Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly become a prevalent factor in modern education. It can draft papers, images, and even music to varying degrees of success. Educators' understanding of and policies surrounding AI is lagging behind the student's understanding and usage of it. This guide aims to provide sources to help create a better understanding of AI and how to interact with it in a classroom.
Many AI systems, especially chatbots, take the information provided and use it as part of their training data. One of the major concerns for both educators and students is protecting the students’ and colleges’ sensitive information. Some AI platforms are willing to enter contracts with higher education providers allowing users to have access to their platform and keep the provided information secure. Unless the Alamo Colleges enters into such agreements it is essential for AI users to remain vigilant in protecting student and college data. Information about FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) and other sensitive information is available through Alamo Talent classes. For additional questions, please contact the District Ethics and Compliance Office.
Most of the boxes below contain tabs. Please click on the tabs for additional information.
Building an Artificial Intelligence:
Generative AI
Machine Learning (ML)
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Large Language Model (LLM)
Small Language Model (SLM)
Using Large Language Models
Hallucination
Prompt
Prompt Engineering
Understanding Large Language Models (LLMs)
Parameters
Tokens
Training Data
Ozuna Library has access to the following databases aimed at educators.
Generative AI in higher education : the ChatGPT effect by 
International Perspectives on the Role of Technology in Humanizing Higher Education by
The debate around how to maximize the use of technology in education is ongoing, and embedded in the argument that successful inculcation of knowledge cannot happen only by improving the curriculum. But what role does technology play in humanizing higher education? How can it facilitate the kind of all-round development, beyond the classroom, which allows students to create a positive impact on social welfare and community wellbeing? The authors of this volume address the humaneness that surrounds the world of technology in education. By highlighting the use of emerging technologies in pedagogy and drawing on real-life case studies, they address the ongoing debate that technology brings a positive effect on education and beyond. More important than ever as mankind faces unprecedented challenges to classroom-based education, and the demand for technology grows, the authors demonstrate how technology continues to fulfil the challenges of creating a more democratic educational environment.
Higher Education at the Crossroads of Disruption by
The digital transformation of higher education has the same reputation as the higher education sector itself: rigid and reluctant to change. Covid-19 has radically changed this rigidity, with thousands of Universities compelled to go 100 percent online in just a few days. Threatened by edtech start-ups, big tech corporations increasingly interested in academia, as well as venture capitalists attracted by the sector's high profit margins, Universities need to change their way of doing business to stay in business. Higher Education at the Crossroads of Disruption: The University of the 21st Centurylooks at the various areas of higher education that will likely undergo radical changes. Learning and teaching approaches will increasingly move into the digital sphere; advances in artificial intelligence as well as (big) data availability, will change the way academia works. This books examines how teaching formats will vary, and how curricula and course content will evolve. Higher education will most likely focus on skills development, with a stronger emphasis on inter- and multidisciplinary study content, and a steady turn toward society's well-being and sustainability. This is essential reading for those holding a leadership position in higher education, researchers with a focus on higher education, and to anyone interested in the evolution and future of higher education.
Higher education for good : teaching and learning futures by
After decades of turbulence and acute crises in recent years, how can we build a better future for Higher Education? Thoughtfully edited by Laura Czerniewicz and Catherine Cronin, this rich and diverse collection by academics and professionals from across 17 countries and many disciplines offers a variety of answers to this question. It addresses the need to set new values for universities, trapped today in narratives dominated by financial incentives and performance indicators, and examines those "wicked" problems which need multiple solutions, resolutions, experiments, and imaginaries. This mix of new and well-established voices provides hopeful new ways of thinking about Higher Education across a range of contexts, and how to concretise initiatives to deal with local and global challenges. In an unusual and refreshing way, the contributors provide insights about resilience tactics and collective actions across different levels of higher education using an array of styles and formats including essays, poetry, and speculative fiction. With its interdisciplinary appeal, this book presents itself as a provocative and inspiring resource for universities, students, and scholars. Higher Education for Good courageously offers critique, hope, and purpose for the practice and the trajectory of Higher Education
Below are a few of the common AI systems:
Please note that most of these systems have a free and a paid (often subscription) service. Several of the training and webinars discussed in other sections will refer to services not available in the free version.
Several companies have taken advantage of the fear around Chat GPT and other AI platforms by creating AI detection tools. These tools have a high rate of false positives; causing some schools, such as UT Austin, to advise teachers to limit the use of AI detectors. Other schools, such as Vanderbilt University, are outright banning the use of AI detectors. Below are links to some of the most popular AI detectors currently available. Use at your own risk.
Links to articles and discussions about how to incorporate AI into the classroom.
Updated as of 11 Sep. 2024
The Alamo Colleges has recently released a "Guide to Developing Syllabus Statements, Class Policies, and Assignment Policies Regarding Generative AI". The guide notes five points of consideration:
The District has also added wording about the use of Artificial Intelligence 4.2.2 Academic Integrity Disciplinary and Appeal Process.
District has also noted, "Faculty reserve the right to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) detection software to find instances of AI-generated content in student submissions".
Discussions about AI with people working in educational spaces.
The Alamo Colleges offer several training courses related to AI (Artificial Intelligence). Most of these trainings are prerecorded and available through Alamo Talent; such as "Levering Generative AI for Instructional Use". Occasionally in person training and activities are available at one of the Alamo Colleges or District; on the 18th of April, "Building AI Agility: Charting the Future of AI at Alamo Colleges was offered at Northeast Lakeview College".
Coursera is an online course provider; working with universities and other organizations to provide courses, certifications, and degrees. Coursera's programs can be accessed with a one time or subscription payment, however many of the courses can be audited. Coursera has many classes on AI in general and a few specifically for AI in education. Some of the classes about AI in education are aimed at teaching younger students, but they contain good foundational information and ideas. Many classes across all platforms, not just Coursera, that are aimed at higher education are more focused on the developmental and technical realities of dealing with AI and less on the practical usage of AI in the classroom.
Three courses worth looking into are "Innovative Teaching with ChatGPT", "Generative AI in Education", and "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Education for Teachers".
Image is a link to "Bringing AI Literacy to the Higher Ed Institution" webinar through Grammarly.
25 Mar 2025
Update to Alamo Colleges District Policy and Procedures C.09.02. The following list are prohibited websites or developers that lean on their AI usage and/or creation.
MLA (Modern Language Association) and CCC (Conference on College Composition and Communication) have formed a joint task force to develop resources, guidelines, and professional standards around the use of AI and writing.
This joint task force will work to address a number of member needs related to Writing and AI (Large Language Models, ChatGPT, LaMBA, etc.) such as the following:
