Ep. 65 – Rethinking digital writing: how AI is changing the game
Digital writing is becoming increasingly popular with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent months, specifically with generative AI such as ChatGPT. In education, we need to embrace these technological changes and support students to be graduate ready using relevant technology. In episode 65, Dr Lucinda McKnight talks to Joan Sutherland about her role as an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow at Deakin University for educational impact and her research on writing in secondary schools.
Lucinda talks about her research in digital writing and how it can enhance the teaching and learning experience. She highlights the importance of gathering information about what teachers think digital writing is, how the nature of writing is changing and where this might lead in the future. They discuss how the use of AI content generation can be daunting even though we have been using it on our phones and in emails for some time – it is simply an extension of predictive text.
Lucinda shares the three components of digital writing that need to be considered and how these apply in the educational context.
They are:
- Operational
- Cultural
- Critical.
In our discussion, Lucinda explores and shares the self-audit questions you can ask yourself before using AI in your educational context.
For further resources on digital writing, follow Lucinda’s project blog or check out some of her publications:
McKnight, L. (2021). AI and the writing revolution: What should we teach. Independent Education (June). https://publications.ieu.asn.au/2021-june-ie/articles-4/ai/
McKnight, L. (2022, 14 October). Eight ways to engage with AI writers in higher education. Times Higher Education Supplement. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/eight-ways-engage-ai-writers-higher-education
McKnight, L. (2021). Electric sheep? Humans, robots, artificial intelligence, and the future of writing. Changing English, 1-14. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1358684X.2021.1941768
McKnight, L. (2021, April 9). In an AI world we need to teach students how to work with robot writers. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/in-an-ai-world-we-need-to-teach-students-how-to-work-with-robot-writers-157508
McKnight, L. (2021). Robot writers in education: Cheating… or world-beating? SCAN: The Journal for Educators, 40(6), 4-6. https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/media/documents/vol-40/Scan_40-6_July2021_AEM.pdf
McKnight, L. (2021, February 21). To succeed in an AI world, students must learn the human traits of writing The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/to-succeed-in-an-ai-world-students-must-learn-the-human-traits-of-writing-152321
McKnight, Lucinda and Thorley, James (2021). Anticipating the impact of AI-based writing on education and assessment https://www.turnitin.com/apac/videos/anticipating-the-impact-of-ai-based-writing-on-education-and-assessment
Listen to episode 65 to hear more about how AI can assist digital writing in education.