Hello Integrating Technology Colleagues,
As of October 30th there were 2045 members of the Integrating Technology group. There were two substantive discussions:
1) CrowdED Learning Topic Three, Week 1: Fluency Resource Exploration This discussion began on October 7th and was part of a four-week discussion led by Jeff Goumas, founder of CrowdED Learning, There were 11 comments by the end of October.
This week-long panel discussion with AI, VR, and AR experts began on October 14th. There were 68 comments. Below is a detailed summary of the discussion.
David J. Rosen, Moderator
LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group
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(Long) Summary of Panel Discussion on Education Applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
October 14 – 18, 2019,
LINCS Integrating Technology and Program Management groups
Introduction to Discussion
David J. Rosen, Moderator of the LINCS Integrating Technology and Program Management groups, introduced the discussion with, “An important professional development feature of LINCS is to keep you current with innovations in the adult basic skills field. K-12 education and higher education have been exploring teaching and learning applications of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for several years, although this is relatively new to adult basic skills education practitioners. This is an opportunity for LINCS members, and others who may be interested, to learn about and discuss examples of innovations in AI, VR and AR that have been specifically designed for adult learners, or that have been designed for K-12 students, and have promise for adult basic skills learners.“ He later recommended a short paper by panelist Dr. Robert Murphy -- "Perspective Artificial Intelligence Applications to Support K-12 Teachers and Teaching A Review of Promising Applications, Opportunities, and Challenges," https://bit.ly/2oTX1zj”
Panelists:
The expert panel included:
- Art Graesser, PhD. Department of Psychology and Institute of Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis. Dr. Graesser is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis and is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford. Art Graesser and his University of Memphis colleagues, working with the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy at Georgia State University, have developed and tested the use of AutoTutor, an intelligent tutoring system that holds conversations with adult learners in natural language.
- Susan Gaer. An emeritus professor of English, specializing in ESL at Santa Anna College in Southern California, Susan Gaer has been a subject matter expert and technology integration professional development specialist for OTAN, California’s statewide adult basic skills technology professional development organization. She is a partner of World Education’s Education Technology Center, and is also President Elect of the California Association of Teachers to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL). She has focused on using VR with ESL students from beginning to advanced levels.
- Cliff Archey. As Senior Education Program Manager for IBM Corporate Social Responsibility, in his current role Cliff is the Offering Manager for Teacher Advisor With Watson, managing the strategic direction and implementation of this free AI-enhanced planning tool for teachers.
- Johan E. Uvin, Ph.D. As President, Institute for Educational Leadership, Dr. Uvin’s work in the field of adult basic skills education, including ESOL/ESL includes positions as an ESOL teacher and program administrator in Boston, an associate state director of adult education in Massachusetts, a state director of adult education in Rhode Island, and as Assistant Secretary of Education in the U.S. Department of Education. He first engaged in Virtual Reality work when he represented the federal government on a Virtual and Augmented Reality Summit where he promoted the use of VR for training and development purposes. He subsequently provided oversight to the EdSim Challenge. Most recently, he has been working with Oculus to expand VR applications in the education sector, particularly focused on creating access to hardware and applications in communities where children, youth, and adults never get to access these new emerging technologies due to lack of resources.
- Robert Murphy, Ph. D. is a Senior Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation. Before joining RAND, Dr. Murphy was the director of evaluation research for SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning where he was the Principle Investigator for the Technologies for Adult Basic Literacies Evaluation (TABLE) study. He was a panelist in the 2016 LINCS Discussion, Recent Research on Technology and Adult Basic Skills. Dr. Murphy’s research focuses on research and evaluation of innovative educational and workforce training programs and technologies. He is author of Artificial Intelligence Applications to Support K–12 Teachers and Teaching, A Review of Promising Applications, Opportunities, and Challenges.
Artificial Intelligence
Discussion Topics and Themes
- What is AI, and what are some promising education applications? (See paper by Robert Murphy recommended in the Introduction to this discussion)
- Different types of AI
- How AI can impact training and workforce development
- Costs of AI systems and Intelligent Tutoring Systems
- Early Warning Systems to impact student retention. See https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27314#comment-27314 and https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27323#comment-27323
- Emerging Technologies as a means to close opportunity gaps
- AI and Career Development
- Examples of AI for education
- PAL3 system being developed for the Navy by researchers at University of Southern California, University of Memphis, and Arizona State University. The goal is to recommend courses and make suggestions to consider for the sailor to consider career paths.
- Many universities interested in using technology to improve student retention and career paths. One successful system was developed at Georgia State University by Tim Renick; approximately 1000 production rules detect vulnerable students and recommend they visit a counselor. Could have high value for Adult Basic Skills Programs in which there is a problem with retention/persistence. For more about this, see https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27314#comment-27314
- Current examples of the use of data intensive AI in education
- ALEKS (https://www.aleks.com), Khan Academy, and Spark3000 (https://www.edsurge.com/product-reviews/spark3000) are three examples of adaptive rule-based instructional systems that have been adopted at some scale in adult learning settings.) See https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27321#comment-27321 for post about this.)
- AI based math apps (below) and “Cheating Apps”
- IXL Learning
- Maths Formulas Free
- BBC Skillswise
- Khan Academy
- Math Brain Booster Games
- King of Maths
- GeometryPad
- Policy and Principles
- Intelligent Tutoring Systems
- Limitations of Humans and AI based solutions vs humans
- Testing AI systems by having them take tests
- Text-to-text and speech-to-text systems
- IBM free Education Applications (Also see replies below)
- https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27292#comment-27292 ,
- https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27320#comment-27320 ,
- https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27336#comment-27336,
- https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27351#comment-27351,
- https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27373#comment-27373 ,
- https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27382#comment-27382
- Professional Development for Instructors to Use AI and Technology
- Problem of limited access to data (also see replies to this post)
- Ethical Dilemmas
- Predictive model to help students see how long it will take them to be HiSET/GED ready based on their self-identified skills and https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27371#comment-27371
- Using AI to predict time to HSE readiness
Resources: primarily papers and articles, and one tool
- "Perspective Artificial Intelligence Applications to Support K-12 Teachers and Teaching A Review of Promising Applications, Opportunities, and Challenges,"
- https://trainingmag.com/trgmag-article/ai-or-just-sci-fi/
- Elliot, S. (2017). Computers and the future of skill demand. Paris, FR: OECD. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/computers-and-the-future-of-skill-demand_9789264284395-en
- Aspen Institute Automation and a Changing Economy: The Case for Action
- Aspen Institute paper on policies that could mitigate difficult transitions in the workplace, Policies for Shared Prosperity
- Forbes Magazine article on AI
- AI-Enabled Hyperpersonalization, AI systems being used to tailor and personalize learning for each individual student
- Adoption of voice assistants “Voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Siri, and Microsoft Cortana are giving students a chance to interact with educational material without the interaction of the teacher.”
- Assisting educators with organizational tasks such as: essay evaluation, grading of exams, and filing some kinds of paperwork. “Education administrators are also reaping the benefits of AI with administrative tasks by using intelligent assistants to help with a range of administrative needs including budgeting, student applications and enrollment, course management, educator HR related issues, purchasing and procurement activities, expense management, and facilities management.”
- Graesser, A.C. (2016). Conversations with AutoTutor help students learn. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 26, 124-132. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-xloTsxGxlGQVA5UGZEaGFrUlp1Vm85X0J3MEp4aU9EMzZn/view
- Graesser, A.C., Forsyth, C., & Lehman, B. (2017). Two heads are better than one: Learning from agents in conversational trialogues. Teacher College Record, 119, 1-20. .https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-xloTsxGxlGM3pwZzVpaExVdkE/view
- Graesser, A.C., Greenberg, D., Olney, A.M., & Lovett, M.W. (2019). Educational technologies that support reading comprehension for adults who have low literacy skills. In D. Perin (Ed). Wiley adult literacy handbook . New York: Wiley. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uNI68zj5CihAuk7TMhku0BsjFv06sqM0/view
- Teacher Advisor With Watson
- Paper published by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) https://tinyurl.com/ydanzcg7
- Ma, W., O. O. Adesope, J. C. Nesbit, and Q. Liu, “Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Learning Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 106, No. 4, 2014, pp. 901–918. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/edu-a0037123.pdf
- Effectiveness of Intelligent Tutoring Systems
- Free Speech Recognition tool
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
Discussion Topics and Themes
- Policy and Principles
- Applications
- A VR application used to help inmate women reduce anxiety in preparation for their release
- Implementing VR/AR/AI in Learner Wrap-around Services
- VR being used to support social awareness and integration of persons on the autism spectrum into society
- Vocational Rehabilitation, also commonly referred to as 'VR', is a partner to adult education that is also researching VR applications to support individuals with different disabilities. Virtual Reality for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR4VR) is part of clinical trials designed to assess and train persons with sensory and cognitive disabilities on work-related skills. VR4VR is a project of the Center for Assistive, Rehabilitation & Robotics Technologies, at the University of South Florida.
- VR/AR systems that integrate ITS
- Medical education, including physiology. See research by S. Lajoie at McGill U.
- Foreign language learning in virtual contexts. Johnson, W. L. & Valente, A. (2009). Tactical Language and Culture Training Systems: Using AI to teach foreign languages and cultures. AI Magazine, 30, 72-83.
- Operating equipment and devices.
- Johnson, W.L. & Lester, J.C. (2016). Twenty years of face-to-face interaction with pedagogical agents. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education.
- Classroom teaching with student characteristics shown above the student when the instructor wears special glasses.
- Holstein, K., McLaren, B. M., & Aleven, V. (2018). Student learning benefits of a mixed-reality teacher awareness tool in AI-enhanced classrooms. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2018). LNAI 10947 (pp. 154-168). Springer: Berlin.
- Revolutionizing and Rethinking Learning and Working through Virtual Reality
- Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
- Transformative ways to enhance the learning experience with VR/AR
- Content Creation: Currently, VR courses most often created for science and history classes, but VR/AR can be applied to any subject and theme.
- Training & Skills Development: Students can explore career pathways through VR/AR from both a-day-in-a-life and skill-building simulations in a variety of industries.
- Virtual Fields Trips: Virtual field trips can allow learners to visit remote or potentially unsafe or impossible-to-reach locations for a fraction of the cost of travel in the real world.
- Special Education: Some students with disabilities can use the VR/AR to learn in many of the same ways as non-disabled students. This can help better integrate students with disabilities into learning environments.
- Distance Learning: VR/AR learning is convenient and more accessible for lower-income communities that rely on public transportation or live in a rural area. VR/AR experiences can provide the sense of presence. VR/AR experiences can replace or enhance traditional schools, but only as soon as VR/AR becomes affordable and integrated in communities.
- Design: VR/AR can aid design and modeling to achieve results beyond the capabilities of real-world tools, technology, and processes.
- Gamification: VR/AR brings gamification into the learning process, providing immediate reward systems proven to positively impact student performance and assessment of skill.
Resources
- VR application for adult learners with a link to an interview with the graduate student responsible for creating it.
- Website with resources, lessons and ideas for 360 photos (VR) https://sites.google.com/view/texastour/home
- https://www.thinglink.com/
- Training with Virtual Reality https://community.lincs.ed.gov/comment/27359#comment-27359
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