techfaculty

AI bots can seem sentient. Students need guardrails

Faculty members have welcomed chat bots into their classrooms. But how will they help students manage AI’s sometimes-disturbing replies?

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Black and white silhouette of a woman with her palm to her forehead as she looks at a laptop.

Backlash as a university says its library will be 'all digital'

A merged institution born out of financial strain seeks to balance cost with quality, while also reaching more rural residents. But its botched announcement led to an outcry, an apology and a no-confidence vote.

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The upside-down reflection of a red barn.

ChatGPT sparks debate on how to design student assignments now

Some instructors seek to craft assignments that guide students in surpassing what AI can do. Others see that as a fool’s errand—one that lends too much agency to the software.

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Academics on Twitter disperse in wake of Musk takeover

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Whether Twitter is destined for a fast, slow or no downfall at all remains to be seen. But some in academe aren’t waiting: they are heading for Mastodon or other platforms.

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This photograph taken on November 7, 2022 shows the logos of social networks Twitter and Mastodon reflected in smartphone screens, in Paris.

For frictionless syllabus access, some bypass the college

Some professors provide students with barrier-free access to course information and materials, even when doing so requires extra work and leaves them feeling vulnerable.

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A screenshot of the syllabus for a photography class.

More professors now embrace Wikipedia in the classroom

Professors who incorporate Wikipedia-editing assignments into coursework enhance their students’ digital literacy skills while broadening their own roles—from educating college students to educating society.

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The Wikipedia homepage, with a magnifying glass focused on the banner.

Professors and academics will stay on Twitter—for now

Academics who tweet are weighing the opportunity costs of leaving Twitter while looking into other social media platforms. But few are fleeing the digital gathering space in which they have invested so much—at least not yet.

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Machines can craft essays. How should writing be taught now?

Artificial intelligence can now produce prose that accomplishes the learning outcomes of a college writing assignment. What does that say about the assignment?

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On the left-hand side, a person writes on a clipboard with a pen. On the right-hand side, a robotic hand types on a laptop keyboard.

Pioneers discuss the challenges facing computer science

As recipients of the world’s most prestigious computer science awards gather this month in Germany, they share concerns about teaching, ed-tech tools, and improving-but-still-low participation rates by women.

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Alexei Efros, a white man with his glasses pushed up on his forehead, is hunched over a laptop computer.

Who'll pay for public access to federally funded research?

The White House painted an incomplete economic picture of its new policy for free, immediate access to research produced with federal grants. Will publishers adapt their business models to comply, or will scholars be on the hook?

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An illustration of books in a large cage, with a small figure of a person holding a key.

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