Tech-Neill-ogy #5 - 25 June 2023

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
June 26, 2023

Welcome to newsletter #5!

The summer holiday has begun for many people, but there’s still a lot to read here. I have been in NYC this week (read more here) and am excited to begin my vacation! In any case, this week’s newsletter has a lot of great tips and tools. You may notice some different layout decisions, including graphics and formatting, but all changes are made with the hope of making the information more accessible, especially as my readership continues to grow every day. That said, please forward this newsletter along to anyone you think might benefit from it, and, if ever you encounter any interesting tech/AI articles, tools, or resources, please send them my way at [email protected]. Enjoy the newsletter!

The article "Detecting the Secret Cyborgs," by University of Pennsylvania professor Ethan Mollick, explores the impact of AI on individual productivity and organizational dynamics, but he lands upon the ethical conundrum of disclosure. Mollick notes that many employees are secretly using AI for various purposes, thereby becoming "secret cyborgs," as he calls them. These individuals keep their AI use hidden due to fear of repercussion, from formal censure to more general judgment. The piece argues that organizations need to adapt by encouraging AI use, providing training, reducing fear associated with AI use, and incentivizing employees to share their AI innovations. Where is your institution with this? If you, as a high school college counselor, were to use AI for various tasks, what obligation do you feel you have to disclose your use? And if you disclosed this use, how would it be received, either culturally or more formally? And, finally, how can you advocate for what you think it right? I would love to hear more from you all about this topic! Email me!

Generative AI and the College Admissions Process

This article explores the implications of using ChatGPT in crafting college application essays. The author demonstrates how AI can generate compelling narratives in response to specific prompts, potentially fooling admissions officers. However, the piece also highlights the ethical considerations and the loss of personal growth opportunities for students who might use AI to write their essays.

https://afsa.org/generative-ai-and-college-admissions-process

The Who, Where, and How of Regulating AI

In response to the questions I've received recently about AI regulation, I'd like to share an article that captures the issues and possibilities surrounding this topic. It provides a comprehensive overview of the ongoing debate on AI regulation, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of AI and policy.

spectrum.ieee.org/ai-regulation-worldwide

ChatGPT for School Counselors.pdf

Retired counselor Mark McGrath produced this terrific resource for school counselors on how to use generative AI tools like ChatGPT. There are some specific use cases he shares here for college counselors as well as comprehensive/SEL counselors. You’ll also find some links to someone else you might find familiar. 😉 

drive.google.com/file/d/1o7KZXCjlkHmee52ohKbV0i8QgAENy3wS/view?usp=sharing

This past week, I heard from a “convert,” someone who is embracing the potential of ChatGPT in his professional work, who shared that he is utilizing the technology to imitate his writing style in conjunction with some of the other approaches I’ve shared elsewhere in drafting the counselor letter of recommendation.

.…While the prompt you shared to draft letters had to be tweaked for my letter style, I didn’t like the language. I felt I had to change a lot in every draft for it to feel authentic. So in a ChatGPT thread, I began by saying: “I am going to give you samples of my writing. Read them and become an expert in my writing style, grammar, syntax, sentence structure, and vocabulary so that I can ask you to imitate my writing later. No need for any action after each entry. Say READY when you are done. I will keep entering samples until I day DONE.” Then I enter the LOR prompt, which I have changed to also incorporate teacher comments, parent surveys, and my notes as well as our “brag sheet.”….

A happy HS college counselor

If you have any stories to share that I might include in future newsletters, please email me at [email protected]!

MaskMyPrompt

Anonymize prompt before sending it ChatGPT: control your confidential data, change the names of people, organizations, and locations in your prompt to made up ones. This is a great tool for those who might be using ChatGPT to draft letters of recommendation and are concerned about divulging student information. This helps!

www.maskmyprompt.com

Wanderbot

This AI-based website allows users to plan, book, and share travel plans, using a convenient bot to update and make changes. This is a very handy one for college counselors looking for cost-effective travel planning assistance!

https://wanderbot.io/

Decktopus

Decktopus is an AI-powered tool designed to assist in creating better presentations. This is one of many different AI tools that can assist the busy college counselor in spitting out slidedecks.

app.decktopus.com/login

I recently attended a networking event and met several potential collaborators. I need a template for a follow-up email that I can send them to express my interest in further discussions. The event was about [Insert event topic].

Take a few minutes and copy-and-paste this into ChatGPT to get some ideas! Give it a try! If you’d like to read more about this prompt, follow this link.

That’s it for this week. More soon!

Happy counseling,

Jeff