#42 - Plus One

So as I write this on Sunday May 12th 2024 (the weekend of Eurovision and also the amazing aurora displays), the AI world is buzzing with anticipation about the OpenAI announcement scheduled for Monday. Will they go up against Google by launching a search tool? AI is such a fascinating space but it can be difficult - and exhausting - keeping track of all the changes. Use UDL's "Plus One" principle to help ...

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to the design and creation of teaching materials and environments that has gained huge traction globally in recent years. A concept within this framework is "Plus One".

In their must-read book "Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education ", Thomas J. Tobin and Kirsten Behling introduce the "Plus-One" approach as a way to make UDL more manageable for educators. The idea is to focus on providing one additional way for students to interact with course materials, each other, instructors, and the wider world. Or to just take on one thing at a time as a change to your education practice.

I've written about this in the opening chapter of the Wiley New Directions in Teaching and Learning volume on UDL published last year.

I also did a podcast series "The Plus One Podcast " during Covid where I interviewed inspirational educators and got their "Plus One's". The Plus One approach is a great way to stop yourself from being overwhelmed by constant change and the pressure to "keep up".

In AI, the sheer number of new tools, capabilities and offers - all trumpeted as the next BIG THING - can make us feel as if we are being left behind, and contribute to self-doubt, overwhelm, and anxiety. My advice here is to limit your exposure by carefully curating your AI reading - hopefully this newsletter is giving you a good periodic update of relevant materials to explore :)

Then find a gap or weakness in your current teaching strategy or creation process, and then look for an AI tool that seems to offer the chance to improve it. Focus first on the problem you have, then find a solution, rather than the other way around. Otherwise, you'll spend way too much time just playing and maybe not actually making your life better.

Then practice with the tool you've chosen until it becomes part of your normal process - by this time, you've reached unconscious competence with it and you're ready to go around again for another Plus One.

I'd love the hear what tools you are finding most useful - do tell us all in the comments!

Other AI news

Reducing your admin workload...

An interesting post showing how Miriam Scott uses AI to draft feedback and comments:

Podcast interview

I was interviewed by New Zealand podcaster Dr Craig Hansen PhD this week and we discussed AI, UDL and how it's all affecting teaching and learning - 25 mins.

The World Economic Forum published a report recently "Shaping the Future of Learning: The Role of AI in Education 4.0”, highlighted in this post by their Managing Director Saadia Zahidi . Read the report at https://www.weforum.org/publications/shaping-the-future-of-learning-the-role-of-ai-in-education-4-0/

LinkedIn Group - AI for Teachers

There's a new LinkedIn group called AI for Teachers that you might find worth subscribing to - it's at https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/12892003/

Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick summarised by Jeremie Rostan

Jeremie Rostan has done a great job summarising Ethan Mollicks "Co-Intelligence" - see this post :

Turbolearn AI - easy revision from lecture notes

This tool looks like it might be good for students who want an easy way to turn lectures into revision materials such as flashcards and quizzes.

5 use cases where AI is transforming education around the world

And to finish this issue, here's a good article from the World Economic Forum with 5 use cases for AI in education

EPALE - The European Adult Learning Network

Do you know about EPALE - the European Adult Learning Network? I'm one of the Irish Ambassadors for EPALE, and you can join over 100,000 educators across Europe in a free online community - it's a great way to get different points of view, participate in training from across the continent and stay up to date on educational thought. Create your free account at https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/user/login

Affiliate Links (stuff I use and recommend)

Unriddle AI is a research site that lets you upload docs and then interrogate them.

https://www.unriddle.ai//?ref=JH

Check out Humata - it's another AI that let's you work on your own documents and interrogate them . https://www.humata.ai/?via=joe-houghton

My tool of choice for serious AI image creation is Leonardo. The user interface is easy and very powerful, enabling you to create just what you want in any style really quickly. https://app.leonardo.ai/?via=joe

Notion

This is my tool of choice now for collecting all the bits'n'pieces of information I squirrel away for talk, articles and presentations. I can then generate webpages in a snap and share them, and they update in real-time as I add new info to them! There's so much you can do in Notion - well worth a look:

OK, that's enough for today - see you next time!

Joe Houghton is an Assistant Professor at UCD Smurfit Graduate School of Business where he directs the MSc programmes in Project Management. After a career in IT in multinationals, Joe switched into a portfolio career of University teaching, management coaching and training.

He has authored 6 books to date including "Innovative teaching with AI: Creative approaches to enhancing learning in education ", and "Project Management made easy...: the ECCSR approach ". His latest book "Applying Artificial Intelligence to Close the Accessibility Gap: A practical handbook for educators & students! " is now available on Amazon! More on this in a future edition...

Contact Joe on email at [email protected] for any requests for training, seminars, workshops or keynote speaking.