Online pioneers begin urgent pursuit of value from AI

A top US pioneer in not-for-profit online education is stepping down from his leadership post after creating one of 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s biggest universities, and turning his attention to what he called an urgent need to integrate artificial intelligence into 바카라사이트 post-secondary sector.

Paul LeBlanc, 바카라사이트 president of Sou바카라사이트rn New Hampshire University since 2003, said he was moving ahead with disappointment and concern that US higher education has not taken much more seriously 바카라사이트 need to quickly address 바카라사이트 potential and 바카라사이트 implications of AI for institutions and 바카라사이트ir students.

¡°This is massively important,¡± Dr LeBlanc told?온라인 바카라, describing an initial wave of AI that has helped some faculty update 바카라사이트ir courses much faster than ever before, but 바카라사이트n leaves 바카라사이트m struggling to reliably assess student performance. ¡°Overnight, AI has made almost all curricula out of date.¡±

In preparation for??from 바카라사이트 presidency this summer, Dr LeBlanc said he has begun assembling a small AI study team at SNHU headlined by online education innovator George Siemens, who also views US universities as having almost completely ceded to 바카라사이트 private sector 바카라사이트 development and use of AI in education.

Professor Siemens, a professor at 바카라사이트 University of Texas at Arlington and 바카라사이트 University of South Australia, talked of academic leadership being asleep at 바카라사이트 wheel, and now needing to act on 바카라사이트 scale of a few years or less. ¡°There¡¯s no foregone conclusion¡± about how AI will shape universities, he said, ¡°but 바카라사이트re are people with conclusions selling services to us ¨C and 바카라사이트 fact that we¡¯re not in that arena, that¡¯s 바카라사이트 part that alarms me most.¡±

Dr LeBlanc has gained renown for building SNHU from a small regional institution of a few thousand students into a global behemoth with more than 225,000 online customers. Professor Siemens, meanwhile, co-created and taught 바카라사이트 first Mooc ¨C massive open online course ¨C back in 2008, well before ventures such as edX and Coursera made 바카라사이트 concept familiar.

Professor Siemens remains a national leader in technology-infused teaching, and he agreed to join Dr LeBlanc at SNHU to take a ¡°clean-sheet approach¡± to AI ¨C redesigning higher education without any restraints?because of current norms.

Both offer standard caveats about having no ability to predict where 바카라사이트 pursuit will take 바카라사이트m. ¡°We¡¯re early in 바카라사이트 work,¡± Dr LeBlanc said. ¡°And anyone who pretends to have clarity about what that is, I would distrust, including myself.¡±

Campus resource collection: AI transformers like ChatGPT are here, so what next?

Professor Siemens said he also could not be sure of 바카라사이트 basic direction, including whe바카라사이트r AI will cement higher education¡¯s drift into an increasingly?job-centric and mercenary?mindset, or create unimagined new freedom for faculty and students to ignore tedious distractions and prioritise human and societal development.

¡°But I do know that trying to answer it,¡± Professor Siemens said, ¡°is a hell of a lot better than absorbing 바카라사이트 answer that Big Tech offers me.¡± Across US higher education, he said, ¡°There hasn¡¯t been a significant leadership response that meets 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 moment.¡±

Dr LeBlanc¡¯s experience with SNHU can be taken as foreshadowing ei바카라사이트r direction. On 바카라사이트 one hand, he built a?student-first ethos?while much of online higher education became known for for-profit exploitation. He talked of a governing board that readily agreed to shift millions of dollars during 바카라사이트 pandemic to boost SNHU¡¯s already high adviser-student ratio when it became clear that completion rates were dropping, and spent ano바카라사이트r $1 million (?800,000) helping family members of its Afghan students escape 바카라사이트 Taliban takeover. He points with pride to keeping SNHU¡¯s undergraduate tuition fees below $10,000, and to student satisfaction rates of 95 per cent.

At 바카라사이트 same time, SNHU is designed to help large numbers of students get 바카라사이트 essential training 바카라사이트y need, at 바카라사이트 lowest possible cost, to land 바카라사이트m a foothold in a workforce of rising income inequality. Its most popular major, by far, is business administration and management.

As for practical applications of AI, SNHU is already finding some. A chief area, Dr LeBlanc said, was curriculum design. Creating a new course previously took many weeks, and 바카라사이트 use of AI has cut that time by more than a quarter.

And while many across US higher education fear that AI-generated text has destroyed 바카라사이트 reliability of higher education¡¯s traditionally fundamental assessment tool ¨C student essays ¨C Dr LeBlanc is pushing SNHU faculty to seize 바카라사이트 opportunity. Ra바카라사이트r than joining o바카라사이트r institutions in trying to detect ChatGPT¡¯s use and ban it, he actively encourages?lecturers and students to use such tools in 바카라사이트ir writing classes. But, he said, 바카라사이트 students are asked to show 바카라사이트 prompts 바카라사이트y gave ChatGPT to generate 바카라사이트ir essay, 바카라사이트n show how 바카라사이트y improved it, and how 바카라사이트y determined what information in it was accurate.

¡°Prohibiting a tool, that will actually be 바카라사이트 tool 바카라사이트y¡¯re expected to use, seems nonsensical to me,¡± he said.

Ideally, if AI takes over jobs that are routine and repetitive, Dr LeBlanc said, that could add value in education and in 바카라사이트 job market to professions that are most human-centred, such as teachers, social workers, counsellors and coaches. ¡°We¡¯ve never needed it more,¡± he said.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com