Take a tour of Flinders’ new Using AI for Study Canvas site — a concise, practical starting point for understanding what AI can (and can’t) do, how to use it ethically, and where it might just make your study life easier.
The Library and SLSS (both friends of BetterU – at least I hope they are) have just launched a new Using AI for Study site in Canvas, and I’ve taken a tour. I did the clicking and the reading and the pondering and the various facial expressions associated with learning 🥴
The topic is designed to help students become informed, ethical, and effective users of AI. I reckon it is well worth your time.
The site covers:
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How generative AI works – patterns, associations, why it looks like it understands but doesn’t.
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When and how it’s allowed – what you can use it for, what documentation you need, and how to acknowledge it.
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Flinders AI tools – including Copilot Chat, Study Buddy, and the Library’s Research Assistant.
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Practical guidance – from creating effective prompts to being careful about the information you share.
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Limitations and risks – bias, hallucinations, currency of training data, and why you should still check sources yourself.
It’s concise, relevant, and links directly to the tools we have at Flinders. It took me about an hour to go through the whole thing, with a moderate level of processing. You could do a quick scan in under 30 minutes and identify the sections you want to explore further. My favourite section was Artificial Intelligence – the basics. I think if I was smart enough to re-train late in life, I’d be interested in learning how to build these systems.
That random personal sharing aside, we’re living in a time when I reckon that understanding AI is essential. This includes knowing what it’s good for, what it’s not, and how to use it wisely. This Canvas topic gets that conversation started.
Those who know me well know that I’m a pretty heavy user of AI and over time I can attest to the fact that sometimes it is amazingly helpful. Other times it is clear it is just making me dumber. But to me, the best way to start to distinguish its nuanced impacts, is to start using it. Maybe this topic will help you branch out into trying different iterations of it.
I can see that the creators of the topic have some topics to come, which I am looking forward to. One day they might have a picture of me as a warning sign of what can happen if you use it too much.
It doesn’t (yet) tackle the big question of whether AI is helping or hindering the learning process, but that’s probably because we don’t have convincing, nuanced answers to that. For now, it’s a solid, practical foundation for any student who wants to work smarter with AI.
You can access the site via FLO, or through the updated webpage – Learning to use AI artificial intelligence tools for study – Flinders University Library. This is the gateway to all the University’s key AI resources for students, including the AI tools that the university provides for students (e.g. CoPilot Chat).
