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Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org - Education & Personal Development
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Texas Library Law Bot – Another Think Coming
Are you a Texas public school librarian with questions about the new laws? You're not alone. This past week at the Sun City Ed Tech Conference in El Paso, Texas, I shared a new custom GPT I put together for a colleague's workshop. Since my contribution took place right before lunch, my colleague jokingly suggested…
Craft Prompts, Evaluate Outputs #ai #education – Another Think Coming
This study looks interesting… …educators need to prompt AI carefully and use their own professional judgement when deciding if AI outputs match their students’ needs. “The great advantage of the current technologies is that it is relatively easy to use, so anyone can access [them],” Kochmar said. “It’s just at this point, I would not…
Struggle Crucial to Learning #ai #education – Another Think Coming
Love this… Struggle, friction and mental effortare crucial to the cognitive work of learning, remembering and strengthening connections in the brain…. You don’t get mastery and you can’t chunk information efficiently for higher-level processing without first putting in the cognitive effort and strain. That’s a great quote. I also liked this one: the temptation of using default-mode AI to avoid hard work will continue…
Hammering GenAI in Schools – Another Think Coming
Today, no advancement in technology (save for cell phones, which are now facing widespread, warranted bans) has shred through the fabric of our classrooms like AI has. (source: Clayton Kistner, I am a proud Luddite in the Classroom) As a long time ed tech advocate, comfortable with using technology since age 13 for my high school…
Old Problems, New Clothes – Another Think Coming
When I see arguments like this one, it's so easy to think, "This is an old problem garbed in a fresh set of clothes." That is, the problem of becoming critical thinkers and learners vs people to whom learning is done for them. Or put more simply, how to avoid a domesticating education. Those who…
Data Privacy Alarm Bells Ringing for #GenAI users #AI – Another Think Coming
What we are seeing now with data privacy policy changes is a bait-n-switch. First, we're promised out data is safe. Then, after we use the tool and find it indispensable, the policy is changed without consultation and can be consumed by Big Tech. Think about how many teachers and professors are using consumer versions of…
Securing My Codes #Authentication #2FA – Another Think Coming
Every day, usually at the start of my day, I authenticate myself on the numerous online services I rely on. While I have dozens of usernames and password organized into personal and work categories in Bitwarden, I also have to authenticate using two-factor authentication (a.k.a. multi-factor authentication). For a long time, I have relied on…
Exploring MS Copilot – Another Think Coming
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to present to a group of folks. Like many of the folks I present to, there's an expectation that you can protect data privacy with free Gen AI tools. I may have been a little heavy-handed in getting the point across that such is NOT the case. Some inquired about…
MyNotes: Blue Books as Formative Assessment – Another Think Coming
Students write in blue books with robot watching I found this account of a reimagined approach to using Blue Books by professors Danielle Kane and Claire Mason quite engaging. It moves blue books from summative to formative assessment. My Blue Book Experience As a university student, I experienced blue books for exams at one of…
Get the Latest Curated Content – Another Think Coming
Ever find yourself wanting to share what you've read or podcasts you listened to with others? I know I have. I'll be in the middle of a conversation, and want to point somewhere only to realize I don't have it easily accessible. Raindrop.io changed that, making everything I bookmark available as a shared link or…
FERPA-compliant #GenAI, No Training Data #claude #chatgpt #ai #BoodleBox – Another Think Coming
Who has your back when it comes to data privacy? Every single Gen AI provider (e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Copilot, etc.) is unable to safeguard consumer data. It's a simple thing, isn't it? You pay $20 a month to these consumer Gen AI versions, and you expect them to not use your data for…
MyNotes: Gen #AI Claude Data Storage and Training – Another Think Coming
It was inevitable, just like Thanos in the Marvel movie where he says that. Gen AI, no matter the promise, is coming for your data. Claude creator Anthropic has given customers using its Free, Pro, and Max plans one month [September 28th to opt out] to prevent the engine from storing their chats for five…
Put a SHINE on #AI – Another Think Coming
There's nothing so pleasant as to casually flipping through social media (e.g. LinkedIn) and run across something like: Miguel Guhlin from TCEA has developed what I consider to be the gold standard for educational innovation evaluation. On September 20, 2024, TCEA’s TechNotes blog published Mr. Guhlin’s SHINE framework. Derek Reinhold shares key concepts (read his blog…
Meet HERA – Another Think Coming
HERA (Historical Evidence & Reasoning Assistant) guides students and educators through a three-phase approach to historical analysis, transforming passive content consumption into active critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning with the help of AI tools. HERA supports K–12 and higher education, provides templates, examples, and workflows, integrates assessment and accessibility supports, and aligns with major educational…
Experiments in #VibeCoding a WordPress Plugin – Another Think Coming
It's crazy how seven versions of vibe coding later, I have a working WordPress plugin that directly addresses a problem. When people say, "Gen AI is useless, generating word salad that isn't useful," my first response is to clamp my mouth shut. Who wants to get in an argument with someone who is unwilling to…
MyNotes: #Microsoft #AI – Another Think Coming
This article captures my opinion on Microsoft’s efforts to push their vision for an AI-powered desktop operating system on all of us. Why can’t we simply get something that works, and use Gen AI on our terms? Why must software phone home and send digital telemetry of every keystroke? It’s about the money, of course,…
Essential Reading Response #ai – Another Think Coming
Someone on Facebook asked: I am trying to build a unit that introduces/previews California 4th graders to the essential reading literary terms. We follow the 2017 McGraw-Hill Wonders 4th grade curriculum. We would like to teach these lessons in 10 days. Each class about 45 minutes long. Since the response for a 10-day unit is…
Top Education #AI Tools: A Red, Yellow, Green List – Avoid Data Breaches #cybersecurity #education #teaching – Another Think Coming
I saw this image, Best AI Tools for the New School Year (below), making the rounds from EducatorsTechnology.com and wondered, "Is it accurate? Are those tools really ones educators SHOULD be using?" but my questions were from a, "Do these tools protect district data?" Anyone who has suffered a data breach because a third party…
#Texas #Library Book Laws – Another Think Coming
If you're a Texas educator, you probably know about how the Texas legislature has dropped a bomb on book selection processes for K-12 public school libraries. Private school libraries aren't subject to the same issues. I first became aware of the challenges Texas public school librarians are facing when I attended an online conference for…
What the Future Holds – Another Think Coming
Gen AI tools are changing rapidly. I can't keep up. As one of my colleague put it, no one can. He cites Carroll's Alice in Wonderland characters: Welcome to the Red Queen Race in education. This concept, borrowed from Lewis Carroll’s whimsical tale, has found new relevance in our AI-accelerated world. The original metaphor described…
MyNotes: AI as Critical and Cultural Practice – Another Think Coming
I enjoyed this piece from Michael G. Wagner. You will want to read the whole piece but here’s a taste: …the most productive path forward is to frame AI literacy not as a set of technical skills, but as a critical and cultural practice. This perspective shifts our focus from the mechanics of tool proficiency—like…
MyNotes: College Student Brain Drain – Another Think Coming
This piece hits home as I bid farewell to a family member leaving for university outside of Texas. Public schools are meant to serve everyone, but policies like this blur the line between church and state and alienate the very students our system is supposed to support…. I’m unsure if Texas is the place I…
Rebuttal to Cutler: Embracing AI as a Pedagogical Partner – Another Think Coming
This rebuttal was written by Gen AI, specifically, a Boodle Box bot (a.k.a. custom GPT) called Logic Architect. I thought it was fun to have the Gen AI craft a response, but I admit, it did a thorough analysis. However, for the sake of length, I have made some cuts and edits. While some may…
Bot Stacking with BoodleBox – Another Think Coming
A short time ago, I had a fun conversation with Clyde ISD's Saicy Lytle and Mike Neal. They are the hosts of the Ruff Draft podcast. We had a chance to discuss a blog entry I wrote about bot stacking, something I have had a lot of fun exploring using Boodle Box AI. Before I…
My Notes: A Societal Necessity – Another Think Coming
This quote caught my eye. What do you think? "Critical thinking, long considered an academic virtue, is now a societal necessity. In the past, it may have been seen as a metaskill for the curious or intellectually ambitious. Today, it's essential. Or rather, if intellectuals thought of it as essential in the past, it could…
Gen AI and COPPA – Another Think Coming
Earlier today, someone from a private, Catholic school wrote and asked me about COPPA and Gen AI use. I thought I'd share my response and, if someone has some additional points to make, they could let me know. I don't pretend to be an expert and I'm only thinking of how I would approach this…
MyNotes: Handwriting Trumps Typing Anecdote – Another Think Coming
What fun to read this…against the backdrop of pushing Gen AI in K-12 for student use. When we know better, do we really do better? To help sell this policy, I presented in the first lecture of the course a study showing that students who were required to take class notes by hand retained significantly more information…
Revisiting MineTest – Another Think Coming
I wrote this back in 2022, and ran across Minetest on my computer again. So amazing! Check it out if you are looking for something similar to Minecraft. Want to launch virtual gaming to support critical thinking at your school but find it cost-prohibitive to go with the mainstream solution? Maybe you want to avoid…
ChatGPT’s Study Mode – Another Think Coming
Capturing the education market is a key strategy for many Gen AI companies. After all, there's a boatload of money in education reform. Too bad that money isn't there for K-12 public school districts struggling amidst the "Starve the Beast" mandates from sleazy politicians doing their best to divert funding from schools to charter schools…
MyNotes: AI as Cognitive Infrastructure – Another Think Coming
Wow, this piece by Carlo Iacono blew my mind. What a cool way to describe GenAI: We spent years asking "when will AI be as smart as humans?" but what's emerging is something that doesn't fit that framework at all. It's not trying to be human. It's becoming something unprecedented: a kind of cognitive infrastructure,…
Costly Experimentation – Another Think Coming
What a powerful insight about Gen AI adoption by Clara Hawking via Linked In: The reality is that without informed leadership, a clear strategy, and AI governance, without a deliberate framework covering the legal, regulatory, human, and ethical dimensions of AI, any so-called adoption is nothing more than costly experimentation with a side of legal…
An Outline of David Cutler’s Article – Another Think Coming
Over the weekend, David Cutler's article, ChatGPT-5 Just Changed My Mind — AI Has No Place in My Classroom, was shared a few times (by Dr. Scott Mcleod, that trouble-maker extraordinaire). For a while, it was funny because no one could find the article. It sure seemed like Medium, who hosted the article, was closing…
Epictetus Bot – Another Think Coming
With Boodle Box's update, I switched the model powering the Epictetus Bot, and provided some additional texts. As nice as Epictetus' writings were, they didn't have the breadth of content I needed for what I was using the bot for. So, I mixed in Marcus Aurelius' Meditation and Seneca's Morals of a Happy Life. Finding…
Are We Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for the Classroom of 2030? – Another Think Coming
As higher education professionals, our mandate is to prepare the next generation of educators for the realities of the classroom. In an era of rapid technological change and the rise of AI, this task has never been more complex. Simply teaching them how to use today's popular apps is a recipe for obsolescence. Register now…
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? – Another Think Coming
I don't know why that title came to mind, perhaps Doug Johnson's post, "Why be afraid of AI?" coaxed it out of me. With the launch of ChatGPT 5, the not-quite AGI, I find myself re-reading Doug's points: I suppose I should keep a closer eye on the developments regarding AI. But here in my…
Chats with Z.ai – Another Think Coming
I missed the announcement of Z.ai, but it's a friendly AI, if a bit verbose. I like this chart it generated when I asked, "What formats can you export to?" Z.ai also offers a variety of tools/modes you can leverage: I tried the AI slides and it generated some nice stuff, but I'm not sure…
#2 – The Learning Loop: AI and Education – Another Think Coming
In this Issue: Discover how BoodleBox is leveling up with access to more powerful AI models for educational bots. Learn what really happens to your deleted chats across different AI platforms and important privacy considerations. Explore how to build reliable AI knowledge stacks for consistent educational results. Plus, get the latest on Z.ai and must-read…
The Journey to Deeper Learning: A Three-Phase Roadmap for Your Classroom – Another Think Coming
We all want our students to achieve deep, lasting understanding. But what does that journey actually look like? And how can we use technology to guide them, not just distract them? Register now The TCEA Mastery Series on "Visible Learning with Ed Tech" lays out a clear, three-phase roadmap based on extensive research: Phase 1:…