By Andrea Sedero and Maan Deuda
Delving deeper into the digital landscape, the second day of the Golden Hour teacher-mentoring program featured discussions exploring the practical use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in education, alongside an introduction to data science and emerging technology on March 3, 2024.
This two-day workshop titled, “The Golden Hour: A Mentoring Program for Quinquagenarian Teachers on the Use of Social Media, Chat GPT, and other Generative AI Tools in Education” is a collaborative project between the Department of English of CASS, MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) and the Faculty of Language Education at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), Indonesia, which aims to empower senior teachers in their use of ICT tools for education.
The program’s third session, led by visiting lecturers from UMY, Prof. Fitria Rahmawati, SPd, MHum, and Prof. Maryam Sorohiti, SS, MHSc, focused on the use of ICT in Education, particularly on the application of selected Generative AI tools. Both lecturers took the helm in providing a step-by-step guide in navigating the applications: Padlet, Twibbon, Jamboard, Bing, and Gamma, also briefly mentioning other tools such as Word Search, ElevenLabs, and PlayHT.
“As you know, quinquagenarian teachers are usually not being focused because they are about to retire. We have to empower them to be able to catch up with the updates of technology especially after the pandemic so that they can still serve their best to their students,” Prof. Rahmawati affirmed in an interview with CASSayuran.
During the lecture proper, she had emphasized on the roles of AI in language learning, highlighting its significant contributions in personalized learning experiences, language correction, and instant feedback, as well as its practical uses in conversation practice, vocabulary development, writing practice, and grammar instruction to enhance language skills.
“We are surprised that although we have different age groups of participants, last year were 30-40 [years old], and this time, 50-60 [years old]. We thought that, ‘Oh this program might not be really beneficial for the participants because they are about to retire’. So, we thought that we would be having a difficult time introducing technological tools to them but since the very first day, they were all excited, and kept asking questions to have more sessions.” Prof. Rahmawati pointed out, briefly mentioning her experience from last year. It is worth noting that in March 2023, UMY and CASS also collaborated for a three-day extension program, “Communicate in English with Us (ComE with Us!): A Teacher Mentoring Program on the Use of ICT in Differentiated Instruction (DI) and Project Based Learning (PBL) Towards Inclusive Education.”
Among the various generative AI tools introduced during their lecture, Gamma, an AI tool for creating presentations, documents, and webpages, in particular, was a favorite among the educators. Prof. Rahmawati later revealed that the inclusion of the Gamma tool in their presentation had been a last-minute addition prompted by inquiries from teachers during the first day’s lecture who asked if ChatGPT could create presentation slides.
“I was impressed by the participants, the teachers, they were all enthusiastic and eager to accomplish the tasks assigned. They were really awesome, I really respect them. The vibe was very positive. I’m so happy, I said, “Oh my goodness”, they were very quick in absorbing [the content]. Although we belong to the quinquagenarians, I can say they can compete with the young students. Their enthusiasm really impressed me,” Prof. Sorohiti expressed in an interview with CASSayuran.
Apart from the lecture proper, the 24 teachers in attendance engaged in practical activities to maximize their learnings and familiarize themselves with using the generative AI tools discussed by the two professors. They practiced writing effective prompts, and delved into the basics of navigation.
The fourth and final session commenced in the afternoon over ZOOM with guest speaker Ms. Frei Sangil, co-founder and current President of Layertech Software Labs, Inc., whose presentation was about an introduction to Data Science and Emerging Technology as well as their relevance in the academic sector.
“Data itself does not mean anything. Nagkakaroon po siya ng meaning, ng value, kapag naprocess natin siya at kapag ‘yung data ay natransport natin into information. ‘Yun po ‘yung process ng data mining, data science, and analytics in general. Pinaka overarching role nito is to get data and to turn it into useful insights,” Ms. Sangil explained at the beginning of her lecture.
She highlighted the value of data and how its exponential production can yield useful insights for pinpointing, monitoring, and predicting trends which are important in preparing, strategizing, and optimizing resources in order to lessen damage. Drawing an example with multi-billion company, Netflix, Ms. Sangil illustrated how data analytics, particularly in user behavior, can contribute to revenue and user retention.
Meanwhile, on the aspect of emerging technology, she also addressed its widespread use among students, particularly with AI tools like ChatGPT, noting that the rapid advancements in generative AI make it challenging for AI checkers to distinguish between AI-generated and original content which has resulted in concerns related to IP infringement or plagiarism. Ms. Sangil pointed out that this is also a big concern in the creative industry with AI models modifying the work of legitimate artists without proper citation.
“Hindi naman siya all bad things, so if we were able to have good policies around this, then pwede natin siyang magamit to our advantage naman. Some examples kung saan pwede natin magamit ang AI and data science ay yung sa Adaptive Learning,” she elucidated.
As the speaker had discussed, data can transform into useful information used in identifying trends. Adaptive learning, as she mentioned, would be able to track student progress, engagement, and performance, and use that data to provide personalized learning experiences.
“In general, maraming studies na nagpapakita na ‘yung use of technology helps personalize the learning environment of students lalo na ‘yung mga nasa SPED, mga special education. If you have the data and monitor their grades, makita natin ‘yung mga successes nila, kung saan sila mahina, and using that data, we can also use data science methods to predict it,” Ms. Sangil explained.
Some other subtopics that the guest speaker discussed included key concepts in data science, such as Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP DM), data mining, data types, data quality, data models, data sources, data strategy, as well as data privacy and cybersecurity.
Time and again, both the advantages and disadvantages of AI were consistently discussed throughout the lectures. Even in Prof. Rahmawati’s discussion guide on generative AI tools, she highlighted two primary potential problems associated with using AI: dependence on technology, as well as privacy and data concerns.
“AI tools really make our lives easier but we need to carefully select which ones are appropriate and which ones are not, especially because we are in the academic field— we cannot just copy paste, we cannot just trust and take it for granted. We need to really select and consider what is best to give to our students and what is best to keep [away],” Prof. Rahmawati emphasized during an interview.
Even among teacher attendees, the conversation persisted, with participants considering both the positive and negative aspects of AI, seeking a middle ground between its benefits and drawbacks. When addressing the downsides, prevalent responses tended to focus on students’ reliance on technology, whereas the primary advantage underscored was the convenience AI offers.
“I like it [AI] because it lessens the work of the teacher. I will not be staying longer at night doing my DLL or lesson plan so it’s easy for me to just photocopy it, and I can pass it to my principal to be signed. The only thing that I don’t like about the ChatGPT is that if ever the students will know about all of these— I think, this is only my point of view— I think they will become lazy because they lose their trust on their [own] capability, ability, their intelligence because they [will] depend on that box or ChatGPT,” Ms. Buckley of Tomas Cabili NHS opined in an interview with CASSayuran.
Ms. Buckley also expressed her preference for Gamma among the generative AI tools, particularly highlighting its capability to insert pictures. She shared her existing usage of apps like Filmora or WonderShare in her classes. During the pandemic, she had adapted by shooting short films about her lessons and encouraging students to create their own classroom videos.
“This kind of training is really worth attending kay dili nimo mabantayan na nagdagan na ang oras. In fact, kaganiha wa mi kabalo na alas-dose na diay because the session was very enjoyable tapos gusto pa nimo magtrabaho, ting kaon na diay,” Mr. Estillore of Tomas Cabili NHS also shared.
Moreover, Mr. Estillore expressed his preference for specific AI tools, highlighting Gamma and Padlet. He pointed out the convenience of Padlet in memorizing students’ names, especially with the added feature of displaying their pictures, which makes attendance tracking more efficient.
When asked about the challenges he encountered while navigating generative AI tools, he explained, “Pas-pas ang uban dayon dili ta kaapas bitaw considering the age and lahi ra. Lahi ra sa mga generation karun na paspas kaayo sila. Besides, computer technology man gud siya, wala mi naanad sauna sa among time. That’s why we really have to catch up with the latest technology para dili ma-left behind.”
In regards to the last session on Data Science, Ms. Eman of Tomas Cabili voiced out in an interview, “It was so informative because most of us do not know the data privacy act so we keep on data mining, nag data mining ta sa mga unsay naa didto pero wala ta kabalo nga it is a part of what we call intellectual property rights. Sige lang tag kuha [AI] without knowing na kato diay siya nakasteal na og IP rights.”
The two-day Golden Hour teacher-mentoring project came to a close with UMY visiting lecturers presenting souvenirs to the senior teachers. Additionally, the MSU-IIT team, led by Assistant Dean Sittie Noffaisah Pasandalan, expressed gratitude by awarding each UMY professor a plaque of appreciation. On March 4, the day after the workshop, teams of both UMY and MSU-IIT visited the three participating schools—Tomas Cabili National High School, Dalipuga National High School, and Iligan City National High School—to conduct evaluations and gather feedback on the recently concluded event. Photo by Carissa Marie Careras
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