I was given the opportunity to cowrite with Becky Keene on two courses for Microsoft Learn on generative artificial intelligence this past year. The first module was Empowering educators to explore the potential of artificial intelligence. It was the first educator forward Microsoft Learn content over generative AI and there were lots of questions to be answered.
Since I was working with teachers already from my district, I knew how they were feeling about this topic at the ground level. Some were simply scared of the unknown. Some were worried about being replaced. Some wanted to go back to paper and pencil. But one thing was for sure, they all needed more information because it was clear their students were going to be using it if they weren’t already.
We kept this in mind as we created the outline and planned for the content. We started the module from the basics of AI and its everyday use scenarios. We included the very important component that AI is not here to replace humans. In fact, Microsoft was very adamant about not using the word human when describing AI in this module. We then went into specific examples for how teachers can leverage Copilot in Edge to become more productive so they can get back to the most important part of their day which is teaching.
In the fall of 2023, we were excited to write the learn module titled Equip and support learners with AI tools from Microsoft. This time, we got to include students using generative AI! We wanted to help answer many questions that educators were asking like:
- What does it look like in a classroom to teach with a generative AI tool?
- Is it cheating using an AI tool?
- What are the consequences if a teacher doesn’t use the tool in their classroom?
- What are considerations that need to be taken when using a generative AI tool with students?
- How do you teach students to use a large language model like Copilot in Edge?
All of these questions were exciting to answer as I had been working closely with my district on our own viewpoints on the topic for how our teachers should be using generative AI tools. The look and feel of the videos and trainer materials in this module are so fresh and light! It truly shows the new direction that education is taking with the future in mind.
I cannot wait for you to take this course and begin forming your own ideas for how you think students should use a generative AI tool in the classroom. We are all truly better together and I hope you reach out with more ideas for us all to learn from.
This blog was written by Stevie Frank. Stevie is a Digital Learning Coach at her school in Zionsville, IN. Connect with Stevie on X at @steviefrank23.
