Getting Started with the AI Guidebook
Important Note: AI technology is rapidly evolving, impacting college education in new and unexpected ways. The information and ideas shared throughout are not universal, prescriptive, comprehensive, enduring, or inflexible. This guide does not endorse the use of AI in all teaching and learning situations but instead aims to inform and develop relevant skills for wise pedagogical decision-making and practice. Information in this guide will be updated regularly.
Welcome and Introduction!
Welcome to our generative AI (AI) guidebook, designed to support and empower Conestoga College ITAL faculty in integrating AI into teaching and learning. This guidebook is hosted on the Pressbooks platform, providing a digital resource for college educators.
This AI guidebook is developed and updated by Teaching and Learning at Conestoga.
Sections of the AI Guidebook
This guidebook is divided into sections, each focusing on different aspects of AI in education. You can navigate to any section using the Table of Contents (on the left) or the Search feature (on the top right).
Overview of the AI Guidebook
1. Ethics, Resources, and Prompting in AI Education
Describes ethical standards for using AI responsibly, guidelines at Conestoga College for AI use, and fundamentals of AI prompting.
2. Our Teaching Work and AI
A guided reflection on our teaching mindsets regarding AI in education, focusing on becoming active operators of AI.
3. Outcomes-Based Education Planning and AI
Ideas to build or revise programs and courses, ensuring outcomes alignment.
4. Assessment of Student Learning and AI
Maintaining academic integrity, quality grading, valid assessment design practices, and clear information to students in the era of AI.
5. Lesson Planning with AI
Ideas for incorporating AI into lesson planning, including creating BOPPPS lesson plans.
6. Teaching and Learning with AI
Ideas for teaching with AI and teaching about AI, including risks and considerations.
7. AI and Research on Teaching and Learning
Research terms, scenarios, and practice activities related to AI in education.
The guidebook provides notes, cautions, and further information for using AI at Conestoga College in teaching.
Additional Information
- Reflections, Checklists, and “Try This” Activities
- Notes sections provide contexts, qualifications, or tips.
- Cautions warn about potential risks or issues that could arise if certain instructions are not followed and encourage the safe and effective use of AI.
- Conestoga Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines sections refer to relevant requirements and documentation for college employees.
- Learn More sections provide hyperlinks to supplementary materials or related digital resources containing more information, enhancing further understanding and application of AI.
Downloading the Guidebook
A digital copy of this guidebook may be downloaded in PDF format, but certain activities and links may not work offline. The guidebook will be updated as needed, so view downloads as point-in-time documents.
AI Application Focus of the Guidebook
The AI Guidebook follows college guidelines for using college-licensed tools.
Conestoga’s Licensed Generative AI: Copilot
AI is built to serve different purposes. Generative AI uses a conversational approach, a large language model (LLM), and a vast training data set to create new content and provide learning opportunities. Conestoga’s licensed Microsoft Copilot app provides security and privacy for college and student intellectual property.
If you have an interest in using a non-licensed third-party AI tool in your classroom, complete an AI Experiment Form (available in the Using Generative AI at Conestoga site) to align with institutional guidelines.
Caution
Use licensed AI apps for work duties and exercise caution when using non-licenced AI tools. Exercise caution with AI use. For more information, see the Generative AI at Conestoga SharePoint site and the Hub post, Uses of Student Work: What You Can and Cannot Do.
Other Apps that Use AI
While the AI guidebook does not focus on teaching with other apps using AI, certain suggestions and activities may apply.
The college licenses other apps that use some form of AI. Assistive AI provides automated writing feedback support, correcting grammar, and suggesting improvements. Grammarly is Conestoga’s licensed assistive AI web app that aids in various tasks, such as content generation and editing, focusing on maintaining a secure environment for data handling.
The Downloads section on Conestoga’s IT resources lists other software that may incorporate AI. Some software and apps require a request: see IT Service Request Forms.
Learn More
Learn more about Getting Started with Grammarly, Exploring Grammarly, and Faculty Ideas for Talking with Students About Grammarly.
Pedagogical Premises of the AI Guidebook
Ideas and suggestions in the AI Guidebook are grounded in the teaching and learning principles of outcomes-based education and learner-centred pedagogy.
The Outcomes-Based Education Triangle
Grounded in the outcomes-based education (OBE) framework, the guidebook aims to align AI integration efforts with clear, measurable learning outcomes (Biggs & Tang, 2023). This triangle model emphasizes the interconnectedness of learning outcomes, assessment strategies, teaching methods, and resources. The guide aligns with the OBE framework, including research on teaching for continuous learning and improvement.
Social Constructivist Perspective
Learner-Centred Pedagogy
This guide aims to place students at the center of teaching and learning with AI. Learner-centred pedagogy prioritizes students’ needs, experiences, and active engagement in the learning process, fostering their critical thinking and autonomy through active learning (Moore & Dawson, 2022). Learner-centred pedagogy aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to empower themselves by using tools such as AI to guide, support, and enhance learning.
In the context of AI, learner-centred AI pedagogy moves students away from a passive approach to using AI and toward an active yet critical exploration of the features and functions of AI for learning. To use AI tools effectively and responsibly in active learning, students must know the technologies’ functions, strengths, and weaknesses (Ng, Leung, Su, Ng, & Chu, 2023).
Pedagogical approaches differ in programs and courses at Conestoga; this guide may be limited in providing AI information for specific fields and professional areas. For more specialized support, contact Teaching and Learning: teachingandlearning@conestogac.on.ca.
Learn More
Learn how AI can be used in higher education right now: See Uses of AI Chatbots in Education and Generative AI Applications and Tools (Faculty Learning Hub).
Pathways to Maximize Your Experience with the AI Guidebook
See below for some tailored pathways to help you get the most out of the guidebook. Each path is designed for different experience levels and user needs. Use these pathways to find the most relevant information for your teaching practice.
Select the accordion items below to explore a pathway for you.
Learn More
Learn more about the topic of The Evolving Field of GenAI Chatbots (Faculty Learning Hub).