This is not your grandpa’s book, that’s right, Superintendent Don Killingbeck, Principal Joshua Chase, and Director Alex Haltom wrote a book titled “43 Ways To Be Less Lame as an Educator”, with the help of artificial intelligence. The book is a devotional for educators looking for ways to be the best they can be or “less lame.”
Dr. Killingbeck said, “It is interesting that when you ask a computer how to be less lame as an educator, it says to be more human. Education is a relationship business and even A.I. knows it.”
This book is the first of many that will be written with A.I. assistance. A.I., or Artificial Intelligence, isn’t a new concept. What is new is ChatGPT, OpenAI’s free-to-use A.I. website. You input a request, then the A.I. generates a response after thinking for a moment. The wild part is how quickly and accurately the responses can be generated. This might sound like an educator’s worst fear, but it’s not going to go away.
Hemlock Board of Education President, Matt Wesener, notes, “It is amazing to see how quickly AI is growing and becoming part of our everyday lives. Leveraging the latest technology to help educate our students and get them engaged while also maintaining the personal/human facet of communication is going to help prepare them for the future. At Hemlock we pride ourselves on being innovative and Don, Josh, and Alex have certainly exemplified that.”
Innovation is indeed a cornerstone of Hemlock’s approach to education. Instead of looking for ways to limit or block this innovation, the “43 Ways” team sought to make this technology work for them. As Don says, “The future won’t ask our permission”. In order to adapt as educators, the team believes you need to “lean in” and teach students how to ethically and effectively use technology to enhance learning. But while “43 Ways To Be Less Lame” was created with A.I., the messaging directs readers to human concepts like relationships, communication, and engagement as areas they can look to for improvement. If you are an educator wondering how you can be less lame, the book will be available by QR code for release soon.