On August 1, 2024, Ho Chi Minh City Open University organized a workshop at Hall 602, 97 Vo Van Tan Campus, District 3, on the topic “Introduction to a Selection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools Supporting Teaching and Scientific Research,” presented by Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai from the University of Missouri, USA.

Overview of the event

Attending the workshop were Professor Dr. Nguyen Minh Ha – the President of the University, along with numerous faculty and staff members from the University.

Speaking at the workshop, Professor Dr. Nguyen Minh Ha – the President of Ho Chi Minh City Open University, stated: 'To meet the increasingly high educational demands, continuously updating knowledge and applying new technologies is essential for every lecturer in today’s era. Therefore, esteemed lecturers need to continually learn and innovate, with workshop like today serving as opportunities for us to enhance our skills in using artificial intelligence (AI), thereby improving the quality of teaching and research. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai for the valuable insights to come and wish all esteemed lecturers good health and success in their work.'

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Minh Ha speaking at the event

The event gathered the participation of lecturers and administrative staff involved in teaching or scientific research. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai presented on Intelligent Augmentation, emphasizing the combination of artificial intelligence and human intelligence.

During the discussion, participants engaged in an enthusiastic exchange of ideas and provided suggestions on the application of AI tools to support teaching and scientific research. Addressing concerns about the similarities in presentations if lecturers use the same AI tool, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai clarified that although the same AI tool is used, the way lecturers apply and innovate during the process of refining their presentations and teaching methods will make a difference.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai shared at the event

In addition, the concern that learners using digital textbooks to create their own exam question banks may have ready-made answers and lack critical thinking was also raised by the participants. According to Ms. Nguyen Chau Bich Tuyen, a lecturer from the Faculty of Foreign Languages: 'Slides only provide general content to support presentations. Lecturers must rely on the content that learners compile and analyze during their presentations to assess whether they truly understand the issues. I can ask 'Why' to encourage learners to be more dynamic and think critically in developing solutions.'

Ms. Nguyen Chau Bich Tuyen, a lecturer from the Faculty of Foreign Languages shared her insights

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai emphasized that with the support of AI, learners' classroom activities should focus on analysis, evaluation, and synthesis, especially incorporating creative projects and hypothetical scenarios instead of merely presenting general information as before. Mr. Thai Thanh Tuan, a lecturer from the Faculty of Business Administration, shared the same view: 'Because there are very intelligent learners who rely on general knowledge to save time in synthesizing information and then think critically to broaden their understanding of the issues.'

During the workshop, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai also encouraged the lecturers to create a new email account specifically for using AI tools in order to avoid having their personal information accessed by AI.

The tools that support teaching activities introduced include Magic School, Brisk Teaching, and Gamma. Additionally, tools that assist in academic writing, such as Jenni and Scite, were also presented to the participants by Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hai.

Participants at the workshop

The training workshop wrapped up with valuable information and opened up many new opportunities for the application of artificial intelligence in teaching and scientific research.