Introduction to Sweet GrAIpes
Stepladders to Educational Dreams
In the Aesop fable “The fox and the grapes” a fox discovers some beautiful and presumably delicious grapes, but they are out of reach. Unable to find a solution, the fox decides the grapes were sour anyway.
“Sour grapes” is now a metaphor about conflicting emotions: desire and frustration. Many educators see the grapes, such as individualized learning, durable skills (critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, etc.), emotional resilience, and love of learning. Those goals have seemed like dreams, prevented by constraints on teachers, schools, and students. It’s easy for unrealized hopes to get shrouded by tactical fires and more achievable aims. Inevitably, the sour grapes vibe sinks in.
Sweet GrAIpes is a newsletter about stepladders to educational grapes. The rewards really are sweet, but there are a lot of ways to screw it up too. I will discuss many facets of AI and it’s use in education, but Sweet GrAIpes isn’t entirely about AI. AI is a potential enabler, not the goal. Much of my writing is about cognition, curriculum, pedagogy, and leadership. My consulting business spans K-12, higher education, and corporate or continuing education. Sometimes I’ll focus in on one, but often I express notions that apply to every level.
What You’ll Get
Balanced Views
AI cheerleading or blanket criticisms are not credible. AI is many things, and it’s applied in many ways. Sometimes it’s helpful, and sometimes it’s potentially damaging. AI is both good and bad. Sweet GrAIpes deals with nuance.
Independence
I am an independent AI-in-education consultant, allowing me freedom to respectfully take on the current system in ways that are too risky for those in the system.
Priority on the Challenges, Not the Tech
AI is a change enabler, but the challenges remain the same: teacher burnout; student disengagement, students who are stunted or left behind, whole-student learning, and durable skill development, to name just a few. The paths to mitigating those challenges are tortuous, but AI can ease some of the constraints that has stymied progress.
Emphasis on Human-AI Collaboration
I chose the logo (above) and wordmark for Sweet GrAIpes to convey that the ‘I’ in AI intimately involves a human. For now, the onus is still on us.
A Deeper Look at AI Literacy
It’s not about prompting. Like with much of education, it’s about the durable skills like creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, etc. that enable people to adapt quickly and fill the roles AI cannot. The thing is, we don’t really know the best ways to improve those skills as the research is thin.
I have some ideas though!
New Paradigms
Impactful tech changes the way we work. Often it does so by reducing prior constraints or changing long-lived assumptions. In my experience working with many different industries, the people in the system are often unable to consciously see the opportunities. The constraints and assumptions are baked into their thinking.
My goal is to nudge your brain. I hope to get nudged in return.
Who I Am
I am unusual in the AI-in-education space.
I am not an educator, though I have taught at several levels.
I am not currently an AI engineer, though I developed and led AI efforts for 35 years, 30 of it at MIT.
I am not currently a leader, but I led 30-80 person R&D teams at MIT for twenty years. The emphasis was always change management, whether internally or for customers.
I do not have an education-related degree or credential, nor did my career in MIT’s national security wing allow me to show off such skills, but I am steeped in learning and education theory that combines insights from artificial intelligence, psychology, neuroscience, and education research.
I have no formal experience in curriculum or instructional design, but while at MIT I oversaw a talented team that developed game-based solutions over 15 years for many learning and analysis leads. (And this IS work I do in my consultation practice.)
But I believe I have the right skills for this conversation.
What you get from me is the ability to address major challenges from a variety of different perspectives. You get breadth. My interests have always been eclectic. As a result, I think I have ideas that are a bit different from the norm (but not wacky).
You be the judge!
You can learn more about me on my website (https://www.timdasey.com), or follow my daily thoughts on LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com/in/timdasey
Prior Media
For those of you who by now are wondering when a novel or even interesting thought will appear in this dry intro post, dig into the archive before Sweet GrAIpes was born.
Yeah…that means the rest of this is bibliography.
But the next post will get you thinking!
2023 Book
Wisdom Factories: AI, Games, and the Education of a Modern Worker
“AI will be the work experts, so humanity must supply wisdom. This requires upending a century of educational dogma.”
Recent Articles
Schools Should Foster Mind Wandering Skills Too, LinkedIn, June 4, 2024.
Teaching the Whole, Not Just the Parts, LinkedIn, May 29, 2024.
Categorization: A Human and AI 'Thinking' Fundamental, LinkedIn, May 22, 2024.
AI Can Help Durable Skills Through Concept Stretching, LinkedIn, May 14, 2024.
Bridging EdTech and Schools, LinkedIn, May 1, 2024.
Insistence on Evidence-Based Learning Can Stymie Progress, LinkedIn, April 23, 2024.
Duty-Driven Schooling is an Enemy of Engagement and Free Thinking, LinkedIn, April 12, 2024.
The Noise About AI Bias, LinkedIn, April 8, 2024.
Be Careful of Stealing a Student’s Realizations, Especially with AI Training, LinkedIn, March 20, 2024.
AI Literacy is the Art of Synergizing Intuitions, LinkedIn, March 10, 2024.
March 3, 2024 - ADHDs May Be AI-Era Stars If Schools Stop Getting in the Way, LinkedIn, March 3, 2024.
Liberal Arts Shouldn't Use AI as an Excuse for the Status Quo, LinkedIn, February 22, 2024.
AI May Drive a Crisis in Student Motivation; Individualization is the Remedy, LinkedIn, February 15, 2024.
‘Wisdom Skills’ Are Hard to Teach—AI Can Help, Inside Higher Ed, February 7, 2024.
It’s More Complicated Than “AI Won’t Replace Teachers”, LinkedIn, February 6, 2024.
Schools Should Borrow Change Processes From Software Development, LinkedIn, February 2, 2024.
AI Abstinence Makes Bad Outcomes More Likely, LinkedIn, January 22, 2024.
Detection of AI Cheating is Unreliable and a Distraction, LinkedIn, January 16, 2024.
AI Does Know More Than It's Taught, Medium.com, December 20, 2023.
The Premortem of AI-Induced Educational Change. Medium.com, December 7, 2023.
One Year Later, AI in Education Has Evolved From 'Maybe Useful' to 'Paradigm Changing', LinkedIn, November 16, 2023.
The Applications of Experiential Learning Through Games, TrainingIndustry.com, October 31, 2023.
Mitigating AI Bias Is Also A User Responsibility: Unpacking the realities of AI-generated bias in HR. HR.com, October 18, 2023.
The AI Debates Reveal an Education Community Echo Chamber, LinkedIn, August 18, 2023.
Podcast Appearances
Bias, Noise, and AI in Ed with Tim Dasey, Trending in Ed Podcast, Palmer Media, April 15, 2024.
391: Wisdom Factories: AI, Games, and the Education of a Modern Worker with Dr. Tim Dasey, Education on Fire Podcast, Mark Taylor, April 14, 2024.
What is the Impact of AI on Higher Education? With Tim Dasey, Papa PhD Podcast, David Mendes, December 7, 2023.
CAFE Ep 73 - Artificial Intelligence is Here, CAFE Talks Podcast, September 20, 2023.
Ep. 82 - Loosening the Reigns on Teaching with Dr. Tim Dasey, Science 360 Podcast, August 21, 2023.
AI is Just a Baby Right Now with Timothy Dasey Transformative Principal 552. Transformative Principal, August 17, 2023.
Wisdom Factories and AI Games with Dr. Tim Dasey, Trending in Ed Podcast, Palmer Media, August 7, 2023.
Unleashing the Future: The Crucial Role of AI in the Classroom, Class Dismissed Podcast, Ortego Creative, August 7, 2023.