Book Launch: THE NEXT WORD: AI & Teachers

Join author Dr Nicholas Jackson for the Adelaide launch of his co-authored book: The Next Word: AI & Teachers out on 28th August through Amba Press

Scotch College would like to invite you for:

• Wine and cheese
• A short presentation by Nick on how the journey of authoring this book challenges the very nature of what we understand as writing and the role that Generative AI played in that journey
• Q&A with the author convened by Trent Driver
• Author book signing
• Great conversation and networking opportunities for anyone interested in contemporary education or AI

More about The Next Word: AI & Teachers:

"Jackson and Esterman have created a comprehensive guide to understanding and harnessing the power of AI in education. The authors' insights, direct writing style and practical advice make it an invaluable resource and essential reading for anyone committed to preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century."  (Bert Voerhoven, Program Director Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Newcastle, Australia)

“An excellent read for educators preparing for the integration of AI into the learning space. The mixture of background knowledge, educator voice and takeaways make it a wonderful tool for all teachers!”  (Tom Jenkins, Award winning teacher, Ohio, USA)

Our intentions, your intentions

Like the use of artificial intelligence tools, this book is as much about you and your goals as it is about what we think right now.

We have tried to aim the content of this book at anyone involved in education regardless of their skills and knowledge of AI. The intended audience is not solely those skilled in using AI or with deep knowledge of how AI works. We do not expect any reader to have experimented with AI but equally, the book is for those who are openly experimenting, probably sitting at option 3 or 4 on the spectrum. All are welcome to engage with The Next Word as a starting point, a step along the way but certainly not an end point.

We are positivists but also realists. Since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, we have been fervently discussing and sharing, playing and experimenting, reading and writing, largely concentrating on AI in education. Our working lives and beyond have been consumed by all this. We have worked together on many projects prior to the emergence of AI but none, in our eyes, have been as significant as this. The combination of constant AI developments and our collective desires to want to share our thoughts led to Zoom meets and Google Hangouts between the two of us. Sunday nights became a regular catch up and it is from those conversations that much of what you are reading here began to take shape.

Other sources of information for our thinking include the published works and blogs of leading thinkers across education, technology, business, futurism and more. We have our favourite podcasts and go-to reference works. We are both highly engaged in professional learning and networking and the sparks of inspiration and deep wells of wisdom that reside there. We have also spoken with many, many educators both in formal, recorded interviews and less formal, probably-caffeine-fuelled chats about how they think about and use AI. Many of the claims here will therefore be from our own lived experience and that of others. We have done our best to identify when we have drawn specific ideas from others, but we acknowledge it is at times a blurry landscape of thinking, interaction and idea formation.

Hence, it should be of no surprise that we do not see that this book has to be accessed in a linear fashion, although this chapter you are currently reading is provided at the beginning of the book and is intended to be read first. Likewise, the chapter towards the end of the book, ‘a few final thoughts, tries to summarise and bring together various themes in the whole book, so may be better read last. The remaining chapters sit independently despite having deep connections that focus on core elements of teaching, learning, assessment, education systems and governance. The content is intended to be insightful yet provocative and cover what we consider are some of the most important issues around AI in education right now.