Mark Ferguson

Mark Ferguson _ Headshot

I am a teacher by trade and education. I have taught at nearly every level of education (Elementary to Higher Ed), I have served as the "Tech Guy" nearly everywhere I have worked, and I usually default to the "can you" role in most organizations (as in, "can you figure this out...").

1. How do you use AI in your teaching, and what are your favorite resources?

I use AI for what I call "imaginary friend debugging" or brainstorming. If I am struggling with something, explaining it to another person will often help identify the problem and/or a potential solution to a problem. If no one is around, AI can serve as that person (albeit imaginary). I also use AI to help brainstorm ideas for various topics, whether I am stuck or not, because I know I don't know everything, and the internet-of-things has sufficiently more storage space than my brain. Chat GPT is the standard for me, but I am enjoying exploring more and different tools:

  • Krea allows you to generate and customize images, videos, and animations through prompts and manipulatives.
  • Napkin.ai creates editable infographics from text data.
  • Remini is an image editor that uses text prompts to "photoshop" images without knowing how to use Adobe Photoshop.
  • NBI.ai is a LLM style data analyst assistant that allows you to upload large data sets and use text prompts to analyze that data.

2. Can you share or describe an example or two of an AI-related assignment?

I am working with a Subject Matter Expert to design a class that uses AI w/in a content creator space. The students will use at least three AI tools to create a product from a prompt. There are nine different prompts a student may choose from, each with a different industry focus, and the students are tasked to work with this virtual client to create a specific product using various AI tools. At the end of the course, the students are evaluated on the product they produce and the process they took to develop this product. This process must be mindful of the legal issues surrounding the use of AI, a comparison of various iterations of the product over time, and a process description of which AI tools were used, when, and how they improved the final product.

3. What do you tell students about using AI? (If you have a statement in your course syllabus, please share it.)

I tell students AI is a tool to be used, not an answer to be copied. Yes, AI can be used to do your homework, write your paper, and/or make it easier for you to submit C-level work. However, you (the student) must still demonstrate what you know or learned from the assignment. Those demonstrations carry more weight than the product you submit. If you cannot answer a simple question about your topic, you probably did not put any effort into the work and may not have learned from the assignment. I also tell them various AI tools can help you learn more effectively. Outlining a paper is often difficult for someone to conceptualize, and AI can help. Data analysis is often difficult to understand, and AI can help. Creating diagrams, figures, and graphics using Excel, Sheets, or other database software is often cumbersome, and AI can help. It is a tool that should be used to demonstrate what you know effectively, not something that you use to demonstrate how good the software is.

4. What challenges, if any, have you had with AI in your courses?
 
My challenges stem from how I am told students should be assessed. The traditional methods of papers, projects, and exams are no longer applicable because AI can help students circumvent those methods. A performance, a demonstration, or an interactive presentation are assessment methods that AI cannot entirely circumvent. Higher education needs to embrace these assessment methods and shy away from the traditional methods that have worked in the past.

5. How do you think AI has or will impact your domain?
 
Depending on future advancements, policies, and legal ramifications of AI, it can potentially put me out of a job. However, AI is only as smart as the people who program it and the content fed into it. As long as the software does not become sentient or develop the ability to create out of nothingness, education will remain person/people focused. That being said, it makes certain tasks easier and eliminates the need for positions, degrees, or programs surrounding these tasks. Every significant technological advancement has shifted education and/or the world in some way: personal computers, the internet, and the smartphone. This is the next shift, and things will change because of it.