JOHN LENNON CALLED ME A “CLEVER SOD”: THE MAGIC OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

#Magic School #AI #Character Chatbot #Writing Feedback Tool #John Lennon

Lately, we’ve been assigned to interview with a historical figure via Magic School’s Character Chatbot. Magic School is an online platform which aims to prevent the teacher burnout with providing various tools to the teachers. With these tools, teachers can develop lesson plans, design assignments, and generate materials. Magic School have over 60 Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools which makes this platform a heaven for the creative and innovative teachers (University of Cincinnati, 2024).

Character Chatbot is a tool in the Magic Student part of the Magic School which assists you to chat with any historic figure, author, or recognisable character from a story. When I heard that there is an AI facility like this, I felt a bit bewildered at first. The options were endless. I could have talked with  Hitler, with Anne Frank, with Simone de Beauvoir, with Keith Moon…In the end, I decided to do a supposed interview with John Lennon as he is a well-known figure in the music history. In addition, I know a great deal of knowledge about Lennon and The Beatles. Therefore, I thought I could catch hold of any mistake that the AI does and inform you about it.

 Ah, so you've picked up on that line from "Strawberry Fields Forever", have you? (chuckles wryly) Leave it to a clever sod like yourself to find the deeper meaning in me lyrics.

As I fired my first question to AI Lennon, a bubbly John Lennon welcomed me with a ‘Liverpudlian’ accent. His way of talking was definitely lovely and compelling which instigated me to enter to a virtual universe which I can hug my musical hero and reminisce about the past. Most of the interview was really immersive and felt very close to reality. However, there were also sometimes which our AI Lennon made mistakes. AI Lennon told me that he wrote the song ‘Yesterday’ though it was an obvious Paul McCartney classic. Also, AI Lennon said his mother Julia was playing the piano but as far as I’m concerned there isn’t such a thing as well.

After I completed my interview with John Lennon, I have written a report on it where I highlighted the key points from our conversation. With the Magic School’s Writing Feedback Tool, I got feedback for my report. The feedback was relevant and accurate usually. In accordance with the feedback, I made some alterations in my report and polished it.

As we also discussed in our last Instructional Technology course, AI is currently like a 5-year-old kid and needs improvement. However, the results are even awe-inspiring for now. The AI tools can definitely be integrated to the teaching and learning practices. AI can be an amazing tool to enliven the class environment and could motivate students. However, it must not be forgotten that AI is not perfect and have the potential of providing you with wrong answers sometimes. Therefore, if it will be used for educational purposes, teachers must scrutinise the processes and must not be totally dependent on AI.

Here you can find the interview's transcript, first draft and the feedback, final draft and the review of the feedback writing tool:

Transcript of the interview with John Lennon-Azra Yakıcı 101022049 2-D.docx

Report-First Draft-Feedback-AZRA YAKICI 101022049 2-D.docx

Report-Final Draft-Review of the writing feedback tool-AZRA YAKICI 101022049 2-D.docx

And 'Strawberry Fields Forever' by The Beatles! See you soon and goodbye:

https://youtu.be/HtUH9z_Oey8?feature=shared 

References

University of Cincinnati. (2024, May 27). AI tools for education. https://guides.libraries.uc.edu/ai-education/msa#:~:text=Magic%20School%20AI%20is%20a,hours%20a%20week%20for%20educators

I ATE HIS LIVER WITH SOME FAVA BEANS AND A NICE CHIANTI: WRITING THE REVIEW OF ‘THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS'

#Film Review #The Silence of the Lambs #Colloborative Writing Task

Recently, we’ve been assigned to create a movie review as a collaborative writing task using Google Docs. Again, I collaborated with Sümeyra and Zeynep for this assignment. We decided to write a review on ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ as it was a movie we all watched before. Sümeyra wrote the first paragraph of the review. I wrote the second paragraph which I summarised the plot and Zeynep wrote the third paragraph. We’ve written the fourth paragraph collaboratively.

As I watched the movie just a month ago, it was easy for me to write the plot summary. I’ve also added the picture of my favourite scene from the movie which Hannibal Lecter touches to the finger of Clarice Starling. Google Docs was a platform which I was already familiar with, so the process passed quite smoothly. In addition, I embedded the movie’s trailer to the document which was something I’ve never done before. Thus, I can say that I learnt some new features of the Google Docs. It is definitely an excellent educational tool for collaborative tasks.

In my opinion, collaborative tasks have always a risky and tricky side. In a learning environment, there are learners with different learning styles, and they use different strategies in order to be successful in their courses. For extrovert and hardworking students, collaborative tasks could be a good way of assessment for a teacher. However, for introvert and reflective students (such as me 😊) collaborative tasks are quite daunting and tedious. Therefore, if there is a cooperative and lively atmosphere in a classroom the collaborative writing tasks can be implemented. However, if there is a competitive and apathetic atmosphere in the classroom, it’s better to give individual writing tasks to the students.

Comments from another group (just click on the photos to see them clearly)

You can check out the review from the link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xCAmlofrblFbfMSQGrm7T0pWZo9RaFKxIywggagIamQ/edit?usp=sharing

And these are the blogs of other contributors:

Sümeyra Sabancı: https://smyrsabanci34.wixsite.com/creativeteacher

Zeynep Sude Seven: http://itszesu.wordpress.com

Then, goodbye with a song from the movie! ‘Goodbye Horses’ by Q Lazzarus:

https://youtu.be/zILmrAJgzSc?feature=shared

 

CREATING A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT ON AUTISM: HOW IT ALL WENT?

#PSA #Material Design #Creating videos

Latterly, we’ve been assigned to prepare a public service announcement (PSA) as a group. I collaborated with two of my friends, Sümeyra and Zeynep, for this assignment. As we were brainstorming on what topic should we choose for our PSA, I came up with the idea of preparing a video on ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’. Owing to people’s lack of knowledge on what is autism, as a group we reached a consensus on this topic.

At first, with the help of some health websites, we created our own authentic text and divided it into three. Respectively, Zeynep talked about ‘what is autism?’, I talked about the symptoms of autism and Sümeyra talked on tips for the parents. We decided to use Canva for creating our video because it could be used both via computer and mobile phone and documents could be shared with the others so easily. Creating a video on Canva was really easy but there were not many options for adjusting the audio which could be a downside of the app.

In the future, I would like to show this video to my students and give assignments to them for creating their own PSAs to raise awareness. The disorders like autism, ADHD or mental deficiency are serious prevalent disorders which needs to be respected and the children must be aware of their role in these individuals’ life. Instead of ignoring students’ lack of knowledge and condoning the wrong attitudes of the students to these special individuals, as teachers we must show what is right and wrong.

You can find our video from the link below:

https://youtu.be/5khT55-OLts 

By the way, these are the blogs of my beloved friends:

Sümeyra Sabancı: https://smyrsabanci34.wixsite.com/creativeteacher

Zeynep Sude Seven: http://itszesu.wordpress.com

See you soon and take care!

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2024, May 7). What is autism spectrum disorder?. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/autism/what-is-autism-spectrum-disorder#:~:text=Autism%20spectrum%20disorder%20(ASD)%20is,restricted%20interests%20and%20repetitive%20behavior

Asha Speech & Hearing Clinic. (2024, May 7). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). https://www.ashaspeechhearingclinic.com/facilities/autism/

Audionautix. Acoustic meditation 2. (2021, May 7). [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/GKS91I7eC3I?si=qPrCD_zZT0tKp9YY

Bialasiewicz, K. (2018). Heller Sendromu ile Çocuk [Photograph]. IStock. https://www.istockphoto.com/tr/foto%C4%9Fraf/heller-sendromu-ile-%C3%A7ocuk-gm903614034-249215334

C, C. D. (2021). A young child is being examined by a doctor [Photograph]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-young-child-is-being-examined-by-a-doctor-fx9RJgZYRUE

Government of Canada. (2024, May 7). Autism: signs and symptoms. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/autism-spectrum-disorder-asd/signs-symptoms-autism-spectrum-disorder-asd.html

Picture, G. (2024). Little boy at a therapist's office, sitting in a white chair in front of his psychologist in a rebellious manner [Photograph]. Shutterstock. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-boy-therapists-office-sitting-white-444704881

Rahman, S., Ahmed, S. F., Shahid, O., Arrafi, M. A., & Ahad, M. A. R. (2022). Automated detection approaches to autism spectrum disorder based on human activity analysis: A review. Cognitive Computation, 14(5), 1773-1800. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12559-021-09895-w

Reynolds-Kebler, J. (2006). Chasing after a bubble [Photograph]. Openverse. https://openverse.org/image/ac96c9af-d99b-442b-b307-98e289a0be93?q=2-3%20year%20old%20child

Shilova, A. (2024). Portrait of cute little boy closed mouth with his hand, studio shot [Photograph]. Shutterstock. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-cute-little-boy-closed-mouth-69834943

Shufrych, O. (2021). The classmates point to the boy and laugh at him [Photograph]. Shutterstock. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/classmates-point-boy-laugh-him-2023210151

Siemens, J. (2020). A young boy playing with his cars during the COVID-19 home quarantine [Photograph]. Getty Images. https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/jordan-siemens-child-playing-with-toy?assettype=image&phrase=jordan%20siemens%20child%20playing%20with%20toy&sort=mostpopular&license=rf%2Crm

Youngson, N. (2024). Autism [Photograph]. The Blue Diamond Gallery. https://thebluediamondgallery.com/hand-held-card/a/autism.html

 

 

PODCAST: A QUIRKY TAKE ON EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

 #podcast #material design #media literacy

Lately, we have been assigned to create a podcast on ‘Improving the World’. ’60 Second Idea to Improve the World’ is normally a podcast series on BBC which people share their ideas about ways to improve the world. As part of the task, I’ve created my own 60 second podcast on green economy and sustainability named ‘We Can Save The Planet’.

Climate change has always been an area of interest for me, so coming up with this topic for my podcast was not so difficult. I wanted to create a creative and original script as possible so writing stage took some time. Recording my voice was fairly easy. After recording my voice, I’ve found a song called ‘Running Waters’ from the YouTube Audio Library (which is copyright free) and merged my voice record and the music with the audio editor program ‘Audacity’. At first, I was quite nervous about how to use the program but after watching some videos from YouTube on how to use the program I’ve created my podcast within minutes.

Students could use technology effectively for their education.

In the future, I would definitely give a podcast creation task to my students. Although it is an unconventional technique and I had my concerns before starting one, podcasts are much easier than I thought to create. With these kinds of funny tasks, students could improve their language skills as well as their media literacy skills.

You can check out my podcast from the link below:

https://audio.com/azra-yakici/audio/we-can-save-the-planet-online-audio-converter

See you soon and take care!

References

Audionautix. (2021, May 7). Running waters. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzRts--65wQ

 

INFOGRAPHICS: A FUN WAY TO TEACH AND LEARN ENGLISH

 #infographics #ELT #Piktochart

The students can create their own infographics.

Recently, we’ve been assigned to create an

 informational infographic on ethical and

 legal issues related to effective technology

 use. We’ve been asked to choose one issue

 of our interest and I have chosen ‘plagiarism’.

 I’ve chosen this topic because ‘plagiarism’ is

 an important issue regarding both written and 

online work.

I’ve used the website ‘Piktochart’ for creating my infographic. Piktochart is a practical infographic website that presented me many templates. Though, there was also an option which you could create your infographic from scratch, and I went for it as I wanted to create my own design. At first, I felt a bit indecisive about where to start but when I started experimenting on the colours, fonts, and icons everything fit into place. As the words started to spill down on my computer screen, I felt a bit surprised at my ability to blend information and humour.

In my opinion, infographics could be an amazing way to teach and learn English. If we consider the students’ general complaints about the lesson (the lesson being too teacher-centred and boring), infographics with their colourful and eye-catching design and semi formal language could be a fun language learning strategy. Clear, concise, and step-by-step explanations and examples about complex topics could assist the students to grasp the topics in an authentic way. Furthermore, the students could be asked to create their own infographics on a language topic (such as present perfect tense or vocabulary about cooking) to get a grip of the course topics.

You can check out my infographic from the link below:

https://create.piktochart.com/output/63536217-what-is-plagiarism-azra-yakici-101022049-2-d

See you soon and take care!

References

Hurst, D. (2008). Children at School [Photograph]. Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Children_at_school_%288720604364%29.jpg

WE ARE LIVING IN THE AGE OF TECHNOLOGY: 21st CENTURY LEARNING

 #21st century learning #ELT #Technology

Technology of our daily lives seems extremely normal to us these days but there is truly more than meets the eye. We couldn’t underestimate the effect of technology on fundamental areas of our lives, such as education. The education in the 21^st century is much more different than it was in the 20^th century. There is even a new concept emerged as ‘21^st century learning’.

However, now technology is literally everywhere,
and we are engaged with it almost every minute.

Back in the 1950’s it was a such a thrill to watch TV with your
family. The best way of being in touch with the technology
and the whole world.

Like many people, when I hear the concept of ‘21^st century learning’ the skills like creativity, collaboration and communication technology literacy comes to my mind. However, life/job skills, ethical/emotional awareness, and cultural competence are also crucial skills for 21^st century learning (Kereluik et al., 2013) To be more specific, these skills are very important for language learning as learning a language means interpreting the world from a new lens with the help of the acquired language. To be even more specific, the technology integration and the most ethical ways of doing it is a vital thing in an English classroom in 21^st century. As we all know, language reflects our life and thoughts, and our lives are partly affected by the languages that we born with and choose to learn. Thus, it is impossible for us (the teacher candidates) to consider our lives (or technological lives) and language learning in disparate means.

Time changes, our educational habits too.

References

Chan, C. W. (2017). Crowded Subway Hong Kong [Photograph]. Getty Images. https://www.vox.com/2017/4/25/15408846/study-mobile-ads-crowds-purchase-subway-commuters

Deen, P. (2009). Cute Young Boy Using Computer in Nature [Photograph]. IStock by Getty Images. https://www.istockphoto.com/tr/foto%C4%9Fraf/cute-young-boy-using-computer-in-nature-gm182145764-10026562?searchscope=image%2Cfilm

Kereluik, K., Mishra, P., Fahnoe, C., & Terry, L. (2013). What knowledge is of most worth: Teacher knowledge for 21st century learning. Journal of digital learning in teacher education, 29(4), 127-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2013.10784716