Seeking intrepid deep divers
Trying a different format for this week. Let’s call it a “Best of” format.
Depending on the day, I’m swimming, snorkeling, or deep diving in AI. Spending so much time in the AI waters, my gills are growing back. In my profile I highlight Curation as my Superpower. The sheer volume of AI in EDU posts is definitely putting my superpower to the test.
When I arrived on the Big Island of Hawai’i with my teenage daughter for what turned out to be a yearlong adventure creating an ecotravel website (1996–97), we entered a serious apprenticeship with the Pacific Ocean. We started by spending a lot of time sitting on the beach, watching the waves, getting to know the rhythms of the sets and swells. One day we were down at the bay, watching the waves from our car. It was raining. Alongside our car walk two humans uninhibited by the rain, heading down to the water. They looked more like mer-people with their snorkel gear and fins tucked under their arms…and then they were in the water and out into the bay. I think I can honestly say they were our first mentors after the ocean itself.
On a day shortly after that, we were ready…inspired by this particular couple’s intrepidness. We had our snorkels and fins and off we went into that glorious humbling bay and as we were heading out into the surf, a snorkeled human was heading in and as he got within shouting distance, I said, Hello…do you have a moment to give us a quick snorkel lesson? (I’d only snorkeled once before in shallow water off the Florida Keys). He not only gave us a quick tutorial but then he led us out to a pod of wild dolphins and a few other humans bobbing in the water. Lorn was our next mentor, sharing with us the joys and the dangers of the bay and how to stay safe. Over the year, the dolphins themselves became our beloved mentors, teaching us about play, or as Mimi Ito and friends might call it, the sheer joy of Messing Around. And we became deep divers in what I came to call The Blue Room.
We Need Role Models for AI
We need role models for AI in education—the intrepid, hands-on deep divers who head out where no one has gone and come back and share what they’re learning—the Sylvia Earles of AI and EDU.
Dr. Ethan Mollick and Dr. Lilach Mollick are deep divers. Code.org + ISTE + ETS + Khan Academy have helped to put their insights into a format where we can hang out in the AI waters with them. A video conversation and the guide that accompanies the video is embedded in the online learning series AI 101 for Teachers. It’s session 3 in the series—titled Transforming Learning with AI. The Mollicks are doing extraordinary work—really thoughtful and pioneering.
And after you watch the video and read the guide, if you’re ready to go deeper, you can download their new paper, Assigning AI: Seven Approaches for Students, with Prompts (September 23, 2023) here. Note: Ethan writes One Useful Thing on Substack. I’ve written about him before. And here is Lilach Mollick at Wharton School.
“Our rule of thumb is you need about 10 hours time with AI to get what it's good at, what its limitations are.” —Ethan Mollick, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
More “Best of AI” this week
Librarians Can Play a Key Role Implementing Artificial Intelligence in Schools
I’m a relatively new subscriber to School Library Journal. I was getting their newsletter (subscribe here/it’s free) and was struck by the excellent articles they had so I subscribed to the journal. In this post, writer Andrew Bauld interviews the CEO of ISTE, researchers, media specialists, and educators for a broad overview of how generative AI is changing the education landscape and how librarians are positioned to make a difference. He writes:
School librarians are perfectly suited for this new role.
“They have experience curating content, they have a creative, physical space to host kids and teachers to try things out, and, by the nature of their job, they interact with nearly every faculty member and every student,” Culatta says. “It’s the perfectly written job description for a person to help a school explore a new tech geared to creating content.”
Much in the way librarians evolved from teaching traditional literacy to training students in media and digital literacy, the next step is AI literacy. Just like learning the skills to effectively search an online database, students will need to learn how to converse with AI to get the best research results and to distinguish between what’s real and what’s AI generated.
Readers ask
One reader asked for kindergarten curriculum on AI.
Randi Williams in the Personal Robots Group at MIT has done some of my favorite inspirational work (2019): PopBots. Here is her paper, PopBots: Designing an Artificial Intelligence Curriculum for Early Childhood Education, written with Hae Won Park, Lauren Oh, and Cynthia Breazeal.
And to complement the AI focus this week…
Artists and Musicians and Nature
Artist Liz Sexton in Orion Magazine
Spotted in one of my favorite magazines…check out Liz’s work. Evocative and provocative.
“NATURE HAS ALWAYS BEEN Liz Sexton’s biggest inspiration and source of solace. In recent years, she has countered feelings of increasing disconnection from the natural world with her singular, fantastical paper mâché sculptures. Her incredibly realistic creations are an exploration and celebration of our fellow animals with whom we share the Earth. Using repurposed materials, such as old packing supplies and discarded brown bags, Sexton builds each piece from hundreds to thousands of paper strips, slowly shaping them until a character emerges.”
Musician Matthew Halsall
Salute to the Sun (Live at Hallé St Peter's) (Full Concert Video)
I have listened to Matthew Halsall for years. I really appreciate his music. The Youtube algorithm surfaced this one for me this week and it’s been the background to this post. Trumpet, flute/sax, harp, piano/keyboards, bass, drums, percussion. A great band of musicians. I often watch/listen to concerts on one screen while I write on the other. Keeps me sane. This is definitely nervous-system calming music.
And last, a deep bow of appreciation to Iranian Activist Narges Mohammadi who was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.
“I will never stop striving for the realisation of democracy, freedom and equality,” she said in a prewritten statement released after the announcement. “Surely, the Nobel peace prize will make me more resilient, determined, hopeful and enthusiastic on this path, and it will accelerate my pace.”
Thank you for reading The Interconnect. And if you enjoyed reading it, please pass it along to someone else who would appreciate it.
Be well.