EdTechSR Ep 279 AI Transformation Arrives

where technology news meets educational analysis Welcome to episode 279 (“AI Transformation Arrives”) of the EdTech Situation Room from January 4, 2023, where technology news meets educational analysis. This edited summary of our show was (initially) algorithmically generated with ChatGPT. Dr. Jason Neiffer, the executive director of the Montana Digital Academy, was joined by Dr. Wes Fryer to discuss AI news and its impact on education. Dr. Neiffer mentioned that AI technology was evolving quickly, and he had been having conversations with trusted advisors, friends, teachers, and other state Virtual School administrators about it. He also mentioned that some people were concerned about AI replacing the need for homework and the potential end of English class, but he believed that AI technologies like ChatGPT were not the end of English class. He also mentioned an article about the focus on handwriting as an alternative and expressed skepticism about its validity. Dr. Neiffer also mentioned that he had been experimenting with researching other ways to use ChatGPT. Overall, the show discussed the impact of AI and other technology advancements on education and the challenges they presented. In addition to discussing AI and its impact on education, the show also covered other topics in technology and education. Dr. Neiffer and Dr. Fryer discussed Google and Apple updates, the tech correction and social media, and the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) happening in Las Vegas. They also discussed the topic of mobile phones and the trouble they can cause. Geeks of the Week included Texting Story Maker and suggestions for what to do with old technology. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR and Mastodon (@[email protected]) for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 9 pm Eastern / 8 pm Central / 7 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

EdTech Situation Room by @techsavvyteach & @wfryer

@edtechsr @neif @wfryer

Here we have a good example of hashtag spam. Just like the keyword spam of old.

I need to figure out a way to block posts that have more than, say, three or four hashtags in them.

Notice there's no attempt to have a conversation here. It's just an announcement post. The 'summary' article is not even written by a human. Dump and pump.

@Downes @edtechsr @wfryer

Respectfully, I disagree. While it may not be a text conversation, the conversation shared here is about all of these topics and provide a substantive contribution to the dialogue.

While the summary may be AI-generated (mostly as an experiment, as AI is a topic we discussed in detail in this episode), the actual conversation is not.

@neif @edtechsr @wfryer

Given that you are the co-host of the podcast referenced in the post, I would be surprised if you didn't disagree.

However, I think there is a large difference between 'posting a link to a YouTube video of a conversation' and 'having a conversation on Mastodon.

I personally think if you just post the link and a bunch of hashtags, you are marketing the video, not having a conversation with us.

And either way, it still seems like hashtag spam to me.

@Downes @neif @edtechsr Conversations have multiple required antecedents, and one of them is discoverability. So yes, using a hashtag is an attempt (here) to help people discover the ideas we’re sharing and make connections. Our podcast has no monetization, it’s really a work of love & passion at this point, so I don’t think we can be legitimately accused of trying to (digitally) shove anything down someone’s throat with hashtags.