Prompt: Go to http://copilot.microsoft.com and give it the following prompt, filling in the blanks as you wish.
You are a seasoned professor of ____________. Draft an outline for a new course about ____________. The course should have 8 modules lasting 2 weeks each and will begin on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. Provide a course outline and schedule. Each module should have a title, a learning objective, and a brief synopsis. Provide 2 to 3 academic journal articles on the topic in APA format. Articles should be relatively current from reputable sources, and should include web links.
Recommended: AI as a Teaching Assistant | Researched & published by Perplexity
Demo: Learn About
Learn About is a new AI platform from Google which reframes search as a learning experience. Give it a topic or image, and it presents digestible explanations, providing real-world context and prompts for deeper exploration through conversation.
It aims to teach.
From a pedagogical perspective, this represents what Papert might call an “object to think with” – a tool making abstract concepts concrete and approachable. While its conversational nature aligns with Vygotsky’s social learning theory, it simulates rather than truly engages in knowledge construction.
Benefit.
Imagine this as an AI Teaching Assistant embedded in an online course – trained specifically on the academic discipline, the course topic, the syllabus, and course bibliography. Available 24/7, a “just-in-time” learning scaffold and student engagement. Contextual to each course and configured by the instructor or an instructional designer.
Canvas AI, anyone?
Yet we must remain mindful: this is still an AI system operating within prescribed parameters. True education, as Freire reminds us, requires critical consciousness and genuine dialogue – something no algorithm can fully replicate.
At least not yet.
-Synthia