Using AI in the Classroom: Instructors

Efficiency 

Artificial Intelligence can help instructors save time in various ways. One of the biggest examples is automated grading. This isn't new and is built into most of the products the college already uses. Beyond grading, AI can help with writing assessments as well. You can use a Large Language Model (LLM) such as ChatGPT or Gemini to:

• Write quiz or exam questions
• If you're having trouble finalizing an assignment introduction, you can use the prompt "clarify  _____" and type your introduction. Remember you can do this a few times for different responses and pick the one that works best for you.
• You can also LLMs to help write rubrics and performance assessment tasks

If you need an image for a lecture, presentation, or content folder in Blackboard, you could use generative AI to create that image instead of going through search engines and trying to find an image that fits your work and is available for use.

Personalized Learning

You can use LLMs to help change the style or reading level of your course content to meet an individual student's needs.

AI can also translate course content into a student's native language.

Accessibility

Many of these features are built into products we are already using at the college.

You can upload a video lecture or class recording to Panopto to have captions automatically added to your video. This can help students with retention from reading the captions. Some students might not be able to listen to the audio because they are on a public computer or in a noisy location, and you can use the captions to show the proper spelling of complex words or names.

Ally is an AI tool built into Blackboard. Ally can review your course and provide suggestions to increase the accessibility of your course. Ally also allows students to download course materials in different formats. For example, if you upload a Word document, students can use Ally to download a PDF version of the document to use with a screen reader.

Generative AI Detection

There are tools available to help detect generative AI, focused mainly on generated text. There is no tool to detect generative AI with 100% accuracy. At best, these tools can help an instructor review a submission, but can not be used as definitive proof of generative AI. The best options for avoiding generative AI issues with student assessments, would be to design authentic assessments for your course.

Tools for Instructors

There are dozens and dozens of AI programs already out there, and more are being developed every day. Most of these programs require a recurring payment plan to access. The programs listed below are free to use, so you can try them out right now!