As technology evolves, the education field is following suit. A 360-degree camera can offer the experience of walking about Rome while sitting at a desk in the United States. Students interested in health care can see patients and work through different hospital scenarios in a controlled virtual environment. St. Ambrose is exploring these possibilities and more on campus.
What technologies are present?
Three new players are shaking up the academic world and beyond: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Artificial Intelligence. AR allows digital images to be layered into a physical environment through software, apps, and hardware, like AR glasses. VR creates an entirely simulated experience, allowing users a more immersive feeling using equipment like a VR headset. AI is shorthand for a suite of technologies used to teach computers to think and learn in ways similar to humans. AI programs can be trained to create images and videos, and answer questions. At St. Çï¿ûÊÓƵ, faculty and students alike have been learning to navigate the use of these technologies and the changes they bring to the classroom.
AR in engineering
At St. Ambrose, augmented reality has shown its value in engineering. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Mohamad El-Zein, PhD, assistant professor in the engineering and physics department, began exploring welding simulators. This allows students to practice the physical feeling of welding and work on their hand dexterity without needing access to expensive and hard-to-access machinery.
AR welding simulators allow professors to create welding lessons. Students strap on a large face shield similar to a traditional welding mask and use workpieces with code printed on the surface to track movements and replicate what the weld would look like.
This use of AR technology on campus spawned from the need for students to be able to practice welding, even if they couldn’t always access the classroom.
“COVID was a game changer, El-Zein said. "You have to find a way where students can do their thing, understand, and put it together. And that's why we decided we would go with augmented reality."
It also helps prepare students for the workforce. And it may give St. Ambrose students an edge over graduates of other institutions.
“I worked for Deere, and we were using augmented reality for 20 years in the industry. But in the university setting, it is not widespread yet, and that's why we want people to start using it in labs,” El-Zein said.
VR in Kinesiology
In May 2024, St. Ambrose hosted a VR training for professors interested in implementing the technology in their classrooms.
Sarah Eikleberry, PhD, assistant chair of the kinesiology department, was one of the professors who attended. Her focus is on sport studies and sport history.
While the discussions around implementing VR in her classroom remain in the early stages, Eikleberry believes VR technology would fit best in her Origins of Sport class, typically taken by first-year students.
“Students could actually go to a place like Coba, Mexico,” Eikleberry said. “They could ride a bicycle virtually through the forest to get to the ball courts and see how different they are. They can actually explore it.”
AI in classrooms
Recently, AI has become accessible to the general public in an unprecedented way through tools like ChatGPT. ChatGPT has a conversational format where users can ask the interface questions, and it will produce answers or content.
Students have easy access to ChatGPT and other AI tools which can be helpful in academic settings. For example, the studying website Quizlet now offers AI tutoring software alongside any flashcards created. This software quizzes users in a way that focuses on past areas of difficulty.
However, software like ChatGPT can also write essays and answer exam questions. Counter software exists to detect the use of AI in writing, which can serve as a deterrent to students submitting assignments, but this tech may not be foolproof.
As I was writing this article, I decided to explore AI detection software firsthand, as a professor might in their class. I uploaded a draft of this story into a program called ZeroGPT, with the title implying that it’s a counter to the use of ChatGPT. It identified my text as human-written, but also flagged 11.25% of the writing as AI GPT, through highlighted text marked, “suspected to be most likely generated by AI.” Even though AI software was not used in the writing of this piece, the detection software still highlighted sections suspected to be auto-generated. This could make it difficult to discern what was actually generated by AI and what could be falsely detected.
AI and academic integrity
In April 2024, Faculty Assembly formally adopted changes to the university's Academic Integrity Policy to address the use of AI by students in conjunction with academic assignments and assessments. The revisions allow the use of AI to complete assignments, so long as it is permitted by the instructor and appropriately documented by the student. The revised policy also clarifies that if the use of AI is prohibited by a faculty member, utilizing AI can be considered a form of unauthorized assistance – akin to copying another student’s work or using unauthorized materials while taking an exam – and penalized as such.
These technologies can change how students, faculty, and the general public go about their day, creating convenience and efficiency in needed areas. It may allow students in Eikleberry’s class to travel to faraway ball courts that would not have been accessible before. Students can practice their welding skills without needing direct access to expensive machinery. AI software can help students’ study sessions become more efficient. But there is still much to learn and explore as St. Ambrose embraces this new approach to learning and the availability of information, both in the classroom and beyond.