MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DESIGN THINKING

INTRODUCTION

At the beginning of the specialization course I had very high expectations as I wanted to learn more in depth about artificial intelligence and its key concepts, and how it could be a powerful tool for my professional development as an English language teacher. When I started module 1 I had to understand several AI concepts that were not common to me such as 'Algorithm', 'Generative AI', Deep Learning', 'Machine Learning', 'LLMs', 'Natural Language Processing', 'prompt design and prompt engineering; this module comprises the introduction to artificial intelligence and its history over the years, some tools for learning and accessibility for the learner. In addition, I studied how to create effective prompts following the anatomy of prompts 'PARTS'. Also, creating images using AI like gemini, microsoft copilot, GPT chat was very useful as I put into practice the knowledge of prompting to be able to create and replicate any image and Funko Pops with precision.

On the other hand, I had in mind that AI would be my virtual support partner and not a substitute for my work which would help me improve in any area of my career such as innovating my teaching methodology, saving time in the process of creating study materials and later I learned that I should always check for hallucinations in the content created by AI. Therefore, I learned how to create lesson plans from scratch and presentations using AI. In addition, I gained more knowledge about AI by completing my 9 certifications throughout this module which helped my team and I to be able to develop our design thinking project.

REFLECTION ON KEY CONCEPTS

The most important concepts I learned in this module were Artificial intelligence which is practically many techniques used to train a computer to perform tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence. In addition, algorithm is another concept I learned which is a set of step-by-step instructions that tell a computer how to solve a problem or perform an assigned task and it learns from the data it receives. In addition, Generative AI which is a type of AI that helps us to generate new content such as images, text, audios, and even videos with unique results from the data obtained.

I found interesting how deep learning is essentially a machine learning technique that uses the computer to make decisions and process information. In addition, I understood the concept of prompt which is simply the instructions I give to the AI to tell it what I want it to do or generate and the more extensive and detailed the prompt is the better the result I will obtained. The anatomy that a prompt should have was easy for me to remember which is persona, aime, recipient, theme, and structure.

Also, it drew my attention that prompt design and prompt engineering are two closely related concepts in Natural Language Processing (NLP) which is the ability of AI to interpret human language. However, prompt design is the general process when I create a prompt that is detailed for a specific task that the system is being asked to performe, and prompt engineering is a prompt that is designed to improve performance. In other words, it is necesary for systems that require a high degree of acurracy or performance. Also, it drew my attention that large linguistic models have practical advantages and use cases in teaching English as a foreign language, such as that a single model can be used to solve tasks like translation, text classification, sentence completion and question answering, etc.

My certifications in AI

My experience taking the certifications in this module was very good as I was able to delve into more technical topics about artificial intelligence and the potential it has for content generation using Generative Ai. Furthermore, I obtained certifications from Microsoft, Google Cloud and IBM that demonstrate my commitment to continue learning and further educating myself as a professional in my teaching skills by implementing the essential knowledge learned about artificial intelligence in my teaching. Although these certifications seemed more for developers I was able to understand the benefit it has for educational purposes as well. In addition, I learned about the responsibility and ethics of using AI while taking into account its values such as transparency, accountabilty, fairness, and privacy. Besides, I learned how to conduct a project based on design thinking thanks to the knowledge gained in my IBM certifications about 'Enterprise Design Thinking'.

Here are my certifications obtained in this module:

The concepts of this module challenged me in how I previously viewed the way I taught and created educational content for my classes since in an English language teaching practice I had to create a class from scratch on all conditionals and I did not have much time. Therefore, I decided to ask IA for help to create innovative and appropriate activities for my students; however, I did not have advanced knowledge in IA. Consequently, the result was very good as I was able to save my time in creating content for my class. Therefore, the concepts I have learned in this module have helped me to understand more how IA works and how we can implement this amazing tool in generating my own didactic content for my classes. I can now create better study materials by applying the anatomy of prompts effectively. In addition, IA has helped me to innovate my teaching methodology and thus increase students' learning in the English language.

I plan to implement these concepts in my future teaching by using IA responsibly, following ethics when using it and creating innovative content for my classes and taking into account the type of learning of each student; for example, I will apply the concepts learned from prompting anatomy to create my own custom flashcards on any topic I will be teaching,  sometimes I will create custom Funko pops for when I teach any topic in my classes. In addition, I will create videos of famous people giving a message to my students such as the American novelist and essayist F. Scott Fitzgerald giving an overview of his novel ‘'The Great Gatsby’'. This will capture the students' attention and they will have more interest in the content of the class. On the other hand, I plan to create lesson plans from scratch using AI, but always reviewing all the generated content and giving my personal touch to it. Besides, I plan to create more creative slides by making use of apps such as gamma, canva ai, Chat GPT, and gemini, saving time in the process. Therefore, I will create a more creative atmosphere in my classroom and teaching methodology. Moreover, 

CONCLUSION AND KEY LEARNINGS

The introduction to artificial intelligence and design thinking influenced me to see AI as an innovative and essential support in this changing world for English language teaching. In addition, I learned to pay more attention to people's needs and how to find ways to solve a specific problem using design thinking. Essentially, I understood that great linguistic models help us accomplish tasks such as classifying, summarizing, translating, generating content, and interacting with virtual assistants to our advantage. Therefore, I plan to integrate more creative visual resources using IA into my teaching methods as this will help capture attention and have a more significant impact on student learning. Moreover, I will implement innovative teaching methods using gamification; for example, create an interactive games on a topic studied in Kahoot and allow students to earn emblems, points, and be on a leaderboard upon completion. Also, I will create customized material using AI for students considering their learning style to meet their needs.

On the other hand, my group and I created a design thinking project focused on solving a problem of an advanced English student at the University of El Salvador; therefore, we followed the established stages of design thinking cycle: empathy, define, ideate, prototype, test, and launch and evaluate. Thus, through interviews and by creating an empathy map we learned what our user was saying, feeling, and thinking about their problem so that we could find solutions to their specific problem later on. We put our knowledge gained from our IBM certifications to the test as we were able to carry out each step of our project in an orderly fashion. After discussing and searching for more than one possible solution, a definitive one was established. Therefore, we designed effective and customized learning lesson plans with a detailed step-by-step study guide for our user to follow and also for our user to use the ELSA Speak trainer. The developement of this project really challenge me at first, yet I was able to develop it successfully with my team. 

Doing this project, I realized that design thinking is very important as it helps us to create things that people really love and find useful and as a graduate student of English Language my priority will be my students and understanding their needs to find practical and effective solutions if a problem is present in my classes with my teaching methodology or something else. I found it fascinating the way I worked with my team and we tried things step by step. In this way, we came up with new and clever ideas that actually worked very well and were easy for the user to use. Also, this way we reduced the chances of things going wrong and spent our time wisely. In other words, we made sure that we were building exactly what we wanted to solve the problem in the best possible way. 

 Incorporation of content created with AI:

I created my own Funko based on a prompt taught in class by teacher Isaac Diaz. I chose this picture because I realized it is a suitable way to teach any topic in English such as introducing new vocabulary to students like clothes, parts of the body. Moreover, I am able to teach grammar and sentence structure; for example, prepositions of place, adjectives to describe, comparative and superlative adjectives, etc.

Example prompt: Funko figure of a latino male smiling, called ISAAC DÍAZ , wearing a black jacket, a white t-shirt, and blue jeans, short black with some gray hair, and black beard. The funko is displayed inside and outside a limited editIon green and yellow Funko box with DIGITAL DRUID text, allowing visibility of the figure, typography, 3D render white background. 

My prompt for my own Funko Pop: Create a limited Funko figure of a smiling white male called, JULIO MONTERROSA, using black hipster style glasses, with short black curly wavy hair and brown eyes, wearing a black jacket, white t-shirt, and black jeans, brown shoes; accessories include a black bracelet on the right wrist and a brown bracelet on the left wrist. The funko is displayed inside and outside a limited Funko box with DIGITAL GRUID text, allowing visibility of the figure, typography, 3D render white background.

These images are the result of my first practice in class on how to replicate an existing image without having an example prompt. Consequently, I was able to replicate it successfully using Microsoft designer's image creation AI. It is worth noting that another benefit of image creation is the brainstorming and visual storytelling for educational purposes.

My prompt: Create an image of a Lego dressed as a Viking with a silver Viking helmet, long hair and black beard, black eyes, holding a silver sword; he is in front of a golden iron throne in the style of “Game of Thrones”.

MY RESULTS REPLICATING THE IMAGE

I did my best to replicate the image above by creating the most detailed prompt possible about it. This picture demonstrates my dedication and improvement in the development of my prompts taking into account the anatomy of it to replicate accurate and more detailed images as well as Funko Pops for many educational purposes. The creation of images using Ai is very useful for visual communication and the design of more creative didactic materials.

My prompt: Create an image of a central black and white illustration of a female figure with red hair, wearing a long sleeve blouse and black circle skirt and formal black shoes, sitting on a small globe. The figure has her arms raised. There is a cloud above her left hand. Surrounding the central figure and the Earth are a number of smaller, diverse drawings, including: an intricately detailed pocket watch, a rocket, a calculator, a graduation cap, a female symbol on top of the woman, an alarm clock, envelopes. The main drawing is surrounded by a variety of creatively arranged art materials: a watercolor palette with vibrant colors, a variety of colored pencils, a smart phone that has a pink border on the lower left side, and an ornamental desk plant in the upper right corner, realistic style. These items are arranged in the background, suggesting that the drawing was created in a creative workspace, possibly at a desk or art table. The image has the following color details: while the central drawing is monochromatic, the artistic materials in the background add pops of color. The watercolor palette shows a variety of shades, and the colored pencils offer a range of warm and cool tones, such as reds, yellows, blues and greens.

Personalized Lesson Plan

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tvpBRcEhWGkvPHyoithmMwNEPCOayHAX/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=111929287241018633976&rtpof=true&sd=true

In the shared link you will find a personalized plan that I have created for a student who is just starting to learn English, and whose basics of English have not yet been fully introduced. Therefore, the activities proposed for this class have been carefully selected according to the student's level. I made use of my modified prompt that was taught in class to help me create appropriate content and also added my personal touch to it. In addition, I have created more creative support material for lessons with image generation with Ai to teach the alphabet, nationalities, and colors and this has made me get better at creating prompts.

The prompt I used to create this lesson plan is as follows:

'You are an expert in English as a Foreign Language. Write a 90-minute lesson plan to teach an introductory class using the greetings and introduce yourself + personal pronouns + the Alphabet to a single adult student in El Salvador who is a beginner learning A1 level English. The lesson plan should be focused on the four macro skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing practices that are easy for a beginner to follow. Include at least two fun, engaging and interactive activities for each macro skill for the student to develop. Write the activities with detailed steps that both the teacher and the student should follow to carry out the tasks. Create SMART objectives for the lesson. Write the lesson plan taking into account the example I shared with you above'.

The Alphabet:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PYYh1Vupi_XvCbUM0EV5jVyxEj8xWjk2pWLu_fCaB4U/edit?usp=sharing

Colors and country Flags

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G9aoklT2lX_gIApogXYoD3phhvMIUm5wyZ7Tfn4rzZk/edit?usp=sharing

Slides generation with AI: The planets of the solar system

https://ues1-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/mr19016_ues_edu_sv/EVfTaxODtXhAo9MhcdIEEOQBbWtmemImrn1saqjUpgXAyA?e=p4nEHw

I created this presentation about the planets of the solar system describing the ecosystems of each one, and a curious fact about them using Chat GPT. So, I asked it to generate it for me in VBA format, and then activated the programmer mode in my PowerPoint to paste the generated code from the presentation. Then I pasted the code in the instructor module option of Powerpoint, executed it and in seconds it generated the presentation where I could edit it with other designs and I could correct some minimal errors that were presented. At first I felt it was a tedious process, but when I developed practice it became very easy and I was able to save a lot of time in creating my presentation; therefore, I will use this technique to create effective presentations in my future classes.