In what ways can I use generative AI to support my work as an instructor?
There is a cornucopia of ways in which you can use generative AI to help you with designing and facilitating your courses! Below, please find some examples of ways you could use this technology to support your work and teaching.
Using generative AI for course design
You could use generative AI in many ways as you plan, design and develop your courses! Below are just some ways you could do so:
- Assignment possibilities: Copy and paste a learning objective into a tool like Claude and ask it to generate various assessments you could use to assess and measure students’ achievement of it. You might find yourself surprised and inspired by the options it gives!
- Assignment instructions: Prompt generative AI to develop the full instructions for the assessment, ensuring the instructions adhere to the TiLT (transparency in teaching and learning) framework and discuss the purpose, tasks and criteria for the assessment for the benefit and clarity of students.
- Assignment rubrics: Give generative AI a list of the characteristics of effective work on your desired assessment, and then ask it to produce a full rubric in the form of a table. This table would clearly discuss and distinguish among the various levels of performance at hand.
- Lesson/module plans: Ask generative AI to outline a full learning experience, such as an in-person class session or a complete module, based on a topic and learning objective you provide. Remind the generative AI tool to include opportunities for interaction and assessment to promote active learning.
Using generative AI for course facilitation
You can turn to and use generative AI beyond simply designing materials for your course. You can also use it to help with facilitating and managing your course once it is underway.
- Writing announcements: List the topics discussed during the upcoming or previous week and/or some patterns you have noticed across student submissions, and ask the tool of your choice, like Microsoft Copilot, to compose a concise, clear, friendly and user-friendly announcement that will discuss these concerns.
- Giving feedback: Using both the rubric and the student’s submission, ask generative AI to evaluate and give feedback on the student’s work in a constructive, positive and encouraging manner. Please note that using AI to give feedback on student work does raise questions about FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Please see the section below for more information about this.
Are you interested in learning more about using this technology to support your course design and facilitation? Please explore our AI cookbook for specific prompts you can use to complete these tasks and more with the help of generative AI!
What are some things to keep in mind when I use generative AI as an instructor?
One of the best principles to keep in mind when we use generative AI is to “practice what you preach.” If you expect students to acknowledge their use of generative AI, you should acknowledge it as well if you have used it in developing assignment instructions or other course materials. Doing so will model for students the appropriate use and acknowledgement of this technology.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
In addition to simply practicing what we preach, we should remain mindful of and adhere to FERPA, or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, when we use this technology. One could argue that these tools are “third parties without a legitimate academic interest” and that they should not have access to student records. If you upload or copy the work or other records of students to these tools, please ensure that your campus has designated the tool as being FERPA-compliant. Only tools DoIT has designated as DCL 3 are appropriate to use. Please check below to see which tools available on your campus comply with FERPA:
Even if you plan to use a FERPA-compliant tool, please note that your students will appreciate being informed about your use of this technology. It is important to exercise transparency about the role this technology is playing in the evaluation of their work. As a matter of fact, it is probably wise to obtain permission and consent from each student before putting their individual work into an AI tool. Obtaining informed and individual consent in this manner will demonstrate to students that you respect them and their preferences for their learning and growth.
Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)
Even if you are using a tool at the DCL 3 (FERPA-compliant) level and have obtained permission from students, it is important to remain mindful and balanced in your use of generative AI to interact and engage with students, including in the creation and delivery of feedback, especially if you are teaching online. The federal Department of Education requires all online classes to feature RSI, or Regular and Substantive Interaction.
This requirement calls for frequent and meaningful interaction between human students and human instructors. The Department of Education has previously indicated that automated feedback does not meet expectations for RSI. The Office of Postsecondary Education has previously stated, “An automated grading system that provides feedback based on a programmed response to input does not count as ‘substantive’ because it is interaction with a computer, not an instructor” (Weisman, 2022, p. 5). Therefore, it is possible that the use of AI to communicate and engage with students might violate both the letter and spirit of RSI. Maintain an active and strong presence as the instructor in your online course for the benefit and learning of your students!