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Paul's Logs August 6 - August 13

16 additions to document , most recent over 1 year ago

When Why
Aug-06-23 Gathering texts and ideas for a paragraph
Aug-06-23 Wording change
Aug-06-23 Wording change
Aug-06-23 Wording change
Aug-06-23 Wording change
Aug-06-23 Wording change
Aug-07-23 Started reading something new today
Aug-08-23 My vivid dream idea
Aug-13-23 AI solving problems
Aug-13-23 Wording change
Aug-13-23 Wording change
Aug-13-23 Wording change
Aug-13-23 Wording change
Aug-13-23 Wording change
Aug-13-23 Wording change
Aug-13-23 Wording change

2 changes, most recent over 1 year ago

Show Changes

This week I want to get more partnerships in place for fall work.

I want to keep up my running on East Hill Road, extending the distances sometimes.

DMU Timestamp: July 31, 2023 21:00

Added August 06, 2023 at 2:31pm by Paul Allison
Title: Gathering texts and ideas for a paragraph

I recently wrote to Jessica Early:

I’m wondering if you can imagine a way of my working with a teacher or two in your Writing Project to grow the AI NowComment / Youth Voices development using chapters from your book.
I was recently talking with Elyse, and she mentioned how much she likes this direction of looking for AI experiences within your genre design.
Any thoughts?
Almost immediately, Dr. Early wrote back:

Absolutely! I have some teachers who would be amazing partners with this and who are already using the genre approach to teaching. Do you want to write up a paragraph or so invitation to explain what you are thinking (in a way that the teachers would understand) and then I can reach out to them with the invitation and include you?

Okay, so. what would my paragraph say?

Here's how I recently emailed a few colleabues who have been part of the Yourh Voices / NowComment community in the past:

NowComment and Youth Voices can be a safe, private way for your students to learn with and about AI this semester, in the context of the powerful learning that comes from multimodal publishing and social annotation.
When can we talk?
More gathering: Here's how I invited people to TTT with Dr. Early on May 3rd.

Jessica Early is joining us to discuss her new book, Next Generation Genres and AI. We are endeavoring to add AI learning experiences into her already rich, alternative framework for a secondary writing curriculum. In fact, Dr. Early's book inspires us to think of even more ways of "Teaching Writing for Civic and Academic Engagement."

Please join us Wednesday evening, May 3rd at 9E/8C/7M/6P at Kumospace.com/youthvoices

We can't wait to share with Dr. Early. the ways we have imagined using AI Thinking Partners to support students as they comment on NowComment on Turning Point Narratives that she lists in her book.

We will share with her how AI can help students choose memories from a brainstormed list and get started in writing their narratives, and how they can use text-to-image prompts to create images about their Turning Point Narratives.

We'll talk about using an AI template that is built from guiding questions that Dr. Early uses to take a closer look at Turning Point Narratives.

You've got to see some of this to imagine how it might work in your classroom as well!

Please join us Wednesday evening, May 3rd at 9E/8C/7M/6P at Kumospace.com/youthvoices

A paragraph:

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I'm looking for middle school and high school teachers who are already using the genre approach to teaching that Dr. Early documents in Next Generation Genres and who want their student students to learn with and about AI.

I'm looking for middle school and high school teachers who are already using the genre approach to teaching that Dr. Early documents in Next Generation Genres and who want their students to learn with and about AI.

This spring, a small network of teachers has been developing an AI platform on NowComment https://nowcomment.com/ai that enables readers and writers to invite AI Thinking Partners to engage, push, support, extend... their thinking. In addition to using pre-existing Thinking Partners, users can also use prompting to create their own reading buddies or writing coaches. In addition, we have added AI alongside our students' writing on Youth Voices using a Wordpress plugin, AI Mojo: https://youthvoices.live/aipossibilities.

You don't have to know anything about AI to begin learning with and about AI on NowComment and on Youth Voices. And, to be clear, this work would be about the use of AI to deepen our students' reading and writing and inquiry thinking processes. And we would be doing this together, meeting online to share our ideas, successes, and challenges.

Please let me know if you would like to talk further.

DMU Timestamp: July 31, 2023 21:00

Added August 07, 2023 at 8:53pm by Paul Allison
Title: Started reading something new today

Today, I started reading

Algorithmic Rights and Protections for Children

Algorithmic Rights and Protections for Children

One part that stood out for me in the Introduction is this dual track:

The time is ripe for critical scrutiny of how algorithms are shaped by and reflect historical inequities, problematic assumptions, and institutionalized power. We also need solution-oriented scholarship and design thinking that considers how these technologies can be shaped to be more equitable and serve the needs and interests of children. This volume includes work that critically analyzes how algorithms reflect existing structures and biases, as well as work centered on designing and reshaping technology to serve children.

I would like to think that our work on NowComment and on Youth Voices represents "solution-oriented scholarship and design thinking that considers how AI can be shaped to be more equitable and serve the needs and interests of children." Our work has indeed been "centered on designing and reshaping technology to serve children."

Just saying that as much as we need the critical scholarship, we also need creative, inventive, re-shaping of AI right now.

DMU Timestamp: July 31, 2023 21:00

Added August 08, 2023 at 7:24am by Paul Allison
Title: My vivid dream idea

Introducing AI MAKES

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A daily project designed for you to learn with and about AI in about 30 minutes.

A daily project designed for you to learn with and about AI in about 30 minutes.

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Each AI MAKE is also one piece of a larger project that takes about a week to complete.

Each AI MAKE is also one piece of a larger project that takes about a week to complete.

DMU Timestamp: July 31, 2023 21:00

Added August 13, 2023 at 9:54am by Paul Allison
Title: AI solving problems

What's been on my mind is an email from a high school English teacher in Houston. She found a bug in NowComment's new AI system. Any document user can turn off AI for individual documents, but shw noticed that this option did not turn off the "Reply with AI" button in the comments. This was an oversight, and we fixed it.

I'm glad we have this option for a teacher like this. When I asked her why she wanted "to prevent the use of Thinking Partners on a document,"vshe graciously wrote back:

I am a high school English teacher and I am thinking of using NowComment in my classroom. Students have to know how to think critically for themselves and respond in writing on their own before they start using AI. AI is a tool that they can learn to use in addition to their competency in thinking and writing, not as a substitute for it.

I've been thnking about a response to this teacher ever since. I'm looking for a way to hear this persective and to support this teacher to reach her own goals for her students. I don't want to push back or try to change her mind or even enter into an academic disagreement with teachers such as this.

Wha I decided to do with this Houston teacher is to make an appointment later this week to talk with her. I want to learn how she is planning to use NowComment. I'd love to learn more about her goals, then maybe there are some ideas about using NowComment I can offer -- and among thexe might be ways of using Thinking Partners.

It's not that I'm merely listening first in order to make a sell with AI. I'm genuinely convinced that if I can hear what this teacher's pedagogical goals are I can better position Thinking Partners as a possible tool for her to reach those goals. AI then solves a problem.

DMU Timestamp: August 12, 2023 14:11





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