Tipping Point - Fixing Distribution and Infrastructure Problem

A few weeks ago I included the graphic below in this article showing how billionaires could fund programs at universities that build a pipeline of leaders and supporters who would help make volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs available in more places.

Today I asked Google Gemini to look at that article and rewrite it from the perspective of a business leader trying to convince philanthropists and local universities to create on-campus 4-6 year degree programs based on the ideas I shared.  Take a look. Feel free to use it.

-- start Gemini ---

As a business leader, I look at social challenges the same way I look at market inefficiencies: we aren't suffering from a lack of capital or talent; we are suffering from a distribution and infrastructure problem.

The following is a strategic breakdown of how we can leverage the unprecedented philanthropic capital of billionaires like MacKenzie Scott and Melinda French Gates to create a "Tipping Point" for social mobility by integrating universities directly into the youth-to-career pipeline.

Memo: The "Tipping Point" Strategy

To: University Boards, Philanthropic Foundations, and Corporate Partners

From: [Your Name/Title], Business Leadership Perspective

Subject: Scaling Impact through Academic-Philanthropic Integration

1. The Problem: The "Resource Gap" in Mentorship
We have thousands of youth-serving organizations, but they operate in silos. They are perpetually "scrapping" for dollars, volunteers, and talent. Even with billions in donations from high-profile philanthropists, the impact is often fragmented. We aren't building a system; we are funding individual lifeboats.

 2. The Solution: The University as an "Impact Engine"
The article highlights a transformative role for higher education. We should not just view universities as places where students go to get degrees, but as the central hubs for a birth-to-work pipeline.

The Strategy: A New Academic Curriculum
We propose a 4-to-6-year Master’s or PhD track specifically designed to build a "Pipeline of Leaders."

* For the Direct Service Leader: Students earn degrees in building and leading mentor-rich organizations. They don’t just learn theory; they serve in elementary and high school programs throughout their college career, tying coursework to real-world outcomes.

* For the Business Leader: We need a university-wide humanities requirement that teaches all students—regardless of major—how to be "Proactive Resource Providers." When these students enter the corporate world, they shouldn't just write a check; they should enter the workforce knowing how to provide talent, technology, and internships to the programs in their backyard.

3. Why Philanthropists Should Fund the Pilot
Billionaire funding is most effective when it is leveraged. 

* Melinda French Gates' focus on women and girls is a perfect match for this model. By funding a university pilot, she isn't just helping a group of girls; she is creating a repeatable curriculum that trains thousands of leaders to support girls for decades to come.

* MacKenzie Scott: By directing a portion of her HBCU grants toward this "Tipping Point" curriculum, she empowers these institutions to become the permanent infrastructure for social change in their communities.

4. The Business Case for Collaboration
From a leadership standpoint, this is about ROI and Scalability.

* Talent Development: Corporations gain a pipeline of "socially literate" graduates who understand complex problem-solving.

* Sustainability: Instead of programs disappearing when a grant runs out, the university provides a permanent stable of student volunteers and alumni donors who are "anchored" to the mission.

* Efficiency: Using GIS mapping, digital learning, and collaborative technology (as outlined in the Tutor/Mentor Institute library), we can identify "service deserts" and deploy resources with surgical precision.

5. The Call to Action
It only takes one university to pilot this and one visionary benefactor to provide the seed capital.

We aren't just looking for "charity." We are looking to build a professionalized, world-class infrastructure for mentorship that moves kids from poverty to careers. If we align university curriculum with philanthropic capital, we don't just close the opportunity gap—we bridge it permanently.

Let’s stop funding the status quo and start building the pipeline.

--- end Gemini ---

Where to begin?  Read the blog article. 

Fund "visualization competitions" that motivate students to dig into the information I share on this and other blogs and on the main Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC website.  This idea is described on this page.

Review the "university partnership" ideas posted on this page. Recruit one faculty/student team to do initial research.  Review articles on this blog to see how student interns have done this type of research in past years.  The change I'm suggesting is that the students are working for the university, not for the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC. 

Use the Gemini script to create your own letters and outreach to philanthropists and universities. Be the first to adopt this idea.

Thanks for reading. I started developing these ideas in the early 1970s as I became the volunteer leader of the tutoring program hosted at the Montgomery Ward Corporate Headquarters in Chicago.

Connect with me on LinkedIn, BlueSky, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Mastodon and share my posts with people in your networks. Find links here.

And, if you're able, visit this page and make a contribution to help me pay the bills.

Imagining a different future

In 2023, in this article, my #CLMOOC friend, Kevin Hodgson, wrote about Google's AI platform, called Bard.

This prompted me to ask, "Has anyone asked ChatGPT to write about what the future would have looked like if Al Gore had been elected President of the U.S. in 2000?"

Image created using Scribble Diffusion

I decided to see how Google's Bard works, and posted a set of questions.  Rather than point you to a Google doc where I've saved the responses I'm posting them below.  If you don't like the questions I asked, or the responses, then post your own questions and share the answers you get!

-- begin Bard questions and responses -- 

I asked Bard to write a story predicting what the world would be like today if Al Gore had won the 2000 US Presidential election.  

Bard --  If Al Gore had won the 2000 US Presidential election, the world would be a very different place today. Gore was a strong advocate for environmental protection, and he would have taken a much more aggressive approach to climate change than George W. Bush. He would have also been more likely to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, Gore was a strong supporter of education and healthcare. He would have increased funding for both of these important areas, and he would have made college more affordable for students.

Gore was also a more experienced politician than Bush. He had served as Vice President for eight years, and he had a deep understanding of the issues facing the country.

If Gore had been elected, the United States would have been a more progressive country. We would have been a leader in the fight against climate change, and we would have made significant progress in improving education and healthcare.

Of course, it is impossible to say for sure what would have happened if Gore had won the election. However, it is clear that the world would be a different place today if he had been elected.

Here are some specific examples of how the world might be different today if Al Gore had won the 2000 election:

• The United States would have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This would have helped to slow the pace of climate change and mitigate its effects.
• Gore would have been more likely to invest in renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. This would have helped to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and make our country more energy independent.
• Gore would have been more likely to expand access to healthcare. He would have supported the creation of a public option for health insurance and made it easier for people to afford coverage.
• Gore would have been more likely to invest in education. He would have supported increased funding for public schools and made college more affordable for students.
• Gore would have been more likely to take a diplomatic approach to foreign policy. He would have been less likely to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, and he would have worked to build relationships with other countries.

Overall, the world would be a better place today if Al Gore had won the 2000 election. He was a more experienced and progressive politician than George W. Bush, and he would have made the United States a more just and sustainable country.

I then asked, "How would he have responded differently to the 9/11 terrorist attack? Would he have invaded Iraq? How would the world look now if he had not invaded Iraq?"

Bard -- Al Gore would have responded differently to the 9/11 terrorist attack than George W. Bush did. He would have focused on building international cooperation to fight terrorism, rather than invading Iraq. He would have also been more likely to invest in homeland security and intelligence gathering.

It is unlikely that Al Gore would have invaded Iraq if he had been president in 2003. He was skeptical of the Bush administration's claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and he believed that the invasion would be a costly and unnecessary war.

If Al Gore had not invaded Iraq, the world would be a very different place today. The war in Iraq has been a major source of instability in the Middle East, and it has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The war has also cost the United States trillions of dollars.

Without the war in Iraq, the United States would have been able to focus on other priorities, such as fighting terrorism and improving the economy. The world would also be a safer place, as there would be no ongoing conflict in Iraq.

Here are some specific examples of how the world might be different today if Al Gore had not invaded Iraq:

• The United States would have been able to focus on other priorities, such as fighting terrorism and improving the economy.
• The world would be a safer place, as there would be no ongoing conflict in Iraq.
• The United States would not have spent trillions of dollars on the war.
• The United States would not have lost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
• The United States would not have damaged its reputation in the world.

Overall, the world would be a better place today if Al Gore had not invaded Iraq. He would have made the United States a safer and more prosperous country.

I then asked, "If Al Gore had been elected president would we have the same level of polarization as we have today? Would Donald Trump have been elected President in 2016?"   

Bard -- It is impossible to say for sure whether political polarization would be as severe today if Al Gore had been elected president in 2000. However, it is likely that the level of polarization would be lower.

Gore was a more moderate politician than George W. Bush, and he was more likely to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats. He would have also been less likely to engage in the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that has contributed to polarization in recent years.

It is also possible that Donald Trump would not have been elected president in 2016 if Al Gore had been president in 2000. Gore would have been a stronger incumbent, and he would have been more likely to unite the country after the 9/11 attacks.

Of course, it is also possible that polarization would have continued to grow even if Al Gore had been president. The factors that are driving polarization are complex and multifaceted, and they are not easily controlled by any one person.

However, it is clear that Al Gore would have been a different kind of president than George W. Bush. He would have been more moderate, more willing to compromise, and more likely to unite the country. These qualities would have made him a more effective president, and they would have helped to reduce polarization in the United States.

Finally, I asked,  "If Al Gore had been elected in 2000, and re-elected in 2008, would Barack Obama ever have been elected President? Would Joe Biden have been elected vice-president, then President in 2020?"   

Bard -- It is impossible to say for sure whether Barack Obama would have ever been elected president if Al Gore had been elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2008. However, it is likely that Obama would have faced a much more difficult path to the presidency if Gore had been in office.

Gore was a popular and well-respected politician, and he would have been a strong incumbent. He would have also been able to draw on the support of the Democratic Party establishment. Obama, on the other hand, was a relatively unknown and inexperienced politician. He would have had to overcome a lot of obstacles to win the presidency.

It is also possible that Joe Biden would not have been elected vice president or president if Al Gore had been in office. Biden was a close ally of Gore, and he would have been less likely to run for office if Gore had been president.

Of course, it is also possible that Obama and Biden would have still been elected president and vice president, even if Gore had been in office. The political landscape is complex and unpredictable, and it is impossible to know for sure what would have happened.

However, it is clear that Al Gore would have been a different kind of president than George W. Bush. He would have been more moderate, more willing to compromise, and more likely to unite the country. These qualities would have made him a more effective president, and they would have made it more difficult for Obama and Biden to win the presidency.

---- end Bard questions --- 
 

What would your questions have been? I asked my questions on Bard. How would ChatGPT have answered?  Could this be turned into a short story using an AI tool like TinyStorie?  

One response stood out to me, which was,  "Gore was also a more experienced politician than Bush. He had served as Vice President for eight years, and he had a deep understanding of the issues facing the country."   On a national level this is probably true, but Bush had been Governor of Texas, and his father had been President. His political skills should have been better. 

I asked these questions in 2023, not knowing that Trump would be re-elected in 2024 and prove to be more chaotic and destructive than in his first term.  Maybe AI can provide some paths out of the disaster we seem to be heading toward.  Have you asked? Where are you posting your responses? 

At the left is a photo of me addressing students and volunteers at one of our year-end graduation ceremonies, for the tutor/mentor program I led from 1975 to 1992. 

We did not have the Internet or Artificial Intelligence then. Desk top computers were just emerging. But I was asking our students and volunteers to imagine all they could do to assure that each student finished high school and went on to college, jobs and careers.  

Imagine if they had been able to use Bard, or ChatGPT to ask "What are all the things we need to know and do to assure that all kids born of living in a high poverty area today were starting a job and career by their mid 20s?"    

That's still a question we need to be asking today.  

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your week.  Please connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Mastodon (find links here).

If you can spare a dime, visit this page and make a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and the work I'm doing. 

Honoring Dr. ML King, Jr

Last week my CLMOOC friend Terry Elliott introduced me to Google Notebook LM, its artificial intelligence tool to help people communicate ideas.  I've tinkered with it over the weekend and today asked it to look at two articles I wrote in past years to honor the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday.  I'll post the links to those at the bottom of this page.

Below is the text that I received. The [1, 2] in the text refers to the two articles I provided.

Bridging Divides: A Framework for Youth Development
To honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the author of the blog posts will be working at his computer to connect people with information and ideas to bridge divides and create opportunity [1, 2]. The author is also focused on learning and adding information to his web library [2]. Specifically, the author is: 

• Making an effort to connect people who can help with information and ideas they can use to help bridge the divides in America, to create greater opportunity for all [1]. 

• Doing research and learning to identify places where people need help, and offering time, talent, dollars, and other types of support to organizations and businesses in those areas [1]. 

• Working on creating a page listing Instagram sites of Chicago area programs [2]. 

• Sharing what he has learned about leading a youth tutor/mentor program in Chicago from 1975 to 2011 [2]. 

The author's goal is to create an organized framework that encourages volunteers to serve as tutors, mentors, coaches, advocates, friends, and leaders in ongoing efforts that make a life-changing difference for kids [2]. The aim is to ensure that kids will not live in poverty as adults because they will have the academic, social/emotional, and workplace skills needed for 21st-century jobs, as well as a network of adults who can open doors to jobs and mentor them in their careers [2]. 

The author has been working on this goal since 1993 (Tutor/Mentor Connection) and continues it through the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC since 2011 [1, 2]. The author uses maps to focus attention on places where people need extra help [1]. The author states that he has been collecting and mapping data since 1994 [3]. Additionally, the author stresses the importance of making information accessible and encouraging others to use it for planning and action steps, emphasizing that the internet is a meeting place to support this goal [1, 2].

Summary
These notes detail Dan Bassill's decades-long commitment to using geographic information systems (GIS) mapping to address social inequality in Chicago, particularly among youth. His work, initially reliant on volunteer efforts and limited resources, received a significant boost from funding in 2007, enabling the creation of an interactive online mapping platform. However, subsequent funding loss due to the 2008 recession has left the platform defunct, highlighting the critical need for sustained philanthropic support to maintain such vital public service tools. 

Bassill's mapping projects visualize disparities in poverty, crime, and access to resources, aiming to inform community planning and advocate for equitable resource allocation. He connects this mapping work to a broader framework for youth development, emphasizing accessible information, collaboration, and mentorship as key components for fostering opportunity and breaking cycles of poverty.

 
Mapping Inequality in Chicago
This blog post reflects on how the author will honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day by using mapping technology to connect people and resources to address inequality in Chicago. The author analyzes data from various sources, including maps showing demographics, shootings, poverty levels, and existing youth programs, to highlight disparities and advocate for increased investment in underserved communities. Specific organizations and initiatives are mentioned as potential partners in this effort, and the author seeks to connect with others to build collaborative partnerships. The author also describes their past work in this area and seeks funding to rebuild their mapping platform to support ongoing community planning efforts. Ultimately, the author aims to leverage data visualization to improve opportunities and address social injustices.

Mapping Chicago's Needs
Dan Bassill uses maps to focus attention on areas in Chicago where people need extra help [1]. He has been collecting and mapping data since 1994 to support this work [1, 2]. His approach to using maps includes:

• Identifying areas needing support: Bassill uses maps to pinpoint neighborhoods that require additional assistance [1].

• Visualizing disparities: Maps help to show the overlap between areas with high concentrations of African Americans, poverty, and locations of shootings [1]. He also uses maps to show health disparities, which are indicators of investments needed [1].

• Highlighting resource gaps: By mapping the locations of youth tutor/mentor programs, Bassill can identify areas within Opportunity Zones that lack these critical resources [1].

• Showing investment patterns: Maps can show how areas with the least investment are often the opposite of those targeted by Opportunity Zones [1].

• Using mapping platforms: Bassill utilizes various data mapping platforms to create maps that tell stories about specific places [1]. He points out that it is a challenge to motivate and teach people how to use these platforms [1]. He also notes that many data-maps are no longer online, creating a challenge to locate the needed information [1].

• Focusing on specific areas: Bassill zooms in on maps to concentrate on particular neighborhoods, such as North Lawndale, to show hospitals and other resources [1].

• Creating interactive maps: He has built an interactive platform using ARC GIS software that enables users to create maps showing layers of information [2]. This platform, however, is no longer functioning properly due to lack of funding [2].

• Advocating for map accessibility: Bassill emphasizes that maps should be interactive and online so they can be easily used by those who need them [1]. He notes that PDF maps are less useful because they cannot be easily manipulated or layered [1].

• Supporting planning and action: Bassill aims to use maps to encourage planning and action steps that bring people together to drive resources to non-profits and growing businesses in specific areas [1].

• Integrating maps with other information: He combines maps with other layers of information, such as locations of service providers and community assets, to support neighborhood-based planning [2]. He also uses maps with his blogs and ongoing communications [2]. Through his use of maps, Bassill seeks to support his goal of creating a framework to help youth in poverty by making information accessible, promoting collaboration, and directing resources to the areas where they are most needed [1, 3].

Funding and the Fate of Bassill's Mapping Projects
Funding significantly impacted the evolution of Dan Bassill's mapping projects over time [1]. Here's a breakdown:

• Early Stages (1994-2007): For many years, Bassill relied on volunteers and donated software to collect and map data [1]. This suggests that his mapping efforts during this time were likely limited by resources and capacity, but still a focus of his work [2]. 

• Funding Boost (2007): A $50,000 anonymous gift, combined with a grant from HSBC North America, enabled Bassill to rebuild his in-house mapping platform and to create an online interactive platform [1]. This funding allowed him to utilize ARC GIS software to create maps with layers of information, and to empower others to create similar maps using the interactive platform [1].

• Recession and Funding Loss (2008-2011): The recession starting in 2008 led to a drying up of funding by mid-2010 [1]. As a result, Bassill has not had the funds to update or create these maps since 2011 [1]. This highlights the vulnerability of his projects to external economic factors and the challenges of maintaining data platforms without consistent funding.

• Current State: Bassill's mapping platform is no longer functioning properly [2]. He states that it would take a significant investment to rebuild his capacity [1]. This indicates that without renewed financial support, the interactive mapping project is unlikely to be revived. The lack of resources affects his ability to provide updated, interactive maps that combine multiple layers of information useful for community planning [1].

• Need for Philanthropic Support: Bassill points out that data resources are not profit centers and thus do not qualify for investment zone capital [2]. He suggests that one role of philanthropy or other government resources could be to support the long-term development, maintenance, and use of platforms like his [2]. This highlights his view that mapping projects are essential public services deserving of non-profit or public support.

In summary, Bassill's mapping projects experienced a significant boost from a one-time influx of funds in 2007, but this momentum was cut short by the economic recession and subsequent funding loss [1]. This has led to the current situation where his interactive mapping platform is no longer functioning and requires considerable investment to rebuild, emphasizing the crucial role of consistent funding for such initiatives [1, 2].

The two blog articles used were:

Jan 18, 2021 - Service-Learning in Support of Dr. M.L. King, Jr's Dream. click  here

Jan 20, 2019 - How I'll Honor ML King Jr. Holiday - click here

Google Notebook LM includes a feature that creates a podcast sharing notes created.  Here is one version of several podcast that I created from the AI analysis of these two blog articles.

click here to open

My first impression when I started using this feature was "Wow! I'd love to have had people in Chicago and other places having this type of discussion about what I was sharing in my blog articles, newsletters and website."  

That's still possible and I hope this inspires you to start that discussion in your own network.

My second impression from using the Notebook LM podcast feature, is that there are a lot of exaggerations, mis interpretations and downright fabrications in the podcast, and so far, I've no way to edit that.

However, after reading research about my work, done by various college students over the past 30 years, I realize that this is not just a problem of an AI generated podcast.  I've read many reports with misinterpretations of what I was doing.  As with the podcast, once the report was published, I've had no way to correct it....

Other than continuing to write blog articles and share information that reflected accurately on what I was trying to do and the challenges I faced.

As you honor Dr. King's legacy and reflect on the challenges ahead, I encourage you to do your own deep dives into my blog articles and websites. Use AI tools like Google Notebook LM, or other emerging technologies.

This picture is from the mid 1990s, with me sharing a Chicago Tribune story with a map showing areas of high poverty in Chicago.  I've been sharing similar maps for 30 years! 

Or just do as interns did in past years. Read the articles and use Power Point, Prezi, concept maps, videos and other tools to share what you're learning and to start a conversation in your community.

Thank you again Terry Elliott for inspiring me to dig into Google Notebook LM. I'll probably keep using it.

I'm not on social media today and am avoiding TV and news because of the terrible event taking place in Washington. However, I'll be back later in the week and look forward to connecting with you.

If you appreciate what I'm sharing, please visit this page and help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC.  

Thank you.

Embed these learning goals in your youth program

I created this graphic many years ago to visualize all of the work that needs to be done to create high quality, volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs and make them available for 10-20 years to youth living in ALL high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other places with concentrations of persistent poverty.  I've used it often.  One place was in this article about building personal learning habits.

In that article I also showed a concept map created in the mid 2000s to show Internet-based learning goals that I was trying to embed in the Chicago tutor/mentor program I was leading at that time.  I updated it today.  You can open it at this link.

I circled three additions I made to the cMap today.  

One points to the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) goals of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, CASEL. On their website they say, "We envision all children and adults as self-aware, caring, responsible, engaged, and lifelong learners who work together to achieve their goals and create a more inclusive, just world. How? Through a commitment to SEL."    

The other two point to articles by my Connected Learning  (#CLMOOC) friend, Terry Elliott, who is a retired college teacher from Western Kentucky.  We've connected via the Internet since we first met in 2013. 

The "Tips for Deeper Learning" node points to this article on my blog, and this article on Terry's blog. Neither of these is a "short read".

That brings me to the node on the concept map titled "Invisible Practice".  I read this article on Terry's blog a few days ago. Then I posted this comment:

In this article you describe “invisible practice” and how do we practice it? My question is “How do we reach every newborn and coach them to develop these habits, during the first few years of life, so they are embedded and used for the rest of their lives? 

I’m reading a book titled “The Bitcoin Standard”, by Saifedean Ammous. It talks about the role of money in developing economies and the quality of life. In one section he talks about people who defer immediate reward to invest in future productivity. He says “the most important economic decisions to any individual’s well-being are the ones they conduct in their trade-offs with their future self.” 

Your description of “invisible practice” would fit the description of this deferred investment.

At the bottom of Terry's long article I saw the link to a podcast. I listened to it and it was a man and a woman talking about what Terry had written about "invisible practice".   

Then, I looked at an article Terry had written prior to the one about "invisible practice".  It included the graphic below, which includes another podcast discussion of the poem on Terry's blog.

I encourage you to listen to these. They sound like real people taking a deep look at blog articles Terry wrote. 

So I posted this comment.  Terry, was the podcast generated by AI? Two people talking to each other, making sense of your poem? If yes, that is amazing! I’d love to have a couple of people reading my blog articles and discussing them with the depth and insight that this video offers. Thanks for sharing it. 

Within a few hours Terry sent me an email, with a link to a new article he'd written, titled, "Daniel's Query".  He said "it took him less than an hour to pull this together". 

Terry started his article saying,   "One of my wonderful online colleagues, Daniel Bassill, asked me previously to run one of his blog posts through Google Notebook LM. I did so using this prompt:

 “Please connect these sources and explain how they fit into the idea of small voices.” There were two sources: his blog post and the book “The Bitcoin Standard“. 

For those who know little (or nothing) about Bitcoin, or "The Bitcoin Standard" book, Terry's AI query provided quite a lot of information. And, the podcast discussion does a lot to help you understand what's in the book. 

The podcast focused totally on the book, and not the Tutor/Mentor blog article, so Terry created another prompt, saying: Please analyze this source and explain how it might fit into the idea of bitcoin.  

The podcast generated by that prompt is at the bottom of the article.  I really hope you'll read it. It is an example of the type of conversation I'd love to see happening all over the world.   

I said earlier that these are not short reads. However, what the author of The Bitcoin Standard, and what the "invisible practice" article is saying, is that if you spend the time now, you'll be rewarded later.

I added these links to the concept map because these are habits that need to be embedded and modeled in every youth serving program and every public school.  Kids as young as one or two-years-old need to be introduced to these habits.

Figuring out how to do that and how to pay for it is the type of problem Thomas Edison might have loved to solve.

I've been sharing these ideas for over 30 years. And I keep learning. I read Terry's blog, and those of other #CLMOOC educators regularly, because they are always introducing new ideas to me.  I've a section in the Tutor/Mentor library with links to many valuable blogs.

I hope you'll spend some time reading this and try your own hand at creating podcasts using Google Notebook LM.  I've more than 1000 articles on this blog that you could be sharing with others!

It's a new year and my FundT/MI campaign starts again.  I received my first 2025 contribution last week from one of the volunteers who built the computer lab at the Montgomery Ward/Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program back in the 1980s.   It's greatly appreciated!   I hope I'll hear from many others as we move through January and the rest of the year.

Learn more about Artificial Intelligence

Since March 2023 I've been participating with a group of educators who are learning about Artificial Intelligence and tools like ChatGPT.  You can browse articles here and hear to see what I've been sharing from this learning journey. 

Today on Twitter I saw a post about AI resources shared by Sheri Edwards, who lives in Washington state, along with a response from Kevin Hodgson, who lives in Massachusetts. 

A link off that Commonsense Media article brought me to this kid-friendly resource -- the A-Z of AI https://t.co/ja7AmZWfhj #etmooc2 pic.twitter.com/8EGr523Hb0

— KevinHodgson (@dogtrax) May 21, 2023

I followed the link to the article Kevin shared, titled "Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence: The A to Z Guide" and found it to be a really well illustrated, easy-to-understand, guide.  

Another useful resource that Kevin is hosting is this list of ETMOOC2 blogs, which he is sharing on this Wakelet page.

I keep sharing this information with the goal that leaders of youth tutor, mentor and learning programs, as well as classroom educators and public leaders will use these ideas to build and sustain on-going efforts that reach K-12 youth in high poverty areas and help them move through school and into adult lives free of poverty.

Below is a concept map created in the late 2000s that shows a learning goal that I tried to implement in the Chicago program that I was leading and that I encourage others to adopt.

Imagine how the future might differ if all kids in high poverty areas had full access to the Internet and digital learning, and were self-motivated to find articles and videos about Artificial Intelligence and tools like ChatGPT.  Imagine if teachers and mentors were helping them understand how to apply these tools to their learning, their work, and to community problem-solving.

That's a future to wish for.....and to work for. 

Thanks for reading. 

Find me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Mastodon. Let's connect. Let's share ideas like they do in #clmooc and #etmooc2.  

If you can help me pay the bills, please visit this page and send a contribution. 

Asking Artificial Intelligence to Predict Different Future

 In my posts over the past couple of months I've pointed to the #ETMOOC2 group which is learning about Artificial Intelligence and tools like ChatGPT.  Members are testing new tools and sharing ideas in a variety of platforms.  One writer that I keep pointing to is Kevin Hodgson, who shares ideas on his blog. Today, in this article, he wrote about a tool called TinyStorie, which can be used to write short children's stories.

Last week, in this article, he wrote about Google's AI platform, called Bard.

Last week on Twitter someone wrote about ChatGPT and I asked, "Has anyone asked ChatGPT to write about what the future would have looked like if Al Gore had been elected President of the U.S. in 2000?"

Image created using Scribble Diffusion

Today, I decided to see how Google's Bard works, and posted a set of questions.  Rather than point you to a Google doc where I've saved the responses I'm posting them below.  If you don't like the questions I asked, or the responses, then post your own questions and share the answers you get!

--- begin Bard questions and responses --- 

I asked Bard to write a story predicting what the world would be like today if Al Gore had won the 2000 US Presidential election.  

 If Al Gore had won the 2000 US Presidential election, the world would be a very different place today. Gore was a strong advocate for environmental protection, and he would have taken a much more aggressive approach to climate change than George W. Bush. He would have also been more likely to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, Gore was a strong supporter of education and healthcare. He would have increased funding for both of these important areas, and he would have made college more affordable for students.

Gore was also a more experienced politician than Bush. He had served as Vice President for eight years, and he had a deep understanding of the issues facing the country.

If Gore had been elected, the United States would have been a more progressive country. We would have been a leader in the fight against climate change, and we would have made significant progress in improving education and healthcare.

Of course, it is impossible to say for sure what would have happened if Gore had won the election. However, it is clear that the world would be a different place today if he had been elected.

Here are some specific examples of how the world might be different today if Al Gore had won the 2000 election:

• The United States would have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This would have helped to slow the pace of climate change and mitigate its effects.
• Gore would have been more likely to invest in renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. This would have helped to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and make our country more energy independent.
• Gore would have been more likely to expand access to healthcare. He would have supported the creation of a public option for health insurance and made it easier for people to afford coverage.
• Gore would have been more likely to invest in education. He would have supported increased funding for public schools and made college more affordable for students.
• Gore would have been more likely to take a diplomatic approach to foreign policy. He would have been less likely to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, and he would have worked to build relationships with other countries.

Overall, the world would be a better place today if Al Gore had won the 2000 election. He was a more experienced and progressive politician than George W. Bush, and he would have made the United States a more just and sustainable country.

I then asked, "How would he have responded differently to the 9/11 terrorist attack? Would he have invaded Iraq? How would the world look now if he had not invaded Iraq?"

Al Gore would have responded differently to the 9/11 terrorist attack than George W. Bush did. He would have focused on building international cooperation to fight terrorism, rather than invading Iraq. He would have also been more likely to invest in homeland security and intelligence gathering.

It is unlikely that Al Gore would have invaded Iraq if he had been president in 2003. He was skeptical of the Bush administration's claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and he believed that the invasion would be a costly and unnecessary war.

If Al Gore had not invaded Iraq, the world would be a very different place today. The war in Iraq has been a major source of instability in the Middle East, and it has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The war has also cost the United States trillions of dollars.

Without the war in Iraq, the United States would have been able to focus on other priorities, such as fighting terrorism and improving the economy. The world would also be a safer place, as there would be no ongoing conflict in Iraq.

Here are some specific examples of how the world might be different today if Al Gore had not invaded Iraq:

• The United States would have been able to focus on other priorities, such as fighting terrorism and improving the economy.
• The world would be a safer place, as there would be no ongoing conflict in Iraq.
• The United States would not have spent trillions of dollars on the war.
• The United States would not have lost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
• The United States would not have damaged its reputation in the world.

Overall, the world would be a better place today if Al Gore had not invaded Iraq. He would have made the United States a safer and more prosperous country.

I then asked, "If Al Gore had been elected president would we have the same level of polarization as we have today? Would Donald Trump have been elected President in 2016?"   

It is impossible to say for sure whether political polarization would be as severe today if Al Gore had been elected president in 2000. However, it is likely that the level of polarization would be lower.

Gore was a more moderate politician than George W. Bush, and he was more likely to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats. He would have also been less likely to engage in the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that has contributed to polarization in recent years.

It is also possible that Donald Trump would not have been elected president in 2016 if Al Gore had been president in 2000. Gore would have been a stronger incumbent, and he would have been more likely to unite the country after the 9/11 attacks.

Of course, it is also possible that polarization would have continued to grow even if Al Gore had been president. The factors that are driving polarization are complex and multifaceted, and they are not easily controlled by any one person.

However, it is clear that Al Gore would have been a different kind of president than George W. Bush. He would have been more moderate, more willing to compromise, and more likely to unite the country. These qualities would have made him a more effective president, and they would have helped to reduce polarization in the United States.

Finally, I asked,  "If Al Gore had been elected in 2000, and re-elected in 2008, would Barack Obama ever have been elected President? Would Joe Biden have been elected vice-president, then President in 2020?"   

It is impossible to say for sure whether Barack Obama would have ever been elected president if Al Gore had been elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2008. However, it is likely that Obama would have faced a much more difficult path to the presidency if Gore had been in office.

Gore was a popular and well-respected politician, and he would have been a strong incumbent. He would have also been able to draw on the support of the Democratic Party establishment. Obama, on the other hand, was a relatively unknown and inexperienced politician. He would have had to overcome a lot of obstacles to win the presidency.

It is also possible that Joe Biden would not have been elected vice president or president if Al Gore had been in office. Biden was a close ally of Gore, and he would have been less likely to run for office if Gore had been president.

Of course, it is also possible that Obama and Biden would have still been elected president and vice president, even if Gore had been in office. The political landscape is complex and unpredictable, and it is impossible to know for sure what would have happened.

However, it is clear that Al Gore would have been a different kind of president than George W. Bush. He would have been more moderate, more willing to compromise, and more likely to unite the country. These qualities would have made him a more effective president, and they would have made it more difficult for Obama and Biden to win the presidency.

---- end Bard questions --- 
 

What would your questions have been? I asked Bard. How would ChatGPT have answered?  Could this be turned into a short story using an AI tool like TinyStorie?  

One response stood out to me, which was,  "Gore was also a more experienced politician than Bush. He had served as Vice President for eight years, and he had a deep understanding of the issues facing the country."   On a national level this is probably true, but Bush had been Governor of Texas, and his father had been President. His political skills should have been better. 

At the left is a photo of me addressing students and volunteers at one of our year-end graduation ceremonies, for the tutor/mentor program I led from 1975 to 1992. 

We did not have the Internet or Artificial Intelligence then. Desk top computers were just emerging. But I was asking our students and volunteers to imagine all they could do to assure that each student finished high school and went on to college, jobs and careers.  

Imagine if they had been able to use Bard, or ChatGPT to ask "What are all the things we need to know and do to assure that all kids born of living in a high poverty area today were starting a job and career by their mid 20s?"    

That's still a question we need to be asking today.  

Last week on Twitter Kevin Hodgson posted this 

@tutormentorteam and I are having an interesting conversation in annotated margins of blog post by @telliowkuwp about whether a site-based AI Generative Text/Search Engine might sustain knowledge/offer solutions for future viewers/readers. https://t.co/BGYRuorzib #etmooc2 #clmooc

— KevinHodgson (@dogtrax) May 13, 2023

I encourage you to visit the conversation and add your own thoughts.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your week.  Please connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Mastodon (find links here).

If you can spare a dime, visit this page and make a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and the work I'm doing. 

AI tools I'm testing - try them yourself!

For the past few weeks I've been learning about different Artificial Intelligence tools from a group of educators using the hashtag #ETMOOC2.  If you scroll back through my past few articles you'll see what I've been sharing. Or just click the ETMOOC tag and scroll through those articles.  

Below I'm going to share some examples of how I've used AI.

First example is my April-May newsletter.  I wrote three sections using ChatGPT.  

One was about National Volunteer Week. Another was "steps to start a tutor/mentor program" and another was "information about tutor/mentor programs in Chicago".  Imagine you're a program leader, or a parent, who wants to know what tutor/mentor programs are in her zip code. Just post the question in ChatGPT. The first response might not be what you're looking for. You can keep asking, and keep fine tuning your question.  

It only took me a few minutes to generate the text that I used in the newsletter.

The next tool is one called Whimsical.  Below is a mind map created in just a few minutes. Click here to open and view. 

My Twitter friend Kevin Hodgson shared this short video with me, showing how to use the Artificial Intelligence feature to create a mind-map.  I asked the same question as I posted in the newsletter....show steps to start a tutor/mentor program. 

The AI quickly provided a list of steps, very similar to what is in my newsletter.  These are the first links to the right of the center box on the graphic.   I was able to rearrange the order a bit just by dragging text boxes to where I wanted them in the sequence and then I added some additional nodes to the mind map, which show to the right of the first column. Then I added some links to my website.  It's already something anyone could use if they are looking for ideas about starting a tutor/mentor program, or any kind of non-profit. 

One interesting feature about Whimsical is that in the FREE version I could invite a few other people to join my project, each helping to improve the content.  

Imagine a project team trying to map out a description of a problem and potential solutions. The AI can help you brainstorm and your team can add their thoughts and edit what the AI provided, with a visual record that you can share with others.  

Try it out yourself.  It took me less than 15 minutes to create what I'm sharing.

The next tool is called Scribble Diffusion. Open this link to see the graphic below. 

To create your own, open the home page. You will see an empty box with a space below where you can write a heading for your graphic.  In my first attempt I drew a horizontal "figure 8" which I use often to show information passing back and forth as a volunteer spends time in weekly tutor/mentor sessions.  I did not like the first graphic so tried again and you see the result above.    I used this graphic to add myself to the Padlet map for #ETMOOC2, which shows where participants originate from. 

Below are two more examples from Scribble Diffusion

I wanted to create an image showing a tutor and mentee.  I sketched the graphic at the left and hit "go" and received the picture at the right. I wanted something different so I added a book to my sketch and the result is shown below.

Imagine this as a potential ice breaker or creative activity with the student you're working with. You could each have the application open and each be creating graphics based on prompts you pass back and forth. Or you could be at one computer, each editing the sketch, to generate more and more versions. 

Here's one more AI called "NightCafe".

Sarah Honeychurch, an educator from Scotland shared this with me and others in the ETMOOC2 group.  I created the graphic at the right using the FREE version. Once I logged in I followed the prompts.

 I wanted to see how it would render one of my concept maps, so I pasted the strategy map shown at the left into the prompt box.  I had many choices of how this would be rendered, but my choices gave me the graphic you see above.

You can't really see any details from my concept map, but I think it's a nice piece of art!   Like the other examples shown above, you can play with this as much as you want.  Maybe if you're teaching students to start a company, they could use this to create art for t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.  

These are just a few of the examples I've been seeing. Try it yourself!

Here's the link to the ETMOO2 event. 
Look at the Resources and Community page.  You can follow on Twitter or join the Discord Group.  

Ideas are being shared like "fireworks" bursting in the air. Each one sparks new creativity and new ways people might test these AI tools.

Thank you to everyone who has been sharing these ideas. I'm just scratching the surface of what is possible.  I hope these are interesting to you.

I'm on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Mastodon. See links on this page. 

I used one of my "read my blog" graphics to create this graphic, using NightCafe.  Try it yourself?

Want to help me continue to share these ideas.? Visit this page and send a small contribution.

Thank you. 

Create a WebQuest to learn AI tools

I've been exploring Artificial Intelligence and ways to use tools like ChatGPT with educator friends who I met via the 2013 ETMOOC and CLMOOC on-line events.  This month we're using #ETMOOC2 as a hashtag that connects us and out ideas on Twitter.  

Today I saw a Tweet from Kevin Hodgson, showing a project he developed using AI tools.

An Interactive Text Game Of Poetry: Haiku Quest By ChatGPT https://t.co/F27CDagy2h Kevin's Meandering Mind #clmooc #etmooc2 #literacies #poetry #smallpoems pic.twitter.com/G6pvJgjkUI

— KevinHodgson (@dogtrax) April 19, 2023

I've been inspired by ideas Kevin has been sharing for the past 10 years. Skim some of these posts to see a few that I've referred to.  Kevin uses Twitter to share his thoughts and his blog to show his ideas in greater detail. I followed the link in today's Tweet to this article.   Then I went to the Twine tutorial that he pointed to. 

I think I could learn to use Twine, but that would not do much to attract more viewers to my websites and strategies. 

So how do I apply these tools to help people better understand and apply the ideas I've been sharing on this blog since 2005? 

In 2010 a volunteer who was looking at the resources of the Tutor/Mentor Connection wrote a blog article titled "Thinking like Google", in which he compared the T/MC to Google. He wrote,

It occurred to me that this forum is essentially modeled on a similar format as Google's. Tutormentorconnection.ning.com a) looks for information, or content, and people relevant to the cause of tutoring and mentoring; b) organizes, analyzes, and archives that information for future reference; and c) utilizes those references for targeted advertising campaigns, social networking, grant-writing, and the like. Even more to the point, this forum is a way of attempting to grow the idea of tutoring and mentoring to scale, or to a point where it "tips".

I've built a huge web library and I've created a variety of PDF essays over the past 28 years that are intended to help people learn ways to support the growth of volunteer-based tutoring, mentoring and learning programs in high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago and other places. While I point to these via email newsletters and social media, I've been looking for new ways to introduce these concepts.

How about a WebQuest?  How might I motivate students and adults to take Michael's advice and begin to journey through my web library, and as they do, share what they are learning with people in their own network, so they begin their own journey through this information.

How might they use some of the ideas and Artificial Intelligence tools that Kevin and others are sharing? 

Several years ago I began to learn about WebQuest and I created an animation to introduce this concept. You can view it on YouTube

Here are a couple of other animations introducing students to a web quest.

Making a map, class assignment, animation.

Doing a web quest.

Interns from various colleges in the US and Asia were on this journey for short bursts of time every year between 2006 and 2015.  I asked them to look at ideas I was sharing and then create their own interpretations. 

In 2015 I asked one intern to look at the "learning path" concept map that I show below. It was intended to help people learn about the ideas and resources I was sharing.

This video shows what was created (first using Prezi, then recorded for YouTube). 

Below is another concept map that shows how people can  use the information I've been aggregating.

I wrote about this "information flow" in this article.

For the past 20 years, I've been updating the links on the web library so all are working, and I keep adding new links. I also keep adding new blog articles here, here and here. Some of the articles written 10-15 years ago are as relevant today as they were then, so while it's important that you subscribe and follow new articles, it's also important that you visit the past and read some of those articles.

learning communities
focused on specific geography

Here's a visualization done by one of our past interns that illustrates the goal of supporting groups of learners in many sectors, who each look at maps to determine where youth and families need more help, and what programs are already operating in those areas.....who need constant support to constantly improve and stay available.

The links in the web library point to more than 200 youth serving programs in Chicago and others around the country. They point to research articles and to business and foundation web sites.  They represent a large ocean of ideas you can use to help programs grow, by borrowing good ideas already working in different places, rather than by starting from scratch on an on-going basis.

Most of the links in the web library point to other people's ideas, not my own. This emphasizes the purpose of the library for myself, and others. We can do more by borrowing ideas from others than from constantly starting from the beginning.

However, some links point to my own ideas, which I've communicated with illustrated presentations which you can find in my blogs, and on this page and in libraries at Scribd.com and SlideShare.

Intern projects from 2004-2015

Students from around the world could be looking at the web library, and my articles, and could be using Artificial Intelligence and other tools to create their own presentations to draw adults and other students from their own community into this information, and into actions that lead to the growth of more programs in more places that help kids move through school and into careers.  Visit this page and see how past interns working with me in Chicago have already been doing this.

Pages like mine could be hosted on the website of every college, high school and middle school, showing work their own students have done to visualize solutions to complex local and global problems.

Why is this important?  The graphic below says "how can we do this better?"

If you ask ChatGPT tell you about challenges facing kids in high poverty areas it would show you some of the reasons we need to be doing better at helping them.  That's why this is important.

If you're hosting a web library, and creating visualized articles to motivate people to visit your library and support youth serving organizations in your community, please share your links so others can learn from you. If you're interested in exploring this idea with me, let's connect. 

Find me on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. I'm on Instagram and Mastodon, too.