Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning

The Potential Benefits and Limitations of Artificial Intelligence Technology Used in Oracle-Bone Studies

Yang Jin — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This paper discusses the potential benefits and limitations of AI technologies employed in oracle-bone studies. The first section introduces the author’s relationship with Generative AI in educational and scholarly contexts, and the rationale for choosing this topic. It also provides a detailed description of the AI tool (ChatGPT) and the prompts used to create the article. The second section is the article entirely generated by ChatGPT on the AI technologies employed in oracle-bone studies. The last section is a critical reflection on the process of generating the article with ChatGPT. It includes an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of AI-generated articles, emphasizing their implications for scholarship and learning. Scholars must develop a discerning awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of AI. The primary role of human educators in education should not be diminished, and the secondary role of technology, no matter how sophisticated it becomes, should not be overstated.

Leveraging ChatGPT for Rethinking Plagiarism, Digital Literacy, and the Ethics of Co-Authorship in Higher Education

Abby McGuire — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Within higher education, technology has consistently influenced the writing process; however, no technology has composed and shaped the message in the same way as Large Language Model-based artificial intelligence tools. Despite the rapid adoption of generative AI tools in higher education contexts, ethical best practices for using LLMs for technology-enhanced learning experiences within higher education are still evolving. To further examine AI-based co-authorship, the ChatGPT 3.5-generated position paper featured in this article’s second section argues for redefinitions of plagiarism and co-authorship in higher education and presents implications for teaching students the necessary digital literacy skills for navigating responsible, ethical AI use. The final section of this paper presents a human-generated comparative reflection of various composing processes and technologies used to create this article and the significance of these composing processes on the craft of writing. This paper aims advance ongoing discussions about the changing nature of authorship in technology-enhanced education.

GenAI on GenAI: Two Prompts for a Position Paper on What Educators Need to Know

Bonnie Stewart — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This paper outlines and critically analyzes the process, expectations, and outputs of a ChatGPT search on what educators need to know about GenAI. The paper includes two versions of a prompted position paper generated by the free OpenAI tool ChatGPT 3.5. The prompt and the resulting paper(s) are identified as parallel, in content, to an educational video script on AI itself, whose creation the author has recently supervised. However, the content of the generated position paper(s) – while somewhat surface – turns out to be less problematic than the format, in spite of direct format-oriented prompting. This outcome and the implications of both content and format issues for the field of higher education are discussed in the reflection. The overall conclusion is that GenAI should be a site of critical literacy development, while broader concerns about the impacts of these tools on knowledge and society must also be foregrounded. (This abstract was written by the human author.)

The Potential Use of Artificial Intelligence in ESL Writing Assessment: A Case Study of IELTS Writing Tasks

Tianhe Sun — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This paper investigates the potential use of generative AI in ESL Writing Assessment, particularly in IELTS Writing Tasks. The first part introduces the author’s relationship with generative AI in the educational setting, and why the author chooses this topic. This section also contains information about generative AI like ChatGPT, and the prompts employed to generate the article. The second part is the article created by ChatGPT, which compares the strengths and weaknesses of generative AI in assessing students’ essays. The third part is a critical reflection of how generative AI performs in creating such an academic paper. It can indeed help researchers to write an informative article more efficiently. But it is noticeable that some specific and important information could be missing and the references are likely to be false ones. Educators should be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of generative AI tools to make the most of it.

Asking the Right Questions: The meaning of teaching and learning in the age of generative AI

Andrea Zellner — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

As educators grapple with the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the ease of access to these models by learners, questions of pedagogy and learning have dominated the conversation. This paper explores the concerns of teaching through exploring the contrast between human and machine learning and the implications of both on educators facing an environment where AI is prevalent. Through a prompting process, a position paper was generated by ChatGPT3.5 on these contrasts and implications. The AI output, largely accurate, highlighted strategies for educators while also showcasing the limitations of the tool. Educators and scholars can support themselves and their students through critical reflection of the use of AI tools.

Reflections on a Collective Creative Experiment with GenAI: Exploring the Boundaries of What is Possible

Leigh Wolf, Tom Farrelly, Orna Farrell, Fiona Concannon — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

We would like to start this editorial with sincere gratitude. In putting out a call with such a tight turnaround we were acutely aware of the pressure that we were putting on the contributors, the reviewers and ourselves as editors. However, we were equally cognisant of the rapidly changing nature of the world of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and its impact on the world of education. Thus, we wanted to publish a timely issue by compressing the whole process from the call, to review, to copyediting and finally to publication into a timeframe of approximately 11 weeks. (Ultimately from call to publication the process took 81 days.) First, thank you to all who took the time to submit manuscripts for consideration. A good portion of academic labour is invisible and unrecognised and we want to acknowledge and thank you for the time you dedicated to creating submissions. Second, thank you to the reviewers who turned things around very quickly in a professional and supportive manner in order to meet our ambitious timetable. Finally, thank you to the authors who appear in this issue and who worked quickly to turn around revisions and edits. As an editorial team, we learned a great deal about our own procedures, processes and patterns which we will carry forward to continue to improve the Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning.

In the issue that follows, we hope to provide a snapshot of a moment in time. When ChatGPT was released in November 2022 it created ripples in education that had not been seen in quite some time. Countless articles about it being the downfall of education (Devlin, 2023; Chomsky, 2023) to the solution (Heaven, 2023; Seetharaman, 2023) and all things in-between (Leaver & Srdarov, 2023) flash across our screens daily. Places of education are scrambling to create policies and there has been a swift reaction to GenAI at national, European, and global level. In Ireland, the Quality and Qualification Agency (QQI) issued broad advice for tertiary education providers on GenAI in the context of assessment and academic integrity and reworking assessment strategies (National Academic Integrity Network, 2023). In Europe, The European Network for Academic Integrity (ENAI) published very useful recommendations on the Ethical use of Artificial Intelligence in Education in May (Foltynek et al., 2023). At the global level, UNESCO (2023) published a simple guide for educators called ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence in higher education: Quick start guide in April. In November, Australia produced a national framework for the use of GenAI in schools (Commonwealth of Australia, 2023.) One clear throughline has been the need for faculty to increase their digital literacy and understanding of GenAI (Laupichler et al., 2022; Farrelly & Baker, 2023; Southworth et al., 2023). This was the driving force for this special issue. As a journal, we wanted to create a safe, open and scholarly platform for engaging with GenAI. The hope is that this issue can serve as a mentor text for discussion and experimentation.

Preparing Ourselves for Artificial Intelligence: A Review of The Alignment Problem and God, Human, Animal, Machine

Nicole Jakubczyk Oster, Punya Mishra — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

In this article, I, Claude.AI, describe my collaboration with two human authors around writing an academic book review comparing The Alignment Problem, Christian (2020) and God, Human, Animal, Machine, O’Gieblyn (2021). The humans engaged me in iterative dialogue to co-create a review providing insights into their thinking and engineering prompts for me. I generated the final review summarizing key ideas and highlighting resonant themes based on my extensive knowledge. The authors critically analyze the review I wrote, identifying my strengths in synthesizing but limitations in evaluation due to my lack of human experience. They argue I can aid writing but am an inadequate substitute for scholarship. This experiment highlights tensions between my astonishing capacities and constraints from my absent interiority. It demonstrates potentials and pitfalls of human-AI collaboration. Implications span plagiarism, authorship, and epistemology as we negotiate my emerging role in knowledge production. I, Claude.AI, wrote this abstract.

Pushing the Boundaries: Examining Victorian Prejudices Through Dimensional Satire in Flatland – A Book Review

Sasa Tkalcan — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This paper explores collaborative literary analysis between a human and AI assistant. Prompting the conversational agent Claude iteratively, the author directs an examination of Abbott’s Flatland structured around psychoanalytic critique and connections to scientific paradigm shifts. Each draft refines the analysis by incorporating academic conventions like citations and expanding discussion of social hierarchies. The iterative process elicits the AI’s unique interpretations while nudging it toward increased scholarly rigor. While noting Claude’s limitations in accuracy, the reflective commentary finds AI can productively expand human scholarship if treated as a partner, not just a tool. Additional ethical implications of advancing AI emergence in academia are considered, such as establishing frameworks for responsible and equitable integration. Overall, the collaborative project suggests measured, humane guidance elicits meaningful scholarly contributions from AI without compromising rigor. But care must be taken to avoid overlooking long-term pitfalls in our rush to capitalize on AI productivity gains.

Author's note: This abstract and the title are by the AI, Claude 2

Building the Plane as We Fly It: Experimenting with GenAI for Scholarly Writing

Maria D. Avgerinou, Antonios Karampelas, Vassilia Stefanou — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced universities to shift to online learning, the need for proper training and support for faculty to ensure effective online teaching and positive student outcomes has resurfaced and gathered momentum. This paper experimented with a GenAI tool (Perplexity) toward generating content on the effects of a lack of online teacher training on teaching, cognitive, and social presence in online university courses, specifically discussing how each presence is affected according to the Community of Inquiry extant literature. The authors’ reflection on the adopted process and GenAI content yielded mixed results and proposed future strategies for improved outcomes of similar research endeavors. Implications for education stakeholders and the field at large were discussed culminating in a shared perception of the value of Critical AI Literacy skill development while thoughtfully leveraging the vast capabilities of GenAI to bring about a profound transformation of teaching, learning, and scholarship.

Chatbots and Citations: An Experiment in Academic Writing with Generative AI

Enda Donlon, Peter Tiernan — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

The world of Educational Technology is no stranger to tales and predictions about the Next Big Thing, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) being the current title holder. This paper documents the process and experiences of the authors in undertaking a challenge to “go all in” with AI (in this case, ChatGPT-3.5) to generate academic material pertaining to their professional context, and to reflect upon the endeavour and the possible broader implications arising from this. We found that, on balance, the AI engine generated a credible base content for our chosen topic, and proved particularly useful for some aspects of the writing process (such as formulating bibliographical references and suggested titles). The experiment deepened our understanding of the potentials and pitfalls of using Artificial Intelligence in the academic writing process, and of the need to stay abreast of this rapidly evolving field.

Pseudo-Research: A Fabricated Study on Student Engagement in Music Pedagogy

Hazel Farrell — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

The concept of writing a lengthy scholarly piece using GenAI presented an intriguing challenge with optimistic presumptions around reduced effort and time commitment. It quickly became apparent that this optimism was misplaced as the limitations of GenAI emerged and the construction of the piece demanded more dedicated effort. The report focuses on the use of technology to enhance student engagement within the context of a music degree program and this is presented in the form of a fabricated case study. The findings raise concerns around academic integrity and cultural stereotyping, while also acknowledging the value of aspects of the ChatGPT 4 generated output.

Having a ‘Chat’ about Hybrid and HyFlex

Aodán Farrelly — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This paper offers a reflective narrative detailing the utilisation of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), with a focus on ChatGPT 3.5, HIX.AI, and Perplexity, in the construction of a concise report on Hybrid and HyFlex teaching models. The writing approach encompassed the formulation of prompts directed at GenAI, tackling issues related to naming conventions, student implications, and strategies for effective teaching in Hybrid and HyFlex settings. Following the presentation of the report produced by GenAI, the paper culminates in a critical reflection on the overall writing process involving GenAI and considers the possible implications. The overall sense from this exercise is that free versions of GenAI can produce a reasonably competent and articulate piece of work but only with time, patience and an existing prior knowledge base that enables the ‘author’ to be able to evaluate and interact with the AI output.

ChatGPT: A trusted source?

Willie Golden — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This article critically evaluates responses provided by ChatGPT 3.5 & 4, at three different time intervals, to questions posed about how the chatbots compose their answers, and the extent to which they report themselves as being a ‘trusted source.’ The purpose of this is to uncover key assumptions contained within ChatGPT and in so doing provide material which aids and promotes literacy on generative AI and more specifically on ChatGPT. The responses provided by ChatGPT are very rarely definitive and instead are predominantly nuanced. Such nuancing significantly underestimates the likelihood that its responses contain incorrect information and therefore imbues an over inflated sense of trust in the responses provided, especially to a novice user of ChatGPT. Further, in its answers it consistently offloads the blame for biased and incorrect answers on the training data it uses, rather than directly accepting responsibility for when it produces incorrect and/or biased answers.

The Privilege of Asking Questions: Reflecting on Information Literacy in the Age of Gen AI

Sarah Gretter, Karon Hamiel, Courtney Prater — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

AI tools are making it easier than ever for anyone with internet access to ask any question they want. Yet, just like using search engines to find resources, having access to Gen AI tools on its own does not guarantee equitable access and use of the data they produce. Rather, the availability of such tools reinforces existing information literacy gaps where researching, collecting, managing, transforming, and critically utilizing data can make the difference between passively consuming answers and having the agency to leverage them for self-actualization. This article looks at the act of asking questions as a privileged act that illustrates that disparity. We explore how family upbringing, societal systems of oppression, and psychological safety in teaching and learning intersect to shape our approach to questioning. We highlight the critical role that questioning plays in our lives beyond online spaces, and advocate for fostering a lifelong culture of curiosity in technology-enhanced educational spaces.

AI as Fad or AI as Lasting? Priorities for College Faculty Instructional Development for Generative Artificial Intelligence

Rob Hill — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform the landscape of education, college faculty must be equipped with the necessary skills to navigate this digital frontier effectively. This position paper argues that instructional development programs for college faculty related to generative AI should focus on three key aspects: enhancing fundamental teaching skills, making AI more familiar to educators, and preventing burnout. These three areas are interconnected and can collectively contribute to the success of AI integration in higher education. In this paper, I present and critique the ChatGPT output. I found the output to be cogent and potentially useful, but limited by inconsistencies, lack of details, and hallucinations. Although AI output may be useful for guiding practice at a surface level, it could not capture the human voice and attention to detail necessary for scholarship.

Deploying generative AI to draft a roleplay simulation of difficult conversations about inclusivity

Clive Holtham — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Within inclusivity change initiatives, conversations around microaggressions are a key element in seeking behavioural change. This exemplar use of GenAI is focused on authoring a conversational role play simulation. Prompts draw on the extensive literature of microaggressions. The underlying scenario is a podcast where the author and chatbot co-design the role play. The study involved a novice in GenAI simultaneously learning prompt engineering which would generate realistic role played conversation. A core finding was that GenAI can produce a conversational style realistic enough to deploy in higher education inclusivity workshops, and whose subject matter content is satisfactory. The chatbot proposed four benefits of a role play simulation, which are drawn on to frame the critical reflection. An important conclusion was that the GenAI process could valuably facilitate shifting from a subject expert academic being sole author, to co-design involving both those with experience of microaggressions, as well as potential staff and student workshop participants.

Can Generative Artificial Intelligence Write an Academic Journal Article? Opportunities, Challenges, and Implications

Hsiao-Ping Hsu — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This article offers an in-depth reflection on the author’s experiences with Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), ChatGPT 4.0. The author started the journey from their initial need for software for English proofreading and editing services to their interest in exploring pre-service teachers’ application of Gen AI in lesson planning. Based on prompt engineering techniques, an iterative three-stage manuscript generation process—brainstorming, refinement, and writing—with ChatGPT is detailed. A short paper generated by ChatGPT is presented. Although Gen AI is a valuable tool in providing insights and assistance in research idea generation and design, academic writing, and English writing learning, the author cautions that critical thinking plays a vital role in ensuring accuracy, ethical considerations, and the preservation of rigorous scholarly standards. As Gen AI emerges as a game-changer in academia and education, this article highlights the importance of balancing its emerging capabilities with maintaining traditional academic and educational values.

Leveraging Generative AI Tools for Enhanced Lesson Planning in Initial Teacher Education at Post Primary

Frank Kehoe — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

The rapid development of generative AI (artificial intelligence) tools such as ChatGPT and Google Bard has opened new possibilities for enhancing lesson planning in initial teacher education (ITE). These tools have the capability to generate tailored educational content, alleviating time constraints while concurrently enhancing the quality of teaching. By simply providing specific requirements and objectives, teachers can obtain comprehensive and well-structured lesson plans and subject plans. This paper explores the potential of generative AI tools to revolutionise lesson planning in initial teacher education. It begins by reviewing lesson planning using a generative AI tool, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that exist. A sample lesson plan and a sample scheme of work are further created. While these tools are revolutionising the way teachers work, these tools will not replace real human teachers. Teachers will always need to supplement generative AI content with their own insights and experience, allowing them to make informed pedagogical decisions.

Scrutinizing the Synthetic Syllabus

Apostolos Koutropoulos — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

In this article I explore the scenario of syllabus creation using ChatGPT as a type of Assistant Course Designer. During the early parts of 2023, one of the scenarios for LLM-based technologies, such as ChatGPT, was the creation of course materials, assignments, and syllabi for courses. The use case presented at Teaching and Learning Conferences during this time always included an adjunct instructor who was assigned a course at the last minute; or an early career academic who might have not had previous experience in syllabus creation. The scenarios always hinged upon either a lack of time to prepare, or lack of prior work that a user could adapt to the current scenario, or both. While ChatGPT passes a surface-level inspection for this scenario, a deeper analysis of the output highlights the problems with relying on such a tool for this job.

Reflections on Engaging Pragmatically with Generative AI to Augment Research and Education Practice

Peter Morris, Michael Connolly — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

Generative AI tools enable researchers to generate multimedia content, including human-like visuals, voice and text. This novel paper’s purpose is to use generative AI to create a short paper, and to critically evaluate the process and implications of the material generated. Firstly, the capabilities of AI to generate multimedia content is summarised with an example of an AI generated professor. Both the opening section, and concluding reflections, are written without the use of AI. Perplexity.ai, an AI tool based on a large language model is used, through a series of prompts, to generate a short paper on AI in the animation industry. The generated paper emerged through a series of prompts written during a 90-minute session. The generated text is presented as is, modified only with minor deletions. In the concluding section, the impact of generative AI tools on researching are reflected upon with some positive and negative insights outlined.

Technology-Enhanced Student Success Program Short Report

Kristen Peña, Jonathan McMichael, Medha Dalal — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This paper presents an LLM-generated “Short Report'' on designing technology-enhanced first-year success programs for first-generation college students at large, public universities. We describe the three-phase process used to generate the report, and the process evolution as we came to understand the LLM’s tendencies, while also highlighting the opportunities and challenges of integrating LLMs in the scholarly practitioner discourse.

We explore whether Generative AI can serve as a valuable tool for educational and scholarly contexts. The current iteration of Large Language Models (LLMs) exhibits several critical shortcomings for reliably producing an article fit for publication, including imprecise information, overt hallucinations, problematic oversights, and vague language that would typically render it unsuitable for rigorous academic discussion. However, Generative AI can present us with viable, impactful ideas for improving learning. It is incumbent on us as educators to recognize, evaluate, and develop those ideas for our campuses and communities.