EdSurge Podcast

Terrence Sejnowski, a biology professor at UC San Diego and a pioneer in AI language models, dives into the intriguing parallels between AI chatbots and the human brain. He discusses how AI reveals our limited understanding of human cognition and emphasizes the role of sleep in learning and memory. Their potential in education is highlighted, along with the challenges posed by traditional assessments. Sejnowski also navigates the complexities of human-AI interactions and the importance of creating effective regulations as these technologies evolve.

Join Jenny Guimant, a math teacher from Indianapolis, Angela Fleck, a sixth-grade social studies teacher in Spokane, and Adam Swinyard, Superintendent of Spokane Public Schools, as they dive into the complexities of smartphone bans in schools. They share real classroom experiences, highlighting the improvements in student engagement and social interactions. The discussion also touches on the challenges teachers face with policy enforcement, the shift towards alternative technology for learning, and how to promote extracurricular activities as a healthy distraction from screens.

Gina Peterson, a dedicated adult learner, shares her journey of returning to education and the stark realities of today’s job market. Guy Berger, an economic research director at the Burning Glass Institute, highlights how the value of a college degree is shifting, with many graduates feeling ghosted by employers despite countless applications. They discuss the mounting pressures of competition, the emotional strain of job hunting, and the crucial role of networking and interpersonal skills in securing opportunities in this challenging landscape.

When the web was new back in the late 1990s, Robert Ubell was among those pushing for its adoption to help students who couldn’t get to a campus — over the objections of professors who thought it would always be sub-par. The online learning pioneer says the history of online’s growth offers lessons for those trying teaching innovations today.

Over the past few months, a group of educators has been designing and testing a system that uses ChatGPT to serve as an assistant to instructors as they build courses for students. One key point of the series of design workshops is to learn how educators can make the most effective uses of AI, and where it’s less helpful.

As pandemic relief funds run out — which helped many students connect to the internet to keep up with their studies — there’s a danger that the “homework gap” could suddenly widen, argues Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, in a new book.

The high cost of college is changing how high schoolers think about whether or not to go. A new book, “Rethinking College,” argues for changing the narrative around higher education to be more welcoming to gap years, apprenticeships and other alternatives to college at a time where a degree is so expensive that students worry about its value.

A student who was just a few classes shy of graduating from Morehouse College was excited to try its new online program designed for students trying to finish their degrees. It turned out to be a more challenging process than he expected. Here’s how he helped to improve the program for himself and future students.

A professor has been running an unusual experiment looking for signs of racial and gender bias in AI chatbots. And he has an idea for developing new guardrails that can check against such bias and remove it before it is shown to users. See show notes and links here: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-09-03-ai-chatbots-reflect-cultural-biases-can-they-become-tools-to-alleviate-them

Two instructors have created AI chatbot versions of themselves, enhancing student engagement in a Data Protection course. The discussion reveals mixed feelings about AI teaching assistants, highlighting their efficiency while raising concerns about privacy and human interaction. With a critical look at facial recognition technology and its ethical implications, the conversation explores a human-centric approach to data privacy. Emotional connections with AI tools and the potential disruption of traditional learning dynamics invite a balanced view of the future of education.