The second F2F Cohort 21 session was so helpful in giving me the space I needed to develop my thoughts around my action plan. I used ChatGPT to help me brainstorm a variety of possible ‘How might we’ (HMW) questions. While ChatGPT did not give me the perfect question, it certainly got me closer as I narrowed my topic. Strangely, once I finalized my question it did not even occur to me initially to put my question back into ChatGPT to see what the initial response would be until one of the facilitators suggested it. (Clearly old habits die hard, as the saying goes!)
I ultimately landed on the following question to guide my action plan:
How might we foster a culture of experimentation and collaboration among teachers and students, encouraging them to embrace and explore the evolving landscape of AI in education?
I am not sure my thinking shifted throughout the 2nd F2F session; I would say that my thinking became clearer. You can see how my thinking became a bit more focused using the templates provided:
Since the last F2F session, I am excited that I have made progress in some areas:
PL structures that encourage experimentation & collaboration (related to AI)
Members of our amazing AI Working Group led informal exploration sessions during a professional learning session in December:
- AI Strategies for Junior School Teachers
- Experimenting with ChatGPT (Prompt Engineering)
- Fusing AI With Quality Feedback for Comprehensive Reports
- Create a Custom GPT with ChatGPT-4
- Useful Tools with an AI Component (e.g. Canva, Kahoot)
- Less Play, More Talk (input and dialogue about resources and thoughts collected by AI Working Group)
The sessions seemed to be much appreciated, and feedback indicated that they created a comfortable atmosphere for participants to share their knowledge and ask questions.
Developing AI Guidelines
I started a draft document (aka sandbox?) for our AI Working Group (& perhaps Leadership Team and AI PLC Teams) to contribute resources, thoughts, questions, and concerns. Asynchronous collaboration will occur leading up to, during, and for a period of time after, the CIS Connects Unconference. The hope is that this expansive thinking will allow us to more easily develop document(s)/guideline(s) to develop shared understanding in our community. The sections outlined in this collaborative working document are:
- Vision/Philosophy
- Ashbury’s AI Implementation Roadmap
- Benefits, Limitations and Risks
- Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
- Prompt Engineering
- AI Literacy
- Guidance for Learning
- Guidance for Teaching
- Criteria for Evaluating GenAI EdTech Tools
- Professional Learning
Student Voice
While I haven’t really made progress in this area, I did include an update on our progress with AI in our Head of School’s weekly newsletter to parents last week. I also updated students in the Senior School assembly today, informing them of some of the work that we have been doing, and letting them know that they will also have an opportunity to contribute their ideas, questions, and concerns.
Where to next?
Overall, I feel that I am in a good place, as next week I will be joining three other representatives to attend the 2024 CIS Connects Unconference: Unleashing the Potential – Exploring the Impact of AI on K-12 Teaching and Learning and School Operations. I am excited to see how this conference validates some of the work we have been doing, and how it might help us to think more expansively. I am also excited to see if there are any speakers who would be a good fit for one of our future professional learning sessions this year. I look forward to then having time at the 3rd F2F Cohort 21 session to have time to revise and refine my action plan to guide me throughout the rest of the year.
Wow, Amy – this is a tonne of work! It was so nice to see you at the Unconference and hear more of what you’re working on. I love that student-centred learning is at the centre. It will be so interesting to see what their input and ideas become. I’ve been playing with SchoolAI with my students – lots of boundaries you can set and you can also set the tone and makeup of your class – which is so interesting to think about (and input). I thought Myke Healy from TCS was a great speaker at the Unconference – I wonder if he would be someone to reach out to?