INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DESIGN THINKING

        In a world where technology is one of the most important tools to communicate and have access to information, it is necessary to live connected and updated with all the new tools coming up more when it comes to teaching and learning since technology is evolving. In fact, I consider that both technology and teaching are really linked nowadays. Even though I have been a person who studied and worked in an online environment, I was not in touch with the idea that Artificial Intelligence could be applied to English Language Teaching. That is why, as soon as I realized about the specialization course, I made the decision to enroll in it because this is a great opportunity to continue learning about new strategies to make teaching life enjoyable and to modernize myself into the teaching world. Since I know that this is an age of digital life, I would like to take advantage of the opportunity to inquire more about this outsanding topic.

        Every time that I am enrolled in a course, I am scared about the new challenges and activities that I have to perform since leaving your comfort zone is not a piece of cake. This is what exactly I felt the first time that the advisor of the specialization course explained the topics of each module we are going to study. Many emotions such as anxiety, fear, and tension were taking place in my brain. Nevertheless, during the classes I have challenged myself to participate and share my ideas because I am the kind of person who learns by practicing and sharing my thoughts and opinions. I really like the classes because I can interact and in every single class that I have been, I have learned something new to apply to become a better teacher. Nowadays, I feel more interested in learning how to apply Artificial Intelligence during my teaching because I am an online English teacher and obviously it is a plus for my own teaching journey. I am pretty sure that I am learning and taking advantage of all the information I can obtain from the course. At the beginning I had many doubts and problems, but as soon as I could define what I want to learn from it. I can say that I have been learning this path.

         The biggest expectation that I have from this specialization course based on Artificial Intelligence applied to English Language Teaching   is that at the end of it, I will be able to acquire the desirable knowledge to continue teaching with updated materials and methods as well as I expect to continue using Artificial Intelligence as a tool to facilitate my teaching life since I have learned during this time that Artificial Intelligence  will not replace at all the work that I am as teacher can do, and instead of seeing AI as my enemy, I can see as my allied to have better results on my students learning of the foreign language. Additionally, I hope to share the knowledge I am gathering here with all teachers and students who get interested in the topic. In simple words, I expect not only to get knowledge about how to use Artificial Intelligence for English Language Teaching but also to put it into practice because I think that it is not worth it just to learn theory and forget the practice. The implementation of this knowledge will be the key to improve the teaching world.

        To be honest, the first weeks of the course, I was kind of afraid of all the new information I was learning since I have never used Artificial Intelligence neither as a student nor as a teacher, so I was worried about the idea of creating materials or looking for information just by asking a question or giving an instruction to the tools we were learning to try out. Even  every concept seemed strange and  was new for me; however, through the classes of the course and the teacher’s explanation, I felt motivated to open myself to the experience of trying on new tools that are part of Artificial Intelligence. Now, I am thrilled to put into practice what I have learned; for that reason, I would like to share with everyone some of the most important concepts that I have learned in the course for them to get familiar with and get interested in this great topic.

        According to my understanding, I could define these concepts in the following way:

Artificial Intelligence: It is a field of computer science that enables computers and digital devices to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence.

Machine Learning: The ability of AI to learn and improve

Deep Learning: The simulation of the human brain in a computer

Prompts: The command or question given to AI which it responds to 

Hallucinations: Incorrect or nonsesical information generated by AI

Bias: Biased information, this can cause the AI to make unfair or discriminatory decisions.

Copilot: A virtual assistant from AI 

Design Thinking: A problem-solving approach

        Actually, these concepts challenged a lot of my previous understanding of English Language Teaching since I realized that Artificial Intelligence introduces new methods for English Language Teaching such as personalized learning experiences and adaptive content. Additionally, I found out that these technologies have the potential to revolutionize English language teaching, but they also pose new challenges and ethical considerations, so I may say that it is an exciting field with much to explore and learn about. Even though, now, it challenged my previous understanding, I am pretty sure that in a couple of months, it will not be a challenge, instead it will be a great acquiescence for me to improve my English Language Teaching.

        For the future, as an English Language Teacher (ELT), I could incorporate these concepts into my teaching in several ways:

        Artificial Intelligence has introduced new ways of teaching and learning English, so it can be used with AI tools which save time and focus more on students' needs. For example, AI-powered chatbots can provide instant feedback, answer queries, and even simulate conversations, enabling students to practice English anytime, anywhere.

        Machine learning and Deep learning could be incorporated in my future teaching by creating personalized learning paths, identifying areas where students struggle, and adapting content to meet individual needs. For instance, machine learning can recommend specific exercises to help students improve their learning of the new language. On the other hand, deep learning can be used in language translation tools.

        The design of prompts in AI-powered learning tools can challenge traditional teaching methods. Well-designed prompts can stimulate critical thinking and creativity, even enhancing the learning process. In fact, I could design prompts to stimulate students’ thinking and encourage them to practice their English skills. For example, I could use an AI to generate prompts for writing exercises.

        Hallucinations and bias cannot be applicable for teaching English, but hallucinations can highlight the importance of human oversight in AI-assisted language teaching. Whereas, bias has led to a greater emphasis on the ethical aspects of using AI in education, including the need for fairness and transparency.

        I envision several ways to integrate Copilot into my future teaching such as looking for interesting information on the internet and creating new activities for my students. Besides, I think that Copilot will be an invaluable resource, enriching language learning, sparking curiosity, and fostering critical thinking

        Design Thinking can be a powerful tool for English Language Teaching (ELT). Since this approach is divided into 5 stages which are emphaty, defination, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Here is a short explanation of how I will apply them in my teaching style.

Empathize with Learners: Understand your students’ needs, challenges, and motivations.

Define Problems: Identify the specific language learning problems your students are facing.

Ideate Creative Solutions: Brainstorm innovative teaching strategies that can address the problems you’ve identified.

Prototype Ideas: Implement these teaching strategies in your classroom.

Test Solutions: Evaluate the effectiveness of your teaching strategies

    I have realized that these concepts which are new technologies and tools can make teaching more efficient, engaging, and responsive to students’ needs. It’s a shift from traditional methods to more data-driven, personalized, and potentially unpredictable approaches which means that it may help me create a new environment for students who will learn the language in an amusing way. In point of fact, since I have learned about them, I am implementing them in my English classes for my students, and I will continue using them in my teaching.

        For that reason, I am quite sure that all the knowledge I am gathering from this course will influence my teaching methods in a positive and great way. As an example of it, I would like to share that I love to support myself using Copilot to create fill in the blanks activities for my students. Moreover,  I also ask Copilot to generate for me some short conversations or dialogues with new vocabulary that I am teaching to my students, so in that way, they can observe and learn how the vocabulary can be used in real context.

        Since I am just telling you How I have applied the knowledge I am acquiring, I would like to share the steps of creating the activity. In my case, some weeks ago, my students were learning the phrasal verbs BE OFF, TRY OUT, FIND OUT, CAME UP, GONE UP, DEAL WITH, GET TO, SET UP, SIT BACK, so I know that phrasal verbs are a difficult topic for second language learners consequently I decided to try Copilot and I designed a prompt that said “I need a short conversation using the phrasal verbs before mentioned for my A2 students”. As soon as I received the short conversation from Copilot, I looked for possible hallucinations inside of it, but I got surprised because all the phrasal verbs were really nice placed and used in real context. After doing that, I just delated the phrasal verbs and made my students guess which was the correct phrasal verb according to the context of the conversation. Later, they practiced their speaking because they read and had shadowing using the short conversation created by Copilot. From that day until today, I can assure you that Copilot is my favorite tool to create conversation for my students who need a little bit of help with the usage of Idioms and phrasal verbs in real context.

    In summary, as a teacher who has acquired basic knowledge about Artificial Intelligence (AI), I guarantee that I have learned that AI is an incredible tool to be used in teaching, and I consider that all my knowledge of AI will continue empowering  me to create an inclusive, forward-thinking classroom where students engage with AI concepts, struggle with ethical dilemmas, and develop skills relevant to the digital age.

    The best of this module was to find out that my expertise and understanding of my students’ needs are irreplaceable and that Artificial Intelligence will not replace my job rather it is an amazing tool that will make my work a little bit easier.

        Furthermore, I would like to share some content created by myself during the first module of the specialization course of Artificial Intelligence applied to English Language Teaching. These are the first creations that I hope to get from the AI.

        Let's start with the first one which is my favorite content, it is a Funko who looks like me. I used a lot of my creativity to itemaze the things it may have. I did it by creating a prompt in Copilot to generate the image. This is a proof that teachers may create whatever image is needed for the students learning process. It is well known in the teaching word that association is one of the best ways students can memorize things. Image, in that way, funny images could be use to memorize vocabulary. It is a pretty nice tool because sometimes it is very difficult to look for detailed images on the Internet.

         Another content that I would like to include is a presentation created by Gamma. To get this presentation, I just asked for a presentation with the difference between Gerunds and Infinitives and this tool by itself gave me all the info realted to the topic. On the other hand, to have more interaction with the students and an engaging class, Nearpod was used it, too. Nearpod is a tool which help a class to be more enjoyable because of the activities that can be played on it. Both Gamma and Nearpod were used to develop a English class where AI took place. 

Gerund vs Infinitive

        Furthermore, I would like to add the short conversation that I obtained from Copilot by using the Phrasal verbs with my A2 students when they were  learning  them (Be off, try out, find out, come up, go up, deal with, get to, sit back, set up).

"Artificial Intelligence is my support to create more enjoyable material based on my students' needs and make my teaching life easier", Carolina Díaz said.