Hello World! I'm Victoria Dransoff: educator, innovator, tech enthusiast, AI explorer. In the last few months as I have heard more and more about applications like ChatGPT and started to dabble a bit I realized that something BIG is happening and I want to be part of it. I equate what is happening now with the excitment, curiosity, and nervous energy when the internet first became a 'thing' and everyone wanted to join a chat room and play Sims because it was just so cool. No one, or at least I, had no idea that someday the word 'google' would be used as a verb, or that malls would die and Amazon, an online store, would be where you go for just about everything from household cleaners to toilet paper to cellphones and computers. The relics down below were state-of-the-art, we didn't really know how they worked or all they were capable of and in many cases people wondered if it was just a fad and in some cases quite fearful of what the world would become. Well, the future is now. Whether you are approaching retirement or fresh out of college all of what AI Explorer offers is relevant to you.
As Educators what do we do?
This blog and all others that follow are my own opinions and I encourage spirited debate on all topics tech and AI. The reality is, there are few experts at this point as it seems that information, and the technology itself is in a constant state of flux. What I aim to do in this series of blogs is simply provide information about the intersection of education, technology, and AI. It will also provide a forum for questions, discussion, and best practices whereby we can embrace this technology and use it to transform our lives in the classroom and beyond. My hope is, that visitors to the blog and the AI Knowledge Hub for Educators will be comfortable sharing what they know now and what they would like to learn. Let's not fear it, Let's embrace it!
My Latest Endeavor: AI ChatBots
I have always been facinated with the idea of personalized learning - the idea that every student gets exactly what they need to be successful - how self-affirming it would be for students who often times don't like school because it doesn't make them feel good. Just imagine. if students felt good about the work they were doing because they understood exactly what they needed to when they needed to and could ask questions in a way that did not call attention to them. Perhaps the best of you out there are able to create these environments for all of your students, I believe it is the ideal but not the norm.
It is meant to help solve a problem I have encountered many times in Middle School English class when students are given a writing assignment and just don't know how to start. We as teachers say things like, "write about what you like" or "write about things you are interested in". This may be helpful for some students, but I still found there are many who struggle just to think of a topic. This creates a lot of misery for students, but it doesn't have to be that way. The Writer's Idea Generator asks students what kind of writing they are trying to produce: narrative, argumentative, or persuasive. It then asks the user questions and based on their responses generates some ideas for them. Please try it (it is my first AI Chatbot so please be kind) and let me know what you think. As I continue to produce more I will introduce them here as well.
Thank you for visiting!
If you are interested in learning more about the technology wave that we are all riding (in one way or another) and AI and how it can potentially help you be more effective as a teacher or if you just want to keep up on all that is happening in the fluid world of AI then you have come to the right place.
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