Many schools do not allow students to use artificial intelligence to complete their assignments. Should teachers be held to the same standard?
Airport Hugs
A new rule at a New Zealand airport limits curbside embraces to three minutes. What’s your reaction?
Word of the Day: juvenile
This word has appeared in 193 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
3 GenAI prompting methods worth trying
In our past few issues, we’ve been highlighting specific career areas, namely business management, data analytics, and cybersecurity. This week, we’re going to zoom out and return to a more widely applicable topic, AI skills.
At first glance, AI skills may seem highly technical. The name alone can bring to mind mechanical and robotic imagery. And, truthfully, some aspects of AI are highly technical. For example, if you’re aspiring to become an AI engineer, you’ll become intimately familiar with words like Python and LangChain. (Sidenote: If this sounds like your dream scenario, read our interview with Isaac Ke, an AI engineer at IBM. He reflects on his journey and top skills, plus offers detailed advice for entering the field.)
For the rest of us, however, AI skills have less to do with building pipelines and more to do with practical applications, like using Google Gemini to create a chore tracker. The more comfortable you get with your practical AI skills and using GenAI tools, the better equipped you are to capture AI’s time-saving benefits. According to a report from Visier, professionals using GenAI to augment their skills are saving 1.75 hours per day.
The trick to maximizing your efficiency with GenAI? Good communication.
How to prompt LLMs
If you’ve spent any time chatting with a large language model (LLM), you’ll notice that it responds to almost any type of question, or input. These tools are designed to be conversational, meaning now matter how you phrase your input, you’ll likely get a response, or output. But just like in human-to-human conversation, there are more and less effective ways to communicate with the tool.
Generally, the quality of your output reflects the quality of your input. Fortunately, there are guidelines for writing high-quality inputs that are more likely to generate high-quality outputs. This practice describes prompting, and an input that instructs the LLM on the kind of output you’re looking for is a prompt.
There are several prompting methods that are worth trying as you practice using LLMs. Here are some of the methods described in the course Google AI Essentials:
1. Zero-shot prompting is a simple prompt that provides no example to guide the output. Here, you provide a sentence or two instructing the LLM.
Example: Draft an email to my physician’s office requesting to schedule an appointment for my annual check-up on October 14.
2. One-shot prompting includes one example of the type of output you’re seeking. Similarly, few-shot prompting includes two or more examples of the type of output you’re seeking. This helps to instruct the LLM on the format and tone you’d like to achieve. Here, you provide your instruction, an instruction to review the example(s), your labeled example(s), and an open label for your request.
Example: Write a short, fun phrase to open a social media caption about my beach vacation. Review the examples provided and write in the same style.
Hike: Climbing to the top!
Game day: Rolling the dice!
Beach vacation:
3. Chain-of-thought prompting asks the AI to explain the reasoning for the output. This helps to ensure accuracy for logic and problem-solving questions. Here, you provide the context, an example, and your request. If you don’t have an answer to provide, you can alternatively instruct the LLM to “Solve the problem in a step-by-step manner.”
Example: My household eats 3 bags of frozen spinach per week, and I typically go grocery shopping one time per week. I purchase 3 bags of frozen spinach during each grocery trip (3 bags/week * 1 week = 3 bags). I can only buy whole bags of frozen spinach. Explain the steps involved in determining how many bags of spinach I should buy during each shopping scenario.
Question: I will be unable to go to the grocery store for 1.5 weeks. How many bags of frozen spinach should I buy?
Answer: 5 bags. To determine this, multiply 3 bags/week by 1.5 weeks (3 bags/week * 1.5 weeks = 4.5) , then round up to the nearest whole number (5).
Question: I will be unable to go to the grocery store for 2.5 weeks. How many bags of spinach should I buy?
Answer:
With any of these methods, if you aren’t satisfied with the output, you can (and should) try different ways of phrasing your prompt. Iteration describes an approach where you write a prompt, see the output, and refine your prompt to get a more exact output.
Keep learning
If you enjoyed learning about these prompting methods, check out Google AI Essentials. This 9-hour introductory course goes into more detail about these methods and more.
For even more prompting techniques, explore Vanderbilt University’s Prompt Engineering Specialization.
For hands-on practice using GenAI tools, try the course Use Generative AI as Your Thought Partner from Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera CEO.
Finally, to learn about incorporating AI into your career, we’ve compiled all of our top GenAI recommendations.
That’s all for this week.
Can You Place These Children’s Books on the World Map?
A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. This week’s literary geography quiz celebrates popular children’s books and stories from cultures around the world. To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. Links to the books will be listed at the end of the quiz if you’d like to do further reading.
Should All Schools Have Student Newspapers?
Just 27 percent of public high schools in New York City have a newspaper. A new initiative is trying to change that.
The Importance of Social Skills Development in Special Education
Written by Liau Alex
Social skills are the way we behave, communicate, and connect with others in various social situations. They include things like how we talk to people, listen to them, and work together in groups. These skills are like the building blocks of successful interactions and relationships.
In special education, paying attention to these skills is extra important. That’s because they play a huge role in how well students do in school, how they feel about themselves, and how they fit into the world around them as they grow up.
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Imagine being able to chat comfortably with classmates, ask questions when you don’t understand something, or join in games during recess. These are all examples of social skills in action. When students have strong social skills, they’re more likely to succeed academically because they can participate fully in classroom activities, collaborate with others on projects, and seek help when needed.
But social skills go beyond just academics. They also impact students’ emotional well-being. For instance, being able to make friends, resolve conflicts peacefully, and express feelings appropriately can contribute to a positive self-image and overall happiness.
Moreover, social skills are essential for lifelong integration into society. As students with special needs grow older, they’ll need to navigate various social environments, from workplaces to community gatherings. Having strong social skills can make these transitions smoother and help them feel more comfortable and accepted wherever they go.
Understanding Special Education
Special education is a special kind of schooling that’s designed to help students who have disabilities or unique learning needs. Its main aim is to make sure that all students can learn in a fair way and to assist them with the various challenges they might face.
In special education, students may come across many different hurdles. These can include difficulties with thinking, moving, understanding things, or even with their senses. Because of these challenges, it’s crucial to use special teaching methods that are tailored to each student’s needs and help them develop in all areas.
The Role of Social Skills in Special Education
The link between knowing how to get along with others and doing well in school is very important. Especially for students in special education, improving these skills is really crucial because they have to deal with tricky social situations both in and out of class.
Beyond just making friends and fitting in, being good at social skills helps with talking, working together, and solving problems. These are all really important things for doing well in school and later on in jobs.
But even though social skills are super important, students with special needs often struggle to get better at them. Things like having trouble talking, being sensitive to things around them, or feeling nervous around others can make it tough for them to interact with classmates and teachers.
Strategies for Social Skills Development
Improving social skills in special education requires different approaches tailored to each student’s needs. Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) are crucial for setting specific social goals and finding the best ways to help each student.
Including social skills training in school, lessons give students chances to learn in structured ways and practice with real-life situations. Activities like pretending, working together, and having older students help younger ones are some examples of ways to help students improve their social skills.
Additionally, using technology and special tools can make learning social skills easier. Things like apps on tablets or games that look like real life can give students new and fun ways to learn and practice these skills.
Collaborative Efforts for Effective Social Skills Development
Making sure students develop good social skills requires teamwork among teachers, parents, therapists, and community members. When everyone communicates and works together, they can provide consistent help and support for students in different places.
Involving parents helps them support their children’s social learning at home. And when therapists and experts are part of the team, they can make sure students get all the support they need.
Community resources like clubs, groups, and programs also play a big role. They give students extra chances to practice social skills and feel included.
To sum up, improving social skills in special education is incredibly important. By putting a lot of effort into helping students develop these skills, teachers and others can make sure that students with disabilities do well in school, connect with others, and feel good about themselves. This helps create a more fair and welcoming society for everyone.
Interested in learning about how preschool-aged children grow and develop? Nurture Pods offers a free online course just for you. In this course, you’ll explore the important aspects of how young children behave and learn.
Throughout the course, you’ll discover the vital role that teachers play in helping children develop social skills and understand their emotions. This is important because it helps children do well in school and in their relationships with others.
Additionally, you’ll learn about how children learn to talk and read. Understanding this helps teachers teach children better.
Nurture Pods’ online course gives you valuable insights into the development of young children. Join today to gain knowledge and improve your skills as an educator!
About The Author
Liau Alex obtained his degree in Psychology from the National University of Singapore and specialises in childhood disorders, specifically learning and behavioural difficulties. He has many years of experience working with children exhibiting a wide array of learning and behaviour challenges, many of whom have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
As an author, Alex has two titles published by Future Horizons Inc. (USA), the world leader in autism and sensory resources. Schools worldwide have used his books for inclusive education and parent training for children with special needs. Titles under his name include School Shadow Guidelines (2015) and A Parent’s Guide to Early Intervention (2021).
Alex received training on early intensive behavioural intervention (EIBI) in Australia and subsequently went to the USA, where he received relationship development intervention (RDI) training under Dr Steven Gutstein and Dr Rachel Sheely. He has presented in Australia, Houston, and Singapore and has also been invited to participate in media interviews. Furthermore, he has worked with clients from across the globe, including China, Taiwan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Cat Psychology
What cats have you known well in your life? What has puzzled you about their behavior?
Word of the Day: encumbered
This word has appeared in 19 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
Is It Difficult Being a Student Athlete?
More than ever, college athletes have to deal with the dual pressures of being a student and an athlete. To what extent do high school and middle school athletes face similar challenges?
