Fifteen faculty members across the North Dakota University System have been awarded scholarships through the Dakota Digital Academy to attend conferences or professional development courses involving artificial intelligence, or AI.
The scholarships are $1,000 each, and were established to encourage professional learning and AI implementation in college classrooms.
Jerry Rostad is Vice Chancellor for Strategy and Strategic Engagement with NDUS. He says despite any trepidation or hesitancy regarding AI – it’s here to stay, and educators are hoping they can effectively use it and teach it as a valuable tool.
"I watched a video last fall where a guy built a course on the history of country music in Nashville, and it took him fifteen minutes to build an entire online course using artificial intelligence technology. And it was funny, because two days later I was having lunch with a faculty member, and she was telling me, 'I've got two hundred hours in my course,' building her course. So that right there demonstrates how much AI can be an influence for building classroom instruction, teaching, and supporting teaching."
The scholarships were awarded to instructors across a wide variety of disciplines – including nursing, social and behavioral sciences, nutrition and dietetics, and agriculture.