Gradebooks are a UX problem disguised as a philosophy problem. The fix I landed on isn't a grading tool at all. It's a Kanban board in Microsoft Loop, with columns mapped to student names and rows mapped to tasks. The tool tracks progress but also teaches students real project management.
iSophist | Machine Rhetorics & Collaborative AI
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Instead of a final, students in my AI writing class will be turning their class portfolios into a website using AI.
AI has become my emotional translator in a world where ADHD sometimes scrambles the signals between what people say and what they actually mean.
While the White House celebrates its new AI education order, the undeniable truth remains: without grassroots intervention, AI literacy will become another digital divide separating privileged and underserved students.
Coders may one day be extinct ... writers will live on. I've been exploring "vibe coding" lately - essentially leaning on AI agents to do most of your coding. It's like hiring a team of digital interns so you can focus on the creative ideas, workflows, and connections.
At first, I was excited about the new task feature in ChatGPT... then I realized they're making the same mistakes nearly every other task manager is making.
What if... we had a single source of truth for student experiences? Right now, student achievements live in scattered systems - internship forms in one place, research projects in another, community engagement somewhere else.
Forget the AI revolution ... the university is ready for a structured content revolution. While everyone is focused on AI replacing tasks, they're missing the real opportunity: transforming how universities organize and share knowledge.
Structured writing isn't just for technical writers ... its for anyone who deals with content at scale, including educators.
Hindu philosophy argues language can't achieve "undifferentiated oneness" since words require distinctions. But AI is built on language & symbols. Are we creating intelligence that's inherently limited by linguistic thought? Maybe true machine intelligence needs to transcend language itself.
Looks like all those students using AI to write academic essays might be saving the environment. Recent research is challenging our assumptions about AI's carbon footprint. When it comes to writing, artificial intelligence might have a smaller CO2 footprint.
Ever wonder why some AI writing feels unnecessarily flowery while other outputs seem too plain? The ancient Greeks had a framework for that - and it's surprisingly relevant to modern AI. ⬇️
With the help of AI and my love for coffee, I discovered one of the best analogies for understanding temperature in AI writing systems. ⬇️
Today I tested a hypothesis that temperature settings with AI could be associated with different genres or styles. It is false. My experiments revealed something far more interesting. ⬇️
A funny thing happened that perfectly illustrates why I'm cautious about using AI for research... I recently discovered that Perplexity AI listed me and my colleague as "top 5 AI voices" alongside industry giants (after Ethan Mollick). Flattering? Sure. Accurate? Not quite.
I got a sense this year that a lot of my students would use AI for their final reflection ... so I built my own chatbot to do it for them. It is often hard to get students to write a decent reflection assignment at the end of the semester ... especially if you are pressed for time. ⬇️
I see AI prompts all the time asking for a specific style … I’ve always been skeptical. Can AI truly capture a specific style, or are we just scratching the surface? 🤔 Have you used prompts to achieve a particular writing style with AI? What are the limitations you've noticed?
It's been a while, but I'm excited to dive back into a topic that's been on my mind: the concept of "temperature" in AI tools and how it influences writing style. Have you experimented with adjusting the temperature in your AI tools? How did it affect the style and creativity of your content?
Meh ... Those are my thoughts about NotebookLM after experimenting with structured notes. Check out the 🔗 to the whole video in the comments.
In a system-wide AI & teaching webinar ... if I had a course release for every time someone said, "game-changer," I could retire. 😆
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My students are consistently shocked that we have the same favorite musicians. I don’t seem that cool.
I argue that technical writing is creative writing, and creative writing is technical writing.
I'm not seeing a tech writing or information and content development feed or starter pack out there. So I would like to create a feed / starter pack focused on this topic. Reply with a link to your profile ... or if you've already made one, share that. go.bsky.app/LunWJCx
Alyssa Fox had some great insights on how to bridge the gap between technical and marketing content on Let's Talk #ContentOps. Hosted by @contentops.bsky.social @scottabel.bsky.social Heretto Video and transcript at the link. #techcomm #marcom #contentops www.scriptorium.com/2024/11/brid...
Bridging Technical And Marketing Content
Discover critical enterprise content strategy insights to bridge the gap between technical and marketing content.
scriptorium.com
What can a 4th-century saint teach us about building an AI knowledge base? It isn’t about dumping documents and expecting magic. It’s a gradual process of curating, structuring, and connecting information bit by bit. Like any craft, success comes from steady, intentional effort -- and patience.
Perhaps the reason there is so much backlash against the use of AI in the writing process is because it threatens our (false) perception that we are all whole. Excerpt From Disability Rhetoric Jay Timothy Dolmage
Don’t pay for a bunch of AI apps … pay for the building blocks so you can make your own.
I just realized ... I don't need a grade book ... I need a CRM.
Transformer Technology in AI isn't just about algorithms and data. It's about understanding context, crafting effective prompts, and knowing your audience - much like rhetoric. By viewing AI through a rhetorical lens, we can unlock a deeper understanding of Transformer Tech
This year I'm replacing the traditional multimodal assignment (podcasts, videos, presentations, etc.) with chatbot building. Here is my first crack at the assignment sheet. I'd love to hear some feedback! 🔗 in the comments. #EduSky