Kentucky Convergence

"Straightforward Mapping Using the Web-Based Mapping Platform Felt" - Sarah Watson

Incorporating digital mapping projects into the classroom can be difficult due to the different levels of technical expertise students process and limited course time to dedicate to teaching students the necessary skills to use complex GIS platforms. However, sometimes examining and visualizing spatial data can enhance course learning objectives and provide students with important opportunities to think about data creation and data visualization. This brief talk will highlight one platform that can reduce some of the time and expertise difficulties around adding digital mapping projects to class assignments. Felt is a new multimedia web-based platform that allows for the straightforward creation of maps and spatial narratives. It serves as a productive introduction to digital mapping that can offer a beginning point for students to branch off to more complex software and analysis, or it can be the single platform students use to create assorted visualizations that complement other classroom activities. In this lightning talk, I will highlight some of the features of Felt including how to upload data and generate a simple map, collaborate on projects, and customize style options with an eye toward how this tool can enhance student work in the classroom.



"Using ChatGPT to Teach Ethics" - Gene Kleppinger

I changed my Beginning Ethics class for Fall 2023 to have a strong focus on ChatGPT as an example of generative artificial intelligence. My reasons include: (1) many/most students are aware of ChatGPT and may have used it to create answers for their instructors’ questions; (2) it can be used for good or evil, so it has immediate target value for an ethics class; and (3) I can demonstrate its results openly to inspire students to follow good practices for critical thinking and academic integrity. The first writing assignment consists of reading a text about ethics generated by ChatGPT and critiquing it, describing what it “gets right,” and then supplementing it with examples of relevant moral decisions from their own lives. The AI theme continues through the exploration of nine theories in ethics, focusing in part on how the principles of each theory might be related to answering the general question “How can I use ChatGPT the right way?” After we cover the theories our attention shifts to some issues in current life, such as euthanasia, equality and discrimination, and war and peace. What ChatGPT generates about those issues is both interesting (as basic information) and provocative (as rhetoric for personalized critiques on the various alternative positions). Generative AI tools are extremely powerful, and with great power comes the burden of great responsibility.