Tech-Neill-ogy #56 - 14 July 2024

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
July 15, 2024

Welcome to Tech-Neill-ogy #56!

So much FOMO this past week watching so many colleagues from around the world attending the International ACAC conference in London, Ontario. It looked to have been a blast. That said, I’m happy to be home, recharging for the upcoming school year. Being at a southern hemisphere school on a northern hemisphere calendar, we start work the end of this month, so the rest is needed!

In any case, as she has so many times, Whitney Soule, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania (formerly of my alma mater, Bowdoin College), shares sage advice for navigating the college process as a parent, based upon her own experiences. (Remember when Penn added the gratitude supplemental question?) While not tech-focused, I think all of us should share this new piece with our parents for guidance. Measured, vulnerable, and insightful, this hits at the heart of our work. Enjoy it!

And enjoy this week’s newsletter!

How Generative AI Can Augment Human Creativity

There is tremendous apprehension about the potential of generative AI—technologies that can create new content such as text, images, and video—to replace people in many jobs. But one of the biggest opportunities generative AI offers is to augment human creativity and overcome the challenges of democratizing innovation.

hbr.org/2023/07/how-generative-ai-can-augment-human-creativity

AI Is Learning What It Means to Be Alive

Given troves of data about genes and cells, AI models have made some surprising discoveries. What could they teach us someday?

www.nytimes.com/2024/03/10/science/ai-learning-biology.html

How to Use AI to Create Role-Play Scenarios for Your Students

Just as pilots, doctors, truck drivers, and athletes benefit from practicing their skills in low-risk environments, students can also learn effectively when given the opportunity to explore, make mistakes, and adjust without fear of failure.

hbsp.harvard.edu/inspiring-minds/using-generative-ai-to-create-role-play-scenarios-for-students

What does Disruptive Innovation Theory have to say about AI?

It turns out that it doesn’t make much sense to talk about GenAI as being “disruptive” in and of itself. Can it be part of a disruptive innovation?

www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/what-does-disruptive-innovation-say-about-ai

Free AI Notetaker

Instantly summarizes your meetings so you can focus on the conversation instead of taking notes.

fathom.video

No-Code AI Chatbot for Your Website

Empower your business with custom AI website chatbot that help with customer support, lead generation, knowledge base search, and more. It's free to start!

chatling.ai

SUPERGPT Functions

Discover how SUPERGPT functions in Google Sheets can revolutionize your workflow, bringing the advanced capabilities of GPT and AI directly to your spreadsheets without any copy-pasting.

www.superjoin.ai/producthunt

ContentShake AI: Content Writing Tool

Use ContentShake AI to power your business expertise with AI and data to create unique, engaging content at scale. Try now for free.

www.semrush.com/apps/contentshake

No-code AI phone assistants

Quickly set up AI phone assistants for making and receiving calls, no coding needed.

www.askleo.io

Here’s an interesting use case. Think about using this prompt, perhaps for my upcoming UCLA OpenX webinar with Jon Boekenstedt, Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at Oregon State University on July 30. (Register here!) 

As a [enter field, position, role], I am attending a webinar entitled [title] hosted by [enter name(s) of presenter(s) and (possibly) current roles/titles] with the description [description] aimed at [intended audience]. Please construct 20 questions that I might ask at the webinar, taking into account the intended content of the webinar as well as the background, biographies, and recent publications and activities of the hosts.

This is a pretty good tool to aid in your preparation for webinars! Give it a try!

Some previous prompts are shared at this link and on my YouTube channel. However, if you have any great prompts or questions about prompting, send me a note at [email protected].

Practical Coaching Strategies for the Average Student Writer

This online college consulting course covers practical strategies to help high school students of varying writing abilities tell powerful stories, offer meaningful insight, and complete serious revisions on their college essays. (July 11th, 18th, and 25th)

students.collegeessayguy.com/mini-course/average-student-writer

Higher Education & Adult Educators Courses | UCLA Extension

Check out the upcoming Summer Series with a fantastic line-up of guests, including Jon Boeckenstedt, Akil Bello, Peter Van Buskirk, and Phil Moreno… all free!

www.uclaextension.edu/education/higher-education-adult-educators/courses

College Board Summer Institute

Everything counselors need to support students through the college admission process, now available for free and on demand. (This is not the Summer Institute for International Counselors! Instead, this is a separate online, free program.)

counselors.collegeboard.org/professional-learning/counselor-summer-institute

The AI Conference 2024

The AI Conference 2024 is a groundbreaking vendor-neutral event brought to you by the creators of MLconf and Ben Lorica.

aiconference.com

AI and Future of Education Conference (AIFE)

The AI and The Future of Education Conference is an international event aimed at teachers and leaders in K-12 schools. The conference will focus on the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in education and its potential impact on the future of society and education. Attendees will explore high-level concepts as well as practical takeaways, empowering educators to harness the power of AI in their classrooms and prepare their students for the future.
1 November 2024 - Pre-conference
2-3 November 2024 - Main conference
VERSO International School, Bangkok Thailand

aife.community

The challenge for me this summer is that there are so many tools and treats that I really want to try out, but I’m reluctant to dive into work on my time off. So I’ve created a rapidly-growing list of such items for once the school year begins…

In any case, that’s it for this week. Enjoy the summer!

Happy counseling,

Jeff