Learning Futures

In this episode, Sean talks with our special guests on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and education, with a particular focus on fostering equity and access. Sean is joined by Meacie Fairfax from Complete College America, Dr. Linda Garcia of the Center for Community College Student Engagement from The University of Texas at Austin, and Al Anderson, CIO for Salish Kootenai College, share their expert insights and experiences. 

Key highlights and takeaways from the episode:

• The Potential of AI in Education: The discussion opens up with the transformative possibilities AI brings to educational support services, including personalized academic advising and targeted assistance for students' basic needs.
• Challenges and Opportunities: Guests explore both the hurdles and the promising aspects of AI integration within educational institutions, highlighting the critical role of AI in democratizing access to learning resources.
• Equity and Inclusion in AI Design: A significant part of the conversation is dedicated to ensuring AI tools are designed and utilized in a way that includes and benefits all students, especially those from historically marginalized communities.
• Real-World Applications and Success Stories: Examples of AI applications in various educational settings are shared, showcasing how technology is making a tangible difference in students' academic journeys.
• Looking Forward: The episode concludes with a forward-looking perspective on how AI could reshape the educational landscape, emphasizing the need for continued innovation and inclusivity.

Guest Information: 

• Meacie Fairfax - Strategy Director for Complete College America (CCA). She leads the work on student support strategies, which includes Active Academic Support, Proactive Advising, 360° Coaching, and Basic Needs.
• Dr. Linda Garcia - Executive Director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE) at The University of Texas at Austin. https://cccse.org/meet-cccse-team
• AL Anderson -  Chief Information Officer for IT Services at Salish Kootenai College - https://www.skc.edu/

This episode takes a retrospective review on 2023 and one of the most transformative technologies of our time - generative AI. Our panel of experts, including Punya Mishra, Sean Leahy, Rachna Mathur, and Kellie Kreiser, explores the impact of AI on various fields and reflects on personal experiences with this transformative technology. From academic conferences to real-life applications and philosophical musings, this discussion is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of AI, education, and daily life.

What does this all mean - and where is it going?

Key Episode Highlights include: 

Introduction to the Panel: A warm welcome to our esteemed guests Punya Mishra, Sean Leahy, Rachna Mathur, and Kellie Kreiser.

The Evolution of AI in Education: The panel debates how AI is becoming a normalized tool in education, shedding light on its rapid integration into lesson planning and its potential to democratize knowledge.

Generational Divide in AI Perception: Discussions pivot to the varying levels of comfort and skepticism towards AI among different generations, noting a split between enthusiasts and skeptics.

AI's Impact Over the Past Year: The conversation moves towards the significant advancements in generative AI in 2023, from AI-generated music to multimodal platforms combining text and imagery.

AI in Family Life: Sean shares how AI has become part of his family's routine, especially with his children, reflecting on the immediacy with which younger generations have adopted and adapted to AI.

Closing Thoughts: The episode concludes with a reflection on the speed of AI’s development and its implications for the future, both in education and beyond.

Shared Links: 

• Me|We Exhibit!  Graduate students showcase shows AI as a tool for learning, creating | ASU Enterprise Technology
• Andrew Maynard’s Substack - The Future of Being Human - https://futureofbeinghuman.com
• Artificial Intelligence, Responsible Innovation, and the Future of Humanity with Andrew Maynard

Sean is joined by Rachna Mathur to talk about the successful student led event in Generative AI called Me & We in AI: Exploring what generative AI means to us and for us. 

In our conversation we talked about the challenges and successes of undertaking an event like this as part of a graduate course experience focused on Education by Design. This project gave students an opportunity to go beyond the theory of design and explore the ins and outs, ups and downs of design by directly living with the experience of designing an interactive experience. 

Rachna shared the details on how the aim of the event was focused on developing a hands-on experience to let users experiment with a few generative AI tools to see what these powerful technologies can do. Various stations explore how GenAI may impact aspects of our lives such as creativity, language, and learning.

Special thanks to the CDI 691 Team

Kevin Brown, Jami Carmichael, Theresa Hoover, Rezwana Islam, Kellie Kreiser, J'Shon Lee, Rachna, Mathur, and Lin Yan

Event Website: Me & We in AI Event

Guest Host: Rachna Mathur (ASU Bio)

In this episode of the Learning Futures Podcast, Dr. Siddharth Srivastava, Associate Professor at the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence at Arizona State University discusses the need for responsible development of AI systems that keep users informed of capabilities and limitations. He highlights exciting research on learning generalizable knowledge to make AI more robust and data-efficient. However, dangers arise from overtrusting unproven systems, so regulation and oversight are needed even as innovation continues. By prioritizing users, the current explosion in AI research can drive responsible progress.

Key topics discussed: 

- Dr. Srivastava discusses his background in AI research and the journey that led him to focus on developing safe and reliable AI systems. 

- The recent explosion of interest and adoption of generative AI like ChatGPT took many researchers by surprise, especially the accessibility and breadth of applications people found for these narrow systems.

- It's important to distinguish narrow AI applications like generative models from general AI. Overuse of the term "AI" can lead to misconceptions.

- Considerations around safety, bias, and responsible use need to be built into AI systems from the start. Keeping users informed of capabilities and limitations is key.  

- Exciting new research directions include learning generalizable knowledge to make AI systems more robust and data-efficient.

- Dangers arise from overtrusting unproven AI systems. Regulation and oversight will be needed, but should not stifle innovation.

- Overall, it's an exciting time in AI research. With a thoughtful, practical approach focused on user needs, AI can be developed responsibly.

Links:

• The Alignment Problem - https://brianchristian.org/the-alignment-problem/
• Siddharth’s Website - http://siddharthsrivastava.net/
• Siddharth’s Research Group AAIR - https://aair-lab.github.io/
• NeurIPS 2023 Workshops - https://neurips.cc/virtual/2023/events/workshop
• Siddharth’s NeurIPS 2023 Workshop - https://neurips.cc/virtual/2023/workshop/66542

In this episode, we delve into the pioneering research led by Dr. Chitta Baral though his laboratory of Cognition and Intelligence at Arizona State University. He discusses the ground-breaking work and innovations emerging from his lab, with a special focus on the intersection of cognition, intelligence, and technology. Dr. Chitta's current research is an ambitious blend of exploring natural language, visual objects, and the intricate dynamics of multi-modal documents, with an eye toward impactful applications in cybersecurity, robotics, and the health sciences.

The conversation explores the concept of Human-AI teaming, discussing the potential benefits and challenges of integrating artificial intelligence into our daily work and decision-making processes. Dr. Baral also shares his expert perspective on the explosive growth of Generative AI in the field. He offers a nuanced view, weighing in on whether this trend signifies a genuine paradigm shift or if it's part of a hype cycle with merely short-term advancements.

Further into the discussion, we explore the cultural shift among students and professionals as they adapt to the latest Generative AI tools. Dr. Baral reflects on how these tools are reshaping teaching methodologies and the approach to student projects.

Guest Information

• Chitta Baral, PhD ASU Biography
• Dr. Baral's Online CV with publication links
• Cognition & Intelligence Lab @ Arizona State University

In the spirit of Halloween - Sean (with the help of producer extraordinaire Jake)  pull together a fun compendium of short stories from some of our colleagues and listeners for a special “spooky” episode of the Learning Futures Podcast. 

The Challenge: Create an original short story (about, with, or through) Generative AI, in the spirit of emerging technologies, AI, the future of humanity etc. in the spirit of Halloween. These can be any genre, they can be spooky, funny, creepy, suspenseful, thought provoking, thoughtful, or any combination of the lot. Have fun with this idea. It could be created in any way, and with as much or as little assitwnace from GenAI tools as the author wished. It needed to stay short, 500 words or less or less than 5 minutes of record time. 

Learning Futures Podcast: Sc(AI)ry Stories: A Compendium

• Cauldron Collaboration: by Charla Griffy-Brown, Replica AI called Kira, and prompt engineer James Fields  [Narrated by Eleven Labs]
• The Experiment: by Danah Henriksen, using Bing AI (set to creative mode) [Narrated by Eleven Labs]
• The Assistant: by Jacob Snider, using Claude2, and voice narration by Eleven Labs
• An Echo in the Code: by Sean Leahy, using ChatGPT and narrated by Eleven Labs
• Lost in Recognition: by Kellie Kreiser, using ChatGPT and cloned AI voice
• Vikram or Vetal: by Punya Mishra, using ChatGPT and Bing AI.

Alternative cover art: (if your podcast player supports it) was created in MidJourney with the prompt: "spooky halloween illustration with pumpkins and ghosts, robots and other technology"

In this episode, we explore the multifaceted journey of cognitive scientist Ken Koedinger. With a diverse academic background encompassing degrees in computer science, mathematics, and psychology, Ken's unique trajectory converged at the intersection of technical expertise and an intrinsic understanding of human learning. This fusion of disciplines drew him into the realms of cognitive psychology and educational technology research.

Within this intricate landscape, cognitive models emerge as powerful tools, endeavoring to illuminate the implicit cognitive processes and foundational knowledge that underpin human expertise and learning. Ken employs a combination of think-aloud protocols and insightful analysis of learner data to meticulously dissect the mental components and conditional knowledge that come into play when tackling complex tasks, such as mathematics and science problem-solving.

Intelligent tutoring systems stand as the ultimate manifestation of this synergy between cognitive models and education. These systems seamlessly incorporate cognitive models to deliver adaptive instruction and feedback to learners as they navigate through learning activities. With the cognitive model acting as a vigilant sentinel, it keenly observes student actions, discerning the evolving mastery of essential knowledge components.

At the helm of Carnegie Mellon University's LearnLab, Ken Koedinger spearheads a pioneering initiative committed to embedding research within the educational landscape to enhance learning outcomes. LearnLab serves as a dynamic hub, equipping educators with indispensable tools, robust data infrastructure, and comprehensive training in the realm of learning engineering.

In the ever-evolving realm of education, the advent of groundbreaking AI capabilities, such as chatbots, presents a new frontier. These technologies offer valuable support in designing interactive learning activities. However, they do not operate in isolation; they require meticulous human oversight and quality control. While students may be tempted to employ AI for shortcuts, Ken emphasizes the potential limitations of such tactics, which may inadvertently restrict their own learning.

Overall, Koedinger underscores that the integration of these new AI technologies is not a disruptive revolution but rather a thoughtful evolution. This transformation hinges upon a judicious alignment with educational goals and assessments, ushering in a promising era where technology and pedagogy harmonize to elevate teaching and learning to new heights.

Guest Information & Links: 
See Ken's Full Bio - https://hcii.cmu.edu/people/ken-koedinger 

LearnLab website: https://learnlab.org

Carnegie Learning: https://www.carnegielearning.com/

Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools: https://github.com/CMUCTAT/CTAT/wiki

Open Learning Initiative: https://oli.cmu.edu

Tutors+ project: tutors.plus

Gorilla Science Project: https://gorillalogic.com/gorilla-labs/

ASU Digital Maker Studio [Podcast Studio]: https://lx.asu.edu/digitalmakerstudio 

In this  episode, host Dr. Sean Leahy engages in a captivating conversation with Dr. Katina Michael. Dr. Michael's unique journey, transitioning from the telecommunications industry to academia and technology/society research, sets the stage for a thought-provoking discussion.

The conversation delves into a wide spectrum of emergent technologies, beginning with an exploration of the metaverse. Dr. Michael offers insights into its definition and current progress, while also pondering its future implications. A significant focus is directed towards the convergence of digital and biological technologies, particularly in the context of implantable tech. The episode also delves into crucial considerations regarding age-appropriate design and the ethical usage of these groundbreaking technologies.

One of the central themes of the conversation revolves around the potential impacts of AI, specifically generative AI, on education. Dr. Michael underscores the importance of thoughtful, collaborative design and emphasizes the need to consider social embeddedness when developing new technologies. Her advocacy for a human-centered approach, which prioritizes consulting end users and empowering human agency, shines through the discussion.

While recognizing the buzz and excitement surrounding these innovations, Dr. Michael encourages a balanced perspective of measured optimism. She urges listeners to think critically about how best to harness these tools for the benefit of society, making this episode a compelling exploration of the evolving technological landscape.

Links & Resources Mentioned:

Katina's ASU Bio: https://search.asu.edu/profile/3298186 

Katina's TED Talks: Brain Implants: Hype or Hope and Microchipping People

The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan

Notebook LLM by Google

Dive into Season 6 with host Dr. Sean Leahy as we navigate the dynamic, fast-paced, and rapidly changing technological landscape, delving deep into its transformative impact on society and education. This season promises enriching dialogues with international thought leaders operating at the crucial intersection of technology, cognition, and society.

This Selects episode was originally published on July 12, 2022. 

--- Original Show Notes --- 

Hosts Clarin Collins and Sean Leahy talk with Leigh Wolf and Audrey Watters about the futures of educational technology, how we have come into an era where technologies are present in almost all classrooms and how that has changed teaching and learning in significant ways. Our guests chat about how we could create a more humanistic approach to existing and emerging EdTech, and how EdTech can become a roadblock for teachers. Our panelist help us unpack what EdTech really means, and define it in a broader sense than a “computerized” or “digital” tool only. They invite us to think critically about what EdTech could be in the future and how to help it become more equitable and accessible.

About our guests:

• Audrey Watters | Blog | Hack Education
• Audrey's new book: Teaching Machines - The History of Personalized Learning available via MIT Press
• Dr. Leigh Wolf | ASU Bio

The Learning Futures Podcast is produced at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. The Executive Producer is Dr. Sean Leahy, the show is produced by Dr. Clarin Collins and Karina Muñoz Baltazar, with technical production provided by Jacob Snider.

This Selects episode was originally published on June 21, 2022

--- Original Show Notes ---

Clarin Collins, Sean Leahy, Robin Lake, and Brent Maddin come together to discuss the current landscape of challenges facing public education. The worldwide pandemic opened many eyes to the current struggles teachers face and encouraged many institutions to change their education models, one such example being the NEXT Education Workforce. Through discussion we are guided along the possibilities of where public education can lead, as well as the current challenges that many school districts are facing. 

In this episode you can learn about the work that is being done through the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and the Next Education Workforce, as well as the Center on Reinventing Public Education. 

(3:15) - Brent Maddin talks about his role and explains the mission and work of the NEXT Education workforce. 

(5:38) - Robin talks about the Center on Reinventing Public Education and how the Center became affiliated with ASU and MLFTC

(8:54) - The panel explores the new opportunities stemming from the partnership between MLFTC & CRPE.

(15:25) - We discuss the seriousness of the current challenges facing the public education system

(21:32) - We discuss how the pandemic affected school districts’ attitude towards working with the NEXT Education workforce?

(27:00) - The panel discusses the optimistic opportunities for positive change in the education structure

(32:50) - Futures projection - we get Brent and Robin’s take on where they see public education going in the next 30 years

(37:40) - We ask the question “How would someone from 30 years in the past react to our current education situation?”

(41:35) - Pushing the boundaries - we ask our guests “Where do you see public education going in the next 100 years?”

(48:00) - We get some great ideas on resources and other elements of our guests work at NEW and CRPE (links below in the show notes)

About our Guests: 

• Brent Maddin | Next Education Workforce | @bmaddin 
• Robin Lake | Center on Reinventing Public Education | @RbnLake
• CRPE’s Pandemic Learning Report
• Pandemic Pods & Crisis Learning

The Learning Futures Podcast is produced at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. The Executive Producer is Dr. Sean Leahy, the show is produced by Dr. Clarin Collins and Karina Muñoz Baltazar, with technical production provided by Jacob Snider.

This Selects episode was originally published on March 28, 2023. 

--- Original Show Notes: ---

In this episode Punya and Sean discuss some of the highlights captured in a recent interview with Senior Research Fellow from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education Dr. Chris Dede and talk about AI and education.

Guest Information: 

Dr. Chris Dede

Chris Dede is a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) who has worked with AI since the 1970s. A former Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard GSE, Dede is a Co-Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded National Artificial Intelligence Institute in Adult Learning and Online Education (AI-ALOE).

• More information on Dr. Chris Dede - visit his Wikipedia page.
• National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education - https://aialoe.org
• LinkedIn
• Twitter @chrs_dede
• Silver Lining for Learning - https://silverliningforlearning.org

Dr. Melissa Warr

Melissa Warr, a graduate of ASU’s Learning, Literacies, and Technologies PhD program, is an Assistant Professor of Learning Technology and Education Design at New Mexico State University.

Links from the conversation: 

• Learning Futures Collaborative: Future of AI in Education & Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Chiang, Ted. (2023, February). ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web. The New Yorker.
• Hofstadter, Douglas R. (1979). Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. Basic Books. [openlibrary.org link]
• Weizenbaum, Joseph. (1966). ELIZA—a computer program for the study of natural language communication between man and machine. Communications of the ACM, 9(1), 36-45. [pdf link]
• Dreyfus, Hubert (1972). What Computers Can’t Do. New York: MIT Press. [archive.org link]
• Chinese room argument: Searle, John (1980). Minds, Brains, and Programs. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences. [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy link]
• Quandary Game
• Cicero, Facebook’s A.I. “Diplomacy” game
• DALL-E 2, AI art platform
• Dieterle, E., Dede, C. & Walker, M. The cyclical ethical effects of using artificial intelligence in education. AI & Soc (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01497-w
• Ashok Goel’s AI “Jill Watson”, Georgia Tech University [TEDx Talk link]
• Mursion, workforce immersive learning
• Ethan Mollick’s substack, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

The Learning Futures Podcast is jointly produced by Enterprise Technology and the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.

Drs. Clarin Collins and Sean Leahy have a very engaging conversation with Dr. Ruth Wylie, Dr. Danah Henriksen, and Maricel Lawrence about Futures Thinking. Each panelist discusses how they engage in different types of futures thinking and give tips for others to become engaged in this work. They also discuss how topics such as creativity, play, and wellness integrate with futures thinking.

--- Original Show Notes --- 

Clarin Collins, Sean Leahy, Ruth Wylie, Danah Henriksen, and Maricel Lawrence discuss Futures Thinking and how that may look throughout our working spaces and how it affects the decisions we make regarding education. Our guests engage in a round table discussion on how we might look at our futures, the different categories of futures that exist and many more interesting points. 

(6:40)- What is Futures Thinking (FT)? What do we mean when we say that? 

(14:19)- Maricel´s choice of ASU´s PhD program, why did she choose it? Imagining new universities. 

(20:17)- Defining the different possible ¨futures¨.

(25:00)- Categorizing the different kinds of futures.  

(26:46) & (50:58) -How to get people thinking about Futures Thinking. How to create a ¨Futures Mindset¨?

(33:07)- Futures Thinking as a method to spark creativity in people. 

(41:29)- What is the role of Futures Thinking in the education system?

(53:28)- Uncertainty and its relation to Futures Thinking.

You can learn more about our guest´s work by visiting the following links: Ruth Wylie, Danah Henriksen, and Maricel Lawrence. 

If you are in the DC area, you can checkout the Smithsonian exhibit mentioned by Ruth: Smithsonian Institute Futures exhibition.

The Learning Futures Podcast is produced at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Executive Producer is Dr. Sean Leahy, the show is produced by Dr. Clarin Collins and Karina Muñoz Baltazar.

This re-released episode features the full audio recording and notes from the original broadcast: July 26, 2022. We (Jake) hopes you'll enjoy revisiting this ever timely topic for the Futures of Learning! 

--- Original Show Notes ---

Hosts Clarin Collins and Sean Leahy talk with Jill Koyama and Daniel Liou about the continuing disparities that are present in education. Starting out on a global level, our guests react to the UNESCO report on reimagining the future of education, talking about the importance of recognizing and building curriculums that represent the diversity of the current student and teacher population. They invite us to think about a more humanistic approach to teaching and learning and to reimagine what schools will look like in the future.

You can learn more about our guest´s work by visiting the following links: Jill Koyama, and Daniel Liou. Daniel’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/liou_daniel

• UNESCO Report 
• GLSEN LGBT+ organization

The Learning Futures Podcast is produced at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Executive Producer is Dr. Sean Leahy, the show is produced by Dr. Clarin Collins and Karina Muñoz Baltazar.

In this short bonus episode Sean talks with Learning Futures producer Jacob Snider about Jake's summer take-over of the show. Jake shares a little preview of the episodes he will re-release over the next few weeks as the rest of the podcast team gears up for Season 6. 

In this episode - Punya and Sean talk around a great interview with ASU's own Kyle Jensen, who is the director of the writing center. This episode explores the impact of generative AI and large language models (LLMs) on creativity and the writing process, along with many other topics such as attention economy, consolidation of information, considerations around regulation, to name a few... 

Guest Information

Kyle Jensen 

Kyle is the director of Writing Programs and a professor in the Department of English's writing, rhetorics, and literacies program at ASU. He has conducted research on modern rhetorical theory and education and is the author of "Reimagining Process: Online Writing Archives and The Future of Writing Studies" (2014), and co-edited "Abducting Writing Studies" (2017) and "The War of Words" (2018).

Not featured in audio - but credit to the source interview with Kyle from: 

Danah Henriksen
Danah is an associate professor at ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College whose work focuses on creativity, design thinking, and technology, as well as the relationship between creativity and mindfulness.

Lauren Woo
Lauren is a doctoral student in the Learning, Literacies and Technologies program in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Her research blends teacher education, online teaching and learning, emerging technologies, and creativity.

Episode Links

• OpenAI
• What are generative AI tools and how are they being used at ASU?
• TechTrends Journal
• I’m a Student. You Have No Idea How Much We’re Using ChatGPT.
• AI21 Labs
• Wordtune
• The Ezra Klein Show [Apple Podcast]
• AI 'godfather' Geoffrey Hinton warns of dangers as he quits Google
• What’s ahead for Bard: More global, more visual, more integrated
• EU Regulatory framework proposal on artificial intelligence [link]

In this episode - Sean is joined by guest host Dr. Steven Weiner to lead a panel discussion around the challenges in changing the educational system and barriers to implementing change. The panel examines the reasons why high school is particularly difficult to change and explores potential solutions for overcoming these barriers. In this episode Steven and team highlight ongoing projects at Arizona State University that support educational systems change and proposes ways for researchers to better communicate their findings to policymakers and educators.

Guest Information: 

Steven Weiner
Steven Weiner is a research analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, where he brings an interdisciplinary lens to understanding transformative change within educational systems.

Ruth Wylie 
Ruth Wylie is the assistant director of the Center for Science and the Imagination and an associate research professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

Lauren Katzman 
Executive Director of Urban Collaborative Center, and Associate Research Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University

Janice Mak
Janice is a clinical assistant professor, focused on the intersection of computer science education, policy, and systems changein the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University 

Meg Astudillo
Meg is the Graduate Service Assistant for the Center on Reinventing Public Education

Links & Information: 

• Learning Future Collaborative: Designing the new American high school
• Learning Futures Podcast Episode 5, season 5: Designing the new American High School [listen on Simplecast - Apple Podcasts - Spotify]
• Reading Recovery program
• The reading wars: Kim, J. S (2008). Research and the reading wars. In: Hess FM When Research Matters: How Scholarship Influences Education Policy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.. pp. 89-111. [link to pdf]
• Action research: Clark, J. S; Porath, S; Thiele, J; and Jobe, M (2020). Action Research. New Prairie Press, Kansas State University Libraries. [link to pdf]
• ASU’s EDD program
• Bolman and Deal’s four-frame model
• Participatory approach
• IEPs, individualized education programs
• RTI & MTSS, Response to Intervention & Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
• Universal design for learning
• Zero Reject [link to Wikipedia]
• Manifestation Determination Reviews [link to AZ DOE policy]
• Section 504, civil rights legislation
• Arizona STEM Acceleration Project
• Schools of Opportunity, from the National Education Policy Center
• Lauren’s book: Effective Inclusive Schools
• Learning Labs in Wisconsin
• CRPE report (2022): The State of the American Student
• CRPE report (2014): Policy Barriers to School Improvement: What’s Real and What’s Imagined

In this Bonus episode Sean talks with special guest and friend of the show Stephanie Pierotti (Director of ShapingEDU at ASU) about the upcoming FREE Virtual event - ShapingEDU Mini Summit: AI x Higher Ed, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI Tools that will be held on May 11, 2023. 

This is a Free Event - you can sign up or learn more by visiting ShapingEDU.asu.edu

Event Description: 

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to create more impactful, individualized learning journeys that maximize learning experiences at every step, and streamline educator’s workload. With the wildly fast-paced introduction of new AI tools, we’re forced to process a new array of challenges and opportunities almost daily.

How might we reduce the fear and anxiety surrounding AI by utilizing AI tools that empower educators to create more impactful, personalized learner opportunities, while also equipping students for career success?

Our popular action-packed Mini Summit event format allows us to explore a wide array of aspects of hot topics from diverse viewpoints in a four hour window. This mix of lightning presentations, fireside chats, panel discussions and a Serious Play activity keeps the engaging content and inspirational ideas flowing for the full four hours.

Links:

• ShapingEDU - to learn more, stay connected with the community 
• Event Registration - did we mention it was FREE? 

In this episode Sean and Punya sit in studio and talk about the recent interview Punya and Danah had with Ethan Mollick for their Tech Trends series in which they talk with Ethan on a wide range of topics covering creativity, games, entrepreneurship and his journey to being one of the most visible scholars openly experimenting with AI in his teaching in higher education. 

About our Guests:

Ethan Mollick
Ethan Mollick is an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he studies and teaches innovation and entrepreneurship. He leads the Wharton Interactive - an effort to democratize education using games and simulations.

Danah Henriksen
Danah Henriksen is an associate professor at ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College whose work focuses on creativity, design thinking, and technology, as well as the relationship between creativity and mindfulness.

Links and Information:

• Learning Futures Podcast episode 8: Extended Reality with Dan Beaupre and Tom Schmidt [listen on SimpleCast - Apple Podcasts - Spotify]
• DALL-E 2, AI art platform
• ChatGPT, AI chatbot
• Midjourney, AI image generator
• TechTrends journal [publisher link]
• Warr, M., Mishra, P., Henriksen, D. et al (2023). A Chat about GPT3 (and Other Forms of Alien Intelligence) with Chris Dede. TechTrends.
• Ethan Mollick’s substack
• The Breakthrough Game, the game Ethan Mollick co-designed with award winning game designer Justin Gary
• Richardson, C., & Mishra, P., (2017). Learning Environments that Support Student Creativity: Developing the SCALE. Thinking Skills and Creativity. [link to summary pdf from Punya’s website]
• The Teaching Game and BlueSky Ventures Game on Wharton Interaction
• Gertler, P., & Chioda, L. (2017, April 12). Impact of Youth Entrepreneurship Education in Uganda. Innovations for Poverty Action.
• The Turing Test [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy link]
• God of the gaps theological perspective [Wikipedia link]
• GPT-3, a language prediction model [link to list of models]
• Bing AI, from Microsoft
• Noy, S & Zhang, W (2023-working paper). Experimental Evidence on the Productivity Effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence. MIT. [link to pdf]
• Canvas, web-based learning management system
• Real Genius movie [IMDb link]
• Punya’s blog: ChatGPT3 is a *** artist
• Mollick, E. & Mollick, L. (2022). New Modes of Learning Enabled by AI Chatbots: Three Methods and Assignments. SSRN. [link to summary article]
• WebSTAR, web server application for the classic Mac OS [Wikipedia link] 
• The Spencer Foundation, foundation providing grants for research in education

In this episode Sean and Punya talk about the journey and future developments of extended reality (XR) in education with Dan Beaupre and Tom Schmidt from One Giant Leap, LLC and ROAM respectively. We learn about the backstory and "origin story" from Dan and Tom and how they came together to join forces around their deep passion for education, storytelling, and emerging technologies. 

Extended Reality (XR) is a term that encompasses all immersive technologies that merge the physical and virtual worlds, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). It offers a new way of experiencing digital content by combining the real world with digital elements, allowing users to interact with virtual objects in a natural and intuitive way.

Guest Information: 

Dan Beaupre  -

Dan is the founder and principal of One Giant Leap, LLC which is a production and consulting company that inspires and empowers children of all ages to be planetary stewards. [They] create transformational experiences, memorable events, and new media. We also provide strategic support to organizations who seek to add, refresh, or expand educational programming. / formerly, Vice President, Experiences, in the National Geographic Society's Education division

Tom Schmidt – 

Emmy winner for TV. Emmy nominated for VR. Producer for all those mediums / the CEO and Co-Founder of ROAM - ROAM creates shared experiences for the emerging metaverse that provide understanding, empathy and awareness. And founder of Percolate Digital LLC

Episode Links

• National Geographic GeoBee
• Oculus Rift [video link]
• Dan’s giant maps project
• eCYBERMISSION educational competition
• Grasp, Dan and Tom’s immersive training company
• Powers of Ten film
• The Gailer School [Wikipedia link]
• Flatland book [Project Gutenberg link]
• Midjourney, AI image generator
• Hypercard, Mac software [Wikipedia link]
• Jane Goodall Institute
• Saul Perlmutter, 2011 Nobel Laureate
• Reeducated: Inside Xinjiang’s Secret Detention Camps (360/VR). The New Yorker.
• ASU’s BioSense Network
• Jacob Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man, BBC documentary television series [IMDb link] [British Film Institute link]
• John Dewey, “father of American progressive education” [Britannica link]
• MIX Center at ASU

Guest Links

• Punya’s blog: Aesthetics and science education: Beauty at Work podcast