Guidebook: Designing an Alternative Assessment Where Learners Use GenAI
8. Select a GenAI Tool
Your next task is to select a GenAI tool that is best suited for the students’ task. Even if you give students the option of selecting a tool of their choice, you may still want to suggest one and provide instructions for using it, so that students who are unfamiliar with GenAI have some support.
In selecting an appropriate AI tool, consider the following:
- TASK. What is the nature of the
task that the GenAI will be doing to assist students? For example, if the
task is to generate an image, select a GenAI tool designed to accomplish create
images, such as DALL-E or Bing Image Creator accessed through Bing in
Creative Mode). Other tools, such as ChatGPT, would not be able to
accomplish this task.
- ACCESSIBILITY. Consider whether the tool meets accessibility requirements. For example, you probably want to select a tool that is freely available to all students, and one that is available in Canada. You may want to consider other criteria for students who have accessibility needs, such as whether the GenAI tool is available to students who use a screen reader to access the internet.
- PRIVACY. Even when they are freely available, most GenAI tool require registration to create a login, which means providing an email address. This could violate your institution’s privacy policies. However, there may be ways around it, like using a dummy email account to access the tool or providing a shared class login credential.
- RELIABILITY. Some GenAI tools are more accurate and reliable than others. Consider researching whether the tool you have chosen will be sufficiently robust and trustworthy to meet the needs of the assignment.
If you are new to GenAI and would like some help finding suitable tools, begin by reviewing the chapter GenAI Tools in the book Introduction to Generative AI in Assessments for some ideas. You may also consider asking a GenAI chatbot, like ChatGPT or Bing in Creative Mode, for a list of GenAI tools that could achieve your desired task.
Always try the tool’s ability to support the assignment before choosing it. Some tools will provide better responses than others for most prompts or requests.