Example Artificial Generative Intelligence (AGI) Syllabus Language Resource and Detection Demonstration

a college professor lectures in front of a projector screen on the first day of classes
Associate Professor Matthew Winden begins his business statistics class in Hyland Hall. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is committed to supporting faculty and staff as the higher education landscape evolves in the age of AGI. Questions continue to mount regarding AGI and academic integrity, particularly with regard to detection options and classroom policies. The LTC has drafted an example of appropriate syllabus language addressing the use of AGI in assignments and other course work. The language is optional and designed to give instructors the flexibility in determining how AGI may, or may not, fit into their course. 

The sample language can be found in the AI Syllabus Resource Knowledge Base (KB) article. Additional open source syllabus language resources include Classroom Policies for AI Generative Tools and the AI Policy Hub at UC-Berkeley.

For those interested in an AGI detection demonstration, IT Services’ annual Technology Open House on August 30th (1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in McGraw Hall), will feature an overview of the Turnitin detection software built into Canvas at 3:15 p.m. Other offerings include a general AI demonstration at 2:45 p.m. and a wide range of helpful technology resources on many topics throughout the afternoon. (Plus free food and prizes!) 

The LTC is also hosting a series of workshops over the fall semester, including one on AI Detection and Awareness

If you have any other AGI-related inquiries, or would like a personal or group consultation related to AGI, please contact the Learning Technology Center.

Elevate Your Canvas Courses with the NEW Foundations of Course Design in Canvas (FCDC)!

Cheerful multiethnic students having high five with teacher
Pexels – Kampus Production

Elevate your teaching game with the all-new self-paced Fundamentals of Course Design in Canvas (FCDC) course! Perfect for educators new to teaching, new to Canvas, or those seeking a refreshing update to Canvas design.

A refreshed and redesigned version of the Online and Blended Teaching Institute (OBTI), FCDC is focused on building the skills and knowledge needed to create authentic, approachable Canvas courses. 

What will you learn?

  1. Design Brilliance: Craft engaging Canvas materials that captivate learners. Build your own interactive content by the end of the course that can be taken with you as a template for your own courses!
  2. Classroom Mastery: Unlock communication techniques, time-saving strategies, and collaboration tools for seamless canvas courses.
  3. Assessment Expertise: Discover diverse assessment tactics and timely feedback approaches, aligned with academic integrity.
  4. Engage and Collaborate: Transform courses into interactive hubs with multimedia, forums, and peer activities that enhance learning.
  5. Inclusivity and Success: Empower all students with inclusive, accessible, and equitable learning environments.

Benefits:

  • Self-paced freedom: learn on your schedule, from anywhere
  • Expert insights: gain from experienced educators’ expertise featuring your  UW-Whitewater colleagues’ insights!
  • Interactive learning: experience the technology that brings courses to life

Supercharge your teaching prowess! Contact Ted Witt at wittt@uww.edu to enroll or for more information. 

Welcome Back Workshops with the LTC!

The August sunshine in Whitewater brings both warm days and the return to campus! The LTC is excited to welcome back our instructional community and have prepared a slew of workshop offerings to make the start of the semester seamless. 

Canvas Sessions

Whether you are building your first or last Canvas course, the LTC has training for all! *Please note the Canvas and Technology Open Lab is on the UW-Whitewater Rock County campus.

TitleDateTimeLocation
Canvas RefresherWednesday, August 23rd2 to 3 pmMcGraw 19c
Canvas Introduction Thursday, August 24th9 to 10 amMcGraw 19c
Canvas and Technology Open Lab Thursday, August 24th2 to 3 pm*UW Rock Allen Hall 03/04
Course Design and Open LabFriday, August 25th9 am to 12 pmWebex
Using Canvas as Grading FeedbackFriday, August 25th10 to 11 amMcGraw 19c
Course Design and Open LabFriday, September 1st1 to 4 pmWebex

Artificial Generative Intelligence Sessions

Explore the basics of AI and get caught up on recent updates at Introduction to Artificial Generative Intelligence on August 31st; 3 to 4:30 pm in McGraw 19A / Hybrid.

Campus Technology Sessions

The goal of these sessions is to familiarize attendees with campus technology tools and support services. Please note: “Campus and Instructional Tech for Instructors” is aimed at instructors, but will cover the same content as “Campus Technology: Resources to help you succeed”. 

TitleDateTimeLocation
Campus and Instructional Tech for InstructorsMonday, August 28th 10:45 am to 12 pmMcGraw 117
Campus Technology: Resources to Help You Succeed Friday, September 1st 9 to 10 amMcGraw 19A / Hybrid 

Technology Open House

Hosted by IT Services, Technology Open House (TOH), held on Wednesday, August 30th; 1 – 4 pm in McGraw Hall, instructors, staff, and students can learn about technology tools, services, and resources designed to help everyone succeed at UW-Whitewater! Anyone who attends TOH will receive an early access pass to the next Technology Surplus Sale! Register below to be entered into the raffle drawing!

Don’t see what you are looking for? Reach out directly to the LTC or request a consultation. A full list of Welcome Back Week Events can be found in the UW-Whitewater Events Calendar

The Frontiers of Artificial Generative Intelligence – Fall Workshops

As summer draws to a close, the astonishing pace of artificial generative intelligence (AGI) is continuing to increase. The conversation around AGI has continued to bounce between excitement at potential opportunities to hesitancy about misuse in assignments and assessments to uncertainty about the effects on higher education over the long term. The LTC has monitored these conversations and is pleased to offer a series of workshops over the course of the fall semester to give instructors reliable information, guidance on resources and privacy, training on AGI applications, and provide an opportunity to explore the benefits and challenges with AGI. 

As always, if you have specific questions or concerns, please reach out to the LTC directly or request a consultation

The sessions, while interrelated, are not serial; it is encouraged to attend as many, or as few sessions, as you are able! If you are unfamiliar with AGI, we recommend attending the introductory session first. Subsequent sessions can be attended in any order. Sessions of the same topic will cover the same material, but may vary, like “Incorporating AI into Assessments”, which uses real time examples from participants and thus will be slightly different each time! All of our sessions will be offered in a hybrid format and sessions will be recorded. Come back here to find links to recorded sessions or visit our On-Demand Video Library

Introduction to Artificial Generative Intelligence 

  • Thursday, August 31; 3:00 – 4:30 pm McGraw 19A / Hybrid
  • Wednesday, September 6; 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm McGraw 19A / Hybrid 
  • Tuesday, September 12; 8:15 am – 9:30 am McGraw 19A / Hybrid

This introductory session explores the state of AI in higher education and will explain what AGI is, discuss its opportunities and limitations, and demonstrate how to use it. If you are interested in what tools are currently available and what to expect, this workshop is for you!

Awareness and Detection of AI

  • Wednesday, September 13; 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm McGraw 19A / Hybrid 
  • Friday, September 15; 10:15 – 11:30 am McGraw 19A / Hybrid 
  • Tuesday, September 19, 8:15 am – 9:30 am McGraw 19A / Hybrid 

This intermediate session delves into detection methods for identifying text authored using AI. We will showcase tools presently accessible on campus, explore their accuracy and potential applications, and delve into the ethical considerations tied to these detection options. If you are interested in helping identify what might be AI generated, this workshop is for you!

Incorporating AI into your Assessments 

  • Wednesday, September 27; 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm McGraw 19A / Hybrid 
  • Friday, October 13; 10:15 am – 11:30 am McGraw 19A / Hybrid 

This intermediate session explores how AI can be used to help generate assignments and quiz questions. We will explore hands-on ways to streamline your preparation process, enhance your learning objectives, and generate more AI proof activities! If you are interested in your first steps toward using AI to reduce your instructor workload and how to craft effective prompts this workshop is for you!

Use Cases and Opportunities for AI

  • Wednesday, October 18; 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm McGraw 19A / Hybrid

This advanced session explores how to use ChatGPT to streamline your classroom prep, reduce instructor workload, and enhance student learning objectives, assessments, and assignments. It features practical demonstrations with real-life examples from various courses such as business and as provided by you! If you are willing to take the plunge and embrace AI in the college classroom, this workshop is for you!

 Ethics and Limitations of AI

  • Wednesday, October 25; 3:15 pm – 4:30 pm McGraw 19A / Hybrid

This advanced session offers the opportunity to discuss more of the concerns and limitations of AI. We will look at three concerns: privacy and surveillance; bias and discrimination; and the role of human judgment. If you are interested in the moral, social, political, and pedagogical implications of AI in college courses, this workshop is for you.

Navigating the Frontiers of Artificial Generative Intelligence: Updates, Workshops, and Transformations at UW-Whitewater

In an era where innovation propels us forward at an astonishing pace, staying up to date with the latest advancements can be a challenge. To help, the LTC has summarized some of the recent updates related to artificial generative intelligence (AGI)

General AI Updates

Key updates include the release of ChatGPT versions 3.5 and 4, Microsoft’s Copilot, and Google’s AGI, Bard. Tech companies are expected to continue ferociously to compete, with the AI landscape likely evolving by the Fall 2023 semester.

Incorporating AI into Assessments – UWW Event Recap

The LTC conducted a workshop on April 24th called “Incorporating AI into Assessments.” The workshop aimed to demonstrate how ChatGPT can be utilized to streamline the process, reduce instructor workload, and enhance learning objectives, assessments, and assignments. Led by Ted Witt and Ravneet Kaur, the LTC team guided instructors in real-time usage of ChatGPT, featuring practical demonstrations with real-life examples from various courses such as business, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The workshop also delved into the art of crafting effective prompts.

How ChatGPT and AI are Transforming Academia – UW System Event Recap

The UW System Learning Technology Development Council (LTDC) hosted two panel discussions on April 18th, 2023 centering on how AI is transforming education from both the student and instructor perspectives. 

Watch the Student Panel to discuss how students are already using AI, including the benefits and potential pitfalls in and out of the classroom. Watch the Instructor Panel to explore how fellow instructors have already begun to incorporate AI into their courses and how it can be leveraged for future use. 

TurnItIn Update

TurnItIn has launched an AI generated content detection feature on April 4th, 2023. It is integrated with the Similarity Report to show an overall percentage of the document that was likely AI generated. It is currently available to UW-Whitewater users. 

A few key points regarding the AI detection feature: 

  1. Text that is flagged is 98% certain to be generated by AGI
  2. False positives have been reported both by users and TurnItIn
  3. Only instructors can see the AI detection indicator 

Further Reading

The LTC has curated a set of resources, including webinars, policy examples, and options to incorporate AI into the classroom. Have specific questions? Reach out to the LTC!

Second Call for Summer 2023 OBTI Applicants!

Are you interested in enhancing or refreshing your online teaching skills?

Lecturer of Management Emily Iverson records her opening statements for the spring semester in her online business writing course. Lectures for the course are recorded in a studio at the Online Learning and Technology Center in Hyland Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)

The Summer 2023 Online and Blended Teaching Institute (OBTI) is now accepting applications from UW-Whitewater faculty and academic staff who want to develop and refine their online and blended teaching strategies.

This institute is designed to help you create engaging and effective online courses, while also providing you with the opportunity to collaborate and network with other instructors across UWW. Trainings will run from July 10th to July 24th, and will consist of a series of synchronous and asynchronous activities, including webinars, online discussions, and hands-on activities. More detailed information and full schedule available here. 

For application information, submission, and any other inquiries, email Ted Witt at wittt@uww.edu by May 19th! Don’t delay!

Additional AI Learning Opportunities!

Artificial Intelligence tools continue to generate exciting — and nervous — discussion. Both the UW System and UWW are offering opportunities to explore and share experiences with AI.

Pexels Image by Hatice Baran

Incorporating AI Into Assessments – UWW Interactive Workshop
April 19th, 2023 – 3:30 to 4:30pm April 24th, 2024 – 3:30 to 4:30 pm – McGraw Hall 19A or Webex

Are you curious about how AI can save you time and improve your work?  The Learning Technology Center (LTC) is excited to host a workshop on how AI can revolutionize the work of designing assignments for instructors across all disciplines.

In this interactive workshop, LTC experts will:

  • Demonstrate specific use cases for using AI to generate ideas for assessments
  • Discuss strategies on how to implement these ideas directly into your assignments 
  • Provide hands-on exercises for participants to practice their new AI skills
  • Field live examples from participants to showcase the power of AI

Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to expand your knowledge and gain valuable insights! Register now!

AI Panel Discussions – UW System Learning Technology Development Council (LTDC)
April 18th, 2023 – 10:15 to 11am and 11:15am to 12pm – Zoom

The public debut of AI spawned a lightning reaction across educational technology; some are integrating AI driven chatbots into multiple applications, while others focused on academic integrity are rushing to install detection services. Where does this leave students, instructors and administrators? Is AI an industry changing tool threatening to change higher education forever? Or simply “spicy auto-complete”?

To discuss these and other questions, the LTDC has put together two panels of experts from across the UW System. Tune into to one or both sessions via Zoom. To participate, you will need to self-register in the LTDC Canvas Course. The Zoom links to each meeting are available in the course.

10:15 to 11:00 am – Student Panel

Listen and interact with a panel of students to explore how they are already using AI! The discussion will delve into how students are applying AI to daily life, including the benefits and concerns they have regarding usage.

11:15 am to 12 pm – Instructor Panel

Consult with a panel of instructors to explore how they are already using AI and ChatGPT!  Ask questions related to their concerns, academic integrity, or changes to fundamental subjects. What does the future of digital literacy and artificial intelligence look like? What can we learn from those who have already recognized ways to save time and improve student outcomes? 

Summer 2023 Online and Blended Teaching Institute – Call for Applicants!

The UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) is pleased to announce registration is open for the Online and Blended Teaching Institute (OBTI) for Summer 2023.

Summer allows the opportunity to pursue the online blended teaching institute from a hybrid modality! This could include working outside from a park.
pixabay photo by  BLACK17BG

OBTI aligns quality Canvas course design with best practices for teaching in a variety of modalities. Upon completion of OBTI, faculty and instructors will be well-prepared to design and develop their own courses and leave with tips to continue the iterative process for future terms. This course is most useful for people teaching online in the Winterim or Spring.

The Summer 2023 OBTI will be conducted as a hybrid experience with full LTC support and contact. This allows for two sessions of in-person instruction followed by optional Canvas labs. The remaining three sessions will be online (via Webex) workshops.

This session is designed as a cohort model, allowing participants to learn the best practices and view Canvas courses from other Whitewater faculty and instructors. Participants will complete a series of short online assignments, be provided a sandbox to design content, and develop objectives and activities to serve as an exemplar module that can be taken with them for their actual courses!

For more information or to enroll in this exciting training, contact Ted Witt.

Schedule of Activities  

DateTimeLocationTopic
Monday, July 10th10am – 12pmIn-Person on Whitewater CampusOBTI Workshop
Monday, July 10th1pm – 3pmIn-Person on Whitewater CampusOptional Canvas Lab
“Building Pages”
Wednesday, July 12th10am – 12pmIn-Person on Whitewater CampusOBTI Workshop
Monday, July 17th10-am – 12pmWebexOnline Workshop
Wednesday, July 19th10am – 12pmWebexOnline Student Panel
Wednesday, July 19th1pm – 3pmWebexOptional Canvas Lab
“What Students Want”
Monday, July 24th10am – 12pmWebexCohort Peer Sharing Session 

CSD / LTC Spring Accessibility Workshops

Designers Should Always Keep Their Users In Mind.  Only Then Can You Create Truly Innovative Solutions
Designers should always keep their users in mind! Join us for some bite-sized lunch and learn applied workshops on building more accessible classes in Canvas.

Join us this spring for a handful of quick “lunch and learn” workshops on accessibility and making a difference in Canvas for your students’ success! These workshops are held in person in McGraw Hall 19A or via Webex. These short workshops include 20 minutes of applied learning and demonstrations followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. Please feel free to bring a lunch!

To sign up or for more information:

Monday, March 13 at 12:10 pm: “The Visual Syllabus: Presenting a More Accessible, Visual Approach
Tuesday, March 14 at 12:10 pm: “Udoit: Course Accessibility Checker Part 1
Monday, April 10 at 12:10 pm: “Udoit: Course Accessibility Checker Part 2
Tuesday, April 11 at 12:10 pm: “What is UDL (Universal Design for Learning) and Why is it Important to Everyone?

A Call for Builders!

Come Build with the Learning Technology Center as we discuss the Educause 2023 Top 10 Information Technology Issues this Spring.  Image by Wokandapix
Come Build with the Learning Technology Center as we discuss the Educause 2023 Top 10 Information Technology Issues this Spring. Image by Wokandapix

The Educause Top 10 IT Issues describe the foundation models that colleges and universities will develop next year and beyond, acting on what was learned in the pandemic and framed by the three building blocks of leadership, data, and work and learning. In 2023, thinking is giving way to doing. The old foundations—from enrollment to credentials to the campus to decision-making—are showing signs of wear. Existing foundations need to be examined and strengthened. New foundations may need to be developed. Institutional and technology leaders are building solid foundation models for higher education.

Come build with the LTC this Spring as we do a focused study of portions of the report to explore these new foundation models: leadership (Leading with Wisdom); data (the Ultra-Intelligent Institution); and work and learning (Everything is Everywhere). The Educause Top 10 IT Issues 2023: Foundation Models, are Builders Group modeled on a book club format; participants are expected to come prepared to discuss short key readings inspired by the Top 10 IT issues to explore these foundation models, tackle challenges, develop recommendations, and craft solutions.

This series is appropriate for educators, leaders, administrators, and technologists. By the end of our sessions together we hope to foster cross-campus communication and networking while providing feedback to help shape the future of Whitewater’s technology strategy. We hope that you will be able to apply what you have learned to your teaching or administration. While each session is connected, it is not required to attend them all. Anyone with interest can join as few or as many as able.

Wednesdays 3:30 – 4:30 pm
McGraw Hall 19A and Online via Webex

February 8. Educause Top 10 IT Issues: Foundation Models
February 22. Leading with Wisdom
March 8. The Ultra-Intelligent Institution
March 22. Everything Is Anywhere
April 12. Solving Challenges: What Can We Do Now?
April 26. Applications: Recommendation for the Future and Foundations to Build.

LTC Construction crew:
Eric Loepp, Director of Learning Technology
Dana Wagner, Assistant Director, Learning Technology
Ted Witt, Teaching Learning and Technology Consultant