Month: February 2024

Thinking about thinking (with AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is definitely the big talking point in educational circles at the moment.  You just need to look at the various conference programs and you will almost always find at least one session touching on AI or generative AI.   Now a lot of the discussion is focused on the possible benefits or the risks associated with AI and less so with the practical applications and need to experiment.   It was in thinking about the practical side of things, looking at tools like ChatGPT, Diffit, Gemini and Bing Image Creator among others, that I got thinking how AI might link to meta cognition.

Learning about learning

The idea of learning about learning, about meta cognition, has been around for quite some time.    The thinking being that if we educate students about how they learn and get them thinking about their learning preferences (eek, I almost said learning styles there!) then they can make informed decisions about their learning, and hopefully be better learners.   It seems to make sense.  But how does this link to AI and generative AI?

Learning with a learning assistant

I think the key issue here is how we see AI in terms of the learning experience.   Is it simply a tool to spark ideas?   Is it a tool to review content?   Is it a tool to surface information?   I would suggest it is all of these things and more, and in the case of generative AI can operate as an assistant to teachers or to students.   It is definitely more than a bit of technology or simply a tool as I suspect in its use its shapes our thinking and our processes, much as the simple tools like the hammer shaped human thinking and processes in the past.    We also need to consider that process when working with generative AI (GenAI) is often iterative or taking the form of a dialogue between the user and the genAI solution.  The user fields an initial prompt, to which the genAI responses.   The user then reviews the response against what they were hoping for, and if they are anything like me they realize that they haven’t been specific enough so therefore now provide further directives to the AI, which in turn returns a new, hopefully better response, and so the dialogue continues until an output which is satisfactory to the user is reached.     Now some of this dialogue can possibly be sped up through the use of various prompt frameworks such as the PREPARE framework shared by Dan Fitzpatrick, however even then it is still likely to be a dialogue with Dan also providing a framework for the review and iterative part of this process, his EDIT framework.

Meta AI supported cognition?

If we are looking to prepare students to work with generative AI as their always available assistant I think we also need to start exploring with students how best to use them.   Part of this is about looking at their learning and how their learning processes might be different with AI.   I suppose it’s a bit like if all your learning was done with a partner, with another human being.  Looking at the nature of the interaction, being very much a dialogue, makes this comparison feel all the more apt.   You would need to consider their approach, their emotions, social interaction, etc.   Now an AI doesn’t have emotions or the social side of things, or at least not yet or as we currently know these to exist, but it does have its own approach, its own biases, its own strengths and its own weaknesses.  So if we are using or encouraging students to use AI in learning, I think we need to work with student to unpick the processes rather than simply focusing on the tools.  If I am looking for ideas and to be creative, how best to I use AI?   If I am looking to review and improve my work, how best am I to use AI?    If I want to use AI for research, how best do I do this?    Is this where Meta AI supported cognition comes in?

Conclusion

In relation to technology use in education I have always said it isn’t about the technology but about what you are seeking to achieve.   With AI it might be using Gen AI to produce better coursework or to give you a starting point or some new ideas.    But if we think beyond the short term goals, isn’t it about being able to better use AI to suit our needs as they arise and as such do we then need to spend time with students unpicking the how of their use of Gen AI, understanding the processes, what works and what doesn’t in order to get better in working with our newly found AI assistant?

Might teaching about Meta AI supported cognition become a thing?

Do I really need a digital strategy?

I have recently been wondering about whether there is a need for a digital strategy.  I had always considered it important that every school had a digital strategy however more recently I have been wondering does the need for a digital strategy vary with a schools technology maturity?   If a school has technology which is reasonably well embedded is there still the same need for a digital strategy?

Getting started

At the early stages of technology use in a school I believe it is very important for a digital strategy to exist.   You are managing software and hardware requirements, underpinning infrastructure, maybe device end points as well as training and communication.   And it’s all new to you as you are only getting started.  There are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of interrelated decisions, plus there is the whole issue of change management and bringing people with you.    The need for a strategy is key in planning all of this but also in showing people where they are going and charting a path there.   Without the strategy you may have different people pulling in different directions.

Mature technology usage

When however, you get to mature technology usage and your systems and processes are more embedded the challenges are different.   Significant change is much more difficult as you are no longer moving from a blank slate.   You are likely from a situation where technology is being used and is likely having benefits, albeit there may be issues which are leading to considering change.   Consider moving from iPads to Windows Laptops for staff for example;  Your staff will be aware of the benefits of the iPads given they use them so availability bias plays its part here in that we know with certainty the benefits of our current setup however the benefits of the planned new solution are not as clear or definite, therefore we over weight our current setup.   In terms of the drawbacks of the iPads, we are aware of these too however given we are using iPads we equally already have workarounds or simply sub-optimal processes whereas for the new solutions we are only predicting the possible drawbacks, so again we come back in favour of our current setup.   And the same issue arises if you are looking at changing an established MIS system or various other bits of technology.   You also have the issue that different technologies and associated processes might be tightly integrated, meaning any new solution, which would be a different solution, would need to be able to be equally tightly integrated, where this is seldom guaranteed.

If not technology strategy, what?

Once you have a relatively mature technology usage I suspect rather than significant change, it is more like iterative or evolutionary change.    The technology is more transparent rather than having a more central focus.   There isnt the same need for a three-year strategic roadmap and the ongoing renewal of infrastructure should be a simple matter of operational process.   So, given we accept technology continues to evolve, if it isnt digital strategy, what is it?    In a recent chat with Ian Yorston he planted the idea of Digital Culture with me and I think that is exactly what we should be looking to develop, where technology is simply the way we do things around here, supporting the overall objectives and aims of the school.   And culture is something that changes more slowly based on the stories and the narratives told around school, so we need to be paying more attention to this.  So its about having the opportunities to constantly review the narratives around technology use in school, to assess the impact and value and iterate and evolve.    In my school this is our IT Management Group but also working parties such as our AI working party.   It is also feedback processes through SLT and through Heads of Department.   I don’t think we have it 100% nailed by any means but then again if things are constantly evolving maybe this is to be expected.    One of the things I want to do more of is look to the “how we measure” impact and value and the how we know things are working or not.   

Conclusion

Maybe a technology strategy is very important to get started, but maybe once technology is embedded it’s all about developing the culture and softer adjustments and changes around the edges.      

And maybe it easier to show change and impact in the beginning which makes it easier to demonstrate the impact or progress against the strategy.   Once technology is more embedded this isnt so easy to measure or assess which means we need to start looking deeper, and this is something I hope to look into over the coming months.

Connectedness and 11 years of blogging

I sit and write this in a hotel in Sheffield ahead of recording some webinars related to the DfE Digital Standards over the next 2 days.   Today isnt special for me due to what I am about to do, although I am very happy for the opportunity, but due to the fact 11 years ago, sat on the bed in my villa in Al Ain in the UAE I setup and published my first blog post.   And yes, there is quite a difference between a villa in the UAE and a hotel in Sheffield;  lets just say I am certainly not as warm as I used to be.

When I started my blog I was very much doing it for me.   It was an act of putting things down in writing which forced me to decompose my thinking which often led to me challenging my own perspective and views.    Part of the reason to start my blog was the fact I accepted that my memory was not as good and photographic as I thought it was and therefore writing things down, publishing them online made for a permeant record that I could compare over time.    I will admit, when I started,  I never saw myself still posting 11 years later and I don’t think I saw me finding the process as quite as valuable as I now find it.

And in writing for myself I have found that there are actually people out there reading my thoughts and at many points I thought no one read my musings;  But remember my musings were for me so this wasn’t an issue.    The recent BETT conference included a number of individuals, some I had met in person but a number I hadn’t, telling me they read my posts.   I was connected to these people in sharing, but possibly more importantly my posts built an opportunity to connect with these people in person;  I was originally going to put “real life” there but how is a connection made online any less “real” than a connection in person, although I would suggest in person has greater value in the non-verbal side of communications, empathy and emotional connections which are not as possible online.    When I was struggling from a personal point of view I found people reach out and offer support, with some being people I knew in person and others being people I knew only online.    I found myself helped by a network built from sharing my thoughts, although again those in-person relationships were that bit stronger than the online only ones.

When I consider online connectedness I have always considered it to be shallow and in some cases simply an illusion;   I can be online chatting via social media with lots of people but still feel lonely, something I have posted about in the past.   But equally the online connections can spring into real life connections that maybe, otherwise might never have occurred.   I know after BETT I came away happy and energized, against a backdrop of some personal challenges.   Some of this was due to connecting once more with in-person friends, some of it was due to new in-person connections but some of it was also due to online connections suddenly becoming in-person friends and colleagues.    So maybe online connections arent shallow;  Maybe this is too simplistic a categorisation.  Maybe if they remain online and that is our only and principle connection, they remain shallow, but if this is simply the seed from which the in person connection grows then maybe we are all the better for it.   Maybe there is a balance to be sought in relation to in-person and online connections, seeking to maximise the benefits of both types.

So 11 years of blogging;  Where has the time gone?   Funny enough I can answer that simply by reviewing my posts over the last 11 years.   So, to the future, I will keep blogging for now at least and see where things go from there.    For those reading this I just give thanks for giving my musings your valuable time and if I havent met you yet, then I look forward to hopefully meeting you in person at some point in the future;  EduTech Europe 2024, BETT 2025 maybe?

This post was written on Monday 12th Feb, 2024

Safer Internet Day 2024

I thought I would put a post together to coincide with safer internet day, the 6th Feb 2024.    Safer internet day represents an opportunity to stop and recognise the importance of online safety however it is also important to recognise that our understanding of digital risks isnt confined to a single day but is something we should be constantly considering.

I will be honest and say that I generally feel we do not do enough in relation to digital citizenship, which is the broader concept which encompasses online safety, in schools.   Yes, schools have safer internet day, they have content in their PSHE education programme plus in their KS1, 2 and 3 Computer Science programmes, and for those students choosing to study computing or IT subjects at A-Level or in vocational qualifications, but it is limited content and this is against a backdrop of increasing use of digital tools and increasing sharing of data.   We believe basic maths and basic literacy are requirements for all; I believe basic digital citizenship should also be a requirement and a subject in itself.

So, if it was a subject what would the topics be?

I already try and deliver sessions for students throughout the year in relation to number of digital citizenship topics which includes:

Fake News

I think this is a very important subject given the ease with which fake images and even fake audio and video can now be created through the use of Generative AI.    Recent cases with fake Taylor Swift videos and fake Joe Biden audio are a case in point. How might we tell the fake from the real, but also what about those individuals who say or do something inappropriate only to claim they didn’t, and that the footage or audio is fake?    How do we establish truth in world where we can no longer believe what we see or hear?

Big Data

We are constantly given away data, and more than we realise.  And it isnt just about the data we give away, but also about the data which might be inferred from what we give away.    Consider where you live, the car you drive and where you shop for example;   How might this information help to infer something about your wealth or earnings?    What does your weekly shop say about you and your family? And remember it doesn’t need to always be right, it just needs to generally be right more than its wrong to have value.    Then there are the organisations willing to pay for your data or to sell your data on.   Might we get to a point where, through data, some companies know more about us than we know about ourselves and at that point, what is the potential for us to be influenced or even controlled.

Binary arguments and echo chambers

The medium used to communicate has an impact on the message, with this being all the more apparent on social media where things go viral, with agreement, or viral with disagreement so very quickly.  The medium shapes our views through its algorithms, connecting stories with those likely to engage either in agreement or in disagreement, thereby enhancing divides and encouraging most discussions to descend into binary arguments.    As you engage with social media, it will try to feed you the info you want to hear, which therefore tends to reinforce the views you already have rather than providing alternative viewpoints.   So in consuming information and news from social media we need to be conscious of how social media works and therefore how it might shape the news it presents and eventually our viewpoints.

Balance – Public Good and Personal Privacy

Balance as a concept is something I believe strongly in.   For ever advantage there is a corresponding risk or draw back.   And in some many decisions we operate on a continuum rather than with polar opposites.  Take public good vs. personal privacy for example.    We want to be safe so expect the police and intelligence services to monitor in search of terrorists and other threats.   Yet, we also want our individual privacy so to be free from monitoring.    Can we have both?     The answer is no, we need to find some balance between a “reasonable” level of surveillance and monitoring balanced out against a “reasonable” level of individual privacy.    Taking the discussion of encryption, the challenge here is that weak encryption is weak for all, so monitoring anyone is difficult without putting all at risk.   Now there are solutions here such as monitoring at the device level where encrypted communications need to be decrypted to display, however this is difficult as it requires access to the device.    We basically have an imperfect situation, and sometimes in this complex world we need to live with imperfect.

Cyber Security

As we use more digital tools, share more data and generally use technology more and more we need to be more and more conscious of cyber risks and how to remain secure.   This is in the accounts we use, the data we share, the use of MFA, but also in the devices we own including updating our devices such as laptops and phones, but also the increasing number of IoT devices we have such as smart plugs and voice assistants.   We need to give some consideration to cyber security in all purchases, and in each system or service we seek to use.  It may even be necessary to accept that every piece of technology used represents increased risk, so the question then becomes is the gain from using the service sufficient to outweigh the risk?

Addiction and Being Human

How many times have you seen a major event such as a new years fireworks display with people all holding up their phones to film the event, so all experiencing the event through their smart phone screen?   Or have you been on a train or in a restaurant and seen countless people staring at their phones?   Is this the way we want to live and does this change our experience of life?  Yes it might give us a nice video of the event which we can then go back to in future but how often do we do this and if we didn’t record the event would we spend more time interacting with those around us, with this resulting in something more memorable?    What does being human look like in this technology enabled, technology curated and technology filtered world?

Conclusion

The above are just some of the areas I discuss with students and I note I don’t have the answers as I spend a little too much time on digital devices, I share more data than I likely need to, etc.  What I do hope to do however is build awareness and start a discussion as this is I believe what matters.    We need to be thinking about the challenges and risks and ensure our students, our young people, are aware of them and are making educated decisions.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable safer internet day;  Stay safe online!