EARLY DECISION

Welcome to this week’s edition of Tech-Neill-ogy! As the school year winds down and summer plans start to take shape (see my recent LinkedIn post), it's essential for us as college counselors to stay abreast of the latest developments in our field. In this issue, we’ll be diving into exciting professional development opportunities, exploring strategies for optimizing your interactions with AI like ChatGPT, and reflecting on an ethical scenario that touches on technology addiction among students. Plus, don’t miss the practical tips in the COURSE CATALOG and an inspiring narrative in the STUDENT UNION section about how AI is transforming inclusive education. There’s something for everyone in this issue!

EXTRACURRICULARS

g2 Admissions, Recruitment, and Counseling (ARC) Global Edition Summit. The summer is nearly upon us, and, for many college counselors, there are some great professional development opportunities coming up with IACAC, ACCIS; however, I recently learned of another opportunity on June 21 and 22 from Gen Next, which is hosting the g2 Admissions, Recruitment, and Counseling (ARC) Global Edition summit. Find more information here, or register online here. If you have any questions about the g2 ARC, please reach out to Megan at [email protected]. (And, if you register, I’ll be on a panel on “Things I Wish I Knew Before My First Counseling Job”!)

LinkedIn for High School Students. High school students stand to gain immeasurably by engaging with the professional world early, and LinkedIn is the perfect platform for this. My latest blog post offers a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how students can create and optimize their LinkedIn profiles. By establishing a presence on LinkedIn, students open doors to countless opportunities including internships, scholarships, and part-time jobs. Moreover, they can start building a robust professional network by connecting with professionals, educators, and fellow students. This not only fosters intellectual discussions but also helps in learning from experts. Encourage your students to start their professional journey early by sharing this invaluable resource with them. Take a look!

Cialfo Community. One of the greatest resources for college counselors out there is the Cialfo Community. You do not need to be a Cialfo user to join the community, and you do not have to pay for access. There are wonderful and timely posts on all manner of things, including many on the use of technology. Take a look!

Third Thursday. Third Thursdays was envisioned as a way for college counselors from across the world to get together periodically for a sense of camaraderie and to discuss topics on their mind. It was especially targeted for counselors new to the profession and those in single-person offices; however, the concept has spread some to include curious counselors with a wide array of experience. Thanks to Cialfo’s support, there are now many Third Thursdays across the globe that accommodate different time zones. The last one for the 2022-23 academic year is this Thursday, June 15 at 10:00 AM São Paulo time! Please consider joining me by emailing [email protected] to receive the Zoom/Google invite!

CAMPUS TOUR

This helpful guide from OpenAI shares strategies and tactics for getting better results from GPTs in general. The methods described here can sometimes be deployed in combination for greater effect. The piece admirably encourages experimentation to find the methods that work best for you. Some of the examples demonstrated here currently work only with the most recent GPT models. Worth taking a look!

In a recent post entitled “Why AI Will Save the World,” Andreessen Horowitz examines the potential benefits and risks of AI, including ChatGPT. He argues that fears around AI leading to mass unemployment, social ruin, and societal inequality are overblown. Instead, he states that AI will likely enhance human productivity and could be used to tackle social inequality. He acknowledges one legitimate concern, which is that AI can enable bad actors to do harmful things. However, he suggests that laws are already in place to address most potential AI-assisted crimes, and that AI can also be a powerful defensive tool. Government and private sector collaboration is necessary to use AI for societal defense and problem-solving.

Columbia University’s course on Artificial Intelligence is available here on EdX. I have heard a lot of chatter lately on this course, although I have not yet taken it myself. I am curious, however, how up-to-date it is given the dramatic development of genAI over the last 7 months.

Here is an intriguing article from Marlene Chism, a well-respected consultant, speaker, and author of the book From Conflict to Courage: How to Stop Avoiding and Start Leading. Chism explores the ongoing debate on social media about how artificial intelligence might reshape the role of managers in the future. She discusses how this uncertainty can create internal conflict and highlights the importance of storytelling in management. Storytelling, as Chism explains, is the ability to construct a narrative, articulate a vision, and redirect disruptive interpretations that can lead to division within an organization. This feels like an article lots of college counselors will appreciate.

HONOR CODE

This week’s ethical scenario comes from a subscriber who shared the following: At her particular school, Val has been integrating “how to” lessons on AI into her college counseling curriculum, teaching student how to use ChatGPT responsibly. However, she was confronted with a conundrum when the parents of a student we will call David expressed their concerns. David was already teetering on the border of technology addiction, and his parents worried that openly encouraging the use of AI might further fuel their son’s tech obsession, which had already started to affect his academics and mental well-being. The situation feels familiar, even though I have not (yet) encountered this in my experience!

What I appreciated about Val’s story is how she and her school are planning to respond, anticipating that this situation with David will likely manifest similarly with other students. (As I frequently share, ChatGPT can be a real rabbit hole for me as an adult! I’ve spent countless hours tinkering and toying with the tool, and so I can imagine that this could be problematic to our students.) Val is working with her school’s administration to incorporate digital well-being lessons into their SEL programming, and she is also incorporating components into her own college counseling lessons. They are exploring, as a school, some partnerships with some tech monitoring software to aid in responsible use among students as well. (I hope to share more on this in the future.) It seems the school and Val are doing all that they are able in light of the situation.

While technology can be a powerful tool, it is essential to implement it thoughtfully and with consideration for the diverse needs and challenges faced by students. Prioritizing students’ well-being seems to be the best objective for all of us with regards to technology. In light of this, I am curious if any other readers have any thoughts or contributions to this situation or other similar ones. Or have you seen counselors or schools tackle this well? Email me!

COURSE CATALOG

Copy-and-Paste. Maybe basic for some users, but I’ve gotten lots of questions recently about the challenges faced when copying-and-pasting text from ChatGPT into other software, such as a GoogleDoc or Word. If you copy-and-paste regularly, you get all sorts of funky formatting and colors from ChatGPT; however, I use my keyboard for most of this sort of work, and if you add the SHIFT button to the typical command-V on a Mac (or CTRL-V on a PC), you paste just the text. (So SHIFT-COMMAND-V!) Conversely, if you can right-click and use “paste and match style.” Simple, but effective!

Superpower ChatGPT. Superpower ChatGPT is a free Chrome extension that enables users to manage their conversations with ChatGPT. It allows you to organize chats into color-coded folders, pin vital messages, and auto-sync your chats locally to ensure nothing is lost. With a searchable history, you can quickly review prior discussions or prompts, and even share or find inspiration from a community of users. It supports over 190 languages and lets you tweak the tone and style of responses. Offering various utilities, including an auto-splitter for long inputs, word and character count, and easy copy-pasting, this tool is designed to streamline your counseling efforts with AI-driven convenience.

STUDENT UNION

A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of delivering a presentation for SENIA Brazil entitled “Transforming Inclusive Education through AI Innovation.” It was an amazing exercise putting together this presentation, exploring the myriad of use cases for neurodiverse students. That said, this week’s “student union” is a short one, and I just want to share a note from a colleague (a learning support specialist) who didn’t attend the session but who saw the slides:

FINAL EXAM

In this section, I hope to share a useful prompt for ChatGPT that college counselors might find to be useful. Here’s this week’s prompt:

I am a high school college counselor helping a student with his career search. He enjoys [favorite subjects]. He is strong at [academic strengths]. He thinks that he might enjoy [profession]. What feedback can you provide about how his profile aligns with [profession], and what other professions are similar that he might explore?
favorite subjects = [enter here]
academic strengths = [enter here]
profession = [enter here]

Take a few minutes and copy-and-paste this into ChatGPT to get some ideas! Give it a try!

COMMENCEMENT

As we close this week’s newsletter, let’s take a moment to reflect on the crucial role we play in guiding our students through the academic and emotional landscapes of high school and beyond. The ever-evolving world of technology offers both challenges and opportunities. By staying informed, embracing innovation, and always putting our students’ well-being first, we can make a meaningful impact. Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts, experiences, or tips regarding the content we’ve explored today, especially the HONOR CODE section. Your insights are invaluable. Thanks for reading!

Happy counseling,

Jeff