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Generative AI - In Educational Technology

There has been a lot of talk about Generative AI tools that are easily accessible to the community. While these technologies may feel new due to their growing visibility, the underlying AI capabilities have been evolving for many years. As Generative AI becomes more common in educational contexts, it is important to understand what these tools can do and what considerations should be taken into account when planning and designing courses. This page was created to serve as a resource on Generative AI in education and will continue to be updated with new guidance, resources, and recommended readings as they become available. 

What is Generative AI? 

ChatbotGenerative AI refers to a category of Artificial Intelligence systems designed to create new content—such as text, images, code, audio, or summaries—based on patterns learned from large amounts of data. These systems are capable of understanding user prompts, responding conversationally, and generating outputs that resemble human communication. 

Generative AI is commonly used for tasks such as language translation, question answering, summarization, idea generation, and content drafting. In educational and professional settings, these tools can be adapted for a variety of purposes, including instructional support, feedback, content development, and productivity, when used thoughtfully and in alignment with course expectations and institutional guidelines. 

Generative AI systems, such as Microsoft CoPilot, are trained using a combination of supervised learning and reinforcement learning techniques. Many generative models—particularly large language models—operate by predicting the next word, symbol, or element in a sequence based on context. This prediction process is supported by training on large datasets, which helps improve accuracy, coherence, and relevance. 

During interaction, Generative AI considers the context of a user’s input and generates responses that are grammatically and semantically coherent. Reinforcement learning often incorporates human feedback to help the system better follow instructions, improve usefulness, and align outputs with expected norms. While these systems have access to a broad range of information, they can still produce factually incorrect, incomplete, or biased outputs, so it is important to verify AI-generated information before using it in academic or professional work. 

Due to their flexible design, Generative AI tools can perform tasks beyond those they were initially designed for, including: 

  • code and debug in different programming languages
  • translate text into other languages
  • compose music and song lyrics
  • write teleplays
  • write stories and poetry
  • create coherent and credible writing
  • emulate a Linux system
  • simulate an entire chat room
  • play games
  • solve mathematical problems

As with any technology, Generative AI is not inherently good or harmful—its impact depends on how it is used.Some concerns within the educational community focus on potential misuse, such as:

  • write student poetry, essays, papers, etc.
  • answer test questions
  • generate code for programming assignments
  • solve mathematical problems, displaying steps to solve

Note: Performance varies based on the model, training data, prompt quality, and use case. All AI-generated output should be evaluated critically.

It is also important to recognize that tools supporting these activities have existed for many years, and concerns related to academic integrity predate Generative AI.

The following strategies can help instructors communicate expectations, design meaningful assessments, and support student learning in an AI-enabled environment. The goal is to encourage skill development, ethical use, and transparency. 

Your First Step

A critical first step is to become familiar with Generative AI tools—their capabilities and limitations. Start by exploring Microsoft Copilot, an approved application for UTRGV that you can access through the My.UTRGV portal by selecting M365 under applications. In addition to reading about these tools, try using them yourself. As you experiment, consider how your students might interact with them and how they could impact your course activities and assessments.

Syllabus - Set Clear Policies

Clearly outline expectations regarding AI use in your syllabus. Start by determining which assessments, if any, will allow the use of Generative AI tools. If AI use is prohibited entirely, state that explicitly. If you permit AI for specific assessments, list those assessments and define what is allowed and what is restricted. For example, you might allow AI for brainstorming ideas in a research paper but prohibit using it to generate full drafts.

Policies should also include:

  • Whether AI use is permitted or restricted for each assessment.
  • Requirements for citation or acknowledgment of AI assistance.
  • Consequences for inappropriate or undisclosed use.

Ensure these guidelines align with course learning outcomes and institutional standards.

Discuss With Your Students

As important as setting expectations is taking time to communicate them clearly to your students. In these conversations, address the capabilities, limitations, and ethical use of AI technologies, such as Microsoft Copilot, and explain how these relate to your course objectives. Emphasize that the skills and behaviors they develop—such as critical thinking and responsible technology use—will transfer to future careers.

Part of using Generative AI effectively is having strong digital literacy skills. Students should understand that information provided by AI should never be accepted at face value. Encourage them to analyze, question, and verify AI-generated content critically. These practices not only support academic integrity but also prepare students for the workforce, where evaluating information and applying sound judgment are essential.

Impart A Growth Mindset

Remind students that learning takes effort and persistence, and struggle is a normal—and valuable—part of the process. When we work through challenges, our mind grows, and we build skills that last. Relying on AI tools to do the work for us may seem convenient, but it comes at a cost. Shortcuts limit our ability to think critically, solve problems, and truly understand the material. These are the very skills that make us adaptable and successful—not just in this course, but in our future career. Overusing AI means missing opportunities to grow, deepen our knowledge, and gain the confidence that comes from mastering challenges ourselves.

Assessment Strategies

Here are a few strategies you can use, depending on assessment type.

Exams/Quizzes

If you use exams or quizzes, avoid making them high-stakes assessments. Lowering the stakes reduces pressure, discourages cheating, and encourages students to focus on building their own skills and competencies. These assessments are best suited for checking foundational understanding and often do not measure overall course outcomes. If your quizzes are worth 30% of the grade, consider making them 10% and placing more weight on authentic assessments.

I. Consider the amount of time given

Providing too much time can create opportunities for students to look up answers externally. Here are suggested time limits per question type: 
  • True/False: 30 seconds
  • Multiple Choice: 60 seconds
  • Short Answer: 2 minutes
  • Essay: 10–15 minutes
  • Review: 5–10 minutes
Adjust these guidelines based on question complexity and accessibility needs. 

II. Use Lockdown Browser with Monitor

Lockdown Browser with Monitor can help deter cheating during online exams. However, its effectiveness depends on reviewing the monitoring results after the assessment. Without follow-up, the benefits are lost. For more information, visit Respondus Monitor.

Writing Assignments

There are different types of writing assessments, including essays, reports, projects, and more. To support academic integrity, UTRGV uses Turnitin for plagiarism detection. It’s important to understand how to interpret originality reports correctly. For example, a similarity score of 20% does not necessarily indicate plagiarism—reference lists and properly cited material often appear in other sources and can increase the percentage. For guidance, visit How to Enable Turnitin for an Assignment.

Turnitin also provides an AI writing detection report, which estimates the likelihood that text was generated by AI. However, this tool is not definitive and should never be the sole basis for academic misconduct decisions. AI detection results may misidentify content, so instructors must apply human judgment and follow institutional academic policies when reviewing reports. For more details, see Using the AI Writing Detection Report and Understanding false positives within our AI writing detection capabilities.

To deter inappropriate AI use, consider using detailed rubrics with clearly defined expectations and criteria. Rubrics help students understand what is being assessed, how grades are determined, and what standards are expected. They also emphasize original thinking and analysis. For more information, visit Beyond Fairness and Consistency in Grading: The Role of Rubrics in Higher Education.

Making Connections

Create assignments that ask students to connect course content with current events and or personal experience - experiential or dialectical learning. Currently, AI technologies have a hard time effectively connecting the dots between such sources of knowledge.

Rethinking Assessments to Include AI

New innovations bring both hesitation and excitement. With tools like Microsoft Copilot becoming common, it’s easy to imagine our students using them in future workplaces. AI literacy is quickly becoming an essential skill. If our goal is to create authentic learning experiences that prepare students for 21st-century competencies, we should design assessments that thoughtfully incorporate AI-generated content. Consider how integrating AI tools can enhance learning and equip students to use these technologies responsibly in their personal and professional lives.

Generative AI can support education in a variety of ways, including:   

  • Essay Scoring: Generative AI could be fine-tuned to evaluate the quality of student essays and provide feedback on grammar, organization, and content.   
  • FAQ Resource for Students: Generative AI could assist students in answering questions by providing relevant information from its training data.  
  • Language Learning: Generative AI could be fine-tuned to help students learn a new language by providing translations and helping with grammar and vocabulary.   
  • Study Material Generation: Generative AI could generate study materials based on a textbook or other educational content, such as flashcards and summaries.   
  • Tutoring: Generative AI could be fine-tuned to act as an AI-based tutor, providing personalized instruction and feedback to students. Examples: Step-by-step problem solving, debugging programming code.   
  • Automatic content generation: Generative AI could generate educational content such as problem sets, quizzes, and educational games.   
  • Assist in Content Accessibility: Generative AI could be fine-tuned to support accessibility through alternative formats and summaries. 

It is important to note that while generative AI can be fine-tuned for educational tasks, it does not replace instructor expertise or critical eye but rather assist them in providing more efficient, personalized, and consistent feedback to the students.

Added on September 11, 2023

Resources 

O’Brien, M. (2023, January 6). Explainer: What is ChatGPT and why are schools blocking it?. Ap News 

Schlosser, K. (2023, January 25). ChatGPT goes to college: Here's how the UW says professors should deal with AI in the classroom. GeekWire

Warner, J. (2023, January 4). How About We Put Learning at the Center. InsideHigherEd 

Contributors

  • Dr. Jessica Sanchez, Center for Online Learning & Teaching Technology
  • Raymundo Garza, Center for Online Learning & Teaching Technology
  • Roberto Rivera, Center for Online Learning & Teaching Technology