Tech-Neill-ogy #16 - 10 September 2023

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
September 11, 2023

Welcome to newsletter #16!

It was a short week here in São Paulo as we celebrated Brazilian Independence Day on Thursday, so, with the shortened school week, I retreated to the mountains for a little R&R. Still, those three days on campus were busy. Read more here on LinkedIn.

Last week’s problem of having too much to report on did not quite abate this week. So, I’m going to overload you with items in the Course Catalog section to clear the hopper for next week. It would seem to me that the initial allure of AI and ChatGPT in particular is fading, and people are increasing their practical, how-to focus on the tools, leading to a lot more interesting and new lenses through with to see these tools. I apologize for the 11 articles! But I hope you find one or two that are interesting!

Please keep sharing items you encounter with me! Thanks to those who have been doing so! And please click on the links! Finally, please be sure to share this newsletter within your networks.

In any case, feel free to drop me an email at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you!

Enjoy this week’s newsletter!

Made by Ideogram.ai.

Are face-to-face admissions practices gaining traction?

Between advancements in AI and the end of affirmative action, the traditional application process is more fraught than ever. Some colleges are trying a radical strategy: meeting students face-to-face.

www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2023/09/05/are-face-face-admissions-practices-gaining-traction

Harvard Releases Guidance for AI Use in Classrooms

One year ago today, practically nobody was familiar with ChatGPT. Now, top Harvard academic officials are bracing for a world where artificial intelligence tools are ubiquitous throughout higher education.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/9/1/fas-ai-guidance

Streamline with ChatGPT Plugins

Adding ChatGPT plugins are simple and can help you teach more effectively… or counsel! Or get things done…

www.techlearning.com/news/streamline-with-chatgpt-plugins

Teaching Data Science

Data science education and literacy are critical for students to learn, especially with the ever-growing focus on digital data. This is an important article in the current context of AI.

www.techlearning.com/how-to/teaching-data-science

Generative AI is a Black Mirror for Educators

ChatGPT pierces the veil of the college lecture hall. Great stuff here on stochastic parrots and “new broom, same old dirt.” Deming hits the nail on the head in this piece.

forklightning.substack.com/p/generative-ai-is-a-black-mirror-for

Developing AI Pedagogical Practices

A new classroom technology, such as AI, requires new pedagogical approaches. Some are leading the way here while some are falling woefully behind.

www.techlearning.com/news/developing-ai-pedagogical-practices

Talking the AI Talk

Corporate America is leaning into the most promising trend in tech. AI is growing in all sectors.

www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/08/ai-corporate-america/675162

How Schools Can Survive (and Maybe Even Thrive) With A.I. This Fall

There are some really great and practical tips for how to navigate these new times.

www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/technology/how-schools-can-survive-and-maybe-even-thrive-with-ai-this-fall.html

Generative AI and intellectual property

If you put all the world’s knowledge into an AI model and use it to make something new, who owns that and who gets paid? This is a completely new problem that we’ve been arguing about for 500 years.

www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2023/8/27/generative-ai-ad-intellectual-property

Most Americans haven’t used ChatGPT; few think it will have a major impact on their job

19% of employed U.S. adults who have heard of ChatGPT think chatbots will have a major impact on their job.

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/28/most-americans-havent-used-chatgpt-few-think-it-will-have-a-major-impact-on-their-job

How the AI Revolution Will Reshape the World

AI is far more empowering than the web ever was…

time.com/6310115/ai-revolution-reshape-the-world

Educators say they are working with, not against, AI in the classroom

While teachers have banned students from using AI, some instructors are willingly bringing it into the classroom.

www.cbsnews.com/news/educators-work-with-not-against-ai-in-the-classroom

Introducing Loom AI

Record better, faster video messages with Loom AI so you can be more productive and efficient at work. All without lifting a finger.

www.loom.com/ai

Expedia ChatGPT Plugin

Make your travel dreams a reality - get there, stay, explore! Expedia has released a ChatGPT plugin that uses enhanced AI to assist with your travel and planning needs. Take a look!

www.pluginsavvy.com/plugins/expedia

SuperQuiz

Connect, Learn, and Laugh Together with Intelligent Quizzes

getsuperquiz.com

AI Recipe Generator

Unleash your inner chef with our FREE AI-powered recipe generator! Save your favorite creations to your profile or add them to your weekly meal plan! I’ve been toying with this one quite a bit lately with long hours in the office and a hungry family to feed…

mealpractice.com/generate

Free Content Brief Generator + Template

Generate content briefs for your articles using our free and easy-to-use AI powered tool.

www.dashword.com/content-brief-generator

For this week, I wanted to explore the ways in which ChatGPT can partner with college counselors to help advertise upcoming college representative visits. Consider the following prompt: 

I am a high school college counselor, and part of my responsibilities are to advertise to our students and parents the myriad of institutions coming to our campus in the coming weeks. As such, I need your help in producing a 3-sentence description of each of the following schools that will be coming to my school in the next two weeks. Please write these blurbs for the following universities:

<ENTER UNIVERSITY NAMES HERE>

Please be sure each blurb is 3-sentences long and written to entice a curious high school student.

Of course, as with so much with ChatGPT, the descriptions produced can be somewhat limited, but they are a great starting place. Take a look here to see what the prompt above kicked out for my schools’ visitors for the next two weeks! 

As always, if you’d like to explore some of the other prompts I’ve shared here and elsewhere, check out this link. If you have any great prompts or questions about prompting, send me a note at [email protected].

As the Final Exam prompt above might suggest, it will be a busy couple of weeks with lots of visitors coming through! I imagine your schedules are filling up as well. That said, hopefully you picked up a couple useful tips or tools from the newsletter. Hopefully next week will be a little slower!!!

For now, please see the YouTube video below to expand your thinking about AI-powered tools and imagination…

Happy counseling,

Jeff

Bilawal Sidhu: The AI-powered tools supercharging your imagination

How is AI changing the nature of human imagination and creativity? Through a mind-bending tour of new techniques he's been tinkering with, creative technologist Bilawal Sidhu shows how anyone can use AI-powered tools -- like 3D scans that let you redesign the physical world in real time -- to expand the possibilities of artistic expression, often within just minutes.

www.ted.com/talks/bilawal_sidhu_the_ai_powered_tools_supercharging_your_imagination