AI to Boost Course Design and Efficiency

In today’s dynamic educational landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the way we design and deliver courses. Far from being a passing fad, AI is here to stay, offering incredible opportunities to enhance our lives and increase productivity. For instance, at Harvard Medical School, AI is used to create AI-generated syllabi and lesson plans, allowing educators to focus more on teaching and less on administrative tasks.

However, like any powerful tool, it is crucial to understand when and how to use AI effectively. By leveraging AI thoughtfully, we can streamline course design, personalize learning experiences, improve overall efficiency, and have an on-demand thought partner. Yet, it is equally important to recognize the limitations and ethical considerations, ensuring that AI complements rather than compromises the human touch in education.

There are various AI tools at your disposal. Some you may be familiar with, such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, and others you may not have heard of, like Athena and Perplexity. We have analyzed various tools that perform specific functions to meet specific needs. While UMass currently utilizes Copilot, we encourage you to think broadly and explore the range of options in the table below to fit your needs. Please be mindful and avoid sharing sensitive data with these tools.

Knowing what tools do is half the battle, but what about actually putting them to use and using them for good? We analyzed AI-Enhanced Instructional Design and its case study on Perplexity AI titled Harnessing Perplexity AI for Research and Effective Source Identification. The case study provides an excellent use-case for an AI tool that isn’t your basic generative AI tool, but a tool for students to develop important media literacy skills.

Using Perplexity AI to Foster Critical Media Literacy Skills

Perplexity AI is a powerful tool for building students' critical media literacy skills, helping them analyze information more deeply. AI chatbots like Perplexity should be seen as supportive “helpers” rather than “doers.” This means students should use Perplexity to aid their learning without relying on it as a sole information source. Developing critical media literacy skills allows students to assess the reliability, intent, and societal impact of information.

Here are key ways Perplexity AI can be used to enhance these skills:

1. Evaluating Source Reliability: Perplexity AI provides sources for each answer, allowing students to examine the credibility and trustworthiness of these references.
2. Recognizing Bias: Perplexity AI enables users to check for potential bias by exploring the backgrounds of authors or publishers, examining language and tone, reviewing data and statistics provided, investigating funding sources, and comparing multiple sources.
3. Assessing Stereotypes and Representation: Students can scrutinize sources for stereotypes or misrepresentations by evaluating the visual media, checking for generalizations or tokenism, understanding the author's perspective, and consulting expert opinions or affected communities.
4. Privacy and Ethical Considerations: When using AI tools like Perplexity, students must remain aware of privacy, ownership, and intellectual rights, especially since Perplexity pulls from varied sources, including social media platforms. This practice highlights the importance of digital caution and awareness of online content's permanence.
5. Conducting Critical Analysis: Students can use Perplexity to aid in analyzing the validity, bias, and context of sources by asking questions like, “What is the author’s background?” or “What could be the company's intent behind this study?”
6. Using the Copilot Function: Perplexity's Copilot feature helps users refine their questioning, guiding them to ask more targeted questions and think critically about the prompts they use. This feature supports students in developing more focused inquiries and understanding the context needed for clear information gathering.

As students interact with tools like Perplexity AI, they enhance their media literacy and develop a stronger understanding of effective prompting, which leads to more accurate information gathering and critical thinking. Perplexity AI is a helpful learning tool, but it’s essential to understand its limitations. It sources information from a wide range of internet platforms, including YouTube and Reddit, which may sometimes contain unreliable or biased information. While Perplexity AI is useful for quickly gathering information, it should not be the only source relied upon for research.

ChatGPT: A Versatile Tool for Education

Note: Earlier we mentioned that UMass primarily uses Copilot. We felt it was important to talk about ChatGPT and also suggest that you should also try the same functions in Copilot. 

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is an AI-powered language model designed to generate human-like text responses based on the prompts it receives from users. This model was trained on an extensive dataset of text and conversations, enabling it to respond coherently and relevantly to a wide range of topics. 

Given its capabilities, ChatGPT has gained widespread recognition as a leading example of AI technology. It serves a variety of educational purposes, such as:

• Answering questions
• Generating content
• Providing explanations
• Assisting with complex discussions
• Engaging in interactive conversations

ChatGPT’s versatility makes it a valuable resource for both teachers and students across many educational tasks. However, the tool is also surrounded by controversy. 

In higher education, there are concerns about students misusing AI tools like ChatGPT for cheating and plagiarism, similar to past issues with resources like Chegg, SparkNotes, and Course Hero. To address this, institutions are implementing safeguards to uphold academic integrity. ChatGPT, which generates responses from existing information rather than creating original content, is detectable by various plagiarism detection tools, helping to mitigate potential misuse.

Understanding the appropriate use of AI tools like ChatGPT is crucial because it ensures that these technologies enhance educational experiences without compromising academic integrity. 

By implementing safeguards and promoting ethical use, we can maximize the benefits of AI while minimizing potential misuse.