Journal Entry #8

 The web design assignment was kind of difficult for me, but I think that's mostly because I'm a little impatient when it comes to myself. :) I learned a lot about formatting and different ways to edit pictures. I'm not sure if this is just an issue that I was having, but when I tried to click between the pages on the header, I would sometimes have to change the URL to go back to my home page to switch to a different page, or hit the back button to go back to the previous webpage, so that was another frustration for me. Working around Wix and changing the formatting of preset webpages and creating my own pages was an interesting experience, and I learned a lot about my own creativity when it comes to that! I liked this assignment because it forced me to sit down and work on something outside of my comfort zone, but I didn't like it for the same reason, haha. I think having a website like that in the future would be beneficial for keeping parents and students up to date on the happenings in and out of the classroom- especially with an interactive calendar! Here's the link to my website!

I have personally never use AI, nor have I ever had the inclination to use it. I am against the use of AI in an academic setting because it feels like a way to 'cheat,' for lack of better term. My husband, however, does use it. He uses it to check his homework for grammatical errors when he's in a rush or to find better ways to phrase a sentence. I think AI can be helpful, though, in non-academic settings, like Amazon suggestions basted on search history, or GoogleMaps recognizing that you leave your house at the same time everyday to go to work and suggesting different directions of travel to avoid traffic crashes on your usual route. 

I would ask that my students to avoid using AI in a classroom setting. I used ChatGPT for the first time for this assignment. The prompts can be relatively broad, but it's best to be as specific as possible to get the most accurate response. I asked the bot to write a short paper about the Third Amendment of the Constitution, which is a broad topic, and it produced a relatively well-written short essay about the history and context of it, along with the importance of it today. After doing this, I feel more firm in my opinion that using an AI bot in an academic setting should be frowned upon- it was far too easy to 'write' that paper. I would warn students against using AI and caution them that AI is not perfect and ensure that they're aware of grammatical, syntax, and verbiage mistakes made in these cases. I would also make sure students know that using AI can be a form of plagiarism in some cases.

AI can be productive in cases like my husband's, where it can check your grammar, like on Grammarly. It also be productive when it comes to things like easier online shopping. Using Alexa, for example, can make shopping on Amazon easier. I don't think I'll be using any AI that are similar to ChatGPT or anything like that, but I definitely use and take advantage of other forms of AI! Plagiarism detection is an important use of AI, so that is definitely something that I will use in my classroom someday.