The EdTech News for Friday, March 17, 2023: AI Supports Reading Development, Educators Detect AI-Generated School Work

by Kate Baggott
March 17, 2023
The EdTech News for Friday, March 17, 2023: AI Supports Reading Development, Educators Detect AI-Generated School Work

AI and student mental health remain the big issues across the teaching and learning sphere. EdTech developers and watchers alike may need automated help to catch up. Luckily, that help is now in existence.

AI Tutors for Learning Languages

You can now learn foreign languages with an artificial intelligence tutor. The Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) created the AI tutor to introduce deep learning-based dialog processing technology. The tutor is the first reading comprehension education application of the technology. Currently, users in Korea can use the tool to learn English, while English-speaking users can learn Korean.

The AI Tutor supports learners through reading and listening exercises based on textbooks. The tutor asks questions about the content and opens a discussion about the readings to evaluate the learners’ responses.

“I hope that AI technology for reading will be of great help to native and foreign learners who want to study reading with native English teachers.” Said Lee Yoon-geun, Director of ETRI Artificial Intelligence Research Center.

Press release: https://www.newswise.com/articles/etri-introduces-ai-tutor-who-teaches-foreign-language-reading

AI and Academic Honesty

Looking for AI to make your life easier? Students who thought ChatGPT would save them study time are learning otherwise. AIWritingCheck.org is another tool educators can use in the movement against academic dishonesty. Education non-profits Quill.org and CommonLit.org developed the service. Teachers simply paste text passages of up to 400 words to check if it was AI-generated. Educators are still advised to be cautious when bringing concerns about AI-based cheating forward. Tests showed the tool to be accurate 80% to 90% of the time, and the creators say it is meant only as a stop-gap measure until more sophisticated AI-detection tools are made available to schools.

“As tools like ChatGPT become ubiquitous and more advanced over time, many fear that millions of students will stop engaging in the critically important intellectual exercise of carefully reading a text, building a response, applying the rules of grammar, and revising their writing with feedback,” said Peter Gault, Quill.org’s Founder and Executive Director. “While Quill is built on top of AI, we believe that AI should be used to encourage students to do more writing, not for the AI to write for the students.”

Press release: https://www.pressrelease.com/news/education-nonprofits-release-free-tool-to-detect-chatgpt-generated-21938780

New STEM Curriculum from The Smithsonian and U.S. Department of Defense

The partnership trend in teaching and learning is ongoing. This week’s big partnership announcement? The Smithsonian’s Science Education Center teamed up with the U.S. Department of Defense’s STEM Office. The partnership has created instructional units for grades three and five. The units are designed to encourage using STEM and computational thinking to define and solve real-world problems.

The instructional units have met the requirements and outcomes required by several standards bodies. These include the Next Generation Science Standards, the Computer Science Teachers Association K-12 Computer Science Standards, the International Society for Technology in Education Standards, and the Common Core Mathematics Standards.

Press release: https://www.pressrelease.com/news/smithsonian-science-education-center-and-department-of-defense-launch-21936896

Concerns about youth mental health have dominated the education agenda since the pandemic lockdowns. While K12 and Higher Ed institutions are convenient places to deliver mental health information and identify problems, educators aren’t qualified to deliver mental health treatment. Promoting tools that encourage youth to use resources off their campuses is underway, but direct outreach on campus remains problematic.

In the Canadian province of Ontario, one part of the solution has been to create Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) for youth between 12 and 25. The YWHO) is a network of 22 local hubs in 30 communities that bring together all the area’s resources for youth to focus on an integrated services approach to delivering care. The network was created to close gaps in the youth mental health and substance use services system.

The YWHO has partnered with Verto Health to launch a unified digital YWHO front door and client portal. The portal can be found at www.youthhubs.ca.

Press release: https://www.canhealth.com/2023/03/15/verto-ywho-creating-portal-for-youth-mental-health/

What’s new in the Edusity family?

This week Cudoo helps everyone who skipped Spanish in school with enough vocabulary to be polite on their spring break in Mexico. https://cudoo.com/blog/survival-spanish-for-spring-break/

The Professor Services blog advises people looking for their first teaching job. https://www.professorservices.com/blog/imghow-to-get-your-first-adjunct-teaching-job/

Also, academic job seekers can get insights directly from a hiring manager. Mary Beth Kuriko is the Dean of Continuing Studies at Thomas Jefferson University. Register now to get the tips you need: https://on.zoom.us/e/view/kyxqJK8cRamq-r8FwGqbpQ

The Babb Group spoke to CSUDH Dean J. Kim McNutt about his leadership style. https://www.thebabbgroup.com/blog/all/how-i-lead-lessons-from-dean-j-kim-mcnutt

Edusity has help for English learners just figuring out capital letters. https://blog.edusity.com/how-to-use-capital-letters-in-english/

Keep watch on your favorite channel for the next issue on March 31!

Disclosure notice: The EdTech News is created and distributed by the Edusity family of companies, an EdTech consortium dedicated to removing barriers to education and ensuring access to job skills. Together, the companies offer a full complement of educational development and consulting services. Companies in the consortium include Edusity, The Babb Group, Professor Services, and Cudoo. Compiled from recent press releases, this bi-weekly feature covers the latest news in EdTech, online education, teaching and learning, instructional design, and curriculum development.
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Kate Baggott

Kate Baggott is Head of Content and Communications for the Edusity family of companies that includes The Babb Group and Professor Services. A digital content veteran, Kate's portfolio can be viewed at http://www.katebaggott.com
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