Author: Graham Attwell

I’ve been looking at how we could use Open Source software to develop Generative AI applications for education. Of course one of the issues is data for training the AI. And its interesting that reports say that the quality of training data is getting worse, probably because so much poor quality data is being produced by AI. So I was interested in an article, The Making of PD12M: Image Acquisition, published on the Spawning blog. It reports that in the evolving landscape of AI data collection, the Spawning team has introduced Public Domain 12M (PD12M), a innovative 12.4 million image-text […]

I am very impressed with a paper, Towards social generative AI for education: theory, practices and ethics, by Mike Sharples. Here is a quick summary but I recommend to read the entire article. In his paper, Mike Sharples explores the evolving landscape of generative AI in education by discussing different AI system approaches. He identifies several potential AI types that could transform learning interactions: generative AIs that act as possibility generators, argumentative opponents, design assistants, exploratory tools, and creative writing collaborators. The research highlights that current AI systems primarily operate through individual prompt-response interactions. However, Sharples suggests the next significant […]

In last weeks edition of her newsletter, Philippa Hardman reported on an interesting research project she has undertaken to explore the effectiveness of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini in instructional design. It seems instructional designers are increasingly using LLMs to complete learning design tasks like writing objectives, selecting instructional strategies and creating lesson plans. The question Hardman set out to explore was: “how well do these generic, all-purpose LLMs handle the nuanced and complex tasks of instructional design? They may be fast, but are AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini actually any good at learning […]

Is Artificial Intelligence challenging us to rethink the purpose of Vocational Education and Training? Perhaps that is going too far, but there are signs of questions being asked. For the last twenty five years or so there has been a tendency in most European countries for a narrowing of the aims of VET, driven by an agenda of employability. Workers have become responsible for their own employability under the slogan of Lifelong Learning. Learning to learn has become a core skill for students and apprentices, not to broaden their education but rather to be prepared to update their skills and […]

What ever you think about Artificial Intelligence, it cannot be denied that it has generated – and continues to generate – a lot of hype. And in the AI and education field it feels as if the hype is advancing, perhaps because education is seen as massive market for shiny new (and expensive) toys. So I liked this recent post on LinkedIn by Andreu Belsunces Gonçalves about Critical Hype Studies. A panel at the EASST/4S conference aimed, he says, “at outlining what the field of critical hype studies could be. Although we’re still in the early stages, here are some […]

George Bekiaridis and Graham Attwell have made a keynote presentation to the Second Conference on the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture and Vocational Education and Training to be held on 24 and 25 October 2024 at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. The event was be dedicated to discussing the chapters of the new publication on the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC) and VET. In the presentation, Transforming Vocational Training – AI in theory and practice, they introduced ongoing research on using Activity Theory to analyse the impact of AI learning as a […]

There’s an interesting post from Philippa Hardman in her newsletter today. Entitled Are ChatGPT, Claude & NotebookLM *Really* Disrupting Education?  her research asks how much and how well do popular AI tools really support human learning and, in the process, disrupt education?She created a simple evaluation rubric to explore five key research questions:  1. Inclusion of Information 2. Exclusion of Information 3. [De]Emphasis of Information 4. Structure & Flow 5. Tone & Style Philippa Hardman used her own research articles as the input material, which she fed into what she says are considered to be the three big AI tools for learning:  She prompted each tool in turn […]

Here’s the follow up I promised in my last post about earners’ and teachers’ Agency and Gen AI. Motivation plays a crucial role in the learning process. As opposed to behaviorist theories of learning,  learners are increasingly seen as active participants in learning leading to a focus on how learners make sense of and choose to engage with their learning environments (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018). Cognitive theories, for example, have focused on how learners set goals for learning and achievement and how they maintain and monitor their progress toward those goals. While earlier research focused largely […]

It is true that there is plenty being written about AI in education  – almost to the extent that it is the only thing being written about education. But as usual – few people are talking about Vocational Education and Training. And the discourse appears to almostdefault to a techno-determinist standpoint – whether by intention or not. Thus while reams are written on how to prompt Large Language Models little is being said about the pedagogy of AI. All technology applications favour and facilitate or hinder and block pedagogies whether hidden or not (Attwell G and Hughes J. 2010) . […]