Tag: Tips

  • Solutions for Students Skipping Classes: Tips to Boost Performance

    Solutions for Students Skipping Classes: Tips to Boost Performance

    High education institutions and colleges are trying hard to suppress student skipping rates to boost performance and improve education standards. Management is trying hard to tackle truancy by imposing strict penalties on students skipping classes. Suspensions can only count as time missed from classroom instructions. Parents also face a blitz on attendance, and they are trying to keep students in higher education.

     

    No more students skipping classes – try these out!

    With nearly 25% of students admitting to skipping classes, we have churned out 10 sure-fire ways to tackle the issue behind students skipping classes. Easy to adopt, try these out for a result in a split-second.

     

    Techniques to tackle students skipping classes

     

     

    Monitor Attendance

    This is practically the first and foremost way when trying to clock in to stop students from skipping classes. Monitoring attendance at high education is not new. Forget the days when faculty used to pass a piece of paper around the classroom to check attendance. It was ideally to support students who silently disengage. But trust us, of the hundreds of students attending lectures, 10-20% can even be missing without the lecturer realizing. Do not think of suspensions – for even they count as time missed from classroom instructions. Having an attendance policy in place works better! With electronic registrations, there can be a more structured attendance pattern. RFID-based attendance management system tracks unauthorized absence or lateness of higher education students in real-time. This will reduce the scenario of students skipping classes keep up-to-date records for all courses and improve student outcomes.

    Track Discipline

    When it comes to tackling the problem of chronic absenteeism, students who already have a track record of skipping class can be a particularly tough crowd to sway. So infectious they could be! The overall strategy for tackling such high education absenteeism should be to prioritize discipline. Getting into a friendly discussion helps. Figure out ways to help such students. Pool in mentors! Take complete ownership. Alternatively, manage and track behavior incidents of students using discipline software and generate automated reports for quicker decision-making.

    Parent Communication

    Get parents involved! This can be a way to reduce tardiness amidst such irregular students. Increased communication with parents will curb the notion of students skipping classes. Today, there are many parents connect software that provides real-time access to student’s academic information.

    Manage Assessments

    Another reason for students to skip classes could be their exam anxiety. If these classic signs of test uneasiness fill your classroom, attendance muddles will be there. Make assessments tension-free by creating online tests and assignments and sharing results with students and parents often. This will reduce the rising numbers of withdrawals from assessments and remove fears and inhibitions from students and parents.

    Review of Curriculum

    Hard to believe, but yes attendance truancy could be a result of the ill-fitting curriculum too. Teachers can review the curriculum and align the portfolio of courses to deliver quality learning for the institution. The curriculum management system provides student access to all the relevant course and curriculum data.

    Smart Classrooms

    Students feel aloof when teachers do not spend little or quality time with them. With smart classrooms paperwork gets eliminated, enabling teachers to spend quality time to improve teaching and learning.

    Teacher Evaluations

    Never neglect students who are chronically absent themselves – be all ears and resolve it at the earliest. This strategy works better! Analyze the teacher’s effectiveness in classrooms with a strong evaluation system and set performance goals to improve their skills. An ineffective faculty is but a drabby asset to the class. After all, it is they who matter the most in the classroom.

    Role-based Security

    The high education management system provides role-based authorization which facilitates discipline and eliminates privacy concerns of students. This information is protected and will be visible only to the targeted students or groups. Parents will be able to access and see the information about his or her children.

    Event Management

    Turn mundane days into gripping ones by scheduling events and announcements! With many departments and units, scheduling an event might seem like a task. Using an online calendar can be a lifesaver here. With such a calendar in place, make instant academic information available to students, teachers, parents, and alumni for specific purposes.

    Automated Notifications

    Don’t wait for the students to turn up the next day to notify them. Sending mass notifications with pre-built templates helps! Dish it out to students, teachers, staff, and parents via email, SMS alerts, and push notifications.

     

    How Creatrix Campus Cloud Can Transform Your Institution and Simplify Student Life

    Here’s a tip: Cloud and mobile technology can tackle regular and chronic absenteeism and benefit in many ways. They drastically result in increased attendance rate, improved student performance, reduced staff workload, and improved efficiencies of the institution.

    Creatrix Campus offers the most advanced cloud and mobile-based cloud suite of solutions designed for higher education institutes. Adaptable, it easily integrates with other modules and provides secure access to track all your information in a single unified system.

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  • Tips for the Student Journey- Archer Education

    Tips for the Student Journey- Archer Education

    5 Tips for Keeping Students Engaged Throughout the Admissions Process

    In higher education, the enrollment funnel can feel like a battleground for institutions vying to convert interest into commitment. 

    Traditionally, the enrollment funnel has been viewed simply: attract, engage, and enroll. But the modern student’s journey is anything but straightforward — it’s a complex, winding path influenced by numerous digital touchpoints and personalized interactions.

    The health of the enrollment funnel extends beyond mere numbers; it represents the institution’s ability to connect with prospective students through every phase of their decision-making process. With technology reshaping expectations and behaviors, colleges and universities must not only catch the eye of prospective students but also keep them engaged through multiple channels and strategies. 

    This article unpacks key elements of the enrollment and admissions funnel, offering actionable insights and innovative tips to capture and retain students’ attention from their first inquiry through their enrollment stages. As we explore these strategies, you’ll discover the vital role that continuous, tailored engagement plays in transforming interest into activity, setting the stage for a successful educational journey.

    The Modern Student Journey

    Today’s students embark on their educational journeys equipped with a wealth of information and digital tools at their fingertips, making their paths to enrollment more complex and multifaceted than ever before. 

    Complexities and Challenges

    The student journey is far from linear. It involves numerous interactions across various platforms and touchpoints. Each student’s path is unique and influenced by personal, financial, and academic factors. 

    For instance, a modern student, such as a working professional returning to education or a parent seeking to balance family responsibilities with schooling, may have different priorities and use different resources compared to a younger, first-time college student.

    Technology has diversified the ways students gather information, and also how they engage with institutions. Prospective students might start their journey by conducting a simple Google search, but they will also often visit social media platforms, participate in virtual campus tours, and attend online webinars before starting their application. During this time, they are continuously evaluating their options and being influenced by each interaction they have with a school’s digital presence.

    Impact of Technology

    The proliferation of digital platforms has dramatically altered the student journey, both for students and institutions, in ways such as the following: 

    • Digital Touchpoints: Websites, social media platforms, online forums, and virtual tours provide initial impressions and ongoing engagement. Prospective students can interact with current students and faculty, view online classes, and even participate in community events, all from their devices.  
    • Data-Driven Decisions: Students use data such as graduation rates, employment outcomes, and student and faculty testimonials to inform their choices. They expect personalized interactions and content that addresses their specific concerns and aspirations.
    • Engagement Analytics: Institutions now have the tools to track and analyze how prospective students interact with their digital content. This data is invaluable for refining marketing strategies and improving engagement tactics to ensure they meet the expectations and needs of prospective students.

    Given these technological influences, it is essential for educational institutions to adapt their enrollment strategies to meet the changing behaviors and preferences of modern students. Integrating data analytics, enhancing digital communication channels, and providing personalized experiences are all critical to effectively engaging with prospective students throughout their decision-making journey.

    Understanding the Enrollment Funnel 

    The enrollment and admissions funnel is a foundational concept in higher education marketing that illustrates the progressive stages a student navigates, from awareness through enrollment. The funnel is not just a theoretical model but a practical guide for shaping effective engagement strategies. 

    6 Stages of the Enrollment Funnel

    The enrollment funnel can be divided into several key stages, each requiring specific strategies to move prospective students to the next step:

    1. Awareness: This is the initial point where potential students first learn about an institution. Efforts here include broad-reaching advertising, social media presence, and participation in educational fairs. The goal is to cast a wide, though still strategic, net and garner interest from a diverse pool of students.
    2. Interest: Once awareness is achieved, the focus shifts to nurturing interest and familiarity. This involves providing more detailed information about what the institution offers, such as programs, support services for online students, and financial aid options. Content marketing, informational webinars, and targeted emails play a significant role in this stage.
    3. Consideration: At this juncture, prospective students are comparing their options. They might engage more deeply with admissions counselors, attend virtual or in-person campus tours, and participate in Q&A sessions. Personalized communication and reassurance about academic and social fit are crucial.
    4. Intent: The intent stage is where decision-making becomes serious. Prospective students might discuss their choices with family, friends, colleagues, or advisors, conduct comparative research, and seriously evaluate financial aid details and options. Institutions should focus on direct engagements, such as personal calls, text messages, or engagement-driven content, to solidify their interest.
    5. Application: The application stage is the formal step of submitting necessary documents and fulfilling admission requirements. Support through streamlined application processes, reminders, and help desks is vital to ease this phase for students.
    6. Enrollment: The final stage, where accepted students confirm their attendance and complete registration. At this point, effective communication about orientation, class selection, and enrollment procedures can ease the transition and ensure that students feel welcomed, supported, and valued.

    A deep understanding and effective management of the enrollment and admissions funnel is crucial for any educational institution aiming to increase its student body. Let’s see how it’s done. 

    How to Keep Students’ Attention Through the Enrollment Funnel

    Maintaining the attention of prospective students throughout their educational journey is crucial for successful enrollment. Here are key strategies to keep students engaged from initial inquiry through enrollment:

    1. Consistent Engagement Across Channels

    Leverage multiple channels to engage with students to ensure your institution remains top of mind. Implement a mix of digital and traditional marketing strategies to reach students where they are most active, such as the following:

    • Digital Channels: Targeted social media ads, engaging video content, and informative blog posts
    • Traditional Channels: Direct mail, phone calls, and face-to-face interactions during campus visits

    2. Personalization and Differentiation

    Tailor your communications to meet the specific needs and interests of each prospective student, and utilize data from their interactions with your digital content to personalize messages. Strategies to achieve these goals include the following:

    • Segmented Email Campaigns: Customized emails based on the prospective student’s program of interest, engagement history, and stage in the funnel
    • Custom Content: Relevant information that addresses specific concerns or questions that may arise at different stages of their journey

    3. Incentives and Urgency

    Create a sense of urgency and motivation by offering incentives that encourage prospective students to take the next step:

    • Priority Deadlines: Upcoming application deadlines that can be highlighted to spur action
    • Exclusive Offers: Application fee waivers or access to special events for early applicants

    4. Building Relationships

    Foster a sense of community and belonging from the first interaction through forums such as the following:

    • Virtual Engagements: Live Q&A sessions with current students and faculty
    • Personal Outreach: Admissions counselors who reach out personally to high-interest candidates

    5. Continuous Improvement

    Regularly assess and refine your engagement strategies based on feedback and analytics tools and processes:

    • Feedback Loops: Surveys and feedback channels that gather insights from prospective students
    • Analytics Review: Regular analysis of engagement metrics to adjust strategies and improve outcomes

    It’s Time to Build Out Your Enrollment Funnel 

    The landscape of higher education is competitive, but the enrollment funnel could be your institution’s edge. By engaging prospective students at every stage of their journey with tailored strategies and personalized communications, institutions can significantly enhance their enrollment rates. If you’re ready to elevate your enrollment marketing strategies, Archer Education is here to take you to the next level. Reach out to us, and let us help you create a robust enrollment funnel that not only attracts but also converts prospective students into committed learners.


    John Van Fleet

    John Van Fleet is the Chief Marketing Officer at Archer Education. With more than 20 years of experience in higher ed marketing, John has a continuous track record of successfully supporting institutional growth.

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  • 10 Top Hat Tips for a More Engaging Semester

    10 Top Hat Tips for a More Engaging Semester

    What does the future of higher education look like? At Top Hat, we believe engagement, affordability and equity are at the heart of a great classroom experience. That’s why we’re excited to highlight a number of features in our platform and content solutions to empower students and faculty alike. Take a look at these unique capabilities in Top Hat and get ready to level up your lectures, assessments and grading strategy.

    → Free Toolkit: Get strategies, templates and videos for a successful new term

    1. Add AI-generated questions to every lecture

    Top Hat Ace, our AI-powered assistant, is the latest milestone in our mission to make education more effective, inclusive and accessible. Instructors can use Ace’s Lecture Enhancer to instantly generate assessment questions based on their lecture content. Doing so will spark engagement in class and help educators assess comprehension in the moment. Faculty can even edit generated questions as they see fit, maintaining control over the questions generated. Learn more about our AI-powered Lecture Enhancer here. In addition, educators can save time designing assignments and readings in Top Hat Pages by adding questions automatically generated by Ace.

    2. Assign homework to specific students

    Shore up learning gaps sooner rather than later. With personalized data delivered to your inbox every week, identify which students didn’t answer discussion or poll questions in your lecture and re-assign your PowerPoint slides to this group as homework. This will give students a chance to refresh themselves on your material, which may prove especially beneficial for those who weren’t able to join your class live. Learn more about assigning homework to specific students here. You can also watch the video below as we explore the difference between homework and review mode.

    3. Make your discussion and poll questions media-rich

    Give students an interactive assessment experience. You may know how to add videos or simulations to your Pages, but you can also directly embed media into your quiz questions. Not only will students get a more dynamic, immersive learning experience, they’ll get an opportunity to consume your course material in a different medium. Plus, using videos in your quiz questions makes for a more engaging alternative to the static Scantron or multiple-choice test. Learn more about using videos in questions or discussions here.

    4. Offer line-by-line feedback on document submissions

    Enjoy feedback functionality that will be familiar to those who regularly use Google Docs. Using our file submission question, students are able to upload PDFs, lab templates or spreadsheets to Top Hat. Take your feedback to another level by offering annotated comments at various points in PDF or image submissions. This level of detailed commentary allows students to fully understand their own learning gaps, while giving you an opportunity to flag specific areas for improvement in advance of a high-stakes assessment. Learn more about how to leave detailed feedback in PDF file submissions here.

    5. Measure comprehension of the same concept over time

    If you’re preparing students for an exam and want to check their understanding of tricky concepts multiple times, this feature is for you. Compare student comprehension over a period of your choosing by keeping a record of responses to the same question asked more than once. After enabling this feature, you’ll be able to compare responses submitted on date X with date Y, seeing what percentage of students answered a particular way and letting you adapt your instruction accordingly. Explore how to create multiple question report sessions for your next quiz here. You can also watch our video below to see how to segment question results over time.

    6. Annotate your slideshow with whiteboard sketches

    Sometimes, visually explaining a new concept can be easier than describing it in words. Top Hat’s Whiteboard Sketch tool allows you to insert blank slides into your slideshow, which you can then draw on in real time. For instance, complement a presentation on mitosis by drawing out the various stages live, answering student questions along the way. This tool doesn’t just allow for richer, more detailed discussions, it ensures students get a visual depiction of challenging concepts before moving on to your next topic. Learn how to embed interactive elements into your slides here.

    7. Embed iFrames to create a truly interactive learning experience

    Tailor your learning materials to the needs of Generation Z. When creating assessments, homework or customizing chapter readings in Pages, use iFrames to link to media such as podcasts, websites, simulations and GIFs. Open the interactive toolbar in your page, select the iFrame option and paste your desired link in the field. Learn how to embed iFrames in your course content here. You can also watch our video below for guidance on creating course materials using Pages.

    8. Use Presenter View to view personal notes and real-time responses

    In a single view, get all the information you need to deliver a high-quality presentation. Use Presenter View to get a second screen that’s only accessible to you. View lecture notes that you added into your slide deck and get a live report of students’ responses as they answer questions live. Plus, preview which slide is next—and shift your conversation with students accordingly. Explore the power of Presenter View in helping you deliver an impactful slideshow here.

    9. Keep your course textbook fresh and relevant with in-app content updates

    Give students a learning experience that mirrors the world around them. Incorporate the latest content updates without losing any customizations in your interactive Top Hat textbook. You’ll be alerted whenever new author-created content is available for your text and will be given a chance to review all updates before accepting or rejecting them. This functionality ensures that educators have access to the latest content when it becomes available, on their own terms. In-app content updates are currently available in beta format for select Top Hat textbooks. Discover how our content enhancements make it easy to keep any textbook up-to-date here.

    10. Provide AI-powered study support 

    Make sure every student has in-the-moment study support. Students can use our AI-powered study assistant to clarify challenging concepts, generate examples of specific topics and quiz themselves in advance of a test. Ace delivers relevant responses built from the context of your uploaded materials, making it easy for students to review lectures and study notes in one place. Read more about our personalized study assistance here. You can also watch the video below for a closer look at our AI-powered study tools.

    → Free Toolkit: Get the Most Out of Top Hat

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  • Dr. James Lang’s 4 Tips for a Great First Day of Class

    Dr. James Lang’s 4 Tips for a Great First Day of Class

    What goes into a great first lecture? Ask any educator and they’ll highlight three resounding themes: prioritize community, foster connection and build excitement. The good news is that designing a high-impact first lecture doesn’t involve a complete rewrite of your existing lesson plan. Rather, it’s about making simple adjustments to help students form a great first impression.

    Dr. James Lang, acclaimed author of Small Teaching and featured speaker at Top Hat Summer Camp 2024, shares actionable strategies to deepen engagement during week one of your course. We’ve rounded up his ideas below.

    → Student Engagement Toolkit: Enjoy FREE teaching tips, templates and more!

    1. Focus on community building

    Set the table for long-term success by getting to know students and in turn, help them get to know you. Consider sharing what made you want to teach your specific subject and the most rewarding part of teaching. Dr. Lang also suggests intentionally forging personal ties with students. Simple practices could involve showing up to class early and greeting students as they file in. You might also use your first lecture to stream a relevant TED talk, podcast snippet or music video that relates to your course material. Helping students see that there’s more to the first day than reviewing the syllabus will surely leave them feeling inspired and primed to learn. What better feeling could there be as an educator?

    2. Ensure activities model your course structure

    The early stages of your course represent an important opportunity to instill the right behaviors. Dr. Lang’s advice? Begin as you intend to continue by modeling the kind of learning environment you seek. For instance, if your course revolves around peer-to-peer discussions, consider including a collaborative exercise during your opening session. If active learning is important, give students a problem to solve or have them respond to a series of polling questions. Dr. Lang shares other discipline-specific examples of how to break the ice between students.

    History English Math
    Take a page out of Dr. Cate Denial’s book. The Bright Distinguished Professor of American History at Knox College, who teaches a problem-based course, randomly places students in small groups. She then provides each group with a document package about a specific event. Students then work together to develop stories about what occurred during the event. Finally, they share their stories with the wider group. The purpose of the exercise is to demonstrate that in the pursuit of truth there are often numerous ways historical events can be interpreted.  Any English instructor can vouch for the importance of discussion and critical analysis. Consider holding a prior knowledge brainstorm to spark conversation among students. For example, if your course covers 21st Century British literature and culture, you might ask students to respond to the following prompts: a) what do we mean by the word ‘British?,’ b) what are your impressions of British culture and c) are you familiar with any British writers? This is a great way to surface prior knowledge, clarify common misconceptions, and get students thinking about the journey ahead.  You might also use your opening class to get students reflecting on their past experiences in your subject. Dr. Robert Talbert, Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Grand Valley State University, uses open-ended questions to encourage students to reflect on their learning. He shares the following prompts: a) what is something that you are good at doing? And b) how did you get good at the thing you are good at doing? Math is a challenging subject. This exercise gets students thinking about their approach to learning while sending a subtle message that you are invested in their success. 

    3. Pose ‘big’ questions to students (and yourself)

    Framing your course as a BIG question to explore over the term is a powerful way to pique curiosity, build excitement, and communicate the value of what students will learn. Starting your course with a BIG question is also a great opportunity to engage students right away in a meaningful discussion. Here’s an example from a course on science fiction:

    “Can you be confident that the person sitting next to you on the bus is really a human rather than some remarkable replica conjured up by a mad scientist or, perhaps, an alien from another planet? What evidence is needed to conclude that the person casually looking at her mobile device is human? How have we constructed the conceptual boundary between what we qualify as human and what we categorize as robotic, animal, android, or alien? What, in the end, makes the human “human”?”

    If you’re struggling to craft a big question for your course, Dr. Lang suggests thinking through the following prompts:

    • What deep questions drove the development of my discipline?
    • What questions drove the creation of my course?
    • What intriguing questions have arisen over time?
    • What questions remain unanswered in my field?

    To drive a first day discussion around your big question, you might ask your students to pair up and answer the following: What do you know about this subject? How might this relate to other things you’ve studied? How would you answer this question? What other questions does this bring to mind?  Once students have had an opportunity to discuss, regroup as a class and ask a handful of pairs to share their insights.

    4. Try out the Annotated Syllabus method

    Your course syllabus serves as the roadmap for the term. While important to review, Dr. Lang advises it shouldn’t be your first priority and counsels against simply reciting each section. Instead, he suggests using the Annotated Syllabus methodology. Conceptualized by Dr. Remi Kalir, Assistant Professor of Learning Design and Technology at the University of Colorado Denver, the Annotated Syllabus is a tool to generate a broader conversation about your course.

    Prior to the next class, ask students to work through the following prompts: What do students feel needs further clarification? What are their sentiments around your course policies? What are their opinions about readings and assignments? What advice do you have in order to be successful in the course? The goal is to strive for commentary that is “inquisitive and constructive.” Above all, an Annotated Syllabus invites feedback that may otherwise go unheard. Students are made active participants from the get-go and are more accountable for reading the document before coming to class.

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  • Three Essential AI Tools and Practical Tips for Automating HR Tasks – CUPA-HR

    Three Essential AI Tools and Practical Tips for Automating HR Tasks – CUPA-HR

    by Julie Burrell | March 27, 2024

    During his recent keynote at CUPA-HR’s Higher Ed HR Accelerator, Commissioner Keith Sonderling of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission observed, “now, AI exists in HR in every single stage of employment,” from writing job descriptions, to sourcing candidates and scheduling interviews, and well into the career lifecycle of employees.

    At some colleges and universities, AI is now a routine part of the HR workflow. At the University of North Texas at Dallas, for example, AI has significantly sped up the recruitment and hiring timeline. “It helped me staff a unit in an aggressive time frame,” says Tony Sanchez, chief human resources officer, who stresses that they use AI software with privacy protections. “AI parsed resumes, prescreened applicants, and allowed scheduling directly to the hiring manager’s calendar.”

    Even as AI literacy is becoming a critical skill, many institutions of higher education have not yet adopted AI as a part of their daily operations. But even if you don’t have your own custom AI like The University of Michigan, free AI tools can still be a powerful daily assistant. With some common-sense guardrails in place, AI can help you automate repetitive tasks, make software like Excel easier to use, analyze information and polish your writing.

    Three Free Chatbots to Use Now

    AI development is moving at a breakneck pace, which means that even the freely available tools below are more useful than they were just a few months ago. Try experimenting with multiple AI chatbots by having different browser windows open and asking each chatbot to do the same task. Just don’t pick a favorite yet. With AI companies constantly trying to outperform each other, one might work better depending on the day or the task. And before you start, be sure to read the section on AI guardrails below — you never want to input proprietary or private information into a public chatbot.

    ChatGPT, the AI trailblazer. The free version allows unlimited chats after signing up for an account. Right now, ChatGPT is text-based, which means it can help you with emails and communications, or even draft longer materials like reports. It can also solve math problems and answer questions (but beware of fabricated answers).

    You can customize ChatGPT to make it work better for you by clicking on your username in the bottom lefthand corner. For example, you can tell it that you’re an HR professional working in higher education, and it will tailor its responses to what it knows about your job.

    Google’s powerful AI chatbot, Gemini (formerly known as Bard). You’ll need to have or sign up for a free Google account, and it’s well worth it. Gemini can understand and interact with text just like ChatGPT does, but it’s also multimodal. You can drag and drop images and it will be able to interpret them. Gemini can also make tables, which can be exported to Google Sheets. And it generates images for free. For example, if you have an image you want your marketing team to design, you can get started by asking Gemini to create what you have in mind. But for now, Gemini won’t create images of people.

    Claude, often considered the best AI writer. Take Claude for a spin by asking it to write a job description or memo for you. Be warned that the free version of Claude has a daily usage limit, and you won’t know you’ve hit it until you hit it. According to Claude, your daily limit depends on demand, and your quota resets every morning.

    These free AI tools aren’t as powerful as their paid counterparts — all about $20 per month — but they do offer a sense of what AI can do.

    Practical Tips for Using AI in HR 

    For a recent Higher Ed HR Magazine article, I asked higher education HR professionals how they used AI to increase efficiency. Rhonda Beassie, associate vice president for people and procurement operations at Sam Houston State University, shared that she and her team are using AI for both increased productivity and upskilling, such as:

    • Creating first drafts of and benchmarking job descriptions.
    • Making flyers, announcements and other employee communications.
    • Designing training presentations, including images, text, flow and timing.
    • Training employees for deeper use of common software applications.
    • Providing instructions on developing and troubleshooting questions for macros and VLOOKUP in Microsoft Excel.
    • Troubleshooting software. Beassie noted that employees “can simply say to the AI, ‘I received an error message of X. How do I need to change the script to correct this?’ and options are provided.”
    • Creating reports pulled from their enterprise system.

    AI chatbots are also great at:

    • Being a thought partner. Ask a chatbot to help you respond to a tricky email, to find the flaws in your argument or to point out things you’ve missed in a piece of writing.
    • Revising the tone, formality or length of writing. You can ask chatbots to make something more or less formal or friendly (or whatever tone you’re trying to strike), remove the jargon from a piece of writing, or lengthen or shorten something.
    • Summarizing webpages, articles or book chapters. You can cut and paste a URL into a chatbot and ask it to summarize the page for you. You can also cut and paste a fairly large amount of text into chatbots and ask it for a summary. Try using parameters, such as “Summarize this into one sentence,” or “Please give me a bulleted list of the main takeaways.” The summaries aren’t always perfect, but will usually do in a pinch.
    • Summarizing YouTube videos. (Currently, the only free tool that can do this is Gemini.) Just cut and paste in the URL and ask it to summarize a video for you. Likewise, these summaries aren’t always exactly accurate.
    • Writing in your voice. Ask a chatbot to learn your voice and style by entering in things you’ve written. Ask it to compose a communication, like a memo or email you need to write, in your voice. This takes some time up front to train the AI, and it may not remember your voice from day-to-day or task-to-task.

    Practice Your Prompts

    Just 10 minutes a day can take you far in getting comfortable with these tools if you’re new to them. Learning prompting, which may take an upfront investment of more time, can unlock powerful capabilities in AI tools. The more complex the task you ask AI to do, the more time you need to spend crafting a prompt.

    The best prompts will ask a chatbot to assume a role and perform an action, using specific context. For example, “You are a human resources professional at a small, liberal arts college. You are writing a job description for an HR generalist. The position’s responsibilities include leading safety and compliance training; assisting with payroll; conducting background checks; troubleshooting employee questions in person and virtually. The qualifications for the job are one to two years in an HR office, preferably in higher education, and a BA.”

    Anthropic has provided a very helpful prompt library for Claude, which will also work with most AI chatbots.

    AI Guardrails

    There are real risks to using AI, especially the free tools listed above. You can read about them in detail here, or even ask AI to tell you, but the major dangers are:

    • Freely available AI will not protect your data privacy. Unless you have internal or enterprise software with a privacy agreement at your institution, assume everything you share with AI is public. Protected or confidential information should not be entered into a prompt.
    • AI fabricates, or hallucinates, as it’s sometimes called. It will make up facts that sound deceptively plausible. If you need accurate information, it’s best to consult an expert or trusted sources.
    • You don’t own copyright on AI-created work. In the United States, only human-produced work can be copyrighted.
    • Most of these tools are trained only up to a certain date, often a year or more ago for free chatbots. If you need up-to-the-minute information, use your favorite web browser.

    Further AI Resources



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  • Proven Tips For Smarter Studying

    Proven Tips For Smarter Studying



    Unlock Your Brainpower: Proven Tips For Smarter Studying





















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