Artificial intelligence has quickly forced its way into the majority of digital life. From Sora deep fakes to fabricated AI studies, this technology is everywhere. Many people fear the repercussions and ethical considerations of integrating AI into our daily lives.
Whether AI feels daunting or inspiring, it’s clear this technology is here to stay. Embracing it thoughtfully is key to navigating the opportunities and challenges it brings for our future.
WKU has hit the ground running by developing a new AI graduate certificate designed to prepare students for leadership roles in areas including K-12 education, higher education, educational technology, training and development roles.
Jeremy Logsdon is an assistant professor in the School of Teacher Education at WKU and is the director of the Center for Literacy.
The fully online certificate is designed to train educators how to use AI “responsibly, appropriately, thoughtfully and ethically,” Logsdon said. He is one of the creators of the program.
Logsdon also said that a program like this has been needed for a while.
“The interest was widespread,” Logsdon said. “So we knew we had an opportunity to meet the needs of a lot of different folks, and we took advantage of the moment.”
Logsdon is right, the moment is here. There is no more time to question whether or not we should be using AI, because people are.
College students sit in the middle of an active class and plug their quiz questions into ChatGPT. Every time you make a Google search, an AI-curated answer is at the top of the page; we can’t escape it.
Through this certificate, students will learn how best to utilize and integrate AI technologies into diverse learning environments to enhance teaching, personalize learning, ensure digital safety and meet the ever-evolving needs of all their future students.
“Our students will learn when to use artificial intelligence and when perhaps is not the time to use it,” Logsdon said.
Hailey McBride is a senior interdisciplinary studies major in the College of Education and Behavioral Science. She said she can see the impact of AI disadvantages, such as cheating, data privacy, and online safety. McBride said she thinks that the certificate can lessen these disadvantages.
“I think the topic of AI can be very controversial,” McBride said. “But I don’t think anybody creating the certificate has gone into it not recognizing that there might be people who aren’t as intrigued or excited to see it happen.”
Preparing students to take on the future of education will require dedication, passion and a willingness to innovate. From what I’ve observed, these terms describe the team that pushed for this certificate’s implementation.
Among Logsdon, the certificate has also been spearheaded by two other passionate members of WKU’s School of Teacher Education, Andrea Paganelli and Susan Keesey.
After spending some time with them, I believe these three have taken a balanced and well-thought-out approach to the integration of AI, which is exactly what has been missing in other AI spaces.
One of the first models of AI to be released was GPT-1, a model first released by OpenAI in June of 2018, according to TTMS. From there, it’s only grown.The boom of AI that most of us can remember was between 2022 and 2023 when ChatGPT really gained traction.
Logsdon said he first heard about it in the Student Success Center in January of 2023. He said that by May of 2024, professors were already faced with it in the classroom.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” Paganelli said.
However, McBride said that this is the right faculty to take it on.
“They are very concerned with students and want to ensure that what they’re putting out into the world and the changes that they’re asking are what’s best,” McBride said.
Paganelli said this certificate gives the university a head start and a chance to get out in front of AI.
“This certificate gives us that opportunity to help our leaders in those areas be strong in the use of artificial intelligence, understand where it is now, where it’s going and how they can implement it,” Paganelli said.
McBride said that the certificate could potentially reduce some of the disadvantages of AI. She also said that if people learn the best and most ethical ways to implement AI before getting out into the field, it can decrease the damage that AI causes.
Not only will this ethical implementation help students in the classroom, it will alleviate some burden off of future teachers by equipping them with the necessary tools to understand this technology without adding extra workload once they get into the field.
“It takes the load off of teachers having to learn about it while actively teaching classes,” McBride said.
AI is evolving at a rapid pace, and we have to do our best to stay on top of it. Day by day, these technologies are shaping the way we learn, work and make decisions. The time to fight and fear AI has passed; now we must learn how to adapt.
Logsdon said this fear people feel is normal and expected.
“Every time there’s been a major educational shift, people have been afraid of it, that includes things like the fountain pen,” Logsdon said. “People thought the fountain pen was going to destroy education because people would forget how to write properly.”
McBride said she feels that the outcome of AI is in the hands of the user.
“I think it has the potential to be a positive change in the classroom,” McBride said. “It really depends on the person using it.”
I think this certificate helps to ensure that those teaching the next generation use AI ethically and safely.
“It comes back to people making their own individual decisions and then being a part of that larger conversation happening,” Paganelli said.
This AI conversation is everywhere, filled with many different perspectives and feelings, like panic and enthusiasm. This certification and its objectives seem like a step in the direction of balance, making sure that as AI evolves, we have the tools to match its pace.