Waterloo Catholic District School Board
Podcast Encourages Open Dialogue and Understanding of Generative AI in Education
About the Art
The original painting is familiar, but not so known perhaps that you can definitively identify where the original piece ends and a new stylistic interpretation begins. This piece is humorous even for its time, but also speaks to the often macabre and hilarious early generative AI images where fingers are hot dogs, noses are pears. Built upon it are new interpretations of the theme in other art styles – impressionist brush strokes, watercolour, an eye inspired by the painting style of Hieronymus Bosch (one of the artist’s favourite artists). Peeking within and across are machine model commands, eroding into the work and fading through. This piece speaks to the importance and difficulty in detecting what is real and what isn’t in a new AI landscape.
Source image: Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526 or 1527-1593), Collection: Skokloster Castle, Sweden | Rights: Public Domain
Original artwork and auxiliary paintings by Aedán Crooke of Surface Impression. No AI was used in the creation of these original artworks.
The Waterloo Catholic District School Board’s “Deep Learning Dialogues” podcast educates and engages teachers and the community in meaningful conversations about the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on education.
The weekly podcast features interviews with a diverse range of stakeholders, such as educators, students, industry experts and parents. It focuses on the practical applications and impact of AI on teaching and learning, and covers topics such as privacy, safety and ethics. With engaging content and storytelling, the complex issues discussed are more understandable and relatable. Complementing the school board’s educator and student generative AI guidelines, the podcast also offers clear, actionable insights into government and institutional guidelines policies, guidelines and practices on AI.
Promoted via various channels, including social media, educators and the public are encouraged to share their views and experiences, including through a feedback form. The podcast is used as an innovative tool to support educators’ professional development, equipping them with knowledge and skills for integrating AI into their teaching practices responsibly and effectively. The format allows educators to integrate learning about AI into their busy schedules and get regular updates on the latest trends and best practices. Success of the podcast is measured through metrics such as downloads, listens, feedback, as well as uptake of the practices discussed in schools.
With the “Deep Learning Dialogues” podcast, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board is fostering an open and a transparent dialogue about AI in education. By creating opportunities to gain and share knowledge and insights, educators and other listeners can better understand, make informed decisions, and advocate for responsible AI practices in the classroom.
Transcript
The school Board is a public institution under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and that is the public sector legislation that guides access and privacy. It gives every person, any person, a right of access to information and it establishes the rules and responsibilities and obligations for a school board with respect to privacy. Now that is overseen in Ontario by an independent commissioner, the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario). They’ve got a fantastic website, Patricia Kosseim is the current commissioner, and she is very erudite and well informed, and we’ll probably come back to that in a few minutes. But anybody can go to https://www.ipc.on.ca/en and there are all sorts of resources there.
All accompanying materials available in English.
