Tag: MIEE

A robot delivering a lecture - drawn by the AI DALL-E

How has Higher Ed slumbered into an Artificial Intelligence Crisis?

Lee Fallin 7 Comments

It’s an honest question. Everywhere I look, there are discussion threads, social media posts and emails from Higher Education professionals obsessing over artificial intelligence. Most of these communications focus on ChatGPT, but some acknowledge other tools exist. These ‘new developments’ in artificial intelligence have prompted a dramatic response from the education sector. It has been described as a crisis, a moral panic, an ‘end to homework‘ and a threat to higher education. I think my favourite contribution this year comes from The Mail, which announces artificial intelligence could make ‘mankind extinct’.

Okay. Some perspective is needed. But my real question is this: How did the Higher Education (HE) sector not see this coming?

Artificial Intelligence has powered your work for years

In the UK, the vast majority of Universities use Microsoft (Office) 365 and the Windows operating system. Microsoft’s Outlook powers our emails, SharePoint/OneDrive stores our files, Teams manages our collaboration, and Office keeps us productive. Since 2016, Microsoft’s ‘Office Intelligent Services‘ have seamlessly integrated artificial intelligence-powered features into our everyday working lives. For most HE practitioners, the developments in artificial intelligence have been staring us in the face. Literally. The documents we write, the slides we develop, the emails we read, and the Teams calls we make have all been enhanced by Artificial Intelligence for YEARS.

Artificial intelligence in Microsoft (Office) 365:

  • Read aloud has turned text-to-speech, enhanced to use tone and inflexion.
  • Dictate has enabled speech-to-text, allowing people to talk instead of type. This includes
  • Optical Character Recognition has helped turn image-based text into readable characters.
  • Presenter Coach has analyzed people’s speech, language and body language to deliver real-time presentation feedback in PowerPoint.
  • Slide Designer has taken draft slides and automatically added design elements and images to make slides more effective.
  • Accessibility Checker has allowed the automatic generation of ALT text for images, using computer vision.
  • Microsoft Viva has provided detailed insights: reading your emails to identify unfinished tasks and checking your calendar to provide useful documents for meetings – in real-time.
  • Subtitles and Transcription have enabled PowerPoint and Teams to provide real-time subtitles for presentations, calls and recordings.
  • Excel has offered enhanced chart types (i.e. Maps) and real-time, streamed data (i.e. Stocks).
  • Editor has offered enhanced spelling and grammar advice, and has extended to use text prediction to save time when writing.
  • Translate has offered real-time translation from text, images and speech across up to 100 languages (and variants).
  • Scheduler has coordinated meetings between people – and even booked rooms.
  • Natural language queries in Excel have allowed people to use questions, not formulas.
  • Search enhanced with AI when using Bing.com
This screenshot shows how Viva Cortana emails, PowerPoint Presenter Coach, Immersive Reader, Editor, Designer, Alt Text and Translator surface in Office.
A series of Microsoft Office Intelligent Services

The examples above are just workplace, education and consumer applications. In industry, Microsoft-powered AI has been detecting facing, monitoring crops, enhancing video games, fighting fraud and detecting faults across hundreds of sectors. I can understand people not being aware of some of these applications – but the stuff listed above has been right in front of our eyes.

It was some relief to see ‘This shouldn’t be a surprise‘ published while I write this post!

How can any of these artificial intelligence developments be a surprise?

So. Reflecting on the list above, ‘Intelligent Services’ have supported reading and writing across the Microsoft (Office) 365 platform for over eight years(!!!). If you’ve been using Microsoft Office productivity applications like Outlook, Word and PowerPoint – I cannot understand how ChatGPT can be a surprise. Office applications have started:

  1. correcting your writing and predicting what you will say
  2. reading your emails to manage your diary and tasks,
  3. listening to you, so you don’t need to write,
  4. automatically making things accessible with subtitling and computer vision

The list goes on. If artificial intelligence has been doing all this for years – how is ChatGPT such a leap?

I can understand how ChatGPT feels like a significant step up from previous chatbots. But I don’t see how it can be all that surprising when we reflect on those daily developments and how artificial intelligence has slowly become part of the everyday. It isn’t just at work or in education. Your last test at the hospital might have been screened by artificial intelligence. Every time you make a purchase, the transactions are scrutinised by artificial intelligence for anomalies. It really is everywhere. I get how the quality of written response is shocking – but given what we’ve seen happen in Microsoft (Office) 365 over the last few years – I don’t think we can call it a surprise.

Why the last-minute response?

I honestly do not know the answer to this question. The radical potential of artificial intelligence has been staring everyone in the face for years. Every email. Every document. Every Teams call. Every PowerPoint. Artificial intelligence has been prompting, pushing, helping and enhancing for years. How can ChatGPT be such a surprise? I am absolutely shocked that schools, colleges, and universities are so late in reacting to the challenge artificial intelligence poses to traditional assessment. This should not be a surprise. Not at all. I cannot understand how future scanning and business planning did not identify this as part of long-term strategies. Emergency planning and task groups should not be necessary! Educational policies should have been prepared years ago.

But they weren’t.

As such, the kneejerk reaction has been to ban artificial intelligence in many educational establishments. Given the circumstances – this is probably the right answer. For now. In future, I urge educational leaders to reconsider artificial intelligence and look at how it can be used alongside the curriculum.

Artificial intelligence in the curriculum

Our students will be leaving the educational world to join workplaces that use artificial intelligence. It might not even be labelled as such – but it will be there in the background. The example of Microsoft (Office) 365 in this very post is a great example of this in application. As such, we need to equip our students for this. Not just the practicalities of using artificial intelligence – but the difficult questions around ethics and responsibility of use too. These skills cannot be developed under a ban.

  • Artificial intelligence reproduces the biases of society. Our students must be equipped to challenge this.
  • Artificial intelligence uses Machine Learning – but this is often targeted at a range of information- including high-quality, questionable and poor-quality sources. Students need to be able to identify fact from fiction.
  • Artificial intelligence supports accessibility, it can translate, see and write for anyone who needs support with it. While not perfect, those features cannot be turned off.

It’s fair to say – the news isn’t all doom and gloom. It’s been nice to see some new articles discussing how artificial intelligence won’t hinder creativity, will help schools teach skills for university and how it can be integrated into teaching. It is also interesting to see reflections on the OpenAI website (ChatGPT’s creator) about how it can support streamlined and personalised teaching – amongst many opportunities and threats.

The last word – The future of Higher Education with ChatGPT

I couldn’t help but close this post by handing over the conclusion to ChatGPT. I asked it to tell me the best-case scenario for the inclusion of artificial intelligence in university education.

The best-case scenario

In the best-case scenario, artificial intelligence (AI) will have a positive impact on university education. AI will help to improve the quality and efficiency of education by providing students with personalized learning experiences. AI-driven tutoring systems will be able to analyze a student’s performance and give immediate feedback and recommendations for improvement. AI can also be used to create adaptive learning systems that adjust the difficulty of tasks based on a student’s progress, allowing students to move at their own pace and make the most of their learning experience.

AI can also be used to automate administrative tasks, such as grading, making it easier for professors to focus on teaching and providing students with the best possible learning experience. AI-enabled analytics can be used to identify students at risk of dropping out, so appropriate interventions can be put in place to increase their chances of success. Finally, AI can be used to offer more engaging learning experiences, such as interactive simulations and augmented reality. All of this will enable universities to provide a higher quality of education while reducing costs and increasing student satisfaction.

(ChatGPT, 2023 – Published by OpenAI)

…and the worst-case scenario?


In the worst-case scenario, artificial intelligence (AI) could have a detrimental impact on university education. AI-driven tutoring systems could be overly rigid, unable to adapt to individual students’ needs, and lead to a one-size-fits-all approach to learning. AI-enabled analytics could be used to track student progress and create an environment of surveillance and control, where students feel that their every move is being monitored and judged. In addition, AI-driven automation of administrative tasks could lead to job losses, as universities reduce their staff numbers in favor of automated systems. This could lead to a decrease in the quality of education, as universities focus on cutting costs rather than on providing students with the best possible learning experience. Finally, AI-enabled simulations and augmented reality could lead to a decrease in critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as students become reliant on pre-programmed systems. All of this could lead to a decrease in student satisfaction and an overall decline in the quality of university education.

(ChatGPT, 2023 – Published by OpenAI)

Okay – I had a bit of fun with the conclusion. But ChatGPT makes a valid point… there is a lot of potential disruption – good or bad – coming to HE. The question still remains:

How did most HE practitioners not see this coming?

Answers in the comments 😅

Also see: Using AI to summerise emails: A use case for text-davinci-003

Happy (Professional) Developments! CeLP | MIEE | NCE

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

Over the last few months I have had a number of amazing opportunities to learn new skills, demonstrate technical competencies and reflect on my own professional development. All of this hard work has led to the following recognitions:

  • Certified Leading Practitioner (CeLP) (ALDinHE)
  • Microsoft Innovative Education Expert 2018-19 (MIEE) (Microsoft)
  • NVivo 12 Certified Expert (QSR)

Each of these means an awful lot to me, and reflects a lot of hard work and commitment over the last few years.

 

Certified Leading Practitioner (CeLP)

CeLP status is awarded by the Association of Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE, 2018). Professional recognition is a new venture for ALDinHE, launched at the 2018 annual conference. The scheme offers two levels of recognition, certified practitioner (CeP) and certified leading practitioner (CeLP), helping to recognise learning development as a distinct profession (Briggs, 2018).

I am truly honoured to have been recognised as a Certified Leading Practitioner, and for the ALDinHE community which provides such an excellent forum for us to share practice and ideas. I cannot wait to see how this recognition scheme grows and how ALDinHE continues to evolve as a professional body.

If you work within learning development in higher education, I highly recommend the CeP/CeLP professional recognition. Similar to HEA fellowship, it provides a valuable opportunity to reflect on your practice. What makes ALDinHE’s scheme particularly valuable is its grounding within learning development, making it the most relevant scheme for professionals working in this area.

Microsoft Innovative Education Expert 2018-19

Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert 2018-19I am happy to share that I am returning as a MIEE for 2018-19 and Trainer, making this my second year in the programme. I am particularly excited to be joined this year by Sue Watling, who alongside Joel Mills places at least three of us in Hull. The MIEE program provides excellent opportunities to connect with peers, share ideas and help other educators.

As Microsoft continue to develop stunning new features and tools that continue to make technology more open and accessible, I could not be more proud to be an MIEE. You can check out my profile on the Microsoft Educator Community, but more importantly have a look at the excellent courses and resources.

NVivo 12 Certified Expert

I am incredibly proud to be recognised as a NVivo 12 Certified Expert. This level of recognition reflects a long journey for me, starting with my first use of NVivo in 2011. Since then I have taught hundreds of students, created dozens of NVivo projects and ingrained NVivo into a variety of research. To gain expert status I was required to undertaken further learning, sit a multiple choice exam and take three, two-hour exams. I am so proud of myself for getting through all of this (including further assessment to move from NVivo 11 to 12).

If you are an experienced NVivo user, I highly recommended the certification program. It is an excellent way to build your skills and recognise your achievements.

 

I am aware that this whole post was a little self-indulgent, but after all this work I had to do a little something to mark all of these achievements. My next step is to go for my Senior Fellowship of the HEA, building on my current Fellowship level. This one is going to take a lot of work, but I have already made a fair start on the application. Wish me luck!

My digital workflow: Office 365 processes & tools for doctoral students

Lee Fallin Leave a comment

I thought I would take some time to share the invaluable Microsoft tools that I use as part of my thesis and research. I think the usefulness of Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook is without question. These programs are an essential part of my work, but I will focus on other tools that I use to support my research.

Pixaline / Pixabay

OneNote

OneNote is a note taking application. OneNote is like my second brain. It stores my notes for absolutely every situation. Instead of a mixture of apps and notebooks, I take a great effort to keep everything in one place. The availability of OneNote on iOS, MacOS and Windows means I can access OneNote on all of my devices: iPad Pro, iPhone, MacBook Pro and Windows 10 computers. This means I can also access my notes anywhere and pretty much on every device. I’m a big fan of handwritten notes and there is a lot of evidence that demonstrates they’re the most effective way to take notes. The awesomeness of the iPad Pro and Pencil mean I can handwrite on-screen just as well as on paper. For any situation in which I do use paper, I scan documents in or use Office Lens (see below).

Technicalities aside, I use OneNote for:

  • Lecture notes, keynotes, conference notes
  • Supervision meeting records
  • Thoughts, thinking, general notes
  • Notes on reading
  • Field notes
  • Shopping lists, recipes and pretty much everything else!

The reason OneNote works so effectively is the wide range of media it supports. Not only can type or hand written notes be used within OneNote, but it supports drawing, maths, images, audio, video, tables, embedded files and a whole range of other special applications. Notes are easy to find as they are organised into sections and notebooks. Everything is searchable, tagable and easy to find.

FirmBee / Pixabay

OneDrive

OneDrive is a cloud storage platform. This means it stores files on a remote server as opposed to any one device. This means you can access anything you store on it anywhere you have internet. I use OneDrive to store all of my important files, with the exception of anything personally identifiable, like research data. While OneDrive achieves the same as Box, DropBox, iCloud Drive, Google Drive or any of platform, the deep integration with Microsoft Office makes OneDrive the most useful. It is also the cheapest platform as you get 1 TB for free included in Office 365, including the edition most universities provide students with.

Not only does OneDrive let you store your files and make them available, it also lets you connect to any computer you’re synced to and pull any file from it. This is really useful if you ever forget to take a file with you. As you’d expect, everything is searchable – but it is important to carefully consider your organisation system. I take great care to never get lazy when saving files otherwise it quickly ends up an unusable mess.

OneDrive is accessible within Office 365 programs, allowing you access to save directly to your OneDrive from within the software. The very latest versions of some even automatically – and constantly save to your OneDrive, ensuring your work is always safe. OneDrive can also be used for collaboration, allowing multiple people to edit an office file in real-time. This can be done with in-browser and in-program. Most people will recognise this functionality from Google Docs/Sheets – but its a lot more powerful in Office.

 

Office Lens

Office Lens is an amazing app for phones and tablets. It allows you to use the devices camera to take photographs, and save them directly to OneDrive, OneNote, your camera stream, PDF, Word or PowerPoint. What makes Lens so special is it’s ability to work with documents, whiteboards and business cards. When pointing Lens at a document, whiteboard, television, projector screen, book or whatever you want to capture, Lens detects the edges automatically and removes the background. This makes it a pretty impressive scanner! For whiteboards it also filters the photo and enhances the picture.

Most of my Lens shots end up getting stored within OneNote, embedded within whatever notebook I am working on at the time. I use it to capture a lot of projector screens – essential for lectures and conference. I also like using it for documents so I can take a photo/image of it away with me digitally rather than  needing to carry a lot of paper. As I suggested above, it is this feature that also lets me digitise any handwritten notes I may take. While I don’t use it, Lens works with Microsoft Immersive Reader so it is fantastic for accessibility purposes.

helloolly / Pixabay

Other useful tools

While I don’t have space to go into too much detail, there are some other essential apps:

Microsoft Translator

Microsoft Translator is a free, personal translation app for 60+ languages, to translate text, voice, conversations, camera photos and screenshots. You can even download languages for offline translation for free to use when you travel!

 

Microsoft Visio

Microsoft Visio is a diagramming software package. It lets you easily draw a whole range of processes, diagrams and maps. It is a lot easier to use than Microsoft Word for making diagrams, with special tools to help you keep elements in line and linked.

 

Microsoft To Do

Microsoft To-Do is a simple and intelligent to-do list that makes it easy to plan your day. Whether it’s for work, school or home, To-Do will help you increase your productivity and decrease your stress levels. It combines intelligent technology and beautiful design to empower you to create a simple daily workflow. Organize your day with To-Do’s smart Suggestions and complete the most important tasks or chores you need to get done, every day. To-Do syncs between your phone and computer, so you can access your to-dos from school, the office, or the grocery store or even while you’re traveling around the world.

Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert 2017-2018

Lee Fallin 7 Comments

 

Monday this week I had the great pleasure of receiving an email from Microsoft to congratulate me on being selected as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE) for 2017-2018. This was a wonderful surprise, following my application submission earlier this year. The application process involved putting together a PowerPoint Mix or Sway to overview my work. I chose to create a small portfolio in Sway which was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the last academic year. Now I am part of the MIEE programme I look forward to continuing to model the use of Microsoft technologies for learning and teaching. More importantly, I look forward to training and supporting colleagues in their own use of Microsoft technology for learning and teaching.

The year ahead

The MIEE status stays with me for a year and over this time I’ve been thinking about what I want to work on. Like any other commitment I take, I took to Twitter to outline my plans for the year:

As outlined in my tweet, I have three areas I want to work on and in this blog I’ll add a fourth – my own CPD.

Sways and Mixes

I think Sways and Mixes are fantastic educational tools. I especially love how I can quickly create a Mix in PowerPoint. While I can use more complicated tools, they take valuable time. Time I don’t have. For Sway – I love the dynamic and responsive nature. They work really well for content heavy pages that need to be accessible on any size of screen. The ability to set image focus points always ensures the most important elements of any diagram are preserved no matter what device someone is on. I am looking forward to getting some Mixes and Sways online.

Support colleagues with digital literacy and Microsoft 365

Over the last couple of years I’ve been doing a lot of work on digital literacy. My work over the last few months with Microsoft Office 365 and a whole range of Microsoft tools and apps (Learning Tools, Sway, Office Lens, Snip, PowerPoint Mix) has brought new perspectives to this work. Having built my own expertise through practice, I’m now looking forward to supporting colleagues developing their use of Microsoft educational tools, apps and Microsoft Office too. I’m also keen to update some of my existing resources with the latest tech solutions.

Promoting OneNote

OneNote has long been a component of Microsoft Office. It is however, often in the shadow of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. I think it is one of the most undervalued aspects of the office suite and I always love introducing users to it. Often, students have OneNote installed on their computer but have never even opened it. I want to try and promote it more within my own institution. I think OneNote combined with Office Lens is the perfect solution to all a students note taking needs! Additional aspects of this including further experimentation with Class Notebooks, and I look forward to seeing how they can replace some wikis I am currently using in the VLE.

CPD

Technology is always developing and I aim to keep myself up-to-date on any new tools Microsoft release, and any updates to existing tools. I’m also keen to continue developing my knowledge through the Microsoft Educator Community.