Combat ChatGPT with Multimodal Assignments

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Pencil.png What Is It?

The current generation of AI is pretty good with text but not great with video. We also know that students thrive when they’re presented with content in different modalities and also allowed to submit content in different modalities. In the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, these things are called “multiple means of representation” and “multiple means of expression.” By providing students with multiple means of representation and expression, you can enhance learning while making it a little harder for students to lean on AI.

 


Why Use Multimedia?

  • AI has a tough time “reading” non-text content (video, audio, and images) and isn’t very helpful for creating non-text content either.
  • Providing students content in different formats and giving them the option to respond in different formats makes your classes more usable for all learners.

 


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How to Create Multimodal Assignments in Harmonize

  1. Create a Harmonize Discussion.
  2. Create a prompt from scratch or get help from Harmonize Brainstorm. Try asking it to include a video reflection component.
  3. Create multimodal content by Recording Audio and Video, Screen Recording, and/or Embedding Media from the web.
  4. Invite your students to do the same! You can even assign Image or Video Annotations.
  5. If desired, adjust the Recording and Upload Limits for Video and Audio in Discussions.
  6. Consider putting students in small groups (see: Setting up Groups in Blackboard or Setting up Groups in Canvas).

 


star.png General Tips and Strategies

Require writing but supplement with multimedia.

Students still need to learn how to write and demonstrate knowledge in writing. Consider having students submit both written work–for which you can set minimum word counts in Harmonize–and a video or audio reflection on that work.

Provide multimedia content.

Don’t just ask students to respond to readings–ask them to respond to a video or podcast. The multimedia content could be something you create yourself, or it could be something you find on the web, such as a YouTube video.

Pro Tip: Creating your own lectures or using relatively unknown media will work best here. For well-known movies and music videos, there is already a lot of text-based content on the web that the AI can draw from.

Invite students to create multimedia content.

Ask students to  Recording Audio and Video of themselves or do Screen Recordings of presentations they’ve created. Or ask them to create memes, advertisements, or other image-rich artifacts related to the topic. 

Promote UDL by providing and accepting multimedia content.

Lean into UDL (Universal Design for Learning). Provide content in multiple formats–text, audio, and video–to support multiple means of representation. Allow students to submit their answers in different formats to support multiple means of action and expression.

Assign critical thinking and analysis.

When you provide more complex and creative tasks, tasks requiring critical thinking and analysis, the AI will often perform poorly. Assignments asking students to regurgitate content knowledge are, by contrast, very easy for AI to do. Think about moving your students up the Bloom’s taxonomy ladder to tasks that are more complex and challenging.

Ask students to explain their thought process.

Ask students to talk through their thought process in writing a paper, solving a math problem, or approaching a complex issue. This reflection process discourages plagiarism while also increasing learning.

Ask students to relate content to something else.

Ask students to record audio or video relating the course content to personal experiences or to other courses they’ve taken. Or ask students to relate new content to past discussions and lectures in the course. This process of connecting the content to something else is tricky for AI but also enhances student learning by activating prior knowledge and personalizing learning.

Assign group projects.

Have students work together in small groups. Students are often less likely to lean on AI in this context since there is a social stigma against academic misconduct (and because they don’t want to let each other down). And even if students do use AI, the process of discussing and working together requires them to synthesize the information and do something new with it. See: Setting up Groups in Blackboard or Setting up Groups in Canvas.

Keep it accessible.

Not all students can create or access multimedia content. Be sure your videos have captions. Consider asking for submissions with at least one modality in addition to text, but give options for the second modality. For example, some students can create audio but cannot record video. Other students can create image-rich slide decks but cannot record audio. Giving students options increases accessibility and also leads to unique and creative assignment submissions.

 


Specific Ideas

Assignment What Why
Video Reflections If you have an assignment that has to be text-based, consider adding a video reflection component. Students could talk about their thought process or work process, pull out their favorite points, or explain what was difficult. We still want students to learn to write, and some instructors have many pre-existing, worthwhile text-based activities. Adding on a small video component maintains the original assignment. You might even choose to view the videos selectively for those papers that seem a bit “off.”
Responses to Multimedia Ask students to respond to a video or podcast. Record your own video–or screenshare–in Harmonize, or copy and paste links to YouTube and Vimeo to pull through videos. Bespoke or unusual media work best. AI still isn’t great at parsing video, and your students will have a harder time feeding information from the videos and podcasts into ChatGPT.
Role Playing Exercise Ask students to record a public service accouncement about a topic. Or ask students to pretend to be teachers and create mini lessons or topics and teach them to the class. Or pair students up and have them record a “podcast” where they discuss the topic at hand. These are all authentic assessments that can enhance learning. They are also tougher to outsource to AI due the audio-visual components.
Group Multimedia Project Have students plan and design something together. They could create a podcast, record a webinar, or do a group presentation. Students are less likely to use AI when their peers might find out. And even if they do use AI, they will have to do the work of talking through that content with their group members.

 


Further Reading

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