Tech-Neill-ogy #69 - 14 October 2024

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
October 14, 2024

Welcome to Tech-Neill-ogy #69!

It’s been a bit of a tough stretch between the cracked ribs and then losing internet at home since last Monday. Then the storms here in Sao Paulo have now left us without power at home with no clear date by which things will be restored… not ideal in the life of a college counselor in October. I had been tempted to try to re-brand October as Jeff-tober, given my birthday, but this string of luck leaves me reluctant to see it as anything short of Suck-tober. I hope yours is going better than mine!

I’ll open this week with commentary from the always-insightful Ted Dintersmith:

Ted Dintersmith on LinkedIn

In US education, test scores aren’t a goal, scores are THE goal. Here’s the unfolding crisis…

www.linkedin.com/posts/ted-dintersmith-0211985a_one-last-moring-post-in-us-education-activity-7250091491870617600--dY-

In any case, enjoy this week’s newsletter!

High School Counselor AI Prompt Library

Cialfo has produced this handy guide with a handful of helpful use cases in using AI as a high school counselor. Check it out!

45264935.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/45264935/Cialfo%20Resource%20-%20High%20School%20Counselor%20AI%20Prompt%20Library-4.pdf

Can an AI Chatbot Be Your Friend?

People reported feeling less lonely after interacting with AI chatbots programmed to be empathetic, according to Wharton’s Stefano Puntoni.

knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/can-an-ai-chatbot-be-your-friend

How AI is supercharging work right now

It could be the most transformative technology of the next decade and beyond—but AI is also having an immense impact on businesses today.

www.fastcompany.com/91127403/how-ai-is-supercharging-work-right-now

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2024

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2024 was awarded jointly to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton "for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks"

www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2024/prize-announcement

Ethan Mollick, analyst: ‘Students who use AI as a crutch don’t learn anything’

The veteran professor, who has become a celebrity on social media, has published a book on how to better understand and use artificial intelligence in everyday life

english.elpais.com/technology/2024-10-03/ethan-mollick-analyst-students-who-use-ai-as-a-crutch-dont-learn-anything.html

Create stunning visuals in seconds with AI.

Remove background, cleanup pictures, upscaling, Stable diffusion and more… [Do take the time to check this one out!!!]

clipdrop.co

Brisk Teaching - Free AI for Teachers

Brisk is the best AI for teachers and schools, offering free AI tools for education that fit seamlessly into your routine. With an AI lesson plan generator and tools for instruction, feedback, and differentiation, Brisk helps lighten your workload. Grade essays before the bell or create lesson plans in seconds. Install now and thank yourself all year!

www.briskteaching.com

Eddie | Your AI Storytelling Partner

Prompt-to-video edit. Iterate with Eddie to craft stories from your interviews. Then export to MP4, Adobe, Resolve & FCP.

heyeddie.ai

Raena AI

Transform your boring study notes into interactive quizzes & so much more!

raena.ai

Graphy - create pro-level graphs that drive actions.

Graphy enables anyone to become a skilled data storyteller, by radically simplifying the way data is presented and communicated. 

graphy.app

Tis’ the season for essay review! Try this one on for size. 

As an experienced high school college counselor, please review the following draft of my college application essay for both strengths and areas for improvement.

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate it? Be as candid and objective in your feedback as possible.

Then, please share 3 points that you enjoyed and 3 points of constructive feedback.

Help me understand how to make this better. Give me specific and tactical suggestions.

Here’s the draft:

If you have any great prompts or ideas, please share! Send me a note at [email protected].

Webinars & Live Events Page

Look here for upcoming webinars and other events (and recorded ones) by the College Essay Guy! New events are happening all the time…

www.collegeessayguy.com/webinars-live-events

CIS members should see their CIS accounts for registration details!

You’ll notice that there are a few new AI events above. I’ll be participating in most of them, and then another next week at the College Board Forum. I hope to see some of you throughout this next, busy week!

For this week’s non-tech article, I wanted to share this article that resonated with me…

Five things I learned in my first year as a university counsellor | Times Higher Education

Before making the career switch to becoming a university guidance counsellor, I was heading the school’s marketing and communications department. While the concept of university guidance wasn't entirely new to me, I quickly realised that it was a lot more multifaceted and dynamic than I had initially perceived.

www.timeshighereducation.com/counsellor/counselling/five-things-i-learned-my-first-year-university-counsellor

Happy counseling,

Jeff