Eric Hudson is serious about creating meaningful learning, and his recent work has focused on AI in education. He says:
“How we frame AI for ourselves as educators will affect how we frame it for our students, and I believe strongly that how we talk to students about AI will have a lasting impact on how they see its role in their own lives.”
A few of our conversation topics:
- Students want to produce authentic and meaningful work (not just use ChatGPT for cheating).
- AI can serve as a tool for sparking ideas and offering 'positive friction' in the thinking process, ultimately enhancing the quality of student work.
- We should reimagine AI technologies as academic assistants rather than solely cheating mechanisms.
- AI has potential to empower students and enhance their work.
Eric is a facilitator and strategic advisor who supports schools in making sense of what’s changing in education. He specializes in learner-centered assessment, human-centered leadership, and strategic program design. Most recently, Eric spent a decade at Global Online Academy (GOA), first as an instructional coach and ultimately as Chief Program Officer, working with schools around the world to rethink where, when, and how learning happens. Prior to GOA, he spent 12 years in the classroom, where he developed his passion for designing learning experiences. Eric serves on the board of the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS) and writes the newsletter "Learning on Purpose" on Substack.
Highlights:
- 02:17 Eric’s Journey in Education and AI
- 03:43 Defining AI and Its Impact on Education
- 05:10 Exploring the Spectrum of AI in Education: From Skepticism to Empowerment
- 09:24 Navigating Academic Integrity and the Power of Productive Struggle with AI
- 12:30 Benefits of AI
- 18:42 Redefining Assistance: AI as a Tool for Enhancing Learning
- 21:39 Assessment in the Age of AI: Rethinking Educational Goals
- 23:16 Exploring AI in Education: A Model for Learning
- 24:01 Positive Uses of AI in Classroom Settings
- 24:13 AI as a Catalyst for Inquiry-Based Learning
- 25:23 AI in Language Learning: Bridging Gaps and Building Tools
- 26:35 Integrating AI into Academic Content
- 27:46 The SAMR Model: Revisiting Educational Technology Frameworks
- 28:29 AI and Creativity: Enhancing the Brainstorming Process
- 33:39 Addressing Concerns: AI, Copyright, and Equity
- 37:24 Strategic AI Integration: Policies and Flexibility for School Leaders
- 39:48 Concluding Thoughts on AI's Role in Future Learning
Links and further reading
- Eric’s Substack: Learning on Purpose: https://erichudson.substack.com/
- Eric on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejhudson/
- Po (Japanese translation bot: https://poe.com/JapaneseTutor
- SAMR model ed tech: https://www.edutopia.org/article/powerful-model-understanding-good-tech-integration/
- Article on AI being trained on writers’ work: https://crosscut.com/culture/2023/10/wa-authors-are-teaching-ai-how-write-without-their-consent
- Bloomberg study - racial bias in AI: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-generative-ai-bias/
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.