Friday, March 17, 2023

Tech Tips and News for March 17, 2023

Linnea Mallette publicdomainpictures.net

Not by design, but this week's issue is heavy on Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT and several other tools that can make your life easier, or maybe even more difficult. For what ever reason, there were a LOT of articles rolling through my feeds about ChatGPT and artificial intelligence in general. AI is showing up in Google Docs, Gmail, Canva, Google Search, Bing Search, Microsoft Edge, and more. While it's always easier to think of ways that new tech is going to cause problems, it benefits us to look beyond that and see how we can use the new tool to make our lives easier, or save time. That's what I encorage you to do with the articles included here, as well as those you find on your own. It's not going away, kids will be using it, so it's best to figure out how we can live with it. 

"It's YOU in This Video!" - Wham! Bam! - That's a SCAM #13

There's a lot of information packed into this 60 second video. I see these messages most in social media messages. 


Explore and Expand Your Canvas Proficiency

Are you looking to improve your Canvas skills? Here's the webinar for you, on March 21st and March 22nd. at 3:30 pm MDT (5:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time). This session will include discussions of new features, mastery paths and course pacing. It will also aid you in creating personalized learning opportunities, competency based learning, and setting up different due dates. 

Google Docs and Gmail are Getting AI Writing Features

Google Docs and Gmail are Getting AI Writing Features, from How-To Geek by Corbin Davenport
Everyone is jumping on the AI (artificial intelligence) train, and Google is no exception. Find out how you'll be able to use those AI features in Docs and Gmail. Type a topic and a draft will autmoatically be written for you. You can just go about tweaking it as needed. 

Trouble Sharing YouTube Videos with Students? Try Downloading

YouTube continues to be tricky to use with students. About a year and a half ago Google added the Under 18 feature, where Google services that are not part of the core Workspace for Education, or services that are difficult to restrict  for children were blocked for all users not designated as being over the age of 18. This is to adhere to the federal CIPA and COPPA laws. Their work around is to designate specific videos as allowed for students to watch, and by embedding or linking those videos into a Google Slides presentation, or in Google Classroom, students should be able to view that video. I say "should" because as we've experienced sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. Because YouTube is not part of the Google Workspace for Education apps, Google does not support it - so we are unable to get any troubleshooting help directly from Google. Recently I've noticed YouTube now has a built-in download button. If students are unable to view an approved video, you could download that video, upload it to Google Drive, then share the video file (as you would with any other Drive file) with the students who are unable to view it in YT. Students should be able to watch in from the Drive link. 

An Overview of Using and Detecting Artificial Intelligence

An Overview of Using and Detecting Artificial Intelligence, from Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne
This AI (Artificial Intelligence) article goes beyond ChatGPT, and into multiple tools you can use to save a TON of time. 


How to Make ChatGPT Provide Sources and Citations

One of the issues with ChatGPT is that it bases its answers on information it finds on the internet. Some of that information is not true or accurate. Since ChatGPT doesn't automatically cite its sources for the answer, it's up to the user to prompt it to do so to check the accuracy of the response. 

The Truth About ChatGPT:  Is it a Teacher's Friend or Foe? 

The Truth About ChatGPT:  Is it a Teacher's Friend or Foe? , from Kent ISD Bulletin by Amanda Walma
If you aren't tired of hearing about this yet, Kent ISD weighs in on this very popular topic. 
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