This week in class we participated in an Ed Camp, where everyone submitted topic ideas and then voted on which ones we wanted to discuss. There were quite a few interesting topics, so it was actually hard to choose. One of the topics that was suggested was using AI for lesson planning, and it ended up being selected as a discussion group.

I chose this topic because I have been experimenting with AI while preparing for my upcoming six-week practicum. What I have found so far is that AI works best when the prompts are very specific. For example, one of my group members asked ChatGPT to help create a list of real and fake news headlines for a hook in their ā€œSources of Health Informationā€ lesson https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KiJhz0TzGxndx9cogchcWY0SDdZ4no_W3F24vV5U8HU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.72qn1n4tfxw9.

One thing our group discussed was that some AI tools work better than others depending on what you are trying to do. We also talked about how important it is to fact-check AI responses. At the end of the day, teachers know their students and classroom dynamics best, so AI ideas still need to be adjusted to fit the real classroom.

Our group found that after about 10-15 minutes we started running out of discussion points. Looking back, having a few prepared questions might have helped keep the conversation going. Overall, the Ed Camp was a fun way to share ideas and hear how others are thinking about using AI in education.