Five Union Catholic faculty members attended a Master ChatGPT with other artificial intelligence tools for teaching and learning over the summer.
GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is a revolutionary natural language processing (NLP) model developed by OpenAI. It has the ability to generate human-like text, complete tasks such as translation and summarization, and even carry on conversations.
The UC faculty members who engaged in the six-week virtual cohort were Noreen Andrews, Marla James, Susan McLaughlin, Catarina Portillo, and Kathy Webber. They attended nine 90-minute live interactive sessions for instructional leaders and classroom teachers, which was presented by A.J. Juliani.
Juliani, one of the nation's leaders in the adaptable learning industry, is the founder of Adaptable Learning, and the author of 8 books about learning, including the bestsellers, Empower, Launch, PBL Playbook, and his newest Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling title, Adaptable. He's worked at every level of education as a teacher, instructional coach, Director of Learning and Innovation, and he's currently an Instructor at UPenn Graduate School of Education PLN.
What were the biggest takeaways from the cohort?
- Practical Applications for ChatGpT and other AI tools in learning
- How to use ChatGpt as a time-saver and teaching tool
- Integrating ChatGPT into the pre-existing curriculum
- Developing responsible-use policies for ChatGPT and other AI tools
- How to strike an effective balance between student creativity and generative AI
- Strategies for maintaining academic integrity when using AI in the classroom
"It's a very very exciting time in education for the faculty and students as we continue to prepare our students for their futures and their careers,'' said Andrews, an Assistant Principal at Union Catholic. "It's all about being able to access those resources and apply those resources. Going forward we're a learning community. The faculty and students are on this journey together, helping each other in this brave new world of AI.''
Andrews said that James, McLaughlin, Portillo, Webber and herself will continue to help the UC staff and faculty throughout this transformative period.
"Those five faculty members will continue to provide support for our faculty as we navigate through the world of AI in education,'' said Andrews.