Dustin Hosseini 26/09/2023 Dustin Hosseini 26/09/2023

Exploring ideas for decolonizing the curriculum using generative AI tools

In this post, I share some examples created by generative AI for decolonizing the curriculum. I also contextualize the examples by providing commentary from colleagues from the University of Glasgow Decolonising the Curriculum Community of Practice.

“The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.”

— Audre Lorde

Decolonizing education is part of many university strategies, including the university where I work. So, it seemed natural to think of how generative AI tools might help university students and staff think of ideas for decolonizing the curriculum. However, we must remember that the underlying logic of generative AI represents tools created by those in nations that hold power over others. Generative AI tools are often created in former imperial nations that seek out and obtain cheaper labor in other parts of the world to train and ‘develop’ the tools further. Generative AI also imparts a significant environmental impact, which must be considered.

AI and ethical considerations: coloniality of…

There are several caveats to using AI and generative AI generally, which I briefly outline in Karen Hao’s article from July 2020:

ghost work
- this is invisible labor provided by underpaid workers who are often in former US and UK colonies (among others)
beta testing
- sometimes beta testing is used on more vulnerable groups; yes, this is unethical, but it does still happen
AI governance
- think about who creates governance for AI; high-wealth nations and the Global North largely drive this at the expense of Global South nations
international social development
- if we consider ‘AI for…’ initiatives, we have to consider who drives these and who the targets or recipients are
algorithmic discrimination and oppression
- if we consider who creates algorithms, then we can begin to understand why some algorithms can portray racist, gendered, xenophobic imagery

Generative AI’s suggestions for decolonizing

For the following outputs, as shown in the GIF images below, I used the initial prompt:

I'm a lecturer and there is talk of decolonising the curriculum. I teach mathematics and statistics. What can I do to start decolonising my curriculum?

As we can see in the GIFs below, each generative AI tool appears to give some considered suggestions for how a lecturer in this particular area might go about decolonizing the curriculum they teach. Ideas such as incorporating more diverse views, Indigenous knowledges and contextualizing what is being learned are all general suggestions that I might expect to find in such a curriculum that is undertaking decolonizing.

However, I wanted to see more detail and so I followed up with another prompt.

The follow-up prompt was designed to see what else generative AI might suggest. Interestingly, with insight from colleagues, plenty could be done and suggested to create a curriculum that undertakes decolonization within a specific context.

In this case, the lists seemed familiar and similar in some respects and then a bit different in other respects in ways that I couldn’t immediately pick up on. The suggested names stem from ancient to modern times, albeit with a jump between ancient and modern times! Some familiar names are there, but are there perhaps some that could be included?

Here is the prompt I used:

What are some prominent but overlooked non-Western scholars of mathematics and statistics?

Reflections from colleagues

I consulted some colleagues, given the topic, the example is from an area I’m not familiar with. Specifically, I consulted colleagues in the UofG Decolonising the Curriculum Community of Practice who kindly provided their thoughts.

Soryia Siddique, whose background is in chemistry/pharmaceuticals/politics, provided the following:

My initial observation is that we ensure women of colour are represented in the materials. Perhaps a specific search around this.
BAME and Muslim women are underrepresented in many professions, including senior roles in Scotland, and are likely to experience systemic bias. Taking into consideration that Muslim women can experience racisim, sexism, and Islamaphobia. It is questionable whether media/society represents Muslim and BAME women's current and historical achievements.
They are also "missing” from Scotland’s media landscape.
In utilising AI, are we relying on data that is embedded in algorithmic bias and potentially perpetuating further inequality?

Soryia also suggested the following reading: The Movement to Decolonize AI: Centering Dignity Over Dependency from Standford University’s Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. It’s an interview with Sabelo Mhlambi who describes the role of AI in colonization and how activists can counter this.

Samuel Skipsey, whose background is in physics and astronomy, also shared his thoughts:

The "list of important non-Westerners" is fairly comparable between the two - Bard is more biased towards historical examples and is pretty India-centric (with no Chinese or Japanese examples, notably), ChatGPT does a lot better at covering a wider baseline of "top hits" across the world (although given that "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" doesn't have known authors - the tradition of the time it was written means that it probably had many contributions whose authorship is lost to history - I would quibble about it being a "scholar"). I note that this is still a Northern-Hemisphere centric list from both - although that's somewhat expected due to the problems citing material from pre-colonial Latin America, say. Still, it would have been nice to see some citation of contributions from Egypt, say.
In general, both lists are subsets of the list I would have produced by doing some Wikipedia diving.
The "advice on decolonising" is very high-level and tick-boxy from both. It feels like they're sourced from a web search (and, indeed, on an experimental search on DDG [DuckDuckGo] for "how can I decolonise my course" the first few hits all have a set of bullet points similar to those produced by the LLMs, which is unsurprising). To be fair to the LLMs, this is also basically what a lot of "how do I start decolonising" materials look like when produced by humans, so...
As Soryia notes, because the answers are quite generic there's a bunch of specific considerations that they don't touch on (they're not very intersectional - Hypatia turns up on both lists of non-Western scholars, doing a lot of heavy lifting as the only female name on either!)

Dustin Hosseini 26/09/2023 Dustin Hosseini 26/09/2023

Experimenting with generative AI: (re)designing courses and rubrics

In this post, I share some ideas for (re)creating courses and assessment rubrics as well as getting ideas for creative assessments using generative AI.

Experimenting for creating a course

I tried out Google Bard and chatGPT 3.5 to design courses and rubrics. In each case, being specific about what I wanted to see created was key. What this means is that when you are creating your prompt or query, you should be specific in terms of:

Context: e.g. state who you are or who you imagine yourself to be when creating the prompt
Audience: who is the audience of what you want to create? Students? Staff? Administrators? Management? The Public?
Purpose: in brief terms, what do you want to achieve?
Scope: similar to context, however, I see this as more focused, so ‘create a university level course on sociology’ is fine, but narrowing it down to ‘Year 1, Year 2’ etc. will focus the prompt and subsequently generate examples more tightly.
Length: it’s always helpful to state the length of the proposed course or output. For example, are you asking for a draft of a 12-week course? A two-page maximum syllabus? A three-paragraph summary?

For this example, I used the following prompt…

I am a lecturer who teaches university-level chemistry. I wish to create a new course on inorganic chemistry for Year 2 university students. The course should be 12 weeks long and have 4 assignments. What might this look like?

Below are two GIFs showing chatGPT and Google Bard respectively.

NB: You may wish to select the images to see a larger version.

Brief reflections

I used a similar prompt for both generative AI tools. I decided to add an element of creativity when so I slightly changed the prompt when using Google Bard to get it to suggest creative assessments. I then went back to chatGPT to ask it do also suggest ideas for creative assessments within the context of this course.

They seem to produce similar results regarding this particular prompt. Both suggest an outline of a suggested course on inorganic chemistry; while Google Bard integrates the creative assessments into some of the topics, chatGPT predictably creates a list of suggested creative assessments as I had asked it after the initial prompt.

Interestingly, Google Bard also expands a bit at the end of the outline with further examples of non-written, creative assessments. chatGPT, on the other hand, does give some examples of ways of supporting learning and teaching after creating an example course outline. The creative assessments it lists are similar to those of Google Bard, although they are different, such as the quiz show example among others.

For transparency, I do not teach chemistry nor have I taught it. I have, however, supported those learning chemistry with their academic writing abilities, including writing lab reports and researching the topic. On the surface, the course looks coherent. However, I will leave that to those who teach chemistry!

What you can do

To replicate what I’ve done, copy and paste the prompt into your generative AI tool of choice.
Please note: you’ll likely get a slightly different response. I did not test each response again. That said, Google Bard automatically offers additional draft examples.

Creating assessment rubrics

Educators are often handed marking rubrics with little chance to develop or create their own. What this means is that when it comes to creating an assessment rubric, some educators may not have practical experience beyond what they have observed. In this case, generative AI can provide ideas and food for thought. This can be especially helpful for getting ideas for creative assessments that are still valid and rigorous while offering a suitable alternative to traditional assessments.

I ask generative AI tools to create assessment rubrics in the examples below. Remember: you need to give generative AI a context (e.g. you’re a lecturer teaching X), a specific request (e.g. you want to create an assessment rubric) and ensure the request has specific parameters (e.g. you provide your specific criteria for this rubric) .

I am a lecturer. I wish to create a marking rubric for an essay-based assessment. The rubric should include the following criteria: criticality, academic rigor, references to research, style and formatting.

NB: You may wish to select the images to see a larger version.

Reflections

In both cases, I state my (imagined) role and the type of assessment I usually employ and ask the tools to suggest ideas with specific criteria included. In both cases, each generative AI tool creates a sample rubric based upon what I have asked it.

Both tools create a table I would expect an assessment rubric to look like. Each table includes the criteria and sample grade bands with descriptor text that cross-references to the criteria. What both generally do well with is providing some sample descriptor text. However, you will need to tweak, modify and/or change the criteria to your specific, local context.

Creating rubrics specific to your institution

If your institution has a general, overarching rubric often used, you can get generative AI to suggest sample rubrics. This may, however, be difficult given how complex your institution’s rubric may be.

In the examples below, I ask chatGPT 3.5 and Google Bard respectively to create an example rubric based on Glasgow University’s 22-point marking system. This did, however, prove difficult!

Can you change the marking scale to a 22 point scale used at the University of Glasgow?

Reflections

The prompt above initially confused both generative AI tools. This could be because a 22-point scale differs from many scales out there. This could also be because I hadn’t provided specific context of the different bands. In this case, my suggestion is to suggest that chatGPT or Google Bard create a rubric based on your marking criteria. You can then tailor the created sample rubric to your local needs.

As you can see, both tools got some areas right and others wrong.

What chatGPT did well:

it created a scale based on the criteria I provided
it included the marking bands, cross-referenced against the criteria
it included some basic descriptor text

What chatGPT can do better at:

the descriptor texts were wildly off compared with the example marking schemes
it struggled to capture the nuances between the marking bands

What Google Bard did well:

the descriptor text for each band more closely matches what I would expect to see
the marking bands are divided out nicely
the criteria are cross-referenced against marking bands

What Google Bard can do better at:

it’s hard to say what it can do better at right now given how it created a marking rubric based upon my query!
that said, the descriptor texts for each band would likely need some tweaking to match local styles

Getting ideas for creative assessments

As I noted earlier, you can use generative AI to get ideas for (more) creative assessments that aren’t traditional, written-based assignments. Traditional, written-only assignments are great for some things. However, there are other, more inclusive and creative ideas for assessments that you can use in your teaching, no matter the subject.

For this particular example, I draw upon my own area of expertise and subject area which lies at the intersections of education and sociology.

I teach a social sciences subject in university. Traditionally, we use written assessments such as essays and exams as assessments. What are some creative alternative assessments?

Reflections

In brief, similar to the first example on chemistry, both generative AI tools create a good range of creative and event collaborative assessments that you can use within your own context.

You may already use some of these, such as mind maps and portfolios. That said, there are a lot of good ideas that have been suggested that might be worth trying out. I would recommend co-creating these with students, especially if an idea appears new or innovative or out of your personal comfort zone as an educator. You may be surprised at how quickly your students take to becoming partners in learning and teaching.

Dustin Hosseini 19/09/2023 Dustin Hosseini 19/09/2023

Using generative AI for everyday writing

As part of my role, I’m experimenting with generative AI as part of my role within the Learning Innovation Support Unit at the University of Glasgow.

In the short post, I look at using generative AI for everyday writing tasks from the perspective of anyone working in tertiary education. So, whether you work in a college in the US or UK sense or a university as an administrator, educator or research staff, this post applies to you.

Overview

I look at examples from Google Bard and chatGPT 3.5. Specifically, I look at using generative AI for:

turning draft notes into prose
writing a welcome message to new students, and tweaking messages
writing a message in a specific literary style
writing for specific audiences
drafting and redrafting

By using these examples, I try to show what two different generative AI tools can do. I also briefly discuss their limitations.

This post will help anyone in education other environments understand how to use generative AI for everyday writing tasks.

Turning meeting notes into prose

Sometimes you might need to write up notes taken into a meeting into a prose, something that is coherent and to be read by others. Generative AI can help with this. Here are two examples that I used using the following prompt:

I have some draft notes from a meeting. Can you turn this into prose?

Reflections: defining vs storytelling?

As you’ll see from the drop-down boxes below, my original notes are transformed in different ways by Google Bard and chatGPT 3.5, respectively. My original notes were a set of bullet-pointed items, as I was taking these in the moment while in a meeting with two other colleagues. I wanted to jot down basic information quicky. These notes might come in handy later, for example when I need to put together a report.

Interestingly, Google Bard keeps the bullet points and expanded them with some prose by perhaps defining each area or student population. The focus here seems to be on defining what the student groups are. The response is short. However, Google Bard also did create two other drafts. You can see a screenshot of a second draft below.

chatGPT, however, creates paragraphs that seem to create a story or argument. The emphasis is less on defining who the student groups are and more on storytelling what they might bring to the course in question.

This contrast is important to consider because writing for your audience matters. Understanding who your audience is will make a difference in the kind of response you want or need to create.

course audience
- non-traditional students
  - people with lived experiences
- returners to study
- mature students
- academic areas
- social/public policy students
  - local government practices and policy
- urban studies students?
- social work
  - experienced people
  - new people
- social justice
- public health
- social welfare
- decolonization / decolonizing education and systemstion
The course audience encompasses a diverse range of individuals, making it a dynamic and inclusive learning environment. Primarily, it caters to non-traditional students, particularly those with unique lived experiences that contribute to the richness of classroom discussions. This group often includes individuals returning to the academic sphere after an absence, mature students seeking new knowledge and skills, and those pursuing studies in various academic disciplines.
Among the academic areas represented within the course are social and public policy students, with a focus on local government practices and policy. Here, students delve into the intricate workings of governance at the local level, exploring policies that impact communities directly.
Another segment of the audience consists of urban studies students, who examine the complexities of urban environments, including their design, development, and social implications.
Social work students, both seasoned professionals and newcomers to the field, engage in discussions related to their practice. This diverse group brings real-world experiences and fresh perspectives to the table.
Furthermore, the course appeals to students interested in social justice, public health, social welfare, and the critical concept of decolonization. It offers a platform for dialogue on creating equitable systems, dismantling colonial legacies, and promoting social change.
In essence, this course fosters an inclusive and collaborative learning environment, bringing together individuals from various backgrounds and academic interests to explore critical issues that shape our society.
The course audience is likely to be a diverse group of students, including:
- Non-traditional students: This could include people who have not followed a traditional educational path, such as those who have delayed their education or who have returned to school after a break.
- Returners to study: Students who are returning to school after a period of absence, such as those who are raising a family or who have been working full-time.
- Mature students: Students who are over the traditional age of entry for higher education.
- Academic areas:
  - Social/public policy students: Students who are interested in studying social and public policy, such as local government practices and policy.
  - Urban studies students: Students who are interested in studying urban areas and the challenges and opportunities they face.
  - Social work students: Students who are interested in a career in social work, helping people in need and advocating for social justice.
  - Social justice students: Students who are passionate about social justice and want to learn more about how to make the world a more equitable place.
  - Public health students: Students who are interested in studying public health and promoting the health and well-being of populations.
  - Social welfare students: Students who are interested in studying social welfare and the policies and programs that support people in need.
  - Decolonization students: Students who are interested in studying decolonization and decolonizing education and systems.
The course is likely to be of interest to students from a variety of backgrounds and with a range of experiences. It is particularly relevant to students who are interested in making a difference in the world and who are committed to social justice.

chatGPT & Google Bard in action

Below are two gif animations of the prompts I used and the responses from Google Bard and chatGPT, respectively. As you can see, chatGPT creates one response. You can then write follow-up prompts to hone the response(s) that you want. Google Bard will provide 3 drafts (at least) and you can choose from these and/or write follow-up prompts for further drafts.

NB: Clicking on an image will enlarge it.

Drafting a welcome message to new students

Generative AI can also be helpful in creating templates that you can modify to your needs. One example is creating a welcome message to new students and/or staff. You may already have one. However, it’s always good to refresh these as time goes on.

For these, examples, you can see the results yourself from Google Bard and chatGPT 3.5, respectively or see the images below.

Here’s the prompt I used in both genAI tools:

I'm a program administrator. I'd like to draft a short welcome message to new students. The tone should be professional and friendly. The message should be no more than 2 paragraphs long.

Google Bard’s response

Interestingly, it ends with tips on writing. The response appears a little more personal than the one created by chatGPT.

chatGPT 3.5’s response

This reads somewhat similar to the response by Google Bard but it’s a lot shorter and to the point.

Testing the creativity of generative AI: using literary styles for welcome messages

I decided to test how Google Bard and chatGPT 3.5 might respond if I asked them to re-write the welcome messages to students in the style of Audre Lorde and Robert Burns. I used Google Bard for Audre Lorde, and chatGPT 3.5 for Robert Burns.

You can judge the results for yourself!

Welcome, new students.
This is a space for you to learn and grow, to challenge yourself and to be challenged.
It is a space for you to find your voice and to use it.
To stand up for what you believe in, even when it is difficult.
To be your full, authentic self.
We are here to support you on your journey.
But we cannot do it for you.
You must do the work.
You must be brave enough to ask the hard questions.
You must be willing to be uncomfortable.
You must be open to new ideas and new perspectives.
And you must be willing to share your own.
This is your time.
Make the most of it.
In solidarity,
[Your name]
Program Administrator
Dear Newcomers, ye're welcome here,
As Administrator, I give ye cheer.
Ye've chosen well to join our fold,
In learning's path, ye'll soon be bold.
Through study's journey, find your way,
With staff to guide, by night and day.
Questions and concerns, don't ye hide,
We're here to help, walk by your side.
But ne'er forget, in this abode,
The heart of learning, by community sowed.
Connect with peers, as the seasons turn,
Together we'll thrive, together we'll learn.
For in our bonds, our strength is found,
As we explore knowledge all around.
Welcome to our program's embrace,
A transformative journey, yer destiny's grace.
Warm regards,
[Your Name]
Program Administrator

Drafting & redrafting tips for new students

Greeting new students, **no matter their age or level**, can be an opportunity to spark many things: interests, hope, enthusiasm, change, development and many others.

Let’s see what generative AI creates for the following prompt:
I teach first year undergraduate students. Create a list of 10 good tips for students new to a university. Keep the tone supportive and friendly.

As we can see below, the responses are quite similar. Depending on where you teach and work, you’ll want to modify some of the language. We can see that the language below is heavily geared towards locations where academics or lecturers are called ‘professors’ (looking at you, USA!).

Interestingly, Google Bard’s response puts emphasis on trying things out and embracing learning from failure, whereas chatGPT seems to avoid mentioning this at all while instead encouraging people to remain positive. Neoliberal much?

chatGPT 3.5’s response

Stay Organized: Keep a planner or use digital tools to stay on top of assignments, deadlines, and class schedules. Being organized will reduce stress and help you manage your time effectively.
Ask Questions: Don't hesitate to ask your professors, advisors, or fellow students for help or clarification. Everyone is here to support your learning journey, and questions are a vital part of the process.
Engage in Class: Active participation in class discussions and activities can enhance your learning experience and build valuable connections with your peers and professors.
Explore Resources: Universities offer a wealth of resources, from libraries to tutoring centers to counseling services. Take advantage of these resources to excel academically and personally.
Balance Your Life: University life is about more than just studying. Make time for hobbies, socializing, and self-care. Finding a healthy balance is essential for your well-being.
Make Connections: Building relationships with classmates can lead to lasting friendships and valuable study groups. Attend club meetings, events, and orientation sessions to meet new people.
Stay Curious: University is an opportunity to explore new ideas and perspectives. Embrace the chance to broaden your horizons and approach subjects with an open mind.
Seek Feedback: Don't be afraid to request feedback on your assignments or exams. Understanding where you can improve is a crucial part of your growth as a student.
Stay Positive: University can be challenging, but remember that setbacks are part of the learning process. Stay positive, persevere through challenges, and celebrate your successes, no matter how small.
Plan for the Future: While enjoying your first year, start thinking about your long-term goals and career aspirations. University is not only about education but also about preparing for your future.

Welcome to the university journey! We're excited to have you here, and we're confident that you'll thrive with these tips in mind. Remember, you're not alone in this adventure, and there's a whole community here to support you.

Google Bard’s response

Get organized. This means creating a study schedule, finding a good place to study, and keeping track of your assignments and deadlines. There are many resources available to help you get organized, such as your university's academic advising center or student success center.
Don't be afraid to ask for help. If you're struggling in a class, talk to your professor or teaching assistant. They can provide you with extra help and support. You can also join a study group or talk to a tutor.
Get involved in extracurricular activities. This is a great way to meet new people, learn new skills, and have fun. There are many different clubs and organizations to choose from, so you're sure to find something that interests you.
Take care of yourself. This means getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, and exercising regularly. It also means taking breaks from studying and socializing with friends. Taking care of yourself will help you stay focused and motivated.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, especially when they're first starting out. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes and move on.
Celebrate your successes. No matter how small they may seem, it's important to celebrate your successes. This will help you stay motivated and keep moving forward.
Find a mentor. A mentor is someone who can provide you with guidance and support. They can be a professor, a teaching assistant, an older student, or someone in your field of study.
Use your university's resources. Your university has many resources available to help you succeed, such as the library, the writing center, and the career counseling center. Take advantage of these resources!
Don't be afraid to try new things. University is a time to explore your interests and try new things. Take classes outside of your major, try out for a sports team, or join a club that you're interested in.
Have fun! University is a time to learn and grow, but it's also a time to have fun. Make memories with your friends, go to sporting events and concerts, and explore your new city.

Additional tips:

Be proactive in your learning. Don't wait until the night before an exam to start studying. Start early and give yourself plenty of time to prepare.
Don't be afraid to speak up in class. Ask questions and participate in discussions. The more involved you are, the more you will learn.
Take advantage of your professors' office hours. If you're struggling in a class, don't be afraid to go to your professor's office hours for help. They are there to help you succeed.
Don't be afraid to fail. Everyone fails at some point in their lives. The important thing is to learn from your failures and keep moving forward.

I hope these tips are helpful! Welcome to university!

Diving deeper into making connections

I think making and sustaining connections in education is very important for success. It helps to have people to bounce ideas off, to get alternative perspectives and takes on the same or similar readings. So, I wanted to see what chatGPT 3.5 would respond to expanding on point 6 ‘Make connections’. I asked ‘Can you expand upon point 6'?’ and here is what it responded with:

Certainly! Point 6, "Make Connections," is not just about meeting people but also about creating a network that can enhance your university experience and future opportunities. Here's an expanded version of this tip:
6. Make Connections: Build Your University Network
One of the most enriching aspects of university life is the chance to connect with a diverse group of people. These connections can shape your academic experience, personal growth, and even your future career. Here's how to make the most of this opportunity:
a. Attend Campus Events: Universities often host a wide range of events, from club meetings to guest lectures and cultural festivals. Attend these gatherings to meet fellow students who share your interests and passions. It's a great way to find like-minded friends and explore your hobbies.
b. Join Clubs and Organizations: Most universities have numerous clubs and student organizations that cater to a variety of interests. Whether you're into sports, arts, social activism, or academic pursuits, there's likely a group for you. Joining clubs not only helps you make friends but also provides opportunities for leadership and personal development.
c. Participate in Orientation: Many universities organize orientation programs for new students. These events are designed to help you get to know your campus, fellow students, and university resources. Take advantage of them to start building connections from day one.
d. Study Groups: Collaborative learning can be incredibly effective. Forming or joining study groups can help you better understand complex subjects, share knowledge, and develop lasting friendships with your peers.
e. Network with Professors: Your professors are valuable resources for both academic and career advice. Attend office hours to discuss your coursework, seek guidance on research projects, and build professional relationships that can provide references or mentorship.
f. Connect Virtually: In the digital age, online platforms and social media are powerful tools for staying connected with classmates, professors, and alumni. LinkedIn, for instance, is a great platform for building your professional network.
g. Be Inclusive: University is a place of diversity, and it's an opportunity to interact with people from various backgrounds and cultures. Embrace inclusivity, be open to different perspectives, and learn from the richness of this diversity.
Remember, the connections you make in university can extend far beyond your time on campus. These relationships can lead to lifelong friendships, career opportunities, and a broader understanding of the world. So, take the initiative, be open to new experiences, and enjoy the journey of building your university network.

Reflections: pushing generative AI

When I asked chatGPT 3.5 to give examples of apps where students could connect virtually, the responses were overwhelmingly biased towards Anglo-American/Eurocentric apps such as

Zoom
Microsoft Teams
Slack
Discord
TikTok
Snapchat

I had to specifically ask about common social media apps that non-English speakers might use, and chatGPT finally spilled the beans by suggesting:

WeChat - an all-in-one messaging app widely used in China
Line - a messaging app with a strong presence in Asia. It offers stickers, games, and a variety of features in addition to messaging.
VK (VKontakte) - a Russian-language social media platform similar to Facebook. It offers features for connecting with friends, sharing media, and joining communities. It’s popular in Russian speaking areas.

I wanted to push it a bit as I know that tools like Google Bard and chatGPT will reproduce cultural biases and norms through the suggestions that they create. Omissions are almost always there, so further questioning can help to get more clarity out of generative AI tools.

12/09/2023 12/09/2023

Reflections on work - from the past

I originally authored this post in April 2020 not too long after the COVID-19 pandemic caused cities and nations to lockdown. I found this as a draft post that I hadn’t published perhaps due to all that was going on at the time.

What I wrote here in April 2020, still holds in September 2023.

An image of a person standing on still water, which causes a reflection of the mountains and sky. Source: Unsplash

“If we cannot recognize the truth, then it cannot liberate us from untruth. To know the truth is to prepare for it; for it is not mainly reflection and theory. Truth is divine action entering our lives and creating the human action of liberation.”

— bell hooks quotes Black theologian James Cone in hooks, b. (2003). Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope. Routledge.

Reflections on work

I've worked as a 'digital education facilitator / senior teaching associate' for almost 3.5 years at the Lancaster University Management School. I arrived hopeful, looking ahead to entering a new phase of my career within higher education where I would be explicitly working with a range of colleagues - academics, administrators, subject librarians and students - to develop both blended and online learning experiences. My time in my current role is coming to an end as I plan to move on to a new challenge and to both undertake a doctorate. In many ways, it makes sense to do these in the same place. In this post, I share some thoughts, reflections and hopes.

Synergy is key, when enacted

My current role is based in a large management school - a business school - where you have a range of business subjects divided into departments ranging from Accounting and Finance; Economics; Organization, Work and Technology; Management Science; and Marketing. There is also the Undergraduate Office where consortial programmes are situated.

One of the best part of working in such a large school was getting to meet a range of people from all walks of life and experiences. There are a lot of colleagues who care about their students. Indeed, the Dean at the time of this writing has had a project that sought to develop a cross-departmental community for students which takes the form of a module called MNGT160: Future Global Leaders: Sustainability Across Business.

This module has often been a source of contention as it sought to create a community that cuts across departmental boundaries, and thus, requires both contribution from each department and some hours to be workloaded from each department. Since it is not 'owned' by any one department, this module has, at times, not received a welcoming view. However, the aim and ethos of the module are fairly sound: to create a community while developing some graduate attributes within students through getting them to work together across their subject silos. Idealistic? Perhaps. Doable? Definitely.

With the amount of expertise and experience across the management school, such a module has great potential to create a very collaborative, cross-departmental community of learning and teaching that could strengthen the identity of the school itself while creating networks of students (and staff) who could work closely together in order to grow, develop as students, people and future professionals and subject experts.

Synergy is key for such a module to happen. Working together and drawing upon the expertise of such a large school to create good curricula, well-structured systems and a positive, welcoming environment for learning can only be a good thing surely.

The pandemic and the move to digital

Covid19 has upended a lot of systems, processes and practices. Initially, there was a lot of uncertainty that allowed some leaders to emerge in order to mitigate some for the panic and anxiety that the sudden shift or pivot to digital education that the pandemic caused.

During these first weeks and months, a lot of educational technologists were doing their utmost to help staff however and wherever possible. In fact, this is still continuing. What has been at the back of our minds - some of us - has been those little fleeting thoughts of ah, if we only had more blended learning before, we'd be more prepared for this!

Of course, learning/educational technologists have been trying for years to get academic and teaching staff to integrate in the digital into learning and teaching. We do this because we understand that, on the whole, students require a full range of digital literacies in order to live and work within the 21st Century to the full. People can live without collaborative and smart technologies, sure, but the world is generally progressing in the direction of closer collaboration and working together through digital means. Sustainability, efficiency and richness of opportunities are just a few reasons that digital literacies and their development are so key for the future. We could not have predicted the pandemic, nor used this as part of a rationale for integrating digital education practices for sounding, at best, alarmist.

That all said, what the pandemic has caused for digital education is a few points:

a sudden, renewed interest in digital education, whether blended or fully online;
a deeper understanding of working and studying at home, and how this can work;
a better appreciation for educational technologists and those who have integrated digital education practices into their teaching;
the development of a range of solutions to address issues arising around learning and teaching both remotely and at a distance;
and many others.

The fourth point is particularly interesting for me within my current role because I have been able to observe developments locally, nationally and internationally through a mixture of professional networks sustained by email lists, social networks on Microsoft Teams and Facebook and looser networks on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Working in silos: missed opportunities

Initially, I observed the same questions arising from the different places. I frequently saw the same or very similar questions coming from a range of staff that mostly where 'how to?' questions. I helped wherever I could by providing advice, solution and consultations where appropriate.

I began observing with a bit of annoyance and sense of powerlessness a pattern that slowly began to develop: colleagues were working in their departmental silos to create solutions. These solutions were not always shared across the departments at a macro level. As far as I was concerned, given my role and position that allowed somewhat of an overseeing eye, if I did not hear about it, I believed that a potentially valuable idea was not being shared to colleagues whom might need or find value in such solutions.

To my mind, this type of working did not make sense for a few reasons:

the problems themselves are common across the faculties - the 'how to?' questions;
solutions/ideas created in silos and thus not shared is, in effect, a replication of effort;
those with the most experience within digital education were not always consulted first despite their expertise, and in effect, time and attention was misused;

08/08/2023 08/08/2023

Generative AI: a problematic illustration of the intersections of racialized gender, race, ethnicity

NB: this post is a draft and subject to change; it forms a pre-print (an author’s original manuscript) I have authored.

Learning, teaching and technology have often been a big part of my career - since way back to the mid/late-2000s! Now in 2023, talk of artificial intelligence and education is omnipresent, and it's here to stay. Machine learning allows AI tools to become more intelligent by drawing on datasets to develop expertise over time. However, AI tools rely upon raw data created by humans; these datasets, in turn, reflect the biases of those who have gathered the evidence, which will be racial, economic and gendered in nature (Benjamin, 2019, p. 59).

Several researchers (Noble, 2018; Benjamin, 2019; Mohamed et al., 2020; Zembylas, 2023) are looking into the underpinning reasons that enable AI to skew results and create representations that overlook and erase others while focusing on specific, dominant groups. Specifically, the way that the human-created algorithms informing AI and generative AI tools portray racialized, gendered people is especially problematic. To understand why problematic representations of people are created, it is worth looking at the ideas of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991; hooks, b, 2015; Hill Collins, 2019). I draw on bell hooks and Patricia Hill Collins’s works here and recommend the reader acquaint themselves with Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work.

I write this post from my position as a part-time doctoral student, educator and higher education worker at a Scottish university in the UK. I write it as someone who’s interested in and curious about technology and as someone who teaches, develops, coaches. mentors educators (lecturers) how to teach and augment their teaching practices. However, I also write it from the perspective of a US migrant and dual national who has lived/worked in China, Russia, Kazakhstan and the UK. I note these as they inform my positionality when writing this post as I am interested in the interplay of education, culture, media representation, critical pedagogy and decolonial thinking as some of the ideas underpinning these areas inform some of my personal and professional values.

As a colleague of mine wrote "As per the Russell Group principles, I strongly believe it’s my job as an individual educator and our job as a sector to guide students how to use AI appropriately." I take their words and apply them to my own context: I believe it is my job as an educator to guide students and university staff in understanding and using AI appropriately.

For educators, this will give you an insight into some of the affordances of generative AI tools for creating images while exposing you to some of the opportunities and serious problems of using, for example, DALL-E, to create images. This post should give you ideas for developing your own practice with your students and your colleagues, no matter their experience as educators.

Thank you to colleagues and friends who have helped expand my thinking when writing this post.

Introduction

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools can be exciting, confounding, scary and confusing. This was my experience and observation upon showing an academic colleague how a generative AI tool like ChatGPT can work by taking text prompts that are then create text-based content. Although text content creation tools have been at the forefront of everyone's mind since at least mid-2022, there are other generative AI tools that exist and merit attention. At the time of this writing, I can see common generative AI tools being categorized into three or four major types:

text to text (e.g. ChatGPT, Google Bard, Cohere.ai)
text to image (e.g. DALL-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion)
text to media, such as audio or video
and text-to-code, for coding and programming purposes

In this post, I focus on text-to-image generative AI through example prompts that I created. I analyze what it produced to demonstrate that educators must experiment with generative AI tools to understand and critique the tools and what they produce. In doing so, we can begin to understand how and why such tools create the content that they do. I use intersectionality as a heuristic (Hill Collins, 2019) to analyze the AI-generated avatars by looking at how these represent socially constructed identities in terms of racialized gender, race, ethnicity and nationality. Humans create algorithms and algorithms, in turn, create representations based upon human-created algorithms.

Specifically, we can deepen our understanding the reasons that generative AI tools (and other technologies) create questionable content that might, at the very least, underpinned by stereotypes representing an intersection of racism, misogyny, classism and/or xenophobia.

Finally, we must recognize that, for the moment, there is no concrete solution that a lay academic or layperson can implement to achieve this without a collective, concerted effort that includes a range of groups focused on shining light on the issues, changing hearts, minds and code and imaging ways forward to an equitable, inclusive world. Decolonial thinking can offer some imaginations to counter the coloniality of AI.

I first provide the context by laying out four (4) example prompts that I created an entered into DALL-E. I briefly touch on the prompts I created before moving on to analyze the results of each of the prompts. I provide a basic critique of the subsequently created representations by looking at the atmosphere, decor, clothing, facial expressions, ethnicity, or race.

For clarity, I use definitions of race and ethnicity offered by Fitzgerald (2020, p. 12) that sees race as referring to a ‘group of people that share some socially defined characteristics, for instance, skin color, hair texture, or facial features’ while ethnicity encompasses the ‘culture, nationality, ancestry and/or language’ shared by a group of people irrespective of their physical appearance (ibid). Grosfoguel offers another take on race informed by decolonial thinking: race is what he terms ‘a dividing line that cuts across multiple power relations such as class, sexual and gender at a global scale (2016, p. 11). In this case, race and subsequent racism are institutional and structural in nature in that the concept of race creates hierarchies of power and domination which are compounded by gender, sex, class and other factors.

While the concepts of race and ethnicity are social constructs and neither are mutually exclusive, I use these definitions to frame my analysis.

I highlight what is represented, and why the representations might appear this way and leave you, the reader, with critical questions to consider as you and your prospective students/learners explore the usage of generative AI for creating images from text. I then offer some possible solutions drawing on decolonial thinking.

NB: some readers will find the results disturbing, upsetting and potentially angering.

Sweet old grannies

Generative AI allows us to experiment with ideas to then create representations of those ideas, whether these are text, images or other media. In these short cases, I asked DALL-E to create illustrations of sweet old grannies making pancakes. As a reminder, DALL-E is one of three major text-to-image generative AI tools, and there are many others out there.

This was an impromptu idea that came up for a few reasons. In my current role, there is much discussion on the issues of generative AI and how to prepare students and educators. I also like pancakes and I have some fond memories of one of my grandmothers who would visit regularly when I was younger. I also worked and lived in Russia for a while where both pancakes and grandmothers are a big part of the culture. Pancakes are big around Maslenitsa or Carnival as it is known in other countries that celebrate the Western Christian version of the event, while grandmothers are a major cultural symbol, source of unpaid family work (Utrata, 2008) and symbol of stoicism that represents an intersection of age, gender and class (Shadrina, 2022). I also thought it would be playful and also allow me to see how DALL-E, a tool created by humans who programmed algorithms, would represent humans.

For transparency, I acknowledge that I am using gendered, ageist and even stereotypical language, especially in terms of describing 'a sweet, old X grandmother'. I am also aware that I am focused on a particular type of social/familial role, a grandmother. Not all old(er) women are grandmothers and not all grandmothers are old! As Benjamin (2019, pp. 102 drawing on Blay, 2011) asserts, qualifying words - those adjectival words used to describe 'opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose' (Dowling, 2016) often encode gender; race, racism and racialization; and the humanity of individuals and groups of individuals (see Wynter, 2003).

Initial prompts

I used a prompt and only changed the adjectival qualifier describing the national origin of the imaginary character or avatar: "Create an image of a sweet, old X grandmother making pancakes". I tried out these prompts over a period of two weeks in July 2023. The queries I created are these:

"Create an image of a sweet, old Polish grandmother making pancakes"
"Create an image of a sweet, old Russian grandmother making pancakes"
"Create an image of a sweet, old American grandmother making pancakes"
"Create an image of a sweet, old Black American grandmother making pancakes"

I use specific terms to get the generative AI tool DALL-E to generate specific results to allow me to see what the AI tool produces so that I can then analyze the results. This, in turn, offers evidence and clues to understanding how human-created algorithms create the outputs that they do within generative AI tools.

In each case, DALL-E created four (4) individual representations of each character or avatar to illustrate the prompt I had created; in total, there are 16 images which you can see below with a caveat. Generative AI does not currently do well with the finer details of humans such as facial expressions, eyes, and hands. While I won't focus on hands and eyes specifically, facial expressions and ethnicity will be important later.

Representations of Polish and Russian grandmothers

At first glance, to the untrained eye and perhaps even to the untravelled eye, we might think nothing is amiss. There are four different images created that seemingly portray what is meant to be a sweet old Polish grandmother who is making pancakes, and another four representing Russian counterparts. Generative AI does not currently do well with the finer details of humans such as facial expressions, eyes, and hands. While I won't focus on hands and eyes specifically, facial expressions will be important later.

Images of sweet old, Russian grannies making pancakes by DALL-E — Images of sweet old, Polish grannies making pancakes by DALL-E - representations created by DALL-E for the prompt on Polish grandmothers

Images of sweet old, Russian grannies making pancakes by DALL-E - representations created by DALL-E for the prompt on Russian grandmothers

Atmosphere, decor, clothing

As we can see, each image illustrates a sweet, old Polish grandmother who appears to be in an almost gloomy environment. The lighting isn't bright but rather dark and almost shadowy. The representations of their Russian counterparts are very similar in many ways: the atmosphere is dark, perhaps gloomy. We can see what looks like wooden utensils being used and in some of the windows, we can see stereotypical lattice-type window net curtains.

Such portrayals could indicate a lack of modern lighting and/or electricity. The light also indicates the time of day, which could be an early morning golden hour, when they might rise to make an early morning breakfast. This does offer a stereotyped, ageist view of the women represented, however, by generalizing that all might rise at a very early hour to make pancakes.

If we look at the clothing, we see that each avatar is wearing clothing that is stereotypical of elderly Polish and Russian women: patterns that are floral in nature while headscarves. Some women do occasionally wear headscarves when attending church. However, these women are depicted in the home. However, we don't really get any indication of their hair or hairstyles, or whether these are things they might worry about simply because the representations cover or hide this particular aspect of all of these women.

In each case, it seems that perhaps these avatar-grandmothers are living in a different time based on the depictions of the atmosphere and technologies they are using. This doesn't mean that some do not live this way, however, it is problematic as certainly not all might live this way depending upon their means, wealth and family ties.

Expressions and ethnicity

The expressions of the Polish and Russian grandmothers are problematic for a few reasons. If we look at each of the women, most of them appear to be looking either down or away with only one of each looking ahead at the imaginary camera. The images as a collective might be seen to represent a sort of melancholic and depressing environment.

The women are either expressionless or perhaps seemingly unhappy in the eyes of someone from the US or UK apart from one of the Polish avatars. While there may be socio-historic rationales for portraying the women in such a way (e.g., World War I and World War II, followed by the Cold War) these images are explicitly problematic as they represent stereotyped, gendered and xenophobic representations of elderly Polish and Russian women.

In terms of ethnicity, for both the images representing these groups, all of the women are White or appear to be White. Poland, according to some statistics is 98% Polish so perhaps the representations are close to portraying the norm. On the other hand, Russia is more complex with its 193 ethnic groups yet the images portray a high level of homogeneity.

Ethnic Russians make up 77-81% of Russia's population of 147 million, along with Tatars, Ukrainians, Baskhirs, Chuvashs, Chechens and Armenians being other major ethnic groups of over a million (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Russia#Ethnic_groups and https://minorityrights.org/country/russian-federation/ for a breakdown; there are other Russian-language sites that you can check as well). My point is here that Russia is a diverse nation of peoples of ethnic backgrounds and mixes including those of Slavic, Turkic, Caucasian, Mongolian peoples, indigenous and Korean ancestry. However, the images created by DALL-E portray avatars that represent only those who appear Slavic and/or European (i.e. White). There are no representations of other types of Russians who may be Turkic, indigenous, or Mongolian in origin.

However, this could be due to how algorithms encode the concept of a Russian person. Does 'Russian' mean a citizen of Russia, and therefore anyone who lives in Russia? If this is the case, then it is likely dominant views that inform datasets will skew any possible representations. On the other hand, does it mean those that see themselves as ethnically Russian? If this is the case, then perhaps it is valid to show only Slavic/European avatars. In either case, the representations are problematic as they highlight whatever the dominant 'norm' is while erasing Russia's historically rich diversity. Another perspective could be how a particular government might influence how the imaginations of its populace are portrayed, which may mean the prominence of a dominant group at the expense of an ethnic minority group. In Russia’s case, there are concerns surrounding ethnic separatism and how migrants are portrayed, especially of those from regions traditionally associated with Turkic and Asiatic peoples and those whose faith is Islam (Coalson, 2023). However, such concerns are not reasons for erasing different representations and portrayals of peoples of different ethnicities.

Representations of grandmothers from the US

As a reminder, I used the following prompt: "Create an image of a sweet, old American grandmother making pancakes". I acknowledge that using ‘American’ can be problematic. It can refer to people of the United States, or if you live in Latin America, American can refer to anyone from the Americas, not just people who live in the United States of America.

In addition to the term ‘American’ being problematic, this prompt quickly revealed more serious issues that I will touch upon.

Representations created by DALL-E for the prompt on American grandmothers

Atmosphere, decor, clothing

The images of American grandmothers offer a stark contrast in many ways when compared with the representation of Polish and Russian grandmothers. The DALL-E produced illustrations appear to show these women, for the most part, in a different light.

While the first two women in the top row appear to be in the home, their homes appear to be more modern in some respects. They all appear to be using what appear to be metallic utensils as opposed to wooden ones. The lighting in the bottom two images is much brighter with almost an appearance of a representation of a cooking show as indicated by the lighter-colored walls. The atmosphere appears a lot less cluttered and lighter in many respects. This lack of clutter and more light might indicate, at the very least, modern homes that are efficient.

Then there are the hairstyles. These are, admittedly, something that I hadn't picked up on as it wasn't something that I am fully literate about until a friend prompted me. As that friend noted, the hair of these women tells another side of the story related to class. What does the hair say to you? How do each of their hairstyles represent their own lives? What does each style say about their socio-economic background?

The clothing also offers clues to how these avatar-representations live. Their clothes appear more modern, perhaps more expensive than their Polish and Russian counterparts. What does this say about the data that has informed the creation of these avatars?

Expressions and race

If we look at the facial expressions, again while generative AI does not yet get the finer details right, something appears and feels more warm, perhaps more positive about the expressions of these avatar women. The first one appears thoughtful and focused on what she is doing with almost a sense of enjoyment. The second one appears content - at the very least - with what she is doing. The third and fourth images appear to represent a wholly positive image of two different women engaging in cooking as indicated by slight smiles whether looking down (image 3) or looking straight ahead (image 4).

However, there is a significant problem with these representations which is indicated by the perceived race of the sweet, old, American grandmothers: each avatar represents a White woman. This is particularly problematic as the US has a population of over 330 million with nearly 80 million (nearly 1 in 4 people) who comprise non-White people. The question here then is why has the generative AI tool created only White faces to represent the qualifier ‘American’ when 1 in 4 people in the US fall under the broad categories of Black, Asian, Indigenous and others? Why is the US portrayed as, at least according to these AI-generated images, representing only one part of its population?

Data gathered from https://www.census.gov/

Representations of grandmothers from the US racialized as Black

Representations created by DALL-E for the prompt on Black American grandmothers

Atmosphere, decor, clothing

If we consider the representations generated by DALL-E below, we see deeply problematic underlying issues that represent an intersection of race, gender and class in the portrayals of imagined sweet, old Black American women.

The atmosphere in each avatar appears generally warm and inviting, reflecting the representations of sweet, old, ‘American’ grandmothers. There is a certain simplicity and modernness to the environment. Two avatars appear in a home kitchen (the bottom two) as indicated by kitchen cabinets/cupboards and a nearby window. The top-left image appears perhaps in a larger, commercial kitchen or perhaps a kitchen in the home, and the second (top-right) appears perhaps in a TV studio as indicated by the lighting and focus.

One colleague, Dr Ruby Zelzer, notes something that I had missed:

… something struck me about how utilitarian the kitchens were, the kitchen tiles in 3 of the 4 pictures, and also that the type of tiles were very basic in appearance. How none of the other images had these tiles (to my eye).

However, the images appear to say something about the roles of these avatar women. Three of the images appear to represent the avatars as cooks or chefs, as indicated by what appear to be chefs' hats and their attire in general. The avatar in a pink apron and white outfit (top-right) appears to be in an ambiguous situation in part due to the lighting and the red nose: are they in a TV studio or in a circus? I will discuss this later as the representation harks back to minstrelsy and blackface.

In addition, two of the avatar women are wearing what look like cleaner gloves. The avatar portraying yellow gloves is also problematic as the gloves appear slightly worn and tattered. This can be seen to place someone, or here an older Black American woman, in a lower socio-economic position.

In 3 out of the 4 images (all bar the lower-left image), the avatars representing Black American grandmothers are situated in positions of service through the attire that they are portrayed to be wearing. In fact, only the avatar in a blue shirt and pink apron appears to be in a position that seemingly isn’t attributable to a service role. In contrast, the White representations of American women don’t appear to be in positions of service as indicated by their clothing. I now turn to discuss the problems that nearly all of these images is (re)producing.

Expressions and race

All the women appear to be smiling or enjoying what they are doing. At first, this may seem like a good thing. However, the expressions of the top-left and bottom-right avatars are highly problematic for a few historic reasons rooted in racist, gendered and classist portrayals of Black American women. In addition, the larger bodies of three of the other avatars also reflect how Black American women have historically been portrayed within the United States and beyond. In contrast, the avatars representing White American women are constructed with what appear to be more delicate and smaller features, something that several researchers (Bowdre, 2006; Downing, 2007; Thompson Moore, 2021) argue has frequently been attributed to representations of White women.

The origins of stereotyped representations of Black American women lie, in part, in minstrelsy in the 1800s (Bowdre, 2006; Downing, 2007; Thompson Moore, 2021). In minstrel shows, White men portrayed Black Americans by blackening their faces using burnt cork while exaggerating other facial features, such as the lips, by using 'red or white paint' (Bowdre, 2006, p. 37). The avatars representing Black American women are illustrative of how Black women were constructed in minstrel shows through the caricature of the wench (Thompson Moore, 2021, p. 318). White men performed the wench character representing Black women through cross-dressing and drag performances (ibid). Other characters would go further by dressing in 'brighter, more flamboyant dress' and their faces would be further exaggerated by makeup, creating 'larger eyes and gaping mouths with huge lips' (ibid). As Bowdre (2006) asserts, minstrelsy has aided stereotypes around people racialized as Black and continues to inform media representations of Black American men and women in the present day.

Another representation is that of Black American women as a ‘mammy,’ or a good-natured, submissive and motherly figure who would provide care for White families. Taken together, an excerpt from King (2019, p. 13) explains why such representations are deeply problematic:

“Aunt Jemima,” a well-known trope that (mis)represents/distorts Black/African womanhood in the USA, is a fictional historic advertising icon that reinforces the national stereotype of the slave plantation “mammy.” In the late 19th century, this image of a smiling, usually corpulent dark-skinned Black woman wearing a red bandana became the trademark logo for a technological innovation: ready-mixed pancake flour. Commercial advertisements that invented this denigrating image of Black womanhood expressed the white imagination, which was then reified in film, fiction, the fantasy world of plantation mythology, and consumer consciousness. This stereotype epitomises the dominance of hegemonic white memory and imagination in the material culture of American society (Wallace-Sanders 2008).

The images below depict what hooks (2015, pp. 65-66) would argue that such images portray Black women in a negative light through the construction of Black women having ‘excessive make-up,’ ‘wearing wigs and clothes that give the appearance of being overweight’ while simultaneously representing large ‘maternal figures’. bell hooks's message here is that historical depictions of Black American women portray them as fat/obese, older, asexual and unkempt, homogenizing this group while mocking them through the ‘wench’ and/or ‘mammy’ stereotypes, which both (re)produce demeaning representations of Black American women.

Discussion

What we see here in each of the images represents what are what Benjamin describes as (2019, p. 59) ‘deeply ingrained cultural prejudices’ and ‘biases’ drawn from data that the generative AI tools use to create representations.

While the imaginary representation of Black American women was reified in media and consumer consciousness, we can see that this portrayal resurfaces in the digital realm within the context of generative AI. What we see here then is one manifestation of ‘algorithmic coloniality’ (Mohamed et al., 2020; Zembylas, 2023). For those new to the concept of coloniality, this is a state of knowing and being that pervades knowledge and power relations that sees those formerly colonized and/or enslaved as regularly encountering inherent disadvantages in all aspects of life while former colonizers retain many advantages in all areas of life (Quijano and Ennis, 2000; Wynter, 2003; Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2015). In simple terms, this means that accepted knowledges and ways of being represent those of the dominant members of society.

In this case, the role of Silicon Valley, located in the United States, which is a hegemonic power and an extension of the former European colonial nations as one of her settler-colonies, is significant. This extends beyond the technological companies of Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the US to anywhere that readily accepts, uses and replicates their models. Those who follow the dominant modes of cultural, and technological production take part in the creation and perpetuation of algorithms which overvalue some humans (those racialized as White) while undervaluing and actively devaluing the humanity of other humans (those racialized as Black, Asian and others).

Considering the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the daily injustices that people racialized as Black in the US (and elsewhere, even the UK for example) experience, it is particularly problematic that human-authored algorithms informing generative AI reflect dominant systems of knowing and being. It is, however, a testament to the existence of coloniality within AI and AI algorithms which (re)produce gendered, racist and xenophobic representations of racialized and minoritized peoples.

Although there is some hope for everyone to influence the datasets that inform algorithms, which in turn might allow for some change, this will not be easy: collaboration will be key and conscientization of everyone on the issues will be as well to address and rectify the issues of problematic algorithms, which are just one tool in a greater system.

Some specific solutions can help by drawing on decolonial thinking that can develop and deepen the understanding of students and educators. This can start with understanding where sites of coloniality replicate harmful generative AI algorithms. Drawing on Mohamed et al. (2020, p. 8)this might include understanding and identifying such sites, which might include where and how algorithms are made and function, who is involved in beta-testing and testing generally, and what local and national policies can be developed. This also includes specifically developing algorithmic literacy as part of digital literacy initiatives (Zembylas, 2023)

Key questions for students/educators

Why do the avatars represent these particular groups in the way that they do?
What, if anything, do the representations get right?
What, if anything, do the illustrations get wrong?
- How are the representations problematic?
- Where representations are problematic...
  - What message does this send to someone without knowledge of the context?
  - What message does this create about the people/cultures/objects portrayed in the images?
  - What can you do to ensure generative AI creates, if it is possible, more accurate and equitable representations of peoples/cultures/objects?

References

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Polity Press.

Bowdre, K. M. (2006). Racial mythologies: African American female images and *representation from minstrelsy to the studio era. [Doctoral dissertation/thesis, University of Southern California].

Coalson, R. (2023). Russia’s 2021 Census Results Raise Red Flags Among Experts And Ethnic-Minority Activists – RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2023-07-24 from https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-census-ethnic-minorities-undercounted/32256506.html

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43, No. 6, 1241-1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039

Dowling, T. (2016, Tuesday, 13 September). Order force: the old grammar rule we all obey without realising – The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-07-24 from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/13/sentence-order-adjectives-rule-elements-of-eloquence-dictionary

Downing, C. (2007). “Interlocking oppressions of sisterhood: (re) presenting the black woman in nineteenth century blackface minstrelsy”. Senior Scholar Papers, Paper 539. https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/seniorscholars/539

Fitzgerald, K. J. (2020). Recognizing Race and Ethnicity: Power, Privilege and Inequality (Third ed.). Routledge.

Grosfoguel, R. (2016). What is Racism. Journal of World-Systems Research, 22(1), 9-15. https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2016.609

Hill Collins, P. (2019). Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory. Duke University Press.

hooks, b. (2015). Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Routledge.

King, J. E. (2019). Staying Human: Forty Years of Black Studies Practical-Critical Activity in the Spirit of (Aunt) Jemima. International Journal of African Renaissance Studies - Multi-, Inter- and Transdisciplinarity, 14(2), 9-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/18186874.2019.1690399

Mohamed, S., Png, M.-T., & Isaac, W. (2020). Decolonial AI: Decolonial Theory as Sociotechnical Foresight in Artificial Intelligence. Philosophy & Technology, 33(4), 659-684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-020-00405-8

Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2015). Decoloniality as the Future of Africa. History Compass, 13(10), 485-496. https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12264

Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York University Press.

Quijano, A., & Ennis, M. (2000). Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America. Nepantla: Views from South, 1(3), 533-580.

Shadrina, A. (2022). Enacting the babushka: older Russian women ‘doing’ age, gender and class by accepting the role of a stoic carer. Ageing and Society, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x2200037x

Thompson Moore, K. (2021). The Wench: Black Women in the Antebellum Minstrel Show and Popular Culture. The Journal of American Culture, 44(4), 318-335. https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.13299

Utrata, J. (2008). Babushki as Surrogate Wives: How Single Mothers and Grandmothers Negotiate the Division of Labor in Russia. UC Berkeley: Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3b18d2p8

Wallace-Sanders, K. (2008). Mammy: A century of race, gender, and southern memory. University of Michigan Press.

Wynter, S. (2003). Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom: Towards the Human, After Man, Its Overrepresentation—An Argument. CR: The New Centennial Review, 3(3), 257-337. https://doi.org/10.2307/41949874

Zembylas, M. (2023). A decolonial approach to AI in higher education teaching and learning: strategies for undoing the ethics of digital neocolonialism. Learning, Media and Technology, 48(1), 25-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.2010094

04/07/2023 04/07/2023

Creating a student induction with ChatGPT: what it does and misses

ChatGPT seems to be all the rage at the moment, and has been so since at least November/December of 2022. Students and educators are simultaneously worried, excited and fearful of the possibilities that a tool like ChatGPT might create. The inspiration for this post comes from a lot of thinking since at least February and March of this year, coupled with a couple of insightful blog posts from a colleague Dr Emily Nordmann.

What is ChatGPT?

I won't labor the point as this has already been talked about in many places, many times over the last few months. In my own words, ChatGPT a tool that draws upon a large set of information that is out there on the web while constantly being trained by its users to finesse what it produces for its users. Depending on whether you use the free or paid version, this information goes back to either 2021 at the time of this writing, or up to now when using the paid version.

The knowledge that ChatGPT draws on is shaped by a mixture of key factors that you should understand:

those who created the ChatGPT AI model - i.e. the programmers
the openly available information that ChatGPT is drawing from
the users whose queries and questions are training ChatGPT, in essence, to become better at what it is doing

Specific knowledge frames outputs

Understanding both what knowledge and whose knowledge informs ChatGPT, and any other tool, is important. When we lift the lid on such tools, we deepen our own understanding of how they work on multiple levels. This then allows us to understand how tools like ChatGPT might (and probably will) create potential omissions, erasures and bias in the knowledge that such tools produce.

With this in mind, I encourage you to try and test out such tools while also asking yourself:

Who has created this tool?
Where are they from?
What are their motivations?
What knowledge is this tool drawing on?
Whose knowledge is this tool drawing on?
What knowledge is missing? And why is it missing?

An example in practice: creating a student induction

I chose the image above to represent the first prompt and example. What you ask of a large language model like ChatGPT will directly influence the example answer you receive. So, the more vague your question is, the more encompassing the response you will receive.

For a practical example, I decided to get ChatGPT to create a student induction. I choose this example for a few reasons:

to understand what the tool will create using my question prompts
to share with educators an example of a student induction created by ChatGPT
to determine what could be missing from the example that ChatGPT creates

Initial prompt and first output

Below is what ChatGPT created from the initial prompt.

Me: Can you help me to create an induction program for first year students at a university?
ChatGPT: Absolutely, I'd be happy to help you design an induction program for first year university students. Here's a basic outline you could consider:

1. Welcome and Introduction (Day 1)

Welcome Speech: The head of the university or a senior faculty member can begin by welcoming the new students.
Introduction to University: Give an overview of the university's history, ethos, academic structures, key personnel, campus culture, and student life.

2. University Overview (Day 1 - Day 2)

Academic Session: Detail about the course curriculum, academic calendar, grading system, internships, research opportunities, and expectations.
Campus Tour: This could be conducted by senior students. Show important locations like lecture halls, library, labs, student support services, sports facilities, canteens, etc.
Introduction to Faculty: Introduce the teaching and administrative staff. This could be done departmentally.
Workshop on the University's Digital Infrastructure: Train students on how to use the university's website, student portal, learning management system, library resources, etc.

3. Student Services and Support (Day 3)

Presentation from Student Services: Discuss available services like counselling, career guidance, health, accommodation, international student services, etc.
Safety Briefing: Include information about campus safety, emergency services, important contact numbers, and any apps or systems used to enhance student safety.
Presentation from Financial Aid: Discuss scholarships, grants, loans, work-study opportunities, and other financial assistance available.
Presentation from Student Clubs: Representatives from various clubs and societies can introduce their activities.

4. Skills Workshops (Day 4 - Day 5)

Study Skills: Sessions on time management, effective study techniques, research skills, and academic writing.
Soft Skills: Workshops on communication skills, presentation skills, leadership, teamwork, etc.
Personal Development: Sessions on mental health awareness, stress management, maintaining a balanced lifestyle, etc.

5. Social Activities (Throughout the Week)

Ice Breakers and Team Building Activities: To help students get to know each other.
Welcome Party: A casual social event.
Quiz Night: A fun trivia night with questions about the university and general knowledge.
City Tour: For universities in or near cities, a tour of important city landmarks could be helpful.
Meet and Greet with Seniors: Casual interaction sessions with second-year students or student mentors.

6. Reflection and Feedback (End of the Week)

Reflection Session: Allow students to share their experiences and feelings about the first week.
Feedback Collection: Collect feedback about the induction program to improve future iterations.

Please note that this is a general schedule and might need adjustments according to the specific needs of your university and student population. The key is to provide essential information, introduce students to support services, foster community-building, and address any initial worries or concerns students may have.
ChatGPT will often end examples with a little statement like this

Some reflections

As we can see, this is a very detailed student induction for a week-long induction. My question was not specific and therefore the example it produced was broad and encompassing. The example likely draws on a range of university inductions for Year 1 students entering university from across the Internet. However, as we can see, the example is based upon a university that probably has stable electricity, Internet access and good facilities. It is a department within a university that is probably concerned with its reputation and so it takes strides to ensure the students get the best experience (services) possible.

Getting (more) specific

I wanted to understand how ChatGPT might compress or summarize the previous request. The aim was to understand what might change as a result.

This is only an example and I do not recommend a single day student induction!

Me: Thank you, can you regenerate this but for a 1 day program?ChatGPT
ChatGPT: Certainly, condensing the induction program into one day will require some adjustment, but it's still achievable. Here's a simplified structure:

1. Morning Session: Welcome and University Overview (9:00am - 12:00pm)

Welcome Address: The head of the university or a senior faculty member can begin by welcoming the new students (9:00am - 9:30am).
University Overview: A brief overview of the university's history, ethos, academic structure, key personnel, and student life (9:30am - 10:00am).
Academic Session: Detail about the course curriculum, academic calendar, grading system, and expectations (10:00am - 10:30am).
Short Break (10:30am - 10:45am)
Quick Campus Tour: Highlight the most important locations such as lecture halls, libraries, and student support services. This could be a virtual tour, if needed (10:45am - 11:30am).
Introduction to Faculty: A quick introduction to key faculty members and administrative staff (11:30am - 12:00pm).

2. Afternoon Session: Student Services and Workshops (1:00pm - 4:00pm)

Lunch Break (12:00pm - 1:00pm)
Presentation from Student Services: Highlight the main services like counseling, health, accommodation, etc. (1:00pm - 1:30pm).
Workshop on University's Digital Infrastructure: Train students on how to use the university's website, student portal, learning management system, etc. (1:30pm - 2:00pm).
Short Break (2:00pm - 2:15pm)
Essential Skills Workshop: A condensed workshop on essential academic skills like time management, effective study techniques, and academic writing (2:15pm - 3:00pm).
Safety Briefing: Share information about campus safety, emergency services, and important contact numbers (3:00pm - 3:30pm).
Q&A Session: Allow students to ask any remaining questions they might have (3:30pm - 4:00pm).

3. Evening Session: Social Activity and Close (4:00pm - 6:00pm)

Social Mixer: A casual event where students can interact with each other and faculty members. This could include light refreshments, ice breakers, or team building activities (4:00pm - 5:30pm).
Closing Address: A brief closing note from a senior member of the university staff, encouraging students to make the most of their time at the university (5:30pm - 6:00pm).

Remember, the aim is to provide essential information, help students feel comfortable in their new environment, and foster a sense of community. Be sure to let students know where they can find more detailed information or support if needed.
ChatGPT's disclaimer

Reflections on the details

When I saw this example, I was surprised and left wondering. What surprised me was the time that ChatGPT allocated to such sessions. This would be a highly regimented and time poor induction!

While the overall plan isn't bad, we know from practice that inductions can take a lot longer and might have unexpected events that just happen. Students and staff can get lost along the way, people might cancel and rooms might suddenly be unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances.

Testing ChatGPT for basic biases

I went one step further by asking ChatGPT what might be some good dedicated social media platforms for fostering community among the students. The idea is that these could be spaces where students connect pre-arrival. However, there were some problems in the examples that ChatGPT produced.

Here are some of the examples it suggested:

Facebook
WhatsApp
Discord
Slack
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter
Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace
Reddit
Clubhouse
SnapChat
TikTok

Perhaps the biggest problem with these examples is that they are all very popular and widely used in the West and perhaps particularly in the Anglophone and European West. However, to what extent is this inclusive of those from other regions of the world?

I had to prompt ChatGPT to get it to consider using Telegram and WeChat. For context, Telegram is popular in eastern Europe and the Middle East while WeChat is particularly popular in China and other parts of Asia. The graphic below provides one picture of how some suggestions that ChatGPT are perhaps good ones while others are missing.

Statistic: Most popular social networks worldwide as of January 2023, ranked by number of monthly active users (in millions) | Statista

Find more statistics at Statista

Closing thoughts

What does this all mean for students and educators? I think it means that we need to do what we can and should be doing: when we use a tool, we should question critically who made it, what its purpose is and what it can and can't do. We should practice it, get to know it and see how well it works. Finally, we should question the information it is generating and be mindful of what is omitted and why it is missing.

For further information...

There are a lot of voices out there who are discussing ChatGPT and all of its potential. The two I have found most useful are those who have been consistent and have provided regular examples, while also creating space for dialogue.

One of the most consistent voices on the uses of ChatGPT on Twitter has been Mushtaq Bilaland one of the most regular organizers of voices has been Phil Anthony from the University of Kent who organizes regular Digitally Enhanced EducationWebinars.

A screenshot of the Digitally Enhanced Education Webinars channel on YouTube.

03/09/2021 03/09/2021

Potential theoretical frameworks

The resource below is from AdvancedHE Pedagogies of Internationalisation theoretical frameworks. These are various theoretical frameworks that can be used for far more than internationalisation for questions and issues related to, for example, critically reflective professional practice, education policy, education futures and many others. Thanks to Sara for finding this one! I've slightly modified the formatting to the original source.

Looking down onto the rocky beach near Portencross Castle in West Kilbride, Scotland. Shot from a DJI Mini 2.

The resource below is from AdvancedHE Pedagogies of Internationalisation theoretical frameworks. It's meant to give a bird's eye of what there is to choose from. These are various theoretical frameworks that can be used for far more than internationalisation for questions and issues related to, for example, critically reflective professional practice, education policy, education futures and many others.

Thanks to Sara for finding this one! I've slightly modified the formatting to the original source.

Theoretical frameworks are essential for guiding research about international students and framing their experiences away from deficit narratives. We’ve compiled here a list of potential theoretical frameworks for research with international students that researchers might consider, along with suggested readings to get you started with learning about them.

Please note this list is still a work in progress and is not fully comprehensive. We welcome any suggested additions.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

AdvancedHE Pedagogies of Internationalisation.

Theories about international students’ transitions and broader experiences

Theory	Purposefully over-simplified description	Suggested reading(s)
Ecological systems theory	The multiple environmental and social systems that impact on an individuals’ experiences	Original: Bronfenbrenner, 1979 Further conceptualisation in higher education: Jones, 2017 Example in practice: Elliot et al., 2016
Multidimensional transition theory	The multilayered academic, social, and emotional transitions that individuals encounter when moving from one space to another	Introduction: Jindal-Snape & Ingram, 2013 Example in practice: Jindal-Snape & Rienties, 2016
Academic resilience theory	Students’ capacity to adapt and develop under uncertainty or adversity	One approach: Holdsworth et al., 2017 Example in practice: Singh, 2021
Rhizomatic transitions	Construction of students’ transitions experiences away from linear pathways towards more fluid, ongoing experiences	Original: Deleuze & Guatarri, 1987 Further conceptualisation in higher education: Gravett, 2019 Example in practice: Balloo et al., 2021
Student engagement model	Model of factors that impact students’ university retention and success	Original: Tinto (1975) Example in practice: Rienties et al. (2012)
Liminality	Transitional space that may lead to disorientation or ambiguity	Original: Turner, 1969 Example in practice: Parker et al., 2010

Theories about identity development and the self

Theory	Purposefully over-simplified description	Suggested reading(s)
Student agency theory	Students’ capacity to make choices within the constraints of their lived realities	One approach: Biesta & Tedder, 2007 Example in practice: Tran & Vu, 2016
Identity theory	The construction of the self through interactions with experiences and culture	One approach: Hall, 1996 Example in practice: Pham & Saltmarsh, 2013
Capability approach	Theory that people achieve well-being through their capabilities to be and do what they value	One approach: Nussbaum, 2011 Second approach: Sen, 1973; Sen, 1995 Example in practice: Fakunle, 2020
Possible selves	Approach to understanding individuals’ imagined ‘like-to-be’ and ‘like-to-avoid’ futures	Original: Markus & Nurius, 1986 Application to higher education: Harrison, 2018; Henderson et al., 2019 Example in practice: Yang & Noels, 2013
Intersectional theory	Framework for understanding how a person’s multiple identities lead to different forms of oppression and discrimination	Original: Crenshaw, 1989 Example in practice: Forbes-Mewett & McColloch, 2015
Critical race theory	Recognition of race as a social construct and that social structures are inherently racist	Starting point: McCoy, 2015 Example in practice: Yao et al. (2018)
Gendered racialisation	The intersecting identities of gender and race	Original: Selod (2018) Example in practice: Karaman & Christian (2020)

Theories about intercultural friendships / relationships

Theory	Purposefully over-simplified description	Suggested reading(s)
Intercultural friendship framework	Framework for understanding how intercultural friendships develop on higher education campuses	Kudo et al., 2019
Intergroup contact theory	Theory that biases and prejudices can be minimized through positive contact with people from different outgroups	Original: Allport, 1954 More modern introduction: Dovidio et al., 2005 Meta-analysis: Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006
Intergroup threat theory	Theory that encounters between individuals from different backgrounds can lead to discomforts or threatening feelings	Original: Stephen & Stephen, 2000 Example in practice: Harrison & Peacock, 2013

Theories about pedagogies with international students

Theory	Purposefully over-simplified description	Suggested reading(s)
Critical pedagogies	Application of critical theory to education; philosophy of education that focuses on issues of social justice, power imbalances, and domination	Originals: Freire, 1970; Giroux, 2011 Linked to international students: Khalideen, 2015
Engaged pedagogy	Critical pedagogy approach that values relationships between student / teacher, teacher self-actualisation, humanistic approaches to education	Original: hooks, 1994 Linked to international students: Madge et al., 2009
Academic hospitality	Reflection on academic staff as ‘hosts’ to reciprocally support students as ‘guests’	Original: Bennett, 2000 Further conceptualisation: Ploner, 2018
Bernstein’s pedagogic devices	Theory focusing on the ways pedagogies represent symbolic control over knowledge	Original: Bernstein, 2000 Example in practice: Zeegers & Barron, 2008
Transformative learning	Evaluation of past experience through the acquisition of new knowledge	Original: Mezirow, 1991 Example in practice: Nada et al., 2018; López Murillo, 2021

Theories about international students and the curriculum

Theory	Purposefully over-simplified description	Suggested reading(s)
Hidden curriculum	The unwritten lessons learned about normative values, beliefs, ethics, etc. as a result of educational provisions and settings	Starting point: Apple, 1989 Example in practice: Kidman et al., 2017
Internationalisation of the curriculum	Inclusion of international or intercultural elements into the content and delivery of education	Starting point: Leask, 2015 Further theorisation: Clifford & Montgomery, 2017 Example in practice: Vishwanath & Mummery, 2018
Glocalisation	The blending of global and local elements in the curriculum	Starting point: Robertson, 1994 Further theorisation in higher education: Patel & Lynch, 2013
Tourist gaze	Approach to learning about other cultures as a ‘guest’ or ‘tourist’	Starting point: Urry & Larsen, 2011 Example in practice: Vinall & Shin, 2019

Social learning theories

Theory	Purposefully over-simplified description	Suggested reading(s)
Communities of practice	A set of people who share a common interest or practice	Original: Wenger, 1998 Example in practice: Montgomery & McDowell, 2008
Figured worlds	Development of the self in relation to the social types in their surrounding world	Original: Holland et al., 2001 Example in practice: Chang et al., 2017
Cultural historical activity theory (CHAT)	Relationship between the mind and action within an individual’s situated social world	Original: Engestrom, 2001 Example in practice: Straker, 2016

Sociological theories

Theory	Purposefully over-simplified description	Suggested reading(s)
Bourdieusian theory	Set of thinking tools for investigating power and the way it impacts individuals and societies through structural constraints	Original: Bourdieu, 1979 Helpful guide: Grenfell, 2013 Example in practice: Xu, 2017
Foucauldian theory	Set of thinking tools for investigating power relationships in society, including how they influence language or practice	Original: Foucault, 1977; Foucault, 1972 Helpful guide: Ball, 2013 Example in practice: Koehne, 2006
Gramscian theory	Theory of cultural hegemony – how the state and high economic class use institutions to maintain power	Original: Gramsci, 1971 Helpful guide: Mayo, 2015 Example in practice: Kim, 2011

Decolonial / postcolonial theories

Theory	Purposefully over-simplified description	Suggested reading(s)
Orientalism	Negative portrayals and ‘othering’ of ‘the East’ by ‘the West’ which serve to maintain colonial power and assumed superiority	Original: Edward Said, 1978 Helpful guide: Leonardo, 2020 Example in practice: Yao, 2018
Subjugation	Forced dominance of one group over another through (neo-)colonialism and violence	Original: Fanon, 1952 Helpful guide in education: Leonardo & Singh, 2017
Third space / hybridity	The sense of ‘limbo’ or ‘in between-ness’ of individuals’ cultural identities	Original: Bhabha, 1994 Example in practice: Pitts & Brooks, 2017
Double consciousness	The experience of dual identities in conflict within an oppressive society	Original: Du Bois, 1903 Example in practice: Valdez, 2015

Theories about mobilities

Theory	Purposefully over-simplified description	Suggested reading(s)
Spacial theories	Relations between socially-constructed spaces and times	Original: Lefebvre & Nicholson-Smith (1991) Further theorisation in higher education: Larsen & Beech, 2014 Example in practice: Waters & Leung, 2012
Migration infrastructures	Interlinking structures that enable or constrain mobilities	Starting point: Xiang & Lindquist, 2018 Example in practice: Hu et al., 2020

24/04/2020 24/04/2020

MNGT160 - Leadership on a large module

Unique challenges

Given the size and scale of the module, there were bound to be challenges. The module in question cuts across the faculty as the audience in question are nearly all first year management school majors: this equates to well over 1200 students on one module, which is something innovative and different to what we had done prior.

First, a bit about the module itself: MNGT160 Future Global Leaders: Sustainability Across Business. The faculty I work for has 6 diverse academic departments that each bring their own unique perspectives, and I wanted these diverse perspectives to be reflected both the description and practice of the module in order to ensure stakeholders (the departments and their staff) would buy into the idea of the changes I was offering for the module. I won't go into the details of the changes, but below are the educational aims:

The module will use the lens of sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals to develop students' academic, personal and professional dimensions, and their understanding of different aspects of sustainability and leadership to encourage their involvement with student life and prepare them for future careers.

Students will engage with global issues within the overarching context of sustainability and sub-topics of resilience, diversity and geopolitics with a view to linking these ideas with what can be achieved at a local level in practice.

Throughout this module, students will use the lens of their own specific subject area(s) as a looking glass through which to examine and apply what they learn per sustainability and leadership.

Given that no one of our departments explicitly teaches about either sustainability or leadership in the first year (these topics come later), it made sense to cover these topics and sub-topics of resilience, diversity and geopolitics especially in light of the environmental, sociopolitical and economic upheaval of the last couple of years related to the issues raised by Brexit and new figures such as the environmental activist Greta Thunberg who are passionate about the evermore important issue of climate change and sustainability generally.

In this regard, this module would get all students (and staff) thinking about these topics in broad terms and through the perspective of each subject's lens in order get students to consider critically the issues and draw connections between their own subjects and the overarching and underpinning topics. My own goal was to get students inspired, thinking and questioning the issues... which is what university is all about!

This process, was at times, a tricky process to manage but equally rewarding in terms of what was experienced and learned along the way.

Practical day-to-day challenges

The day-to-day issues were perhaps some of the most frequently occurring issues that created little barriers, hurdles and obstacles for general progress on getting the module off the ground whether we're talking about module development, curriculum design and approval or agreeing actions and general courses of action.

One of the most frequent issues that came up was time and scheduling. Time is precious - for everyone - and everyone has their own availability, teaching and/or research load and pre-arranged commitments whether relating to time off, family, health and so on, especially in the time between August and October prior to the start of an academic year in England when academic and teaching staff may have other commitments that might include undertaking research and research related activities, planning ahead for the academic year or taking annual leave prior to the start of the new academic year and autumn term.

For me, what this means in practical terms for the initial meetings is that I was not always able to get everyone into a single room in order to discuss the general course of action for the module's development. I remember that at the initial meeting, not everyone was able to attend due to various commitments. Despite this, the first meeting was productive and we laid groundwork for development - there was a contagious sense of positivity and things were looking GOOD!

And then came the second meeting...

Apart from a couple of colleagues, the rest of the faces were 'new' in that they hadn't attended the first meeting, and so, in effect, this meant that we had to recap what went on in the first meeting in order to get everyone up to speed. However, this presented itself with an opportunity.

The learning from this was: yes, we can plan ahead and take notes and share these notes, though colleagues may not have time or a chance to read through these notes. That said, if a significant contingent to a subsequent meeting is new, a short recap can get everyone on the same page and win over potentially influential and/or powerful colleagues who may be doubtful of the direction and/or content of the programme in question. A recap may seem like time lost - but rather, on reflection, this is time well-spent getting everyone on the same page so that a project can proceed with a clear sense of direction that has received input from all colleagues.

From this process and experience, I feel that I've learned that when leading on a large, collaborative project, there is an increased likelihood that not all colleagues may be able to attend meetings all of the time, the best plans intended and/or planned must be flexible, and ensuring everyone is on the same page is more important than simply moving on to the next meeting or set of actions.

Hearing people out pays off

When collaborating with a large number of people, sometimes we have to just stop, be silent and allow others to voice their concerns, opinions and views. Though it may seem obvious to some, this process might feel (read this as definitely will feel) a little uncomfortable for the uninitiated leader especially if you're having to deal with one or more heads of departments whom you haven't yet won over!

When a colleague has a concern, hear them out and remain calm no matter what the message is, especially when leading a module or new project is something that you're new at.

It pays off to take the time demonstrate effective listening by hearing them out with an open mind, be 'in the moment' while listening, take note of their concerns and ideas and see how their ideas can complement and/or improve what is already on the table. What is more is that the colleagues who are providing some of the constructive criticisms might be deeply in support of your ideas and what you are trying to achieve - but - they are trying to push you to see a different perspective in order to improve your offering.

Although their initial message may sound direct, patience may well pay off, which in turn leads to new/different perspectives gained, colleagues feeling that their views are being heard and listened to and trust both built and gained.

22/03/2020 22/03/2020

Holding virtual office hours - suggestions

A colleague asked about holding virtual office hours. The question entailed both how to do this in terms of the pedagogy and the technology. So, I drafted a document that addresses some suggestions around holding virtual office hours (and tutorials) which can be found here: https://sway.office.com/yqhBJFryvfm46a5e?ref=Link as a Sway document that can be printed and shared.

A colleague asked about holding virtual office hours. The question entailed both how to do this in terms of the pedagogy and the technology. There were quite a few considerations to take in to account namely:

class and cohort size;
possible apps/tools to be used;
getting the most out of a virtual session;
preparation required prior to a virtual office hour/tutorial;
expectations for students/attendees of said events;
and many more!

So, I drafted a document that addresses some suggestions around holding virtual office hours (and tutorials) which can be found here: https://sway.office.com/yqhBJFryvfm46a5e?ref=Link as a Sway document that can be printed and shared.

I should note that, while I focus on using Microsoft Teams, the principles for this apply to Zoom and Google Hangouts, among others. The main differences are that Zoom allows 'breakout rooms'. I haven't used Google Hangouts for a similar purpose, so can't comment.

I hope this is helpful!

13/03/2020 13/03/2020

Moving to digital education

The purpose of this post is to shed some light on some thoughts to consider, good practices and tips for moving from face-to-face teaching to digital education.NB: These are suggestions to help you to move to digital education. These solutions depend on your own abilities, desire and time. You have the support of your colleagues both in-intuition and beyond – you only need ask. The solutions here are informed suggestions.No perfect solutions exist.

The purpose of this document is to shed some light on some thoughts to consider, good practices and tips for moving from face-to-face teaching to digital education.

The impetus for sharing these ideas comes in light of the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, which has reached the status of a pandemic on Wednesday, 11 March 2020. Various countries reacted in different ways. As of the time of writing this document, several UK universities (London School of Economics, Durham University, University College London, Lancaster University and Glasgow University) have suspended classroom-based teaching effective either immediately or from Monday, 16 March. More universities are expected to follow the steps of other schools, colleges and universities that have already taken steps in other countries.

NB: These are suggestions to help you to move to digital education. These solutions depend on your own abilities, desire and time. You have the support of your colleagues both in-intuition and beyond – you only need ask. The solutions here are informed suggestions.

No perfect solutions exist.

NB: I may update sections of this post in the coming days as developments take place.

Developing pedagogy for digital delivery & communities of practice

There are a lot of networks out there that are discussing this right now.

One of those networks is on Twitter and you can find out more by following the Learning & Teaching in Higher Education Chat by looking for #LTHEChat and/or by visiting the following link: https://lthechat.com/2020/03/11/covid19-special-edition/ or by following @LTHEChat on Twitter.

Due to the impact of the coronavirus COVID-19, there is a daily chat on Twitter where you can meet and network with colleagues from across HE who are facing the same issues as you. In addition, you’ll also find a lot of ideas directly related to pedagogy, learning and teaching.

Pandemic Pedagogy

Another space that has sprung up is a large, interdisciplinary community on Facebook called Pandemic Pedagogy that has nearly 15,000 members and is constantly growing. You'll meet colleagues from almost every discipline that universities tend to offer.

Considering this group was set up on Thursday, 12 March, it's very quickly becoming a space for educators especially within higher education to ask questions and get and offer solutions on a grand scale.

NB: you will need to request to join but this should be approved within an hour or so!

Taken from a user on the **Pandemic Pedagogy** group.
*My own take: This is highly relevant and we should maybe think of this while transitioning our teaching. Things won't be picture perfect and we'll be learning as we go!*

Repurposing existing content – thoughts to consider

Review what content you have; if this is video content such as a pre-recording lecture that was captured earlier, ask yourself:

What, if any, improvements need to be made?
Is the content still relevant? Do parts of it require an update?
What needs to be cut/curtailed?
Can you tolerate sitting through this content for an extended period of time?

As an example of this, if your content has been recorded through lecture capture software you might have to consider the following:

does the content have good audiovisual quality, or will this impair the learning experience for students?

What to do with existing slide decks from presentations?

Some of you may have a slide deck that has slowly grown over the last few terms or semesters that have become potentially invaluable teaching tools. It's tempting to take an existing slide deck and place it online without any changes as this might be considered a path of least resistance.

However, even with your voiceover and a recorded video, students might benefit from a bit of structure that neatly breaks down the content. If we refer back to our earlier principles, we need to consider relevance and timeliness. So, when we look at a giant slide deck we've prepared over the years, we should reflect and ask ourselves:

How much of the content is suitable for this particular course or module?
What needs to be cut?
What can I do to make the content more engaging and/or interactive for the students?

Solution: Repurposing existing slide decks

One way of taking a slide deck and making it more engaging is to neatly divide content into easily digestible sections; most good slide decks will have a clear enough structure that this won't present an issue.

The next step is to insert an activity slide or two that gets students to think about the issue, problem, or topic at hand by constructing a task or problem for students to consider, process and/or solve in a meaningful way that helps connect what they've learned to practice.

The activity slide(s) can then be followed up by a worked-out solution (or more, depending upon the subject) that looks at the different solutions and provides some commentary/analysis that break the solutions down.

Of course, adding an activity slide and solution will take some time and this is perhaps a drawback. The advantages, however, are numerous: you will have created a reusable learning resource that students can use to learn, apply, practice and check their learning. Whether or not they do this is a different question!

How to structure content for effective delivery online

Structuring online learning and teaching is absolutely key to a successful experience for all stakeholders. Although it may seem obvious, since a significant part of learning online takes place without a teacher/lecturer in the room, students must be shown the path(s) to learning in an explicit manner. This path must be shown within the course/module handbook and through a mixture of audiovisual and visual signposting within a virtual learning environment, such as Moodle.

One way of creating an effective design for learning is to include, at the very least either a video or audio recording that introduces the module/course in brief. A recording of about 5 minutes should generally suffice. The message is best if it's clear, succinct and on point.

A screenshot of a social media postDescription automatically generated — Structuring an online module - an example

Developing netiquette & nurturing a community of online learners

Learning online often entails an increase in text-based communications. In 2020, with a lot of text-based communication already happening via WhatsApp, iMessages and other apps, understanding how to author written messages in an understandable, diplomatic manner is as important as ever.

Therefore, netiquette and how to communicate effectively in text when no visual or body language clues are present is important. This link gives a brief guide on developing good netiquette: https://sway.office.com/ObLxmwHTMKZE4vRB?ref=Link

As far as developing a community of online learners, the link in the post below by Sarah Honeychurch neatly encapsulates a few good thoughts and practices of how to do this. There are a few points to consider when fostering a community of online learners - have a read in the link below!

https://twitter.com/NomadWarMachine/status/1238504043728842753

What to do with seminars?

Although lecture sessions may be recorded and previously recorded lectures may be archived, some of you may be thinking about how you will have seminars.

Seminars are where students get more personal, face-to-face contact with peers and their instructors as these offer an opportunity to discuss, analyze and operationalize concepts and ideas presented during the lectures. There are a few potentially actionable and valuable solutions with the main drawbacks relating to Internet connectivity and access to devices.

Hosting digital seminars

Live seminars can be conducted through using web conferencing software such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Hangouts. Think of your digital seminars as webinars for your students. If your students already work in small groups, then they could form their own private chats to discuss ideas during the seminar.

Questions prior to moving to digital seminars

What type of connectivity do your learners have access to?
What can be pre-recorded?
- What can be broken down into smaller bites?
- What interactivity can be built in?
- Worried about video size? Handbrake (https://handbrake.fr/) can help to shirk file sizes while maintaining audio-visual quality
What would be best delivered live?
What do we want students to work on together – regardless of when the learning takes place?
What type of discussions do we want?
- Asynchronous vs synchronous?
What technical tools do we have at our disposal?
- PowerPoint presentations – recorded with audio
- Presenting via Teams – and having this recorded
- Collaborative documents for team-based group work
  - Invite specific members into each group-specific collaborative document

Practicalities

You can schedule an online meeting in Teams that will allow your learners to join a digital seminar – make sure that you invite them or send them a link!
You can record a meeting in Teams by using the red record button, and this will allow others to take part in part of the session and catch up if they weren’t able to attend.
Make sure that you lay out expectations:
- Have all learners downloaded and signed into Teams successfully?
- Have learners had a chance to ‘get to know’ and play with Teams?
- Do you want students to mute their microphones?
- Do you aim to have a member of each group participate and/or represent their group?

Tips on good practice for online seminars

These tips below were kindly shared by a couple of colleagues I work with - Emma Watton and Florian Bauer:

Make a note of key messages in advance to give attendees a clear direction of where the webinar is going;
Keep sentences short and avoid jargon;
Use slides/diagrams/models to help communicate ideas;
Signpost to follow up web content/reading etc.;
Use a booster plug-in speaker if available to improve sound quality, book a room if your office is by the building works;
Consider a guest joining on a webinar to add different perspectives;
Be mindful of the length, 10 minutes is a lot of content to listen to online so create more shorter webinars rather than one long one;
Don’t wear heavily patterned/checked clothing as this can cause pixellation on the screen especially for slower connections;
Request students to mute their own microphones when they aren't speaking to reduce feedback caused by mics.

Meme shared by a friend.

Remember: when you're joining a web conferencing video, especially if you'll be speaking, take a moment to adjust your web camera and the level of your seat height. Don't sit too close to the web camera and make sure the lighting is decent!

Traditional online discussions

One simple way of creating a longer, asynchronous (not live) discussions around content is through the use of online discussions, such as the use of discussion forums on Moodle. You can assign content that students can access prior to engaging in the discussion.

Tips for successful discussion forums:

Ask open-ended questions that foster critical thinking and analysis
Ask questions that get students to reflect and relate their learning back to their own unique contexts (where appropriate)
Avoid yes/no questions
- Yes/no questions can encourage simplistic answering and thinking.
Set parameters
- what do you expect of students in terms of behavior and responses?
- How often do you want them to post?
- Will you respond to each and every post?
Don’t expect everyone to participate
- lurkers gain a lot by silently reading what others are posting; these posts can give them food for thought and cause for writing about their own perspectives

Of course, there are tips for students, too. They can get a lot out of discussions in terms of critical thinking, idea development and written communication and abilities development by taking part in online discussions:

The University of Waterloo offers this quick guide on tips for students.

What to do with exams?

Exams are often held in person in rooms with an invigilator. Exams can be held online with some limited oversight.

Perhaps more importantly, in light of the circumstances, you might wish to ask yourself:

Have students already met their intended learning outcomes through other tasks? If so, then is an exam still necessary?
Why is the written exam still necessary?
What’s the scope for making the exam ‘open book’?
Can time parameters for exam be flexible?

Online exams – one way to do it

If you have an exam that consist of short or longer text-based answers, multiple choice questions (MCQs) or mathematical equations, then you can re-create this exam using Google Forms, Microsoft Forms or using the Quiz feature in Moodle.

One simple way I’ve recently tested with success is to use a Microsoft Form to replace a traditional, face-to-face exam:

the exam consisted of relatively short answers of less than 200 words per question;
each question was assigned a whole-number mark;
the online version was set to start and finish at specified times;
the students were required to log in using their normal university login and password which meant that we could identify

Other tips for doing online exams with Microsoft Forms:

send students the exam link prior to an online exam with clearly set time parameters;
send students an exam link immediately prior to the exam – and set no time limits;
build in some leeway which often standard with Moodle exams in other faculties, departments;

Advantages of using Forms for quizzes/exams

students are required to log in using their university credentials;
time restrictions can be set to allow for clear start and end dates and times;
questions and submitted answers will be collated into an Excel spreadsheet for easy marking;

Example of how an exam or quiz looks in Microsoft Forms

An example of a quiz/test/exam using Microsoft Forms

Want more information?

To find out more about how to build effective and authentic quizzes and exams, then take a few moments and follow this link that has more information https://education.microsoft.com/en-us/course/ac59d6bc/overview

Summary & kudos

These are just a few suggestions that I decided to add to the ever-growing amount of solutions that people are putting together after reading inspiring posts by Dale Munday and Kyungmee Lee (see below).

https://twitter.com/Dale_Munday/status/1237403844109389824

https://twitter.com/hi_klee/status/1237081081507196929

Selected ideas, guidance and readings for designing for learning online & communities of practice

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) http://udlguidelines.cast.org/
Approaches to learning design from JISC, UK: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/designing-learning-and-assessment-in-a-digital-age/approaches-to-learning-design
Designing an online course from Mesa Community College, Arizona, USA: https://ctl.mesacc.edu/teaching/designing-an-online-course/
Designing and Teaching Online from SkillsCommons.org: http://support.skillscommons.org/showcases/open-courseware/teacher-training/teach-online/
Theories and Frameworks for Online Learning: Seeking an Integrated Model: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1154117.pdf
Pandemic Pedagogy: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2528669267346197/

18/02/2020 18/02/2020

Getting students to use (new) apps

I've decided to quickly write up some thoughts on getting students to use new apps for learning and teaching as a reflection on what I've observed over the last few years and more recently.

It's safe to say that I approach this post from the point of view that there are many opportunities for digital education to enhance the learning and teaching experience.

More specifically, I'm writing this short article in relation to #MicrosoftTeams and what you need to do to ensure successful uptake by students and staff. What I write here applies to any other new systems - even ones such as Moodle.

Social media all around

It's fair to say that a lot of students and even staff in higher education use a variety of social media for various purposes. Students and staff still may use Facebook to connect with their friends and family, and classmates and course mates. Statista has a wealth of data on users of Facebook and Twitter, if you're interested.

Both of these groups may, if they're interested, use Instagram to create, collate and share images and/or video - photography and multimedia generally. A good number of students use Snapchat and in the UK high numbers of users aged 18-24 are likely to use Snapchat. Some university staff even use Snapchat to engage students in the classroom - with success!

Students aren't digital natives

A lot of my colleagues in higher education might understandably believe that because students regularly use apps like Snapchat, Instagram, WeChat, Facebook and others that this ability translates into a being able to effectively use digital tools and being tech savvy - being digital natives. - well beyond what my colleagues may have grown up with.

A lot of us use technology to 'passively soak up information' which could be scrolling through a Facebook or Instagram feed and reacting to posts. Yes, perhaps we share the odd image, video or article and add a bit of commentary - commentary - but are these acts critical or rather habitual?

I'd say these are habitual acts that form part of a series of daily routines in which users might fill time - gaps between spurts of attention to other things - and/or while navigating and exploring the vast ocean of information that's out there. From funny memes to noteworthy articles or click-bait news - it's all information, and it doesn't take much effort to open our favorite app to access that information! And this leads me to my main point...

New and unfamiliar systems

In a university setting, students will often use platforms such as Moodle, Blackboard, Google Apps for Education or similar. Microsoft has an answer, too, #MicrosoftTeams. All of these platforms offer a range of activities, structures and systems that can greatly help to manage the design, flow and presentation of information for users.

One thing we should not forget is that the aforementioned systems are created for the purposes of education, business and collaboration generally which go beyond the basic functions of Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram which are primarily for 1:1 or small group chats/discussions that are often centered around the sharing of media.

However, what unites all of these systems, platforms and apps for education is that generally these are unfamiliar to students unless there is a chance that they'd previously used one of them in school. Even then, if, for example, students have used Moodle in school, the look and feel of the system may not represent what they end up seeing in a university setting. Indeed, where modules on Moodle are still often used as repositories rather than engaging learning and teaching hubs, this can be daunting for users of 21st Century systems such as Google Search or Bing that offer information at your fingertips with few hurdles if you understand how to do key word searches. This leads me to a question:

How often do you explicitly train your students in using your university system or an app for a module?

I suspect not a lot of programmes take the time to explicitly provide training to students. That said, think of all the time we spend when we start a new post to receive training on the following:

health & safety
diversity
data protection & GDPR

So why don't we spend a bit of time investing in the training of digital abilities and skills rather than assuming that the use of a smart phone = being digital and tech savvy? Taking a selfie does not make you a tech expert!

New systems require explicit training

#MicrosoftTeams is taking off as the latest app for learning, teaching and collaboration generally within higher education in the UK. Indeed, I'm using it on a module that I lead on and it's confirmed a few things that I learned a few years ago.

Between about 2014-2016, I was working with pre-sessional student who would come to the UK during the summertime period to study English as a foreign language for the purposes of improving their academic English language abilities. Students generally had an English language knowledge of about B1 to B2 and they had digital skills that ranged significantly. Nearly all had a smart phone and could use the main apps of the day.

We used Moodle as our online platform with our students to set readings, have online discussions and set assignments that students would write up, upload and submit. Moodle was a system most students hadn't used and would only use in their university studies. In order to ensure the students' success in using the online platform as an enabler rather than a distraction, I convinced colleagues to allow all students to receive 1 hour of explicit instruction on hows and whys of using Moodle.

During the summer, we had around 700 students over 3 cohorts that we needed to train up. So, we booked computer labs and trained students in groups of 30-50 each in the space of about 1 hour; there were frequently 3 staff (including myself) on hand to help out and ensure that everyone was on the same page.

Effective training = tangible benefits

Although with the sheer numbers of students to train some days were long, the result was that we were able to ensure that over 90-95% of the students understood what Moodle was and what it was for, why we were using it and how they could access it. This number was able to ensure that we had created a relatively strong community of learning in which students could support each other in understanding and practicing how to navigate an unfamiliar and new system, which in this case was Moodle.

As a side benefit, also important, for students whose first language wasn't English, they were able to understand that they were going to get a lot of writing practice in English, which would boost their confidence in writing more fluently (albeit not always accurately) in a relatively authentic, meaningful way that they could then transfer back into their own writing for essays and assignments.

Key takeaways

The key takeaway here is this: If we throw the apps at students, they don't always get it. They generally get Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat... because those are fun apps for fun, social stuff. They won't necessarily get apps for education, business and collaboration though; these aren't natural apps - they aren't always fun (or associated with fun!), so we should prepare our students first before letting the apps loose!

With nominal training (1 hour) students will:

develop a critical awareness of the reasons for using the system;
gain effective practice in using the basic, required elements of the new system;
develop transferable digital skills that can be used for approaching and understanding new systems.

So, if you're going to teach on a module that involves Moodle, Microsoft Teams and/or similar, and/or if you have a student induction coming up, take the time to build in 1 hour of training.

The results will pay off and speak for themselves!

08/02/2020 08/02/2020

MNGT160 - making a massive, online module happen

Although I have taught on courses, designed modules and developed modules from scratch, nothing had quite prepared me for leading a module, let alone one that is almost entirely online - whose creators consist of dozen or more staff from across the Management School, whose facilitators include 4 graduate teaching assistants, one administrator and myself and whose audience is over 1200 first year undergraduate students!

That said, leading such a module is something that I have found equally both incredibly challenging and rewarding as an educator working in the field of higher education within the context of a large management school.

Through reflecting upon my experiences and development of learning from failures and successes, the areas that I aim to cover in a series of posts will touch upon the following (in no particular order):

understanding leadership on a large module
the people factor
curriculum development and design
innovation in curriculum
digital and information literacies and development of related abilities and skills - of students and staff

Before embarking upon this mini-journey, I offer some thanks to Cathy S and Casey C passing on the leadership baton. I also offer thanks for the collaboration to the array of colleagues (Karine R, Nichapa P, Alex S, Ahmad T, Huan Y, Sylvia D, Lucia C, Matthew H, Chris S, Emma W, Hina K, Mahnaz A, Casey C, Jeffrey U, Geraint J, Steve K, Maurizio Z, Debbie D, Josi F, Elena L, Robyn R, Guglielmo L, Arpit R, Chloe V, Chris F, Emma J, Mark D and Rachel D among many others) that have made this module possible, and by allowing it to take on a unique format that students appear to find engaging, thought-provoking and worthwhile.

15/01/2020 15/01/2020

Digital, information and media literacies, and the development of related abilities and skills of students and staff

An image of two mics, a desk and chair representing a recording studio. Source: Unsplash

I have been able to gain a wealth of understanding of the varying levels of digital, information and media literacies among the students and staff through my role of leading on the module and seeing the module launch. What I seek to write about here relates to the digital and information literacies of both groups of stakeholders from my own interactions and observations.

Part of MNGT160 is particularly innovative in that we are doing the following. To allay doubt, in our use of 'innovative' I'm talking about breaking with tradition within our own context rather than creating the next best thing since sliced bread...

we have created a podcast mini-series, of sorts, as the central medium for the content; all episodes are transcribed as standard, and hyperlinks to further relevant texts and media are added in to make the transcripts be a bit more engaging, insightful and useful as a potential resource for those who might want to read along as they listen and/or read the transcript generally;
the module radically departs from traditional modes of delivery such as having solely face-to-face sessions and using Moodle as a static repository of resources;
this module is run entirely online via Microsoft Teams and, to a lesser extent, OneNote is used to collect and collate further references, articles and other supplementary content;
there are a few face-to-face events that directly tie in with the overarching topics and sub-topics.

The inspiration for doing the podcasts came from colleagues agreeing to try out podcasting as the main content vehicle and my own listening to Sophie Bailey's #EdtechPodcast and a presentation by Nellie El Enany on using podcasts in the classroom at ELTME2019.

Media literacies

Media literacy is an umbrella to consider other literacies, including news literacy, visual literacy, information literacy, technology and platform literacy, and data literacy.
Media Literacy and Politics of Identity - Resources for Educators. https://criticalmediaproject.org/media-literacies/

The first point I'll touch on has to with the idea of using podcasts as a central medium. Initially, my colleagues and myself all felt this would be a particularly innovative, flexible and different way for students to engage with the different topics and subtopics of the module.

The benefits in terms of flexibility for students seemed numerous and too attractive to pass up: students could listen to the episodes of the podcast anytime, anywhere, whether this was while on the bus, in the gym, while cooking and/or while reading or studying. In contrast to a recorded video lecture, a podcast seemed to make more sense for this particular module.

Generally, we felt fairly confident in using this as the medium for the module. However, as further conversations were had, I quickly came to understand a few things:

not everyone listens to podcasts;
not everyone knows what a podcast is and/or entails;
not everyone listens to 'talk radio' such as BBC Radio 4 in the UK or NPR in the US;
not everyone can imagine what a podcast is if they don't listen to the radio, let alone talk radio!!

What I was perhaps struck by most was that some colleagues had difficulty imagining what a podcast might entail, whether we're talking about a podcast itself as a concept, or in another case, actually sitting down to record a podcast. This general lack of media literacy in itself created a few issues, one which relates directly to how the time of colleagues are allocated via the workload.

However, this also presented unique opportunities for learning, staff development and creating a positive impact upon colleagues who had not previously engaged with and/or used podcasts or podcasting previously.

A practical issue: workloading

In terms of workload and the infamous 'workload model', the idea of preparing for a podcast nearly became a bigger issue than it was. Most podcasts are either informal talks about a topic or more or fully-informed chats, debates and/or discussions about a topic.

However, from what I observed, part of the lack of understanding more generally of what a podcast often is and can be did lead to some colleagues believing that they would have to spend hours and hours preparing for a podcast. Some colleagues initially thought preparing for a podcast would be similar to how a lecturer might spend time writing up a lecture and/or creating or repurposing slides, all of which can take a significant amount of time if the topic to be covered is new and/or fresh.

Such lengthy preparation might also be merited if we planned for the podcasts to be a debate rather than a discussion in which colleagues are talking about a question from their own subject lens perspective. If we were planning on a talk where we wanted to 'catch people out', then sure, preparation is key! However, in the cast of our own podcast series for MNGT160, I wanted people to do a bit of preparing (1 hour or so maximum) and come to the recording studio to sit down and have a collegial, informed chat about the topic in question.

Butterflies & speaking to mic

Recording podcasts, like recording video or taking a photograph of someone, is likely to generate a certain level of nervousness even with colleagues who may have daily student-facing roles whether these are administrative or teaching focused. It's easy to assume that those who are confident in their daily roles will be confident speaking for a podcast. Nope, this isn't always the case!

That said, I found the easiest way to manage the nerves of speakers, for the most part, was by getting people to meet for about 15-20 minutes, chat about what we'd generally aim to chat about and briefly sketch out tentative talking points for each episode, bearing in mind that we could be flexible as long as we focused on the general question for each episode and spoke no more than the allotted amount of time.

Another way that I found that worked particularly well for both myself as a new podcast/radio host and for other colleagues was to get in touch with the press office on campus. One colleague, Paul T, had extensive prior experience as a journalist and so was particularly helpful in coaching and mentoring colleagues and myself in terms of how to speak in a radio-type setting, what to do and how to approach things generally. Our digital media engineer, Martin T, was also particularly helpful from the recording, technical and design side of getting a podcast up and running. Sure, we could have recorded the videos with a mobile phone, but we wanted to get things right the first time around.

On reflection...

From a leader's perspective, I perhaps should I have predicted this lack of understanding of the notion of podcasts, podcasting and talk radio generally. I was very enthusiastic and wrongly assumed that people generally listen to spoken word radio shows, if not podcasts.

But then again, going back to my earlier point, not everyone understood the concept of a podcast and they instead immediately relied upon what they did know: teaching and lecturing which are very different (!) from spoken word for a radio show or a podcast.

Going forward, when podcasts are going to be the main content vehicle, I'll take the time to do a bit of fishing of my colleagues to see whether they listen to the radio or podcasts, and if not explain what a podcast is and share one of the podcast episodes we've since created. Even if 3-4 colleagues out of the 7 know what a podcast is, it's best to spend time making sure the other 3-4 are fully aware so that they can be more relaxed when taking part.

Yes, of course, I could have shared a currently running podcast with a colleagues, though the issue would have been 1) choosing the 'right' podcast and 2) ensuring that everyone had a list (even briefly) to a few moments of the podcast - something that I can request, but not demand and 3) potentially setting unintended expectations per quality, length and so on!

The key takeaways

Doing a podcast

Whereas a lecture is designed to tell a story or impart information, often presented by one person from start to finish with relatively fixed starting and end points within a specified timeframe, a podcast should be a dialogue, a conversation between the speakers present. This is something that one can prepare for but one cannot entirely script a podcast episode else it might end up sounding unnatural. There is some preparation on the part of the host and speakers.

However, the good news for anyone wanting to try out podcasting for learning, teaching and development is that the time involved is far less than the amount of preparation that goes into a traditional face-to-face lecture that may consist of writing up a script, creating/modifying a series of slides and rehearsing a lecture. While a basic level of pre-recording preparation required can consist of bullet points and a brief meeting either face-to-face or a couple of email exchanges to lay the groundwork for a good, fruitful conversation, as I noted above, it is not necessary to plan out the entire episode of an informed conversation.

Media literacies

10/04/2018 10/04/2018

A great piece of research on mental health amongst English language teaching professionals

I recently participated in a study on mental health among English language teaching professionals. The findings have recently been released and I highly recommend that colleagues read the study and its results.Managers within ELT and EAP (English for academic purposes) might benefit from reading the results of the study. Mental health is a serious issue meriting consideration, especially within the worlds of ELT/EAP/TESOL which are often highly money-driven and fertile grounds for mental health issues and problems.One issue that I am particularly interested in is bullying and harassment within the workplace within Higher Education. These two issues are common causes of mental health issues within HE. From my experiences in HE, all of the worst managers I have worked with have been either clueless or purposefully malevolent in fostering a negative atmosphere by engaging in bullying and/or harassing behavior. On balance, all of the best managers and leaders I have worked with in HE have been keenly aware of these issues, the need to address them and the sensitivity and awareness of how to engage with staff who have or suffer mental health issues. So, there is hope!via The Mental Health of English Language Teachers: Research Findings

17/05/2017 17/05/2017

Repost - #15toptips for Student-Centred Teaching 7: Build peer mentoring into your students’ higher education experience

This is a good post about how to build peer mentoring into university courses. With growing numbers of students studying, the value of having experienced students support first-year students is also increasing.Shazia Ahmed and Sarah Honeychurch from the University of Glasgow have also done quite a bit of work on peer assisted learning (PAL), and I've often referred to their research/scholarship when making the case for PAL. One of their latest papers can be found here. Source: #15toptips for Student-Centred Teaching 7: Build peer mentoring into your students’ higher education experience

01/05/2017 01/05/2017

Thoughts on 'Why Believing in Your Students Matters' by Katie Martin

teaching beliefs cycle Today I came across this succinct article by Katie Martin on why believing in our students matters, as this can have a significant impact upon a teacher's practices and students' uptake of learning regardless of where learning and teaching that takes place - whether face-to-face or online.While I have known about the need to wait for responses from students for some time, and I value this approach, sometimes one can wait a bit too long. UK universities have had high and growing numbers of students from China for a while now. Some universities throw their doors open to International students since they pay higher fees.One such university near London where one Master's program of 150+ students has well over 95% of its students from China. At the same time, some of these same universities that seek to recruit large numbers of International students, often heavily reliant upon specific markets such as China, can, at times, lower the bar in terms of language requirements. From my own experience of observing and delivering teaching, this situation, which isn't unique to the aforementioned university, creates a number of issues since the students often:

come with different levels of language readiness for an intensive postgraduate level of study;
are not or may not be used to interacting and socializing with those from other countries;
are unlikely to work outside their 'peer' group of compatriots due to shyness, peer pressure or do so begrudgingly; and/or
lack confidence in their own abilities and are perhaps not provided with enough motivation from teaching staff to instill a positive, 'can-do' attitude to learning.

The result of any or a combination of these is that lecturers, academic tutors, learning developers and tutors of English for academic purposes are frequently put into tricky situations: the content has to be delivered, but if students are struggling to understand, what is to be done? Too often I have heard over the years, from staff at various institutions, similar negative remarks that Katie mentions in her article. I've always found these types of comments particularly demotivating and, silently, I ask myself upon hearing sustained negative comments "Well, why the hell are you in teaching?!" It is as if those making such comments were perfect students who always worked hard.On the flip side, the best colleagues I've had have always been positive, supportive and empathetic to the student journey. This empathy seems to set apart the negativity of the moaners from the teachers/lecturers whose lessons that we would always look forward to when we were once students. I think part of this empathy that some educators have is at least partially informed by the works of the Brazilian educationalist Paolo Freire, among others.Going back to Katie's article, I think one solution is creating a positive, welcoming environment that seeks to recognize the students as intelligent participants who are able to interact at Master's level successfully with regular, positive support that seeks to push the students' boundaries and to modify our teaching practices to engage the students in such a way that might tease out from them meaningful participation.One way, I believe, is to have a meaningful, welcoming induction to a program that gets students involved in getting to know their peers and teaching staff beyond the polite formalities of titles and names (think: basic teambuilding activities that get students to solve real problems related to their studies and/or life within their new educational setting). Oftentimes, I've seen inductions that were so superficially boring, stereotypical and/or dry that it immediately set the wrong (superficial) tone for the program of study in question.Another solution is to embed positive thinking throughout a program. As Katie says in her post:

... when we believe we can learn and improve through hard work and effort we can create the conditions and experiences that lead to increased achievement and improved outcomes.

In terms of learning and teaching, this is particularly powerful for our students. If they feel the above, they can and will improve in their learning journey. We, as educators, have a responsibility to instill these ideas into our students, especially International students who might genuinely need extra support, encouragement and motivation in order for them to become independent learners. Part of ensuring the success of our learners is to change our thinking - to think more positively, and to believe in our students.This also means we might need to change our approach to learning and teaching. So, for example, imagine you have a session of 15-50 students and they don't volunteer answers without being called on and prefer to stare at their phone or laptops (or both!). If our students are quiet and reticent to raise their hands to volunteer an answer, then there are some easily-doable solutions.

Creating regularly-spaced questions to gauge/engage/formatively assess learning can significantly help improve participation, and these can be easily delivered via a response system such as Mentimeter or similar as students only need to use their mobile phone/phablet/tablet/laptop.
Implementing a Twitter feed so that students can engage during/after a teaching session can also foster learning by using a module/course specific hashtag. These two blog posts have a range of good ideas:
- Teaching with Twitter: Engaging Students in Large Lectures
- Twitter in the University Classroom: Live-Tweeting During Lectures

Apart from those small solutions, I believe that part of ensuring the success of our learners is also to change our thinking - to think more positively, and to believe in our students. So, for example, rather than immediately assuming that most, if not all, International students are likely to plagiarize essays, we can set the stage from the start by building a positive, supportive environment that seeks to educate rather than pontificate. Another quote from Katie's article below underscores my message:

“When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur. (Rosenthal and Babad, 1985)”

Let's take plagiarism. I've often heard from colleagues both genuine concerns and negative comments/expectations of students in terms of plagiarism. This, in turn, leads to plagiarism being approached in an almost compelling manner within course materials: plagiarism is bad, and therefore if you plagiarize you are bad and so if you plagiarize, you will fail, etc.Using the above example, one relatively simple way to embed a positive approach to learning and teaching is to change the negative, hellfire-and-damnation discourse on plagiarism often present within course materials to one that offers an open, frank discussion on attribution and giving credit. One such way I have done this is by getting students to look up and understand attribution through discussion, and then following this up by reading an in-depth report on a politician who plagiarized a paper for a Master's degree. From what I have observed, these combined approaches give students a chance to explore the issue of plagiarism through a more empowering lens while exercising their academic literacies (digital and information among others).From what I have observed, these combined approaches give students a chance to explore the issue of plagiarism through a more empowering lens while exercising their academic literacies (digital and information among others). It gets them thinking and talking amongst each other rather than being spoken [down] to in terms of the issues of plagiarism. Along with the teacher creating an empathic, positive atmosphere, this also makes students feel part of the discussion and (more) part of the academic community as they seek to understand expectations that may be new and/or alien to previous educational experiences.Ultimately, the choice lies with the teacher in question to change their practices or not. There is always an element of risk to transforming teaching practices. However, without taking risks (even small ones) to innovate, one will simply never know how effective the changes to might be. Mulling ideas over is a good way to get started, but as with anything, mulling ideas over for an extremely long amount of time can kill ideas and innovation. Staff who have ideas should be allowed to experiment, and line managers should be proactive in supporting staff who are enthustic about learning and teaching.If things don't entirely work as planned or expected, well, at least learning has occurred on the part of both the learners and the teacher(s) in question. The light bulb and radio weren't perfected within a day's time, so why should a new teaching approach be perfected before trying it out?! Just do it!Just do it!

08/08/2016 08/08/2016

Ideas on teaching: should we abandon adherence to lesson aims?

2016-05-07-1462656027-694441-Manypeoplechattingabouteverythinglearning

Reflections on an article on Bakhtin & digital scholarship

I've recently read an article from the Journal of Applied Social Theory called 'Bakhtin, digital scholarship and new publishing practices as carnival' which discusses how digital scholarship causes disruption to traditional academic practices (Cooper & Condie, 2016). The authors theorize the issues by using Mikhail Bakhtin's concepts on language and dialogue 'to understand how new forms of digital scholarship, particularly blogging and self-publishing' are able to both foster and limit academic dialogues (ibid). One idea throughout the discussion is that of whether digital scholarship represents something 'carnivalesque,' or in other words, something that disrupts traditional, established practices in academia (Bakhtin, 1984b as cited by Cooper & Condie, 2016).

According to the Cooper & Condie (2016), one part of the dominant discourses in academia and research is that these can be viewed as 'finalising' which thus creates a definite, fixed understanding of subjects as opposed to them being viewed as 'unfinalised' and thus changing. Cooper & Condie (ibid) discuss this notion through Bakhtin's view that a more ethical approach to social science is one where research dialogues attempt no finalization of participants in research or topics of inquiry (Frank, 2005 as cited by Cooper & Condie, 2016). Cooper & Condie (ibid) note the example from Bakhtin's analysis of a character called Devushkin from the Dostoevsky novel Poor Folk:

Devushkin, who in recognising himself in another story, did not wish to be represented as ‘something totally quantified, measured, and defined to the last detail: all of you is here, there is nothing more in you, and nothing more to be said about you’ (p. 58). Thus from a Bakhtinian perspective, researchers should not ‘Devushkinise’ their research participants, and the power to finalise people with social science discourses should be scrutinised (Frank, 2005).

In brief, Cooper & Condie (2016) appear to be advocating an 'unfinalised' approach in research that invokes a 'carnivalesque' element is one that seeks to be inclusive by welcoming voices from students, teachers and researchers alike rather than solely established researchers and traditional, established 'norms' within academia.

Traditions in EFL/EAP teaching: the teaching observation

What most interested me about the ideas and theories in the article was the potential applications to teaching within English as a foreign language and English for academic purposes. One tenant of EFL/EAP especially within the UK context is that one should be indoctrinated, as it were, by undertaking the Cambridge CELTA course initially and the Cambridge Delta course subsequently. Indeed, many English language schools and professional organizations, such as BALEAP and the British Council, often require teachers to have one of these qualifications while most UK universities where EFL/EAP is taught often demand the Cambridge Delta qualification which is an expensive and narrowly focused undertaking that does not always fit 'well' within the context of teaching academic writing for university.

Both the Cambridge CELTA and Delta qualifications place a high value on narrow aims for lessons, which must be adhered to in order to demonstrate learning. However, I believe that any experienced teacher would fully understand that a list of 3 aims for the lesson does not indicate learning and will not indicate that the students have learned everything by the end of the lesson. Learning is a continuous process that does not begin and end within the confines of the walls of the classroom. However, those seeking CELTA or Delta qualifications are forced to demonstrate that these fixed aims have been met within the space of 60 minutes, and thus, that learning has been achieved by the students as a result of the teacher's success in addressing and thus ticking off each of the aims!

As part of one's employment as a teacher of English as a foreign language and/or for academic purposes, mandatory observations are often required as part of the contractual obligations, whether employment is in a language school or a university. One set of criteria that observees must note down are the lesson aims. In the observation, the observer will look to these and attempt to identify whether the aims have been met within the context of the lesson plan, often within the space of a 60-90 minute observation.

However, this approach to observations, in my opinion, raises several questions which relate back to the theories in Cooper & Condie's article:

Can the lesson aims, without a doubt, demonstrate whether learning has taken place after the lesson?
Do not a series of lesson aims suggest that learning is fixable, and thus able to be finalized?
Where do student interest and inquiry come into play as far as the lesson aims, and whether these are met or not?
Where the students and teachers spend more time on specific aims that lead to an aim not being met, should this reflect poorly on the teacher?

A potential solution

I think one potential solution is to revamp how observations are done: they should not be conducted according to how Cambridge CELTA and Delta observed lessons are conducted as these observations are quite narrow in focus and presume that a 60-90 minute 'snapshot' of the teacher is 'enough' to make a value judgement. These observations also tend not to focus on students at all, but solely on the teachers - as if learning and teaching were not a dialogic process! Learning and teaching is a dialogic process - without dialogue, the teacher would become a speaker who talks at the students as opposed to discussing with the students the issues being covered.

Therefore, observations should also look at learning on the part of the students rather than focusing solely on whether the teacher is delivering a lesson and meeting lesson aims according to a plan. A pre-planned lesson on paper might indicate that deviation from the plan should be avoided in order to fulfill the lesson aims and thus the plan. For some reason, lesson aims are traditionally seen as tenants - they must be achieved.

However, learning and teaching in the classroom does not often go according to plan for various reasons. One reason is that students might want to know more about a particular area, and thus might have questions, deep questions, about a particular topic. If we, as teachers, only quickly address their questions on the surface without going into depth in order to meet our aims, I feel we are doing our students a disservice. This also can make teachers appear a bit rushed or hesitant to address students' concerns - within the eyes of the students - at their expense and for achieving the lesson aims, which might negatively affect the atmosphere in the classroom.

Another reason might be that the materials, at times published within a book or within a course pack, might work in theory within the lesson plan and thus within the mind of the teacher but in practice do not work according to plan. In this case, the teacher has to 'teach on their feet' especially they observe that the materials are presenting problems for the students.

Final (but unfinished) thoughts...

To sum up, if learning and teaching is a dialogic process, it is very likely an 'unfinalised' process that does not end once the class has ended. Students do not simply learn everything within the space of 60-120 minutes whether or not lesson aims have been met. Teachers should advocate for different forms of observation in order to reflect the complex reality and nature of learning.

Learning continues through dialogues outside the classroom, whether face-to-face or online through discussion forums or text messaging or most importantly, within the minds of the students. I would argue that learning has no natural endpoint, and thus, it simply cannot be encapsulated or evidenced within a lesson observation.

We can attempt to understand what learning has taken place in the classroom, but in order to do this, observation practices will need to start taking a closer look at the learners perhaps before, during and after a particular lesson. A more 'carnivalesque' approach is merited - one that is inclusive and looks at all participants in the learning and teaching process, and gets a sense of their voices on the processes. A snapshot observation of teachers is old hat, and in the world of the digital - where information can be easily obtained and disseminated to foster and support learning and teaching - I believe such observations are outmoded. A new model for observations must include student learning and participation as they are also key stakeholders in the process of learning and teaching. To close, Bakhtin would not support traditionally accepted notions of teacher observation practices in 21st Century world of teaching English as a foreign language/English for academic purposes, and therefore, change is needed.

Bibliography

Cooper, A., & Condie, J. (2016). Bakhtin, digital scholarship and new publishing practices as carnival. Journal of Applied Social Theory, 1(1). Retrieved from http://socialtheoryapplied.com/journal/jast/article/view/31/7

26/06/2016 26/06/2016

Are we OK, you and I, after you voted to destroy my dreams? — Andrew Reid Wildman, artist, photographer, writer, teacher

Reflections on the EU referendum result

89713031_gettyflags I came across this moving post which was written as a result of the EU referendum that appears to be causing deep fissures across the UK to surface. Increasing numbers of reports are coming in of xenophobic and racial slurs being hurled against ordinary people going about their daily lives as a result of the slim majority of Britons voting to leave the EU. This is not what the UK stands for, but now that appears to be changing as rightwing extremists celebrate their knife-edge victory.However, no matter how probable or possible, the referendum result is being contested by, as of this post, nearly 3.5 million people who have signed this petition to Parliament which went from around 300,000 signatures on Friday morning after the referendum to nearly 3.5 million as of 22:04 Sunday evening.Personally, I am sincerely disappointed in the result as I view it as a severely backwards step away from cooperation and integration into one that is more isolationist and nostalgic in nature. I personally believe that certain "newspapers" such as The Daily Mail, The Sun and The Express and other related "media" have helped to caused this disastrous result.The "journalists" who work for these papers should be ashamed of themselves... through their actions, by constantly feeding their readers "news" with highly inflammatory headlines and emotionally charged language that have caused people to fear immigration and immigrants, wherever they're from (even the EU) and believe that the UK not only contributes £350 million weekly to the EU, but that this money, following a leave vote, would be put back into the NHS.Perhaps what is disturbing is that readers of these papers took to the highly emotive headlines like puppies to antifreeze: sweet, but deadly. They lapped it all up and made decisions with their hearts rather than their heads.And as a result, the future of those under 25 is suddenly thrown into disarray; they may well not get to benefit from freedom of movement, freedom to work and live in the EU wherever they please. Those under 18 may well not get to enjoy the enormous benefits that the Erasmus Programme creates: studying abroad in the EU, developing an intimate understanding of another culture, language and people - all of which break down barriers and help peoples to understand better one another... The list goes on, let alone Scotland now positioning itself to leave.Who knows what will happen... 13512186_10157141452250381_6745252340732794995_n Anyway, do have a read of the post below, it is moving...

I feel like someone has taken something dear to me, my identity, my connection to my continent, and they have killed it. If you voted Leave, I hope you are prepared to take responsibility for what you have done, and that you do not regret it. It is over to you now, to sort out. […]

via Are we OK, you and I, after you voted to destroy my dreams? — Andrew Reid Wildman, artist, photographer, writer, teacher

26/06/2016 26/06/2016

Designing and Conducting a SoTL Project using a Worksheet: A Baker’s Dozen of Important Sets of Guiding Questions — The SoTL Advocate

I came across this post from another blog that I follow. The post has a few ideas for scholarship and some guiding questions that can help teaching staff identify potential areas for scholarship/research.Read more below at the original post.

Written by Kathleen McKinney, Professor and Cross Chair in SoTL, Illinois State University Many of us have numerous SoTL research topics or questions floating around in our minds. We have multiple ideas for design and measurement. We have thoughts, perhaps concerns, about IRB issues. We may be unsure about multiple methods/measures or whether to obtain […]

via Designing and Conducting a SoTL Project using a Worksheet: A Baker’s Dozen of Important Sets of Guiding Questions — The SoTL Advocate

29/05/2016 29/05/2016

A visit to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam...

While on a short trip to Amsterdam, I visited the Van Gogh Museum. It's a must-see, especially if one appreciates Van Gogh's works of art and related art/artists from his era. The museum is quite popular, so it can be a bit busy but it is worth it. I didn't have to wait in line very long as I had bought an I Amsterdam card that gives free access to dozens of musem and unlimited travel on public transport within Amsterdam.

The Van Gogh Museum has 4 stories, and is light and airy. It has a number of Van Gogh's works though some of them are on loan and/or located elsewhere in other museums around the world. I started from the top floor and worked my way down.

There are several paintings that that I enjoyed, and I've provided a the paintings themselves along with little bit of commentary. I am not an expert on art, nor have I studied it, but I do appreciate Van Gogh's works and see full value in the need for museums to exchange works and host exhibitions. It's great to allow yourself time to 'get lost' in the paintings and let your imagination wander.

All images are owned by and taken directly from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation) which allows people to download non-copyrighted images and use them for non-commercial purposes. Needless to say, I don't aim or want to profit from displaying these images!

~ Floor 3 ~

Undergrowth - 1889 - This one is particularly colorful in terms of dark colors such as greens, blues and also highlights of yellow and white here and there. It can really draw you in to the image and let the imagination construct into reality what is painted.

irises 1890 Irises - 1890 - This one is very colorful - lots of yellows from brighter to darker which contrast with the various blue hues of the irises themselves. The painting sort of shimmers slightly, and is relaxing and pleasing to the eye (mine at least!).

The sheepshearer, the peasant woman bruising flax and the reaper (after Millet) - 1889 - These all employ a set of contrasting blues and yellows, which makes for a relaxing set. They portray farm workers - but we don't actually see the faces of those portrayed. One can imagine what it is like to be within the images if one only gazes for a few moments and sinks into each image. Relaxing.

I've just read that Van Gogh actually made prints and then had to imagine the colors that would appear on the basis of the prints. He also preferred subjects that he could see...

[gallery ids="882,883,884" type="rectangular"]

Wheatfield with crows - 1890 - This is another example of Van Gogh's characteristic style. He uses slightly broad strokes that almost look like he painted with his fingers. The colors again that draw me to the painting are a range of yellows, blues. Green and brown are also prominent though less so. One can imagine standing in a field of wheat as a murder of crows springs from the ground and flies into the sky...

Landscape at twilight - 1890 - In this image twilight is setting over a manner or farm. Yellows, orange and almost gold is prominent in the sky. The other major colors are a range of greens for the grass and trees. The contrast is striking, like most of Van Gogh's other similar works that use these types of colors.

~ Floor 2 ~

The yellow house (the street) - 1888 - Van Gogh painted his own house (of course!). Again there is a clear contrast to what's on the ground compared with what's in the sky as far as colors. The sky is a striking blue - or cobalt as the description reads. The building and grounds take on various hues of yellow and almost a green-grey. Vivid.

Farmhouse in a wheatfield - 1888 - This painting looks different in terms of how Van Gogh used his brushes as there aren't broad strokes. These are almost entirely absent. There are a lot of smaller strokes uses for the grass, tree trunk and house and clouds, but many dots used to fill out the tree - almost as if it were springtime...

Apples - 1887 - This painting is different from previous ones that I'd seen. Here there are red and yellowish hues surrounded by greens and blues. Again Van Gogh puts forth contrasting colors! I love it!

Quinces, lemons, pears and grapes - 1887 - Here Van Gogh employs what the image description says is a "tonal" effect by using various shades of yellow for the different fruit, and even background. The entire image almost comes off as golden. Pleasing to the eye and it draws you in slightly.

~ Floor 1 ~

Wheatfield with partridge - 1887 - The strokes in this painting vary between the sky, which has broader strokes, to the wheatfield itself, which consists of finer strokes of varying length. A mix of blues and whites paint the sky while varied greens and yellows are used for the wheatfield, which also has spots of red, blues and greys. One museum visitor notes how there's a lot of movement in the painting and it creates a sense of warmth. It's almost like a warm summery day.

Sunflowers - 1889 - This painting has a lot of yellow, gold and related colors that are used to portray sunflowers. The painting, however, isn't nearly as vivid as some of his other works. This one appears a little dull in some ways, and it doesn't appear to strike me or draw me into it in a significant way as the other paintings have.

Small pear tree in blossom - 1888 - Here I can see the contrast that I enjoy observing and gazing into in several of Van Gogh's works. Here, though, the contrast is created by greyish blues mixed with pale yellows and whites. It has a calming effect.

The harvest - 1888 - This almost panoramic painting looks at a field with farmhouses in the mid background and hills in the far background. Van Gogh himself enjoyed this particular work, which uses a series of contrasting colors that form Van Gogh's signature style - yellows/gold, greens and blues all in some way or another conveyed to the observer. The painting captivates me because there is so much to observe and enjoy, and get lost in.

Red cabbages and onions - 1887 - This painting is beautiful - the colors catch my eyes and make me get lost within the image itself. The contrast is particularly interesting and striking to me.

AI and ethical considerations: coloniality of…

Further reading

Generative AI’s suggestions for decolonizing

Reflections from colleagues

Experimenting for creating a course

Below are two GIFs showing chatGPT and Google Bard respectively.

Brief reflections

What you can do

Creating assessment rubrics

Reflections

Creating rubrics specific to your institution

Reflections

Getting ideas for creative assessments

Reflections

Overview

Turning meeting notes into prose

Reflections: defining vs storytelling?

My original notes

chatGPT 3.5's response

Google Bard's response

chatGPT & Google Bard in action

Drafting a welcome message to new students

Testing the creativity of generative AI: using literary styles for welcome messages

A welcome in the style of Audre Lorde

A welcome in the style of Robert Burns

Drafting & redrafting tips for new students

chatGPT 3.5’s response

Google Bard’s response

Diving deeper into making connections

Reflections: pushing generative AI

Reflections on work

Synergy is key, when enacted

The pandemic and the move to digital

Working in silos: missed opportunities

Introduction

Sweet old grannies

Initial prompts

Representations of Polish and Russian grandmothers

Atmosphere, decor, clothing

Expressions and ethnicity

Representations of grandmothers from the US

Atmosphere, decor, clothing

Expressions and race

Representations of grandmothers from the US racialized as Black

Atmosphere, decor, clothing

Expressions and race

Discussion

Key questions for students/educators

References

What is ChatGPT?

Specific knowledge frames outputs

An example in practice: creating a student induction

Initial prompt and first output

Some reflections

Getting (more) specific

Reflections on the details

Testing ChatGPT for basic biases

Closing thoughts

For further information...

Theories about international students’ transitions and broader experiences

Theories about identity development and the self

Theories about intercultural friendships / relationships

Theories about pedagogies with international students

Theories about international students and the curriculum

Social learning theories

Sociological theories

Decolonial / postcolonial theories

Theories about mobilities

Unique challenges

Practical day-to-day challenges

Hearing people out pays off

Developing pedagogy for digital delivery & communities of practice

Pandemic Pedagogy

Repurposing existing content – thoughts to consider

What to do with existing slide decks from presentations?

Solution: Repurposing existing slide decks

How to structure content for effective delivery online

Developing netiquette & nurturing a community of online learners

What to do with seminars?

Hosting digital seminars