Giving Compass' Take:

• Education Dive reports on how artificial intelligence is being used in college classrooms, whether it's refining lesson plans, helping students get a deeper understanding of materials or redesigning textbooks.

• Machine learning is not new to education, but utilities at the college level are still being examined. What can organizations in the sector do to encourage more innovation in this area?

• Here's more on how AI could help educators do a better job.

Use of artificial intelligence has become more common in the college classroom, and advocates say it can help with everything from improved writing skills to understanding DNA theory, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Critics charge, however, that AI may be used to gloss over structural problems in higher education and result in formulaic teaching and potential threats to privacy.

In a broad look at the use of AI at colleges and universities, the Chronicle of Higher Education notes that it can perhaps fine tune assignments, analyze student writing to see if it is on track and recommend prompts and organize lesson plans, adjusting them according to student understanding. AI systems allow some instructors more time for individual interaction with students giving them more information about their performance as a group and individually. Advanced systems might use machine learning to gather data and, for instance, design a better textbook or provide recommendations to medical students about the right procedure in certain circumstances.

Read the full article about AI as college teaching tool by James Paterson at Education Dive.