Dear Colleagues,
It's officially spring so of course the theme for this month's newsletter is growth! Read on for more about:
- Tech Tip: Adobe Express for Generative AI Text to Images
- AI News & Updates: Arizona State Partners with OpenAI
- Virtual Worlds & VR Update, professional development options, and more!
See the Tech Tips blog for previous issues of this newsletter. Please email me your best tech or pedagogy tips. You know I'd love to share your tips and tricks here!
Bethany Winslow, Director of Online Learning
Tech Tip: Adobe Express for Generative AI Text to Images
I am sometimes asked about how I create my newsletters. I use Adobe Express, which is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of apps that all faculty, staff, and students have access to.
This tip comes courtesy of Jennifer Redd, Senior Director of eCampus. It’s the generative AI text to image feature which I’d not used until now. Like all genAI images I’ve seen, it doesn’t always do great with faces but you can play around with it to make some fun images. Here’s a tutorial that Jennifer made as an example to create a faculty avatar. (Note that Jennifer is combining the image she made with the Text Effects editor too.)
Jennifer created a faculty avatar to illustrate the use of an AI image generator to convey "a peaceful outlook on technology in Higher Education". Her prompt was "Peaceful Professor Female, sitting cross-legged in Palm Tree Jungle". Try this your self with Jennifer's instructions:
- Go to new.express.adobe.com
- scroll down and type your avatar personality in the the Text to Image Box
- Then use Text Effects in Express
- Export, download or share your avatar!
That's just one AI tool you can use to easily generate images. Currently, I'm using my Poe subscription to create mine. I'm pretty shocked at how much the quality has improved since I played around quite a bit with MidJourney AI in fall 2023.
Other AI News & Updates
Chronicle of Higher Ed: Arizona State Partners with OpenAI
I read and bookmarked this article a month ago. It caught my eye because I expect to see more formal partnerships with universities very soon. Because I haven't read it in a few weeks this presents a good opportunity to get a summary using an AI assistant rather than re-read the article (though I did just skim it again). Claude-3-Sonnet gives a decent summary below even though it admitted to me it didn't access the full article. So it's making assumptions here, but I concur about the questions it says the article raises, but want to mention that I don't think the article explicitly states anything about ASU students getting an unfair advantage with this access. If that's just an inference, however, I think it's a good point.
"The article discusses the recent partnership between Arizona State University (ASU) and OpenAI, the company behind the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT. The deal gives ASU special access to OpenAI's language models and computational resources to explore how AI can enhance education. However, the specifics of what ASU will do with this access are still unclear. The article raises questions about the implications of this partnership, such as potential conflicts of interest, ethical concerns around AI in education, and whether it gives ASU an unfair advantage over other institutions. The author notes this is one of the first such partnerships between a major AI company and a university." (Claude, AI assistant, personal communication, March 19, 2024).
Claude (AI assistant). (2024, March 19). Summary of the article "Arizona State and OpenAI Are Now Partners. What Does That Mean?" [Summary]. Personal Communication.
Swaak, T. (2024, January 19). Arizona State and OpenAI are now partners. What does that mean? The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/arizona-state-and-openai-are-now-partners-what-does-that-mean
Virtual Worlds & VR
In this month's virtual worlds & VR section I wanted to mention that I was delighted to see several students I’ve worked with in virtual spaces presenting on related topics for the recent CPGE Online Student Conference. I’m highlighted two below, because I worked with both of these students closely in the fall semester. They’ve both done great things in virtual spaces!
"In an increasingly digital world, libraries and museums stand as repositories of knowledge and cultural heritage. However, the digital divide has persisted, limiting access to immersive experiences within these institutions." - Aisha L. Abdul Rahman
- Bridging the Digital Divide in Heritage Preservation using Browser Based VR with Aisha Abdul Rahman (5:41)
Shannon's video below presents a walk through of her participation in the Second Life Student Challenge to design and build an immersive educational experience. Understanding and using virtual spaces effectively for teaching and learning, (and designing exhibits or immersive experiences within them), is more of a challenge than most people know. Her presentation really illustrates the benefits and the value she gained from her participation. Because I don’t have a students participating in the challenge this semester, I’ll be one of the judges. I’m really looking forward to that experience.
Professional Development
T3 Recap
In case you missed the session on equitable grading this month, the session overview and recording link is below. (If you can't access that link, it means you're not enrolled in the iSchool Faculty course site. Email bethany.winslow@sjsu.edu if you need to be added to the course.)
- Session Title: Equitable Grading Research & Practice
You can check out an archive of all recorded sessions in the iSchool Faculty Canvas course. Look for the module titled T3 Sessions and Archive. Email alman.sjsu@gmail.com with any questions about T3 Sessions.
eCampus Workshops
SJSU’s eCampus offers workshops year round. See the full list of upcoming eCampus workshops. Note that workshop dates are listed at the bottom of each image on the page. You can also request to watch a recording of an eCampus workshop.