Using Artificial Intelligence in an intelligent way

At the 39^th Annual Diocesan Catholic Educators’ Conference, teachers and staff deepened their knowledge about an important topic: Artificial Intelligence. How can educators navigate the pitfalls and harness the power of AI to enhance learning and save time?
 
The day started with Mass at Most Precious Blood Church, celebrated by Bishop Michael Mulvey. The day's keynote speaker was Dr. Monica Burns, an EdTech consultant and founder of ClassTechTips.com, who explained how to navigate the world of AI – and how it is already in many tools we use. “Artificial Intelligence can accelerate learning, but not substitute it. It helps us to work smarter, not harder,” she said.
 
She demonstrated how chatbots like Chat-GPT, Gemini, Claude and CoPilot can save time – in her opinion, up to 70-80%. “If you need to turn a list into a table or write a thank-you email to volunteers, chatbots are a very helpful tool,” Burns said. Users can choose the tone “and maybe add extra love and appreciation to a message.” After receiving the first proposal, the user can continually refine the result – “make it shorter or friendlier.”
 
Another way to use AI is to develop ideas or connections. For example, how do you combine learning fractions with basketball? What specific historical events happened in a particular geographic area? “AI can help us come up with unexpected results,” said the expert. The user could also choose “unexpected questions or connections” to develop creative approaches. She encouraged the teachers to experiment with using AI in innovative ways.
 
Six religion teachers were recommissioned for the upcoming year, and three teachers were commissioned to teach for the first time. The Office of Catholic Schools and Superintendent Dr. Rosemary Henry awarded many teachers and staff members for five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty and thirty-five years of service at Catholic Schools. A big thank you for their faithfulness and dedication!