Editor’s Observe: Jacqueline Jones is the MSW Area Coordinator on the College of Alabama at Birmingham and one among my colleagues within the UAB Division of Social Work. She has over six years of expertise supervising college students throughout discipline placements and eight years of social work observe expertise. On this weblog put up, she shares how she makes use of synthetic intelligence instruments to enhance her instructing and save time.
I believe, in some ways, social employees shrink back from expertise and, seemingly, superior laptop programs. In an ever-evolving world the place social media, e-mail, and looking the World Large Net are actually at our fingertips, I imagine social employees ought to embrace the usage of expertise of their observe and what it’s able to doing to assist not solely us however our purchasers, too.
I’ll increase on utilizing one particular realm of expertise in social work schooling: synthetic intelligence or AI. Presently, I function the Masters of Social Work (MSW) Area Coordinator on the College of Alabama at Birmingham, which implies instructing seminar programs for discipline schooling. This semester, I made a decision to make use of AI to help me in growing in-class actions for my MSW college students.
What’s AI? Right here is the reply that ChatGPT gave me in a matter of seconds to provide you a glimpse of what AI can do.
“AI, or Synthetic Intelligence, refers back to the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, significantly laptop programs. It entails the event of algorithms and software program that allow computer systems to carry out duties that sometimes require human intelligence.”
My very first use of AI in my instructing got here after I wanted another task for a scholar unable to take part in a required in-person simulation exercise. I wished to be inclusive and supply another alternative for this scholar that would offer related studying outcomes to that of a scholar who did take part within the simulation. I used to be fighting growing an alternate task that would offer the identical data to the scholar. I acquired an e-mail that morning about exploring a particular AI platform, ChatGPT, for instructing social work programs. So, here’s a screenshot of the immediate that I used:
I’d like to notice right here that I did inform AI what sort of simulation it was, because the extra particular you’re along with your prompts (i.e., the requests you sort into the AI program), the higher your outcomes. AI then generated an alternate task, linked here. The task included the usage of a case state of affairs however didn’t present the precise state of affairs, so I continued in the identical chat thread a request for a case state of affairs for the alternate task. It then generated a case state of affairs for the task. Now, I did assessment the task and proper a number of issues, however total, it was a fairly seamless course of from begin to end. The factor about utilizing AI is that, with the best prompts and edits, I used to be capable of accomplish my job in much less time, and I couldn’t have finished it with out my social work data and expertise.
I’ve used AI in different methods for my seminar programs this semester. Listed here are some examples:
- Creating in-class actions associated to the totally different subjects being coated in school to assist join the ideas to actual world examples.
- Broaden on the method I exploit to have college students share their experiences of their discipline placement by having a standardized, written description of the “Rose, Bud, Thorn” exercise. AI generated a written course of, and a method for me to be extra formalized in my technique of doing the exercise with my class.
- Generate Affiliation of Social Work Boards (ASWB) observe examination questions for my class to do as a gaggle. AI additionally offered the solutions to the observe questions and the rationale for the solutions it offered.
- Rewording of an task {that a} scholar was struggling to interpret. See the screenshot beneath of my immediate.
- I’ve even used a special AI platform, Tome, to develop a presentation for me, simply to see what it may do. I used to be impressed.
- Helping with the event goals for a presentation.
All of that is to say that AI can be utilized as a instructing software for social work educators. Listed here are some tricks to think about while you begin utilizing AI to enhance your instructing:
- It’s not able to human emotion. A big a part of social work entails with the ability to take human emotion into consideration. So, in an space the place college students must give attention to human emotion, AI will not be the very best place to get data or actions. AI is continually studying, so what it is aware of right this moment shall be totally different from what it is aware of tomorrow. However, should you constantly use a sure AI platform, it’ll study from you.
- One other factor to contemplate, there are such a lot of totally different AI platforms out there. If you’re searching for one thing particular, like assist growing a presentation, scheduling, citing sources, the choices could possibly be limitless, do a web-based search to see if there may be AI expertise that already exists that might show you how to. Right here is an AI tool directory to assist get you began.
- And one final consideration to depart you with, ensure that you’re taking into consideration the moral issues when utilizing AI. It’s not human. It’s a software that may be very useful, however it isn’t the top all, be all. It’s not to exchange the human thoughts.
AI is just not going away, and I believe a part of shifting ahead with the occasions consists of studying to make use of AI and instructing our college students to make use of it as a software. I’ve at all times thought there was an intersection between expertise and social work. I’ve spent lots of my skilled years determining the place that intersection was. And I believe I’ve discovered it. I’d love for different social employees and social work educators to fulfill me there and increase on what AI can do for the social work discipline.
How are you utilizing AI to help your instructing? Please depart me a remark.
Find out how to cite:
Jones, J. (2023, December 8). Utilizing AI in Social Work Area Schooling. Educating and Studying in Social Work. https://laureliversonhitchcock.org/2023/12/08/using-artificial-intelligence-in-social-work-field-education.
