AI Design Assistant - Discussions
Education
Introduction
The AI Design Assistant in Blackboard Ultra is a powerful tool that supports instructors in creating discussion topics aimed at fostering student engagement and promoting critical thinking as part of authentic assessments. Leveraging Anthology and Microsoft Azure's responsible AI framework, this feature generates suggested discussion topics based on your course’s title, description, and additional settings you specify.
The data entered into the Blackboard AI Design Assistant is utilized solely for your course and remains confidential, ensuring it is not shared with others or used to refine AI models. The AI Design Assistant is designed to enhance existing workflows, allowing instructors to maintain control over input data and critically evaluate the generated outputs.
Creating a Discussion Assignment
To begin creating a graded discussion assignment, navigate to the desired location in the content outline of your course. Click the "Add" button in the menu that appears, and select "Create." In the subsequent panel, choose “Discussion,” and you’ll be directed to the discussion topic creation page.
Autogenerate Discussion
On this page, click the “Autogenerate Discussion” button. You will be taken to the autogenerate discussion page, where initial suggestions are generated based on your course title, description, and module title. Use the settings on the left side of the page to customize your prompt, adding additional context and specificity, which can improve the quality of the generated content.
For instance, you might enter specific learning objectives from your syllabus into the description field (which allows up to 2,000 characters). Alternatively, click on the “Select Course Items” button to choose relevant content from your course outline.
Selecting Cognitive Levels and Complexity
Next, choose a cognitive level of assessment from the provided drop-down menu, which aligns with Bloom’s taxonomy. This assessment will enable you to select one higher-order cognitive skill for critical thinking, such as Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, or Create. For instance, if your learning objectives require evaluation, you can select “Evaluate” to match that level.
Additionally, choose a complexity level for the generated content using the complexity slider. The AI Design Assistant offers 10 levels ranging from low to high academic difficulty, catering to various academic levels. The default for the complexity slider is level seven, suitable for freshman or sophomore college students. Adjusting this slider allows you to tailor the discussion questions to appropriate academic levels.
The advanced options also include a language preference, enabling you to generate discussion questions in English, Spanish, or other languages.
Generating Discussion Questions
Once you’ve customized your prompt settings, click “Generate” to view the AI-generated discussion questions. It is crucial to review the results for accuracy and potential biases. If the output doesn’t meet your expectations, simply adjust your prompt settings and generate a new set of discussion questions. This iterative process may require some practice but serves as an excellent starting point for crafting your discussion questions.
When you find a suitable question, select it and click the “Add” button to return to the discussion creation page, where you can edit and customize the assessment further. After finalizing your discussion instructions, click “Save.” Initially, the discussion will be labeled as an ungraded activity.
Making the Discussion Gradable
To convert the discussion into a graded assessment, click on the settings icon in the settings panel and select the “Grade Discussion” checkbox. Additional settings, such as a due date, can also be customized. Once you complete the settings, click “Save,” and proceed to make the discussion available to students using the availability controls on the right corner.
Finally, exit by clicking the purple “X” button. Your new graded discussion activity will now appear in the content outline, allowing students to access it and submit responses for grading through the grade book.
Should you have any questions about the Blackboard AI Design Assistant, please contact online learning for assistance.
Keywords
- AI Design Assistant
- Blackboard Ultra
- Discussion topics
- Critical thinking
- Authentic assessment
- Cognitive levels
- Bloom's taxonomy
- Complexity levels
- Graded assignments
- Educational technology
FAQ
What is the AI Design Assistant in Blackboard Ultra?
The AI Design Assistant is a tool that helps instructors create engaging discussion topics based on course content, using AI to suggest relevant prompts aligned with assessment goals.
How does the AI Design Assistant ensure data privacy?
The data entered is only used for the specific course and is not shared with others or used to improve AI models, ensuring user confidentiality.
What cognitive levels can I choose from when generating discussion questions?
Instructors can select from various cognitive levels based on Bloom's taxonomy, including Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create, depending on the learning objectives.
Can I customize the complexity of the discussion topics generated?
Yes, you can adjust the complexity level using a slider that ranges from low to high academic difficulty, making it suitable for different educational levels.
What should I do if I’m not satisfied with the AI-generated discussion questions?
If the generated questions don’t meet your needs, you can modify your prompt settings and generate a new batch until you find a satisfactory option.