Rethinking teaching and learning in the Age of AI

So, welcome everyone. Welcome to U day three, our final day of MM VC24. This is our 13th annual event.

And welcome to everyone wherever you happen to be. if you could add in the chat box where you're from, what time it is, how's the weather, anything else you'd like uh to share with us so we can feel like we are in the same location. We are in the same space right now, but we're in our homes in different parts of the house or maybe you're outside, maybe you're in the car, wherever you happen to be.

We'd love to hear from you. Feel free to use u the chat box as we go. Since this is our first uh event of the day, let me um take you to uh what ahead and what's ahead is the following our presenters.

You can see the title of the session and then the description. Our first uh presenter is coming to us from Iran and the topic is rethinking teaching and learning in the age of AI. Our second presenter is coming to us from South Africa and that's Professor Karen Ferrara Mayor.

She'll be talking about educational revolution, Chad GPT and beyond. And then our third presenter is Maria Rosario Magaldi and she's coming to us from Argentina and she'll be talking about Buddha's teaching in today's education. And then our fourth is Yusra Fchi who's coming to us from there we are from Tunisia.

And then um we've got Dr Arkadi Zilberman. Sorry, I missed um for uh Yusra will be discussing digital storytelling and active learning. And then our next presenter is Dr Aricadi Zilberman who's coming to us from the United States and he'll be discussing AI web app tutor for training in any foreign language.

And then Dr Renetha Devi will be coming to us from India and she will be discussing transition in technology use AI and the human teacher. And then uh NeAs and Cheryl uh they're coming to us from Italy. NAS is uh based in Italy and Cheryl is based in the United States and they will be co-presenting creating classroom lessons using AI.

And then the final session is with me. It'll be the closing ceremony of MNVC 24 and looking ahead to MMVC 25. So that's um the sessions for today.

And our first presenter is Dr Zanab Musavi. It's coming to us from Iran. She holds a master's degree in English language teaching and a doctoral degree in curriculum and instructional technology from Malaya University, Malaysia.

She's been teaching English face-to-face and online at language centers and universities in Iran and Malaysia. She has won platinum as well as silver awards in international summit of innovation and design exposition 2019. This was a competition at the University of Malaya and congratulations.

We haven't said that. Welld deserved and the University of Putra Malaysia Malaysia. Her research interests are topics related to instructional and multidia design, distance education, online interaction, and personalized learning.

She's on the EVO coordination team. that's the electronic village online and a very close colleague. We work together on a daily basis but we have never met.

So I'm hoping that we will uh in the very near future when the world becomes a an open access uh just like um other things that are open and we can travel and visit each other. So, I'm going to let you start the screen sharing and thank you very much for joining us. Thank you, N for your introduction.

Thank you. Uh, just I'm going to share it again. Okay, it's perfect.

so you can see it. Okay. Um, hello everyone.

Thank you for joining us today. I'm so excited to have uh the opportunity to discuss the topic rethinking teaching and learning in the age of AI. Um as we navigate through uh rapid technological advancements um is is imperative to that that we reflect on how uh these changes impact our educational practices and explore ways to um adapt effectively.

Um first um we will explore the historical um we will explore the historical evolution of educational technology and its impact on teaching uh practices. Uh second we will examine the current challenges and opportunities presented by AI in education. Uh third uh I will introduce um a structured planning model to inspire you to rethink uh and reflect on your teaching uh to align with current needs and um capabilities provided by AI.

Uh finally I uh hope to provide you with valuable insights and uh practical strategies um ensuring responsible and effective use of AI tools in teaching and learning. Uh well uh changes are happening um in our everyday life and we have to adapt u to new situations and face challenges. Uh educational technology is no exception.

Um technology has always been a major drive of change uh in in the education sector. uh from basic tools like um calculators to advanced technologies uh like AI tools um technology has always uh had a profound impact on how uh we learn, teach, uh assess and interact with each other. Um throughout history uh each time uh that there was a new type of technology uh the teachers had to figure out uh how to adapt our teaching uh to meet these emerging trends.

Um initially uh many educators, many teachers uh were concerned about the impact of new tools might have on learning. Uh but ultimately uh they they embraced these tools recognizing their potential to enhance teaching and learning. Um for example um when um when calculator first came out some teachers some educators were worried that students wouldn't learn math properly.

Uh they were worried that um uh students would become overly reliant on these tools and lose basic arithmetic skills. But actually this didn't happen. teachers learned uh to shift the focus from uh manual calculations uh to um to problem solving and understanding uh more complex mathematical concepts.

Uh further um the advent of internet brought another wave of transformation. educational websites uh online courses virtual classrooms became um popular became integral part of educational landscape. Um initially educators concern about um access and content quality in um information overload and distraction.

uh but we saw that it provided access to vast amounts of information and facilitated flexible self-based learning. Um you you may remember uh the shift to online uh learning platforms initially met with skepticism but the coid9 pandemic uh accelerated the adoption of these platforms as they made learning more flexible more accessible allowing students to uh connect to uh collaborate communicate access educational resources from anywhere anytime. time and now AI is here and it's clear it it's not going to set to disappear.

Uh students are going to use AI uh tools when they go home even if we ban using it. So um the solution is not banning these tools and it's uh actually it's unrealistic to expect learners never to use these these tools instead of um resisting change. We should see this advancement as as as a chance to grow and adapt um making the most of exciting possibilities that AI tools bring uh just by trying them out um exploring them, embracing them um understanding the capabilities and limitations of these tools.

uh we can harness its potential to create more um effective and engaging learning experiences. Uh let's see some of uh teachers uh concerns um surrounding the use of AI in education. Uh some uh some educators concern about students privacy and data security because AI tools can um autonomously learn many students personal information like their learning styles, their capabilities which which which could be uh private by some students.

Uh another challenge is digital divide. Um unfortunately not all students have equal access to AI technology. Um for example in my country Iran due to economic sanction uh we have limited access to most AI technologies and platforms.

So um it can be a significant challenge for both teachers and students. Also uh many schools especially in rural areas lack the necessary facilities like um reliable internet access and modern computer systems to support AI based learning tools and for uh for many educational institutions intro introducing uh and implementing AI in education can be uh financially demanding. and not be affordable.

Um also another challenge is lack of teachers training. Uh effective use of technology uh requires adequate train training for educators for teachers. Um and uh lack of training also may hinder uh their adoption uh and prefer traditional teaching methods and tools uh with which they are more comfortable and more uh familiar.

Another concern is that um they can u they can sometimes produce incorrect information. um AI tools draw it information from um enormous amounts of data that are available online. Uh some of which may be biased, some of which may be accurate or contain out ofdate information.

Uh they sometimes create fake citations and codes which are not real. They are fabricated. uh and uh there is another concern um around students over reliance on AI.

Um it is believed that uh excessive um reliance on AI tools can decline students critical thinking um and problem solving skills as they may uh become accustomed to receiving uh instant answers from AI tools. Uh another major concern among teachers is that um students use AI generated content as their own work without uh giving citation and credits. Uh but um AI tools also offer uh significant uh opportunities benefits.

For example, um AI has the potential to transform education uh by providing personalized learning. Um AI tools can analyze students data and adapt to their learning styles uh providing feedback and recommendations uh that are tailored to their individual needs and abilities. Um the adaptive nature of AI tools allows them to identify areas um where students are weak are struggling and provide additional practice and resources to facilitate their learning.

The tailored um suggestions and examples also are valuable resources for learners particularly for language learners. They can ask uh for for example they can ask the chat or any AI tools to simplify complex uh text uh summarize complex content uh provide explanations, give uh more examples based on their language proficiency and this can help to keep uh students engaged um and motivated also. Um AI can provide access to um to vers of educational resources.

It can help students uh in conducting research by quickly um finding relevant information, relevant articles. So it reduces uh the time spent on search for information. Uh and also um they can provide instant feedback when um even when a teacher uh isn't immediately available to answer or teach.

So it capacity to provide immediate feedback allows students to correct their mistakes uh which is invaluable for building students um confidence. Uh for example in uh the context of language learning is very beneficial for language learners as they can provide uh instant feedback on their uh language skills on their grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary. They uh also enable students to ask their questions outside of class time.

So uh they can get help whenever they need it. Um it also um can help teachers save time um by by by helping them uh create their lessons um lesson plan resources, multimedia materials. Uh it allows teachers to devote more time uh on critical tasks such as doing research, um supporting students, designing activities.

Um sometimes when I'm preparing uh my my lesson uh my instruction for teaching I use um um the chat GPT or co-pilot to uh double check if I missed any details if I covered all details. Um it it it gives me confidence that my learning materials are uh comprehensive and accurate. So as you see um AI is um is a technology tool uh like most other technology to technological tools.

Um it it can be used for good evil or anything in between. uh we we we should learn how to maximize the benefits of AI and mitigate the challenges uh and it's on teachers on us as teachers to figure out uh when how uh how much we want AI to take a role in education. As teachers uh we we should stay uh up to date with new developments and be prepared to adapt our teaching um strategies to incorporate these powerful tools.

uh we should see it as um as as a chance to rethink teaching and learning with new methods and new strategies to prevent the misuse of AI tools. uh we we should figure out how um how to use AI in education but also faster critical thinking, consider ethical issues and improve skills students need uh for the future careers for that. So we we should know uh integrating AI in teaching requires uh careful planning uh and alignment with educational goals.

Um brand and J Mcdig uh developed a backward design framework. um called uh understanding by design for designing courses. Uh this framework has very structured stages that set the objectives with the end results in mind.

Uh determine the evidence of learning and plan the learning activities at the end. Um it's uh it en shows alignment between uh goals, assessments um and instructional strategies and activities. Uh this framework um focuses on um on helping students understand uh the content and apply what they have learned in different context in in real situations rather than just memorizing facts or concepts.

it it uh helps teachers to design their process uh systematically and purposefully um to to make the model more adapted to today's students need and uh techn technological advancement. uh it would be great to start with uh with knowing learners uh understanding uh learners context and needs. So um before um before identifying uh the desired results you you you need to know who your students are.

Uh it can include their cultural background, their personal experiences that might influence their learning, what students already know, what skills they have, what uh what areas they might need additional support. For example, in the context of language learning, um get information about their previous language learning experiences, their their language proficiency level, um and specific areas. They they want to improve their their learning styles to to be able to tailor lessons uh to meet students needs and interests.

Um also you need to get information on how um how familiar and comfortable your students are with using digital tools and technologies. Ensure uh they have access to devices like laptop, computers or mobile and reliable internet at home. uh you you need to know if they have previously used AI in their learning, if they use AI tools, uh what AI tools they are using, how they are using, you need to know uh what uh what students are towards the use of AI.

For example, are they open uh to using AI as a learning tool? And the next step is um according to understanding by design framework uh we we don't start with content or activities. We start with what uh what students should know what students are expected uh to be able to do what uh students should understand.

Uh so um you you should have a clear understanding of your destination. You you should know um where where you're going so that you you better understand where you are now. So the steps you take are always in the right destination.

Uh now with uh with with the with the advancement of AI uh tools uh you should consider or reconsider whether uh whether your goals are still valid um to ensure responsible integration and implementation of AI in teaching. uh you you may want to revise your goals or add new goals related to AI skills and knowledge. Uh think uh what essential skills what essential knowledge students should acquire to thrive in an AI enhanced future.

Uh isn't it necessary uh to foster um creativity, communication, collaboration, problem solving skills among students and prepare them for the demands of um digital age. Think uh how AI tools uh can support and enhance teaching and learning in your course. Uh you may want your students to understand how um how effectively uh use AI tools to enhance their learning.

You may want your students to develop um the ability to critically um evaluate AI feedback, AI uh information or content generated by AI. you you may want students to demonstrate um awareness of ethical considerations related to I use. So just I want you uh to rethink um your course goals and ensure if you need to revise them.

The next step is um is to determine acceptable evidence. Uh you should ask what kind of students uh performance, work or action uh will show that students truly understand and can uh apply can transfer their knowledge and learning to uh new situation. Uh you should ask how uh you will measure their performance.

based on the goals that you set for your cause. Um you you must carefully think like uh like an SSL to consider the evidence required to determine uh the extent to which students have achieved the desired results. For example, uh when we expect students to explain something, we need to seek more than um memorized recitation, they need to put it in their own words.

Uh they need to give uh reasons based on evidence for their answers. Uh site attacks to support show or present their work and justify the solution. In this way um they can show they they they are able to apply what they have learned what they know in different situations.

Um we we should ask u what additional evidence we need to collect to show uh to show that students have met all of our course goals. uh are the assessments matching with uh anything we want students to learn. And in uh in the age of AI, we we should think and ask um is this type of assessment valid?

For example, if you uh if you just use a single answer assessment, true force, multiplechoice, fill in the blank questions, um AI tools may quickly uh provide the correct answers. So, uh, you may you may think to include open-ended questions that require a um a detailed response or interactive assessments where students discuss a topic. for example, group discussions on on specific topic, for example, on the impact of social media on communication or peer assessments that uh that require students to evaluate or review each other's work.

So um if if if you concern about um your uh your students cheating so uh using such assessments reduces likelihood of copying or cheating. I um I mean uh you you may need to revise the types of assessments to encourage critical thinking, creativity, um evaluation, problem solving or analysis that uh students need to apply their knowledge. Um you may want students to um to use AI for finding information on a topic, create a presentation, discuss about that or present uh their understanding and explain their ideas or do group projects for for example um design websites.

um all require research, creativity, collaboration, communication, and accountability. So your or or or you you may think that a combination of these assessments is suitable for your students to show um their knowledge and abilities. uh just think uh about that and ensure that if you need to revise your assessments.

Stage four. Um now it's um it's time to plan uh the actual lessons uh strategies, learning materials, instruction, resources, uh activities that help students achieve the desired results and succeed in assessments. uh you need to uh think what and how to teach to help students understand to transfer and or or uh apply what they know and become more independent in the learning.

You you should ask how you will keep track of students progress, how the lessons will be um sequenced, will be ordered and adjusted to meet the needs of all students. uh you should ask do uh the lessons and activities match uh the learning goals and assessments and uh with the development of AI tools you you you need to uh think redesigning your learning materials uh strategies resources uh which help students gain knowledge and skills to succeed in assessments and achieve their outcomes. here um uh you can you can um consider um allowing or encouraging AI use for outside of class.

Um anyhow it depends on your context your learn your learners goals and assessments but you need to uh clearly communicate uh details about uh if AI tools can be used or if they can be used uh how they can be used um clarify to students uh how and where AI tools might be used in their work. Uh you should be direct and transparent about what uh what tools students are permitted to use. Uh you may need to um publish policies about the use of AI.

Uh to clarify how students are permitted to encourage with AI tools and guidelines for how to use these tools and for including citation. um pecking at all uh propose an AI assessment uh scale uh for u for ethical generative AI assessment. Um this uh scale helps uh both uh teachers and students understand the extent to which AI is involved uh in the learning and assessment process.

Um it includes five levels. Um each each level uh represents a different degrees of AI engagement uh ranging from no AI use um to significant AI generated content that requires um our uh evaluation and analysis. Just I like to explain this scale uh with example.

Um level one, no AI. Um students are not allowed to use AI at all uh for the assessment or uh tasks. Uh the goal here is to test students abilities without any technological tools.

for example, during exams that electronic devices are not used or for uh for group activities that require interaction and communication without uh AI tools. Uh for example, you you may want you may want to um assess your student speaking skill and listening comprehension. So uh students are required to discuss uh specific topic in small groups.

They they they need to engage in conversation. Uh we want students to use their own knowledge and skills. Level two uh AI assisted um idea generation and structuring.

Uh students can use AI to improve their writing but they should show the original work. Uh students can use AI uh to get ideas to come up with ideas but uh they cannot use the the AI exact words in their uh final submission. It is used to help students uh brainstorm ideas and offer suggestions.

But the final uh submission, the final product uh must be the students own work. The final work must be entirely created by students. Students are not allowed to use content generated by AI tools.

And the final um essay I don't know letter project analysis must be uh created by students themselves. Level three um AI assisted um editing um AI is used as a proof reader. Uh students can use AI uh to improve their writing but students must show their original work.

Um AI um help students with rewriting with clarifying ideas. Ideas come from students but for uh for editing text uh like fixing grammar, spelling, corrections, rephrasing sentences. AI is used AI um so so AI is used to help make ideas clearer and make concise.

uh you you uh can ask students to submit both the original and AI edited versions and provide um a a brief explanation of how um how the I tool was used and what changes were made. Uh level four um is AI task completion human evaluation. Uh the text um the the content is generated by AI.

Uh but students need to carefully read the text identify uh strengths and weaknesses. check for um factual accuracy uh decide if it it it's convincing. So in this level um AI generates content and students provide reflection feedback on the quality on accuracy on um effectiveness of content generated by AI or um or they need to check um if um if there are any biases or misinterpretation in the text generated by AI.

Um level five uh full AI. Uh here um AI is um is fully uh integrated with the assessment and students are allowed to use AI tools for doing their work. Um AI tools can be used for making um images, generating texts, uh create creating videos, audio, making presentation engaging.

Um this level is suitable when uh when uh one of the learning goals is for example in the context of uh language learning to achieve proficiency um in language skills. for example, writing and to develop the ability to use AI tools effectively and enhance multimedia projects. For example, um this guideline would be um very beneficial for your teaching um helping you make decision on how to use AI tools or how much uh you need to use AI in your teaching according to uh the goals you set and assessments you determine and also help uh your students use AI uh responsibly and appropriately.

just um ensure that you uh you uh clearly uh discuss the appropriate use of AI tools, the the policies and guidelines with your students. And this skill just was as an example and I hope this guideline can help you and your students use AI tools uh effectively, responsibly and appropriately. Um, and here you can find the sources for your um um for your reference.

Thank you so much for your attention. Um, if you have any questions, I'm so happy to answer. Thank you.

Thank you so much uh Zetam for that. That was absolutely amazing. really loved the layout of the slides, the organization, the thoughtprovoking ideas of both challenges and opportunities.

I think that is true with any technology in fact and specifically with AI tools. There's no need to worry that they will replace teachers. I just think that um teachers will be able to uh you know hone these uh tools and use them in such ways that make um everything so much easier if students can practice with AI tools.

You know, I I think that's great. There'll be other things that we can do in the classroom such as teamwork, you know, in the physical classroom. uh if students come to class and they've already practiced um you know like flipped learning call it um flipped learning with AI tools they'll come to class and they'll be able to uh you know have fun communicating with humans not just with uh bots so I think that answers but maybe you can answer it as well there's some questions there about um well you can see some of the questions there how do How do you identify students learning styles?

I mean what tools do you use? I think uh the questioner is the best tool that teachers can use um especially for classes when we have many students in our class. So you you need to find the suitable appropriate questioner for identifying students styles.

We have many questioners but I I now I don't know. I I can help you. Another one is um what grade can we implement?

Oh no. Yes. What grade can we implement digital literacy in?

which year I guess university or in um younger learners maybe that's what um you mean uh na what can you say maybe you can elaborate on your question there about planner's age I cannot understand um yeah teaching uh learners about um digital literacy in other words uh I don't know if that's the job of a teacher but maybe maybe that's the job of a teacher to teach uh digital literacy as I said uh before doing anything we need to know learners so as teacher we have to learn um our learn to to understand uh what level uh what level of digital literacy they have to be able to uh to think about think our goals and assessments and activities. Um it as it depends on your context. Sometimes um in for example in the context of my country sometimes some platforms some skills don't work.

Um it doesn't matter what skills I I am improving for my students. Um the context is very important. Yeah totally.

Um let's see. Um there's also discussion there about u can AI endanger our job as teachers and Muhammad stated here uh it can endanger our jobs if we don't deal with it uh in the right way and I think that's that's such a wonderful if you want to uh ban using these tools and just ban students using these tools Maybe because but you need to update your knowledge about the tools that are coming and just think how we can um how effectively we can use these tools or in in um in great uh with with new methods. Yeah, I think it's I think it's wonderful.

Just think of all the opportunities of teaching in a different way, you know, uh not the old way, but find a new way of teaching as a result of these AI tools. I mean, it'll just make our lives so much more exciting. You know, a bit challenging for teachers because they h they don't have time to learn, but they have to they have to learn it.

But they will have time because they'll be able to use all these tools. Yes. And and they'll have more time.

Yes. So, um there's another question. How how can we assess high school students?

Okay, now we're getting high school students. That's more specific. Writing and speech if they use AI assistance, I think.

Um do you want to refer to that? Uh, can you ask the question again? Yeah.

How can we assess high school students writing and speech if they use AI assistance? Um I think uh uh based on this uh scale first you see what uh what um what is your goal in that class and uh based on that you you need to um for example when you see that students are using AI tools for uh their writing but the goal is that students work um uh in in um in groups. So uh they can um they can um um use uh the content generated by AI for example and find the weaknesses of the writing and make um I mean and discuss about why um uh they they want to use this writing generated by um by AI or they want to change it.

Um just it depends on the your your uh your goal uh what is your goal for writing and I think that you made some very very good points there Zanab um about that our goals are very important and and based on your goal you can determine how much AI you can use based on this scale and the scale is very very good I the examples that you provided us with. You can decide how much AI you want students to use, no AI or uh full AI. Um it depends on your goals and your context.

Z will you be able to share the um the presentation? I understand that it's okay. So the presentation will be available uh and you'll get a chance to uh take a look at it once again.

So thank you everyone for um being here and thank you Zanab for an amazing presentation.