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Ask an ID: AI Implications in Healthcare and Education Symposium Highlights

Ask and ID Series: AI Implications in Healthcare and Education Symposium Highlights

Informational Flyer from the AI Implications in Healthcare and Education Symposium which was held on October 22. 2024 at ACC Highland Campus.

Ask an ID: AI Implications in Healthcare and Education Symposium Highlights

Dear Instructional Designer,

I had the pleasure of helping coordinate the “Future Health: AI Implications in Healthcare and Education” symposium and I wanted to say that I really enjoyed your presentation—it was fascinating and I got some good insights into the tools currently available and how to use them more effectively. Would you be able to share your notes from the symposium including the information you shared during your
session? This would be helpful as we plan future initiatives. I appreciate the effort you put into your presentation and look forward to continuing to work with you.

-AI Innovator


Dear AI Innovator,

Thank you for your kind message! The “Future Health: AI Implications in Healthcare and Education” symposium put on by TLED and ACC Health Sciences was packed with insights about AI’s transformative impact on healthcare and education. The discussions ranged from AI’s potential and ethics to its practical uses today. Here’s a recap of the highlights!

Babak Hodjat Keynote: “AI—Alchemy or Moonshot?”
Babak Hodjat, the CTO of AI at Cognizant, opened the event with a deep dive into AI’s evolution. While we haven’t reached Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) yet, Babak outlined what AGI could look like in the future:
● Predictive Abilities: AGI will identify and adapt to shifting patterns in data.
● Prescriptive Power: AI could eventually advise us on optimal actions based on analysis.
● Contemplative Scenarios: Like humans, AGI will learn through trial and error to find the best outcomes.
● Creative and Adaptive: Future AI will evolve like humans do, building on existing ideas, learning what works, and adapting through creative problem-solving.

Panel 1: AI in Education and Workforce Preparation

This panel discussed how AI is changing both education and healthcare workforce training, with panelists from
Austin Community College (ACC) and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board:

● Susan Warner-Sanchez, Ph.D. (ACC), led the panel, highlighting the importance of AI proficiency for both faculty and students.
● Jaime Cantú (ACC) shared his use of student-created assessment videos as a way to engage students with AI-supported learning.
● Stephanie Long, M.S. (ACC Faculty Center) emphasized how existing educational structures can integrate AI without a total overhaul.
● Michelle Singh, Ph.D. (Texas Higher Ed) discussed AI policies and the need for transparency,
especially for students’ understanding of AI use boundaries.
● Misty Rasmussen, Ph.D. (ACC Planning) and Kate Williams, DNP (Baylor Scott & White) both spoke
about preparing students for a changing job market, focusing on adaptability, critical thinking, and
compassion.

Key Takeaways:
● AI proficiency for students and faculty is essential in both healthcare and education.
● Institutions should create clear guidelines on acceptable AI use to avoid confusion.
● Human-centered skills, especially critical thinking and adaptability, are irreplaceable.

Fireside Chat with Dr. Craig Watkins: Addressing Bias in AI

Dr. Craig Watkins discussed the potential pitfalls of AI bias and the importance of diverse perspectives:

● Bias in AI Models: Dr. Watkins highlighted real-world cases where AI models inadvertently reinforced racial or income biases, despite efforts to “scrub” demographic data.
● Diverse AI Development: Ensuring AI is developed with diverse input can help mitigate biases and ensure fairer applications.

Main Message: Diverse voices in AI development are critical to avoid unintended bias and build fairer AI systems.

Panel 2: AI Trends in Healthcare

Moderated by Beth Vaughn of HCA Healthcare, this panel focused on current AI applications in healthcare and its potential to transform patient care and administration. The panelists included leaders from healthcare and tech:

● Sajol Ghoshal (Advanced TeleSensors) shared insights on using AI-driven sensors to monitor patient health, like detecting heart and respiratory rates.
● Madan Gopal, Ph.D. (Texas Health and Human Services) spoke about AI’s use in knowledge management for healthcare.
● Abel Guevara III, DHA discussed optimizing healthcare revenue cycles with AI, while Andy Mathis (Neuro Rehab VR) highlighted VR as a tool for interim patient care.
● Toni Swinton, DNP (HCA Healthcare) shared how the Jane Assessment tool in their LMS uses AI to speed up onboarding and competency assessments for healthcare staff.

Highlights:
● AI is enabling real-time patient monitoring and reducing administrative workloads in healthcare.
● AI tools like VR and the Jane Assessment support workforce training and rehabilitation.
● Transparency is essential—“black box” algorithms without explanation are risky in patient care.

Panel 3: AI for Social Good

Moderated by Nina Almasy from ACC Health Sciences, this panel explored the ethical implications and societal impacts of AI, with a focus on creating positive outcomes. Panelists brought expertise from public policy, academia, and student perspectives:

● Maaz Amjad, Ph.D. (Texas Tech) and Sherri Greenberg (UT Austin) discussed AI’s potential to address social issues, but cautioned against over-reliance and encouraged responsible, ethical use.
● Aleena Tomy, a student from Texas State, emphasized the need for young people to be equipped with AI literacy to navigate future careers.

Main Insights:
● Establishing certification or audits for AI tools could help ensure they meet ethical standards.
● AI should be used as an aid, not a replacement; human oversight is crucial.
● Responsible use of AI for social good requires ethical standards and transparency.

AI Tools Shared by Stephanie Bogdanich
Stephanie Bogdanich introduced various AI tools aimed at enhancing both healthcare and educational applications. For easy access to these tools and additional resources from the symposium, they’ve been
shared on a Padlet board, which you can view here.

Key Takeaways from the Symposium

  1. Upskill for the Future: Both students and faculty need ongoing training in AI to stay current.
  2. Question AI Outputs: Human oversight is necessary to verify AI’s suggestions.
  3. Transparent AI Policies: Set clear boundaries for AI use in education and healthcare.
  4. Local Implementation: Start with small AI integrations, then expand if successful.
  5. Humanity at the Core: AI should enhance human skills, with critical thinking and empathy remaining essential.

    The symposium was a reminder that while AI has incredible potential, our values and ethics should guide its growth. Let’s keep our human touch at the center as we explore all that AI has to offer.

    Yours in Innovation,
    Stephanie Bogdanich, Instructional Designer
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Ask an ID: Creating e-learning modules

Ready to create engaging e-learning modules? Instructional designer Stephanie Bogdanich outlines the essential steps in this process, including course mapping and developing objectives. She also shares tools like Padlet, Poll Everywhere, and VoiceThread to boost student interaction.

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Ask an ID: Replace Flip with Padlet and Panopto

Learn how to replace Flip with effective alternatives in your teaching! Instructional Designer Stephanie Bogdanich explores how Padlet and Panopto can help you maintain interactive learning experiences and offers tips and resources to keep your students engaged and thriving.

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Ask an ID: Faculty Upskilling for Academic Technology

Struggling with outdated tech tools? Instructional Designer Stephanie Bogdanich shares practical advice on using Adobe Creative Cloud Express to improve video editing and image creation. Plus, explore resources like workshops and one-on-one support to modernize your course delivery and stay ahead.

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Remote Recess Rewind

Remote Recess Rewind

Remote Recess Rewind is a series of online, self-paced courses that allow Austin Community College faculty and staff to learn more about tools and technologies by rewatching Remote Recess sessions, taking a short quiz, and accessing resources to support continuous learning.

Professional development credit is automatically awarded in Workday after successful completion.

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Designing Educational Experiences with Generative AI

Designing educational experiences with generative AI

Jaime Cantú, a faculty member in the Biology department, has been pioneering the use of generative AI to revolutionize how we approach teaching and learning. Through trial and error, he has achieved remarkable results with his Anatomy and Physiology students, demonstrating the powerful impact of personalized education. Log into Panopto and watch his workshop recording to not only gain an understanding of the technicalities of AI, but also explore how these advancements can be seamlessly integrated into teaching methodologies to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.

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Using an App to Teach Skills

Using an app to teach students skills

Jose Milan, PTA, M.Ed. Faculty member and Department Chair of the Physical Therapist Assistant Program approached the Instructional Web team with an idea to make an app for students to quickly access videos for the skills taught in the program. Unlike Blackboard, with the app, students could continue to reference the skill videos in subsequent semesters. According to Jose, “Students have told me that it is a more efficient way to get to the videos than logging into Bb, navigate to the unit, and then click on a link. It works well on all their devices.”

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Facilitating real connections through web conferencing

Rise Lara

Matt Evins, Director of Academic Technology in the Teaching and Learning Excellence Division at ACC is joined by Rise Lara, Department Chair for Communication Studies, as they talk about the use of web conferencing technology to support students in online courses. (Note: This conversation has been edited down from the original podcast.)

[Matthew Evins:] Web conferencing technology in general is something that the college has supported for quite a long time, but has taken off in light of the last year and a half or so. I’m excited to talk to you a little bit about how you’re using these technologies.

We talk about things like Zoom and Google Meet and Blackboard Collaborate by their names, but rarely do we talk about them as the general phrase of web conferencing. For those people who may not be familiar with the concept of web conferencing in general, can you provide us with what you consider to be your definition of web conferencing technologies?

[Rise Lara:] We do get stuck in the terminology of “Zooming,” or “Google Meeting,” or there’s a lot of “Teaming” if you’re a Microsoft kind of a person. But really what the goal is, at least from my perspective as a professor and even just, you know, in my day to day life — it’s a way of connecting with people who are obviously not in the same room. Many times we’re not even in the same general area. Maybe different cities, towns, etcetera. But really it’s allowing us to have a conversation much like we would have in your coffee shop, in a classroom, in your office building.

It’s just allowing that facilitation of real connection. And in such a way where we are able to, most of the time, see our faces, smile, engage. We’re doing our gestures. Everything that we would do in the normal face-to-face environment. But the nice part is that obviously we’re saving ourselves some time and some distance. We’re able to connect at different times – in those different locations. It’s almost like having that real face-to-face connection, that interaction. And again we can be anywhere. We’re able to facilitate that without long distance calls or using all of our cell phone minutes. A lot of us tend to do that thing called Facetime whether — or even using the Skype features. Really what it is is about — is just seeing, hearing, and talking to one another in such a way where again we are allowed to be as free flowing with our communication as possible.

[Matthew Evins:] Tell us a little bit about how long have you been incorporating web conferencing technology in to your course, and in what capacity?

[Rise Lara:] Initially it started out small. Back in the day ACC didn’t have too many online class offerings, and primarily they were all asynchronous. In some cases, we used to facilitate real life meetings. We would ask students to come to our campuses at different points in time whether in morning, afternoon, or evening, and really we figured out logistically that was a challenge for people. Not only because Austin with its commute times and traffic can be rather crazy to navigate, but realistically, just like my day is full of things to do, so is a student’s.

It was nice to start looking at other ways of connecting with people that would allow us to shorten the distance, shorten the commute time, and in some cases completely remove that. Initially I started out with a lot of scheduled asynchronous meetings. They were short and brief, so at first they were used to really just get an assignment done.

As a communications studies professor, whether that was a speech assignment, a speech presentation, a group discussion, or even in some of my classes I do one-on-one assessments that are oral so it’s not so much a speech presentation, but it’s a demonstration of a skill. How good do you listen? How well do you perception check or — my students’ probably least favorite activity, resolve a conflict. Right? Nobody likes conflict even online.

So that’s how it started initially, but what I started to learn, especially when online, and life, and web conferencing just became the norm in a very forced way, was that I saw my students really struggle. Those one time, one shot meetings were not enough anymore. They needed interaction. They needed to feel like they could see their classmates, that there were people still out there.

Where I began to shift was in some cases we still have students that need that asynchronous flexibility. That’s how life is for them. That’s what they need. To honor those students that needed that connection, that needed again to see that free flow exchange of ideas.

It’s definitely interesting getting to see everybody’s backgrounds -whether it’s a Zoom kind of faux background or it is their house. It gives you a window into who that person is. Even if they’ve chosen a faux background that is white, well you want to ask them about that trip or why did you choose that background.

I have little Easter eggs here in my display area that I show in some of my meetings. My students are just like, “Oh, my gosh. Is that a blah, blah, blah? Is that a –” I collect Funko figurines, those little bitty silly dolls, and they love seeing that. So in some cases it allows them to get to know me as well. So it changed from just being this one time, one shot deal just to facilitate a task, and even just from conducting your typical class session. There I am standing in front of a computer lecturing to them, and helping them understand the material, to also using it in other ways. Whether that’s also encouraging them to use it for group projects, or to have those one-on-one student meetings away from a phone, it’s so much easier and better. They still feel like they are in the office with me, or in the classroom with me or with their classmates. It’s providing them that social interaction that they really have been craving since a lot of the world has had to kind of distance itself from one another.

Podcast edited for posting.