?
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Additional Resources
OTL Blogs
Checking the Checkers: Guidance for Using Turnitin (Including its Artificial Intelligence Detection Tool)
Getting Proactive with ChatGPT and Other AI Tools
ChatGPT, Friend or Foe in the Classroom
Dr. Kerstin Haring, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, reflects on these AI tools, how they work, and how we might be able to use them to our advantage in two faculty guest blogs:
