AI in College Education

About the event

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot, ChatGPT, was launched at the end of November 2022 with little fanfare. Within the space of a week, there were over a million users accessing the service, growing to over 100 million in the following months. Stories had appeared in the media about AI producing original art, but it was when attention turned to exams that educators really began to take notice:

'ChatGPT passes exams from law and business schools'

CNN Business, 26th January 2023

The conversation around AI quickly moved from opportunity to threat, with the focus on how students might seek to misuse the technology. As more examples appeared, everything from detailed lesson plans to assignments being graded with feedback, you could sense the unease within the community. The AI was far from perfect, but it was clear that this wasn’t something that could be ignored. 

This brings us to our ‘AI in College Education’ event, which seeks to offer some clarity in all the noise around AI. We discuss what the practical implications might be for the college sector, drawing from a range of voices. 

• Setting the Scene: Michael Webb from Jisc explains how the technologies work and this might mean for education.
• Assessment and AI: A panel session with representatives from SQA, Education Scotland, and City of Glasgow College. 
• Policy in Action: How New College Lanarkshire has reacted to address the latest evolution of AI.

The event is being held at Edinburgh College on the Wednesday 22 March with a live audience (limited seating available) and remote attendance available via CDN’s Virtual Conference Centre. The conversation moves online in the afternoon with more voices from the sector looking at the student perspective, how to get the best results from AI tools, and examples of resources produced by ChatGPT. And just to say that it’s not just me that’s saying you should register, I gave ChatGPT the following prompt:

“I work at a college; can you tell me why I should attend an event called 'AI in College Education'?” 

… and this was its reply:

"As someone who works at a college, attending an event focused on AI in college education can offer you several benefits, including:

1. Understanding AI's impact on education: Attending an AI in college education event can help you to gain a deeper understanding of how AI is changing the way we learn and teach. This knowledge can help you to identify new opportunities for your institution and keep up with the latest trends and technologies in the field.
    
2. Discovering new technologies: By attending this event, you can learn about new AI technologies and tools that can help you to enhance the learning experience for students. These tools can help you to create personalised learning experiences
   that are tailored to each student's needs.
    
3. Networking opportunities: Attending this event can provide you with the opportunity to connect with other educators, researchers, and experts in the field of AI and education. These connections can help you to collaborate on research projects, exchange best practices, and identify potential partnerships.
    
4. Career development: By attending this event, you can develop skills and knowledge that are valuable to your institution, which can lead to career development opportunities.
    
5. Improving student outcomes: By incorporating AI into teaching practices, you can improve student outcomes, such as engagement, motivation, and performance. Attending this event can help you to discover new ways to use AI in teaching and learning and improve student outcomes.

In summary, attending an event on AI in college education can offer you numerous benefits that can help you to understand the impact of AI on education, discover new technologies, network with other educators, develop your career, and improve student outcomes."

I couldn’t have said it better myself, well I could have, but it would have taken me much longer, sigh. We look forward to seeing you there! 
 
(parts of the banner image produced by Stable Diffusion AI)