Few technological innovations have redefined education as quickly as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Within weeks of release, cheating had taken on a whole new meaning. Within months AI had developed a more nuanced role creating opportunities for instructors to be more efficient and for students to think in new ways or isolate specific skills. While I knew that technology companies had long valued our data, I had not realized exactly how such data was helpful: machine learning for AI. As such I am playing catch up – learning all about how this up-and-coming technology will change education. How can we harness it for the greatest good and the least negative externalities?
After much thought, this Fall I began a doctorate in educational leadership at Northern Illinois University. The program connected with me because it emphasizes minimizing equity gaps so that instructors can maximize student success for all. This program is teaching pedagogical theories, and then I am applying them to AI technology. While it is still early in the program, there is so much potential for research in the interconnections of AI and education that I am planning on writing my dissertation on the subject. In the meantime, I will be researching as much as I can about the field and building it into every classroom assignment I can. It is like a dream come true to study something that only a few years ago was a science fiction.
Andrew Levin 