I have been working for a while (with some amazing colleagues) on course on creative teaching with AI. This was publicly announced in a story in today’s MLFTC newsletter titled: GenAI as a creative K–12 learning partner For those who haven't had a chance to read the...
Education in the AI Era: Responses to a call for help
Recently, I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion on "Advancing Education in the AI Era: Promises, Pitfalls, and Policy Strategies" hosted by the Center for AI Policy in Washington, D.C. The event, held in the hallowed (not a word I use lightly)...
Why ChatGPT Isn’t Your Next Teacher
There is a great deal of buzz about how generative AI (GenAI) can transform education—something I have been thinking about a lot as well. That said, I not so sure we're asking the right questions. Let's back up a second. Back in the early 90's I was a grad student at...
Teachers and genAI: Insights from an OECD Webinar
I recently had the privilege of participating in a webinar hosted by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) on the topic of "How teachers can use AI effectively." The session was described as follows Supporters of AI argue it has the...
ChatGPT for Teachers: Insights from Online Discussions
In our ongoing exploration of creativity, learning, and technology for the journal TechTrends, my co-authors and I have turned our attention to the fascinating intersection of generative AI and education. Our past interviews have featured innovators such as Chris...
Pencil Literacy: A framework
I have been thinking of pencils lately. Pencils in the context of AI. What if pencils were the latest technological change to hit our world? How would we as educators respond? Would we worry about children using them ethically? What about cheating: erasing answers and...
Endless Sky: AI composes a song
A few years ago I wrote a poem titled “A cosmologist worries (about infinity)” inspired by a conversation with my friend and cosmologist, Tanmay Vachaspati. I remembered this poem recently when I was playing with Suno the generative AI song generator. So I wondered...
ISTE LIVE 24: Denver
Melissa Warr and I were in Denver earlier this week for the ISTE 2024 conference. We were there to receive the Outstanding Research Paper award from the Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, for our paper TPACK in an age of ChatGPT and generative AI....
Racist or just biased? It’s complicated
Note: This is a continuation of the shared blogging of Warr, Mishra, and Oster. In this post, Melissa wrote the first draft to which Punya and Nicole added substantial revisions and edits. “Science” is social. We build on each other’s ideas. We critique each other’s...
Cats on the moon: How OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft & Apple are Dealing with Hallucinations
Note: Warr, Oster, and Mishra are at it again with a shared blog post. First (really terrible) draft by Punya, which was cleaned up by ChatGPT and then went through cycles of editing by all of us. Note: An addendum written after Apple's announcement of its own...
Creative Learning for Sustainability in a World of AI: Action, Mindset, Values
How can we ensure that education keeps pace and remains relevant In a world where technology evolves at lightning speed and global challenges seem more daunting than ever? In a recently published article, Danah Henriksen, Rachel Stern and I propose a framework that...
ChatGPT does not have a user manual. Let’s not create one.
Note: This is the next post in the shared blogging experiment with Melissa Warr and Nicole Oster. This time we question what and how we should be teaching about generative AI. The core idea and first draft came from Melissa, to which Nicole and I added revisions and...
GenAI in Education: MFLTC’s systems approach
Over two years ago we started a Learning Futures Collaborative focusing on the role of Artificial Intelligence in Education (The AI in Ed LFC). I like to emphasize the fact that we started the LFC BEFORE ChatGPT was released into the world. We were ahead of the curve....
Working with constraints: Creativity through repurposing
Teaching is an inherently creative act, requiring educators to navigate constraints and find innovative ways to engage students. In our recently published chapter, Danah Henriksen, Lauren Woo and I explore the notion of "repurposing" as a vital skill for fostering...
Teacher Knowledge in an Age of Gen AI: SITE 2024 Keynote
16 years ago, Matt Koehler and I were invited to present a Keynote at the Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education (SITE) conference. That keynote changed our lives (link to YouTube video). I was invited back again this year for the same. A lot has...
Metaphors, Minds, Technology & Learning
Note: The shared blogging experiment with Melissa Warr and Nicole Oster continues. This time we delve into metaphors of the mind, technology and generative AI. The core idea and first draft came from Melissa, to which I contributed a substantial rewrite. The final...
Who speaks for the university? Social fiction as a lens for reimagining higher education futures
Note: Image above created using Adobe Firefly, Photoshop and composed in Keynote. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of connecting with author Dr. Phoebe Wagner through the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University. We discussed her...
Why are we surprised? Hallucinations, bias and the need for teaching with and about genAI
By Punya Mishra, Melissa Warr & Nicole Oster Note: This is the first post in an experiment at shared blogging by Melissa Warr, Nicole Oster and myself. Over the past months we have found ourselves engaged in some fascinating conversations around genAI, education,...
SITE 2024: A recap
The Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education (SITE) conference has been an integral part of my professional journey for over two decades. My first presentation at SITE was back in 2001 with Matt Koehler and through the years, SITE has played a pivotal...
AI in Education: Potentials, Perils & Policies
NORRAG, based at the Geneva Graduate Institute, is a global network focused on international education policy and cooperation, known for its commitment to addressing under-researched topics related to education quality and equity and amplifying voices from the Global...
The (Neil) Postman Always Rings Twice: 5 Questions on AI and Education
Note: This post has also been cross-posted on the Civics of Technology blog. Marie Heath (with whom I recently co-wrote a blog post about GenAI in Teacher Education: A techno-skeptical perspective) and I were invited to write a chapter for an edited volume titled...
Creative dialogue with Generative AI: Exploring the Possible with Ron Beghetto
As part of our ongoing series for the journal TechTrends exploring the intersections of technology, education, and creativity, we have recently turned our focus to the potential impacts of generative AI (GenAI) on these domains. Our latest article features a...
Student Panel at FOLC Fest
On March 14-15, 2024, Arizona State University hosted its inaugural Future of Learning Community (FOLC) Fest at the Omni Hotel in Tempe. This conference brought together educators, technologists, and student success advocates to explore how ASU can fulfill its charter...
Generative AI in Education: Keynote at UofM-Flint
A couple of weeks ago I was invited to give a keynote at the Frances Willson Thompson Critical Issues Conference on Generative AI in Education. It was great to go back to Michigan even if for a super short trip. One of the pleasures of the visit was catching up with...
Generative AI, Teacher Knowledge and Educational Research: Bridging Short- and Long-Term Perspectives.
I am pleased to share our latest article in our ongoing column series for TechTrends on the topics of technology creativity and education. Over the past few months we have focused on generative AI, through conversations with thought leaders such as Chris Dede...
It HAS to hallucinate: The true nature of LLM’s
Though Generative AI is receiving a great deal of attention lately, I am not entirely sure that the discussions of these technologies and their impact on education and society at large genuinely engage with the true nature of these technologies. In fact I have argued...
Reflection: Welcome 2024
Since December 2008 we have been creating a video to welcome the new year. When we made our first video we had no idea that we would still be doing it 16 years later, and, frankly who knows how long we can keep it up. These videos are usually typographical in nature,...
AI is WEIRD: Part II
Note: The image above is an original design - showing "AI" embedded in the word "WEIRD" Generative AI is weird... as I had written in my previous blog post, identifying some key characteristics I had described in a recent Keynote presentation. In the process of...
GenAI 2023: Year in Review
A week or so ago I was joined by friends Sean Leahy, Rachna Mathur and Kellie Kreiser on the Learning Futures Podcast. The topic: looking back on a crazy, dynamic, transformative year of generative AI. As is to be expected, we covered a lot of ground in the...
Me & We in AI
What does generative AI mean to me? And to us? These key questions were part of a special exhibit curated by students in the DCI 691: Education by Design course I taught this fall. Education by Design is my favorite class to teach. It is a course about design—design...