GERALD DUMAGUING: Hello, everyone. My name is Gerald Dumaguing. I am a project specialist for the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network, OTAN. And I'd like to welcome you all to this month's OTAN Tech Talk. Our speaker today is Susan Coulter. Her topic today is leveraging AI to enhance CASAS STEPS reading test preparation, a guide for educators. Let's get started. Take it away, Susan. 

SUSAN COULTER: Thank you, Gerald. I want to welcome you to this month's Tech Talk. We will be exploring the CASAS STEPS Reading test, and how we can best prepare our students for this test using AI. My name is Susan Coulter, and I am one of OTAN subject matter experts, more affectionately referred to as SMEs. 

I love this graphic because it shows the many facets and resources offered by OTAN. There's news and social media, the Annual Technology and Digital Learning Symposium, which, I think, registration is open now. It's going to be held in Long Beach in March. There's also digests and newsletters, online resources and video presentations. 

So this Tech Talk will be up on the OTAN website. Teaching with Technology is an online database of lesson plans and professional development. Today's agenda includes a brief overview of artificial intelligence. We will then look at the CASA content, competency, and task blueprints, and from there, create sample test questions using our specified competency area, content and task. 

We will talk about modifying the prompt for a new task. And finally, we will create a simple lesson plan and worksheets to teach these skills. What you will learn, well, you will learn to use AI to create sample test items, to use AI to create a lesson plan, and finally, use AI to create worksheets and study materials. 

The CASA STEPS reading test has been approved as the primary tool to measure progress and ensure accountability for adult English as a second language, ESL students in California. This shift has left many teachers wondering about the most effective strategies to prepare their students for this important test. 

Artificial intelligence is transforming education by serving as a digital tutor that's both responsive and adaptable. Through AI, learning becomes more engaging, efficient, and personalized to meet each student's unique needs. Teachers can use AI to create practice questions, develop study resources, and design lesson plans tailored to their students. 

In this approach, teachers become designers and, quote, "prompt engineers," guiding AI to generate helpful resources. In this presentation, I'll walk you through the process of crafting clear, effective prompts for AI, enabling it to create a practice test, specifically for the CASAS STEPS reading exam. 

We'll also explore how I can help generate additional resources to support student study. To get started, you'll need to determine the CASA STEPS reading test level that's best suited for your students. When your students first enrolled, they took a pre-test to assess their initial skills, and they'll soon take a post-test to measure progress. 

Your courses coordinator can provide you with the next suggested test report, which will help you identify the most appropriate level for your students, based on their pre-test results. On the CASAS STEPS reading page, you'll find several helpful documents that will outline what is covered and how students are tested. 

On the far right, under the heading, What's New, you will find Reading Steps, which I have highlighted with a red box. At the top, you'll find reading steps content, competency, and task area blueprints. At the bottom, I've highlighted two documents. Both are about sample items. 

The first sample test items are by NRS level. The second sample test items are by test form. I like the first, because it is just one document and covers all test levels. The second is a zip file, containing a PDF for each test form, but you can use either file. 

Now, I want you to think about your class and the resources you would like to create. So open a blank document and follow along, as we talk about each element of our prompt. Remember, you only need to answer the prompts that apply to your class. 

For this presentation, I'll use level C as an example, but be sure to select the level that best matches your student's needs, according to the report. One key resource is the reading STEPS competency blueprint, which breaks down the test competency areas and shows the percentage of questions dedicated to each area. 

This blueprint provides a clear overview of the focus areas for each level, allowing you to tailor your preparation strategies, based on the specific competencies emphasized on the test. Think about your course outline and the specific topics you'll be covering. What will you be teaching at the time? 

For level C, 31% on consumer economics. To align with this, I have selected competency 1.4, which is about understanding methods and procedures to obtain housing and related services. By focusing on this competency, you can ensure that your instruction is directly relevant to a key area of the test, maximizing your student's preparedness and familiarity with real world topics they'll encounter in the assessment. 

So level C has five competency areas-- basic communication, consumer economics, community resources, health, and employment. And it differs for each test. Although, many are the same. In the reading STEPS content standard blueprint for levels C, you'll find a breakdown of content areas and the percentage of test items allocated to each. 

For level C, the CASAS test focus is on skills such as vocabulary, details, main idea, and inference. These are the types of questions I want AI to generate. Since understanding details is a significant part of reading comprehension, I may choose to specify that AI creates a higher proportion of questions focused on this skill, to align with the test's emphasis, and ensure students get ample practice in this area. 

The final element to consider is the task area. For level C test, more than half of the items use various types of text, including email, articles, and narratives. It's a good idea to start with one of these formats. And you can easily change the task type as needed. To fully prepare your students, you'll want to expose them to the multiple types of reading tasks. 

For this example, I've chosen to begin with an article, which will help familiarize students with a common format they'll encounter on the test. What is AI or artificial intelligence? It is the wizardry that allows machines to learn, adapt, and perform tasks without explicit programming. 

In education, AI is like a tech savvy tutor, bringing innovative solutions to your classroom. It analyzes data to personalize the learning experience, making lessons as unique as each student. AI helps educators create a dynamic and tailored educational journey. It's not just about fancy tech. 

It's about making learning more engaging, efficient, and personalized for everyone in the classroom. The California Adult Education Digital Learning Guidance was developed by OTAN on behalf of the California Department of Education, and serves as a practical resource for adult educators. 

Chapter 4, titled designing flexible learning experiences, introduces different strategies for designing flexible digital learning experiences. With AI, you are the designer or prompt engineer. You can create interesting and effective lesson plans and personalize the learning experience for individual students, as long as we give clear and precise prompts. 

We need to begin by defining the author's identity and role for AI. Assigning a role provides a distinct personality or persona, creating a foundation before outlining the specific task or action we want AI to do. The basic question is, who is AI writing this for? 

You always need to define the role before stating the task. A sample prompt is, you are an English as a second language teacher, and you want to help your students prepare for the CASAS STEPS reading test. Next, we want to specify the task. What do you want AI to do? And this is a sample. 

Create medium, short article, could be email, suitable for NRS, what level, 3 and 4, that focuses on-- and my competency was method and procedures to obtain housing and related services. Extra details or information to enhance AI's understanding is called context. 

It enhances AI's ability to understand what you want it to perform. What more does I need to know about your class agency. The sample prompt, after the passage, create 10, 20, whatever you want, multiple choice questions that assess the following. And the context areas were main idea, key details, vocabulary understanding, and inference. 

If you wanted to just focus on main idea, you could just put in main idea. You are the designer. Ensure that the questions are challenging but appropriate for the specified NRS level. Provide an answer key for each question. OK, so here we go. You have Create, but then you're putting in the task area. 

What are you asking it to do? In what form? Is it a sign, an add, a label? What do you want, in what form? And the focus is on a topic. And in this case, I was doing it on housing, but this is the competency. The passage should be engaging and suitable for adult learners. 

And then after the passage, create 10 multiple choice questions that assess the following. Those are the content. And ensure the questions are challenging but appropriate for the specified NRS level. Provide an answer key. So here is my complete prompt. 

I am an English as a second language teacher, and I want to help my students prepare for the CASAS STEPS level C reading test, addressing competency 1.4. Create a medium length article, levels 3 and 4. And then after the article, 10 multiple choice questions that assess, and then ensure that they are challenging but appropriate. 

So these are the four documents. And to optimize our AI platform's effectiveness in generating relevant practice materials, it's crucial to familiarize it, with as much information as possible, about the CASAS reading STEPS test. On the CASAS Reading STEPS page, I downloaded four documents to guide our AI. 

These resources will help guide AI to create questions and study materials that closely reflect the actual test content, ensuring more targeted and effective preparation for our students. Now, let's talk about AI platforms. With the growing number of AI platforms available, each one offers unique features and limitations. 

When preparing to use AI for creating CASAS Reading STEPS practice materials, you can choose any platform that allows document uploads. Although, some may have limits on the number or size of documents. I've experimented with several different platforms and observed varying levels of success in document processing and content generation. 

It's worthwhile to try a few different options to see which one best meets your needs for document integration, prompt clarity, and overall usability. ChatGPT was my first choice for this project. However, I was only able to upload three documents with the free version. I could upload all four with the premium version. 

By combining all four documents into one, I was able to use ChatGPT with the free version. I've included a link at the bottom of the slide here for a combined document. Initially, before ChatGPT had document upload, I used Magic School AI and their app called Chat with Docs, which I've highlighted with a red box. 

Magic School has a free version. Currently, you can upload up to two documents and have an AI-powered chat, based on the resource uploaded. I uploaded the combined document and was prompted to sign up for a free educator account. Claude AI allowed me to upload all four documents and gave me a link to the practice test. 

Claude recognized that there were a greater number of questions on the test that focused on key details and gave more practice on the topic of key data health. I loved using Claude, until I discovered there was a limit to its use. The limited free plan has a limit of 15,000 characters per month that can be used across all conversations. 

Each response counts towards the 15,000 character limit. I made several modifications, asked for a lesson plan, and then a worksheet. In the end, I used up all 15,000 characters on this project. Google Gemini. Google Gemini is another versatile AI platform, capable of analyzing a range of common file formats. 

This flexibility allows it to handle various document types, making it a strong option for creating and analyzing CASAS Reading STEPS practice materials. However, to upload documents, you need to switch or upgrade to Gemini Advanced, which may involve additional costs. 

Copilot is another AI platform I considered, but its free version does not currently allow document uploads. When I logged in with my school account, I encountered an additional limitation, an error message stating, the number of files you are trying to add exceeds the maximum limit. 

Currently, Copilot supports adding one file at a time, and this restriction makes it challenging to work with multiple CASAS Reading STEPS documents simultaneously, limiting its usefulness and creating comprehensive practice materials. For this project, I chose Calude.AI. 

However, you can choose any platform that will allow you to upload at least one document. Each platform is different and worth trying. Also, keep in mind that these platforms are constantly changing. What is true today may not be true tomorrow. I want you to go to Calude.AI and set up a free account. 

I found it easiest to continue with Google. It will, then, ask you to choose an account. Once you are in Claude.AI, upload all four documents from the CASAS website by using the paperclip. Then, enter your prompt. And I've used an arrow to highlight the paperclip. 

I have uploaded all four documents and typed in my prompt. We then need to press Return to generate our practice test. And this is the result that Claude gave me. I want you to notice the document up near the top. And I want you to be sure to check this document, review the content, and make sure AI hasn't made any mistakes. 

If you do not like the response or feel it is incorrect, you can select Retry at the bottom of the response. However, I know, with ChatGPT, if I click Retry, then I lose what's already there. So you might want to copy what you have first and save it before you select Retry. 

When you click on the Practice Test, it will open in a side panel. Be sure to read and check the questions for accuracy. And at the very end of the practice questions, you will find answers. Keep in mind, at the end of that document are the answers. If you like the practice test, you have the option to copy, download, or publish it. 

I selected Publish, just to see what they meant by they publish. Publish means it will be accessible to anyone on the internet. You will get a link to the document. Don't forget, the answers are at the bottom. Initially, I requested a housing article for my students to practice with. 

However, this time, I'd like them to work with a housing ad instead. You don't need to restart the process. Simply prompt the AI to create a housing ad rather than an article. This quick adjustment allows students to practice interpreting different types of reading material without significantly changing the setup. 

Please notice my prompt at the top, stating please create an ad instead of an article. It is that simple. Here, you can see the AI response in the practice test. Again, the document, Housing Advertisement Practice Test shows up in a side panel. 

Now that AI is familiar with the content for practice materials, we can move on to creating a targeted lesson plan to teach these skills. By leveraging the information from the CASAS Reading STEPS documents and the practice material, type housing add, we can prompt AI to design a lesson plan that focuses on a specific competencies and content areas relevant to the test. 

This lesson plan can guide students through interpreting ads, understanding key details, and applying vocabulary skills in context. My prompt is, please create-- and you can decide how long, but I set a 60-minute lesson plan to teach this material to NRS level 3 and NRS level 4 students in the-- 

And I wanted it in WIPPEA format, but you can put it in any format you want, which is warm up, introduction, presentation, practice, evaluation, and application. Please include interactive activities that are engaging and focused on the learning goal. This is the lesson plan I received in the WIPPEA format. 

Again, please be sure to check the lesson plan for accuracy. As a designer or prompt engineer of this lesson plan, remember that you have control over the details AI generates. Feel free to ask AI to rewrite any section or to provide additional s information, if needed. Here's an example of a prompt to enhance vocabulary learning. 

Please identify the key vocabulary students must know for understanding a housing ad, and suggest an activity or game to help them learn or retain these terms. This prompt will allow AI to generate a list of essential vocabulary and provide an engaging activity or game, such as a matching game, role playing scenario, or vocabulary bingo, tailored to reinforce the words in a fun, interactive way. 

To provide students with extra practice, you can easily create a take home worksheet that reinforces the skills they're developing in class. Here's a prompt to help AI generate the worksheet. Please create a worksheet that students can take home to practice their skills. 

This prompt will help AI generate a worksheet tailored to the skills required for the CASAS Reading STEPS test, allowing students to reinforce their learning at home. Something you need to be aware of is AI bias. Language models are trained on vast amounts of text data from the internet, which can contain biases, reflecting societal prejudice or inaccuracies, so be sure to check. 

And vulnerability to misinformation. Like any AI, it can generate responses that are factually incorrect. AI models are known to hallucinate, so be sure to check. And last but not least, AI does not have real-world experience and practical understanding. Keep this in mind, as you read through the response produced by AI. 

This concludes today's Tech Talk. But if you would like this presentation or another repeated at your agency, contact OTAN at support@otan.us. You just need 10 registered participants, and OTAN will send someone at no cost to you. I want to thank you again for joining me for this presentation. At the bottom, I have included a link to this slide presentation. So, thanks again. 

GERALD DUMAGUING: Thank you, Susan, for all of that great information. OTAN would also like to thank all of you for coming to this Tech Talk. If you have an edtech tool or some tips that you'd like to share with the adult education field, please email your idea to support@otan.us. 

We also encourage you to subscribe to the OTAN YouTube channel, where you can view archived tech talks, such as this, as well as view other OTAN videos. You can contact OTAN for additional services, including professional development, at your site. Visit the OTAN site at otan.us, or contact us by phone or email. Thank you again for watching today's OTAN Tech Talk.