We are excited to announce the launch of our next pilot.
With so many low and no cost AI tools available to our members, we want to collaboratively explore how they can be put to best use. So we’ve designed a new kind of pilot. In addition to pilots that trial specific AI in Education platforms, we will also be running pilots where participants will use their preferred generative AI platform to investigate a particular use case. We are referring to these as ‘use case-based pilots’; and in the first of these, we will be focusing on AI image generation.
Please read this blog to find out more about this opportunity. If you’re keen for further information, or have questions you’d like to ask, we’ll be holding a pilot overview Teams webinar on Tuesday 1st October, 3-4pm (please email ai@jisc.ac.uk if you would like to attend, and you’ll be sent a Teams invitation)
How will the pilot work?
- The pilot is open to an unlimited number of member colleges and universities. There will be no selection process.
- We invite participation from all university and college teams, including educators; researchers; pastoral, wellbeing and student services; and professional services teams such as marketing and communications, event planning, and estates. AI image generation has the potential to enrich all of these roles and more, streamlining processes and elevating the quality of visual outputs across the board.
- The pilot can also be student led (there’s more information on this below)
- To participate in the pilot, colleagues involved will need to have access to one or more AI image generation platforms (such as ChatGPT Plus, Co-Pilot, Adobe Firefly or Canva). We will be providing guidance on these tools, and on their applications in education.
- Participants will be provided with training and resources that enable them to use the available platforms, think about specific applications, and hone techniques for creating effective images.
- We’ll hold two insight sharing sessions a week, in which participants can impart their growing expertise whilst learning from others. Participants should aim to attend one session a fortnight. We’re holding two sessions weekly to try to accommodate multiple people’s schedules.
- The pilot will also have a dedicated Jiscmail, so that ideas and updates can be shared asynchronously.
- At the end of the pilot, we’ll run several evaluation sessions. Participants should take part in these but need only attend one session each. We’ll also send out a survey to get a rounded perspective of your learnings.
What are the aims of the pilot?
As with all our AI pilots, we want to build the knowledge and skillsets of participants; and then use insights from their experiences to inform and aid the wider membership.
The specific aims of this pilot are to:
- Empower participants to identify the most valuable use-cases of AI image generation
- Help them develop the skills and techniques needed to achieve effective and useful AI generated images
- Understand more about the limitations of AI image generation in education, and the ethical and environmental considerations
- Collate learnings on the above points and share these with the wider membership
What are some example uses of AI image generation in education?
- Students can use AI to inspire or refine their creative outputs. In subjects such as fashion, design, gaming, architecture, and art, students can use generative AI tools to ‘soundboard’ ideas, create prototypes, or to suggest adaptations to existing ideas.
- Colleagues in marketing can use generative AI to create content for websites or brochures.
- Educators can create images to engage students or to explain highly visual concepts.
When will the pilot run?
The pilot will run between October and December.
We’ll hold introductory sessions for participants on 7th October (3.30-4.30pm) and 10th October (11am-12pm).
We’ll run evaluation sessions in early December (multiple sessions will be scheduled, but you’ll only be expected to attend one). We’ll also send out surveys, and will need these to be distributed to and then completed by people who took part in the pilot at your institution.
Pilot milestones
| What? | Why? | When? | Who? |
| Info session | To find out about the pilot and find out if it’s right for you | Tuesday 1st October 2024 | Anyone who is interested in the pilot |
| sign up to the pilot via this form | For inclusivity, we’ve designed this pilot to accommodate an unlimited number of participants. That means no selection process. | Until October 10th 2024 | The pilot is open to educators and non-teaching staff (and can also be student led, with staff supervision). |
| Intro sessions | To introduce participants to the pilot; and to discuss AI image generation platforms, use cases, and techniques for producing useful images.
Please come to the session with access to at least one generative AI platform for image generation. The session will be interactive. |
7th and 10th October 2024 (you only need to attend one of these). | We encourage any member of staff who’ll be involved in the pilot to attend. |
| Exploration | Where it would be useful, we encourage participants to start the pilot by exploring various image generation platforms, getting to know their features, and learning how to generate useful outputs. | October. We appreciate that participants will progress at different rates. We suggest that participants devote the first 1-2 weeks to the exploration phase | Whichever user group you’ve decided to focus on. This could be students, teachers and/or non-teaching staff. |
| Application and mastery | Now it’s time to put your skills into practice. Select the use-cases that could add the most value, then start introducing them into your practice. Reflect on what works/doesn’t work and aim to iteratively improve, while also finding new opportunities to apply AI image generation. | Once you’ve become adept at using the relevant platforms, we’d suggest you dive straight into the application phase. The pilot will run throughout October and November, so please apply and master at your own pace. | Whichever user group you’ve decided to focus on. This could be students, teachers or non-teaching staff.
|
| Evaluation | The evaluation will be informal. We’ll offer several sessions, so come along to just one and share your insights.
There’ll also be a survey for you to complete. |
Early December |
Participants’ responsibilities
- Before signing up to take part in the pilot, please read the Terms and Conditions for the pilot, which are available on the sign-up form.
Ongoing support
- We will be holding two drop-in sessions each week throughout October and November. These will be informal opportunities to impart ideas and collaborate on shared issues. Participants are encouraged to attend one session a fortnight.
- Participants will be able to get in touch with Jisc for support by emailing ai@jisc.ac.uk
- We’ll provide a bank of resources, which will include how-to blogs and videos
- They’ll be a dedicated Jiscmail, so participants can share insights asynchronously
A bit more about the evaluation
The purpose of the evaluation is to understand the best use cases for AI image generation, and to find out which techniques and practices yield the best results. We also want to find out more about the limitations of AI image generation, and the ethical and environmental considerations.
We’re not looking to evaluate the AI platforms themselves.
A bit more about the student-led option
In addition to using AI image generation to enhance subject-specific skills, by participating in this pilot students have the chance to further develop their familiarity with and skillsets in AI.
As such, one approach that institutions could take is to identify an appropriate cohort of students who’ll explore using AI image generation in a relevant context. This could be students on a course or taking a module that would benefit from this use of AI. Alternatively, it could be a cohort of students assembled for the purpose of the pilot, e.g. students who’ve volunteered to take part in order to improve their skills in AI.
It’s important to note that many of the tools for image generation have age restrictions placed on their use. Our blog on navigating terms and conditions of AI platforms, goes into these restrictions in more detail. For the purposes of this pilot, we’d emphasise that individuals who are 13 or older can use Canva without parental consent. For the other tools discussed, at the time of writing either parental consent is required for users between the ages of 13 and 18, or 18 is the minimum age to use the platform. Please consider these points carefully before committing to a student-focused pilot.
We suggest that institutions who want to take a student-led approach select a key member of staff to oversee the pilot and coordinate with students.
We will deliver a dedicated student-focused introduction session on 17th October 2024 (3.30-4.30pm). And we’ll also hold student insight sharing sessions weekly throughout the pilot.
Optional case study participation
As well as capturing cohort level insights, we are also looking to create a number of case studies, which will delve into individual institutions’ experiences in a bit more detail.
We’ll remind pilot participants about this opportunity once the project has kicked off, and provide more details then.
Privacy
Our Research Privacy Notice sets out the personal data processing that will be undertaken by us as an independent data controller for the purposes of carrying out the AI Image Generation Pilot.
The pilot involves virtual drop-in sessions, focus groups and a survey that we’ll conduct using Microsoft Forms, Teams and Zoom.
Your personal data will not be used in the analysis or published in any media or reports resulting from our research.
If you have any questions about the pilot or how we use your personal data, please contact us using the project email address ai@jisc.ac.uk.
For more information including how to exercise your data subject rights, please see our main Jisc Privacy Notice
Next steps
If you want to be involved in the pilot, please sign up via this form. We can accommodate an unlimited number of institutions, so there’s a place for everyone.
If you have any questions, please get in touch by emailing ai@jisc.ac.uk
Find out more by visiting our Artificial Intelligence page to view publications and resources, join us for events and discover what AI has to offer through our range of interactive online demos.
For regular updates from the team sign up to our mailing list.
Get in touch with the team directly at AI@jisc.ac.uk
