Another blog about AI and higher education?
To answer the question in the title: In short, yes. At length, yes, but it's complicated. Do read on!
In this article I will briefly introduce myself, lay out the motivations behind this blog and what I intend to use it for.
About me
I teach academic language and literacies (ALL) to both international and domestic students in the UK. Before that, I taught English for academic purposes (EAP) and English as a foreign language (EFL) at universities in Japan. By March 2027, I will have been teaching[1] the English language for 25 years, and academic language and literacies[2] for 15 years. Along the way, I took an illuminating detour through learning technology, where I supported students and academics with digital tools like Turnitin and virtual learning environments (VLEs) such as Moodle and Learn. I enjoy my work immensely. There is little in the world that makes me happier than being in the classroom with students, building positive learning relationships with them and supporting their success.
I also enjoy learning. In terms of formal learning, I hold a BA in Philosophy, a PGDE in ESOL, an MSc in Language Teaching and a Postgraduate Diploma in Blended and Online Education. I'm currently about halfway through a part-time PhD investigating whether generative AI - specifically LLMs - might be used to add to ALL support in a safe, ethical, reproducible[3] and pedagogically-grounded way that defends and supports the professional standing of academics within the discipline, instead of undermining it. I will write about this later, so won't overdo it here. With regard to informal learning, I have my own nerdy pursuits. I will demonstrate the truth of the joke[4] and advise you that I am a Linux user (Kubuntu, btw). I prefer to spend my computer time in that environment, although I do maintain a Windows installation for my other interests - digital music production and online gaming. Also, Teams in the browser doesn't support virtual backgrounds, giving me a dilemma: Do I dogmatically stay in Linux for my supervision meetings, potentially showing my supervisors that my mancave is an abominable mess, or do I grit my teeth and reboot into Windows? Vanity determines that outcome.
Apart from establishing that I've been doing this a long time (which may, perhaps, not be the flex I think it is, depending on who you ask), it should also at least suggest that I care about language (especially the written word), language teaching, technology, and the academic endeavour. I may also have some authority to comment on such things, although that is, of course, for you to judge.
Why another blog about AI and HE?
One reason for this blog to exist is simply because I enjoy writing. The act of sitting down in front of a keyboard and starting to type helps me organise my thoughts. Indeed, I find it also helps me have thoughts - sometimes I don't really know what I think until I start writing. I've been reading, planning, watching videos, attending lectures and seminars, talking to people, and generally immersing myself in my PhD topic for more than two years now. Like a good stew, ideas take time to properly come together. I'm now finding that ideas are coming quicker than can be reasonably incorporated into my PhD plan, and that they are often outside the scope of the project - on topics that are adjacent, but not central, to my main theme. It seems a waste to let them just drift off into the aether. At least this way a bot will scrape them and maybe ChatGPT will spit them out later someone might find them organically through search and think about them.
I'm also beginning to find that my knowledge and understanding of my PhD topic and related areas is now such that I feel I can, and want to, speak with some confidence on it. I will almost certainly get things wrong, especially on the highly technical software engineering and computer science elements, for, it should be clear, I am neither a software engineer nor a computer scientist. I will not, therefore, comment much (if at all) on these deeper technical aspects of generative AI. Nevertheless, I am comfortable using the technology, certainly more so than the majority of my ALL colleagues. Besides, much of the really interesting stuff going on around generative AI is in its economic, social and, for me, educational impacts and potential applications. As an educator, I feel my perspective is well-informed and may be useful for others in my discipline and beyond.
A blog seems the ideal place for this.
Notes:
[1] That's a future perfect continuous construction, for the language nerds.
[2] EAP is sometimes used seemingly interchangeably, although it is an older and narrower term which carries some baggage in that it suggests that only international students need the kind of support offered, when in fact native English speakers can also benefit.
[3] By "reproducible" here, I mean that I intend to develop a protocol for the development of LLM-based ALL tools that others can follow, reducing the amount of work they have to do.
[4] For the uninitiated, the joke goes: How do you know someone uses Linux? Don't worry - they'll tell you.