Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators

Asking what students need and when with Professor Anna Mills

Oct 21, 2024

Professor Anna Mills, a community college writing teacher and advocate for critical AI literacy, delves into the challenges and opportunities of integrating AI into education. She discusses the importance of fostering intrinsic motivation in students while navigating AI's role in writing assignments. Mills emphasizes the need for clear boundaries and collaboration between K-12 and higher education. Additionally, she highlights innovative methods to maintain writing integrity and enhance student privacy in the age of AI.

40:20

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Episode guests

Anna Mills

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Balancing AI integration in education is essential to foster students' creativity while enhancing their writing skills through constructive feedback.

Improved collaboration between K-12 and higher education is vital for teaching AI literacy effectively and reducing misconceptions about its use.

Deep dives

Navigating AI Literacy in Education

The integration of AI tools in education raises important questions about maintaining a balance between leveraging technology and nurturing students' individual thought processes. Educators are grappling with how much AI should be allowed in assignments while preserving a safe space for creativity and personal expression. Some instructors advocate using AI for feedback after students have drafted their work to develop their writing skills, whereas others believe that students should engage with AI throughout the writing process. Ultimately, it is crucial to establish clear boundaries surrounding AI use to ensure that students cultivate their voices and thinking skills while also benefiting from technological advancements.

Intro

3min

Navigating AI Integration in Education

5min

Embracing Uncertainty in Education

8min

Enhancing Student Privacy and Support

7min

Writing in the Age of AI

10min

Navigating AI in Academic Writing

8min

Professor Anna Mills discusses the evolving landscape of AI literacy in education, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach to integrating AI into writing and learning processes. She reflects on the challenges of defining boundaries for AI use in academic settings, the importance of fostering intrinsic motivation among students, and the necessity of bridging the gap between K-12 and higher education.

Anna Mills has taught writing at public two-year colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area for 18 years and currently teach at College of Marin. Her OER textbook, How Arguments Work: A Guide to Writing and Analyzing Texts in College, has been used at over 65 colleges. She serves as the English Discipline Lead for the California community colleges OER Initiative, and her collection AI Text Generators and Teaching Writing: Starting Points for Inquiry is featured in the Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse. As a consultant for OpenAI, she tested GPT-4 before its release. Currently, she serves as volunteer advisor on the teacher-created app MyEssayFeedback.ai and as faculty for the AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. As a member of the MLA/CCCC Task Force on Writing and AI, she helped launch Exploring AI Pedagogy: A Community Collection of Teaching Reflections.

Connect with our guest:

www.annarmills.com

https://x.com/AnnaRMills

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-mills-oer/

Thank you to our amazing show sponsor!

Neulight

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