Education, teaching, academics

Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Dean Daniel Huttenlocher, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt explore how generative artificial intelligence “presents a philosophical and practical challenge on a scale not experienced since the beginning of the Enlightenment.” Huttenlocher, Kissinger and Schmidt make the case that “parameters for AI’s responsible use need to be established, with variation based on the type of technology and the context of deployment.”

A variety of MIT online courses will be available for free using edX this week, reports Joseph Green for Mashable. “You can take lessons on everything from data science to machine learning, without spending anything,” writes Green.   

Undergraduate Evelyn De La Rosa speaks with Boston Globe reporter Katie Mogg about her experience with the Transfer Scholars Network, a new program aimed at providing community college students with a pathway to four-year universities.  “We want to be as accessible as we can,” says Stuart Schmill, dean of Admissions and Student Financial Services. “The education is better for our students the more diverse the population is. We want to educate the best students from everywhere, from all backgrounds.”

Fortune reporter Sydney Lake spotlights MIT’s free online “Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python” course. “The course also covers topics including data structures and simple algorithms,” writes Lake. 

MIT has been named one of the best U.S. universities for physical science degrees, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023. Times Higher Education highlights how MIT students in physics “take a range of core classes such as classical mechanics and quantum mechanics.”

Boston.com reporter Clara McCourt spotlights how three MIT students - Jack Cook ‘22, Matthew Kearney and Jupneet K. Singh - have been selected as Rhodes Scholars. “The selected students — 32 in total — will go to Oxford University in England next October to pursue wide-ranging graduate degrees," writes McCourt, "with two or three years of study free of charge.”

Matthew Kearney, John “Jack” B. Cook ’22, and Jupneet K. Singh have been named 2023 U.S. Rhodes Scholars, reports NBC Boston 10.

Matthew Kearney , John "Jack” B. Cook ’22, and Jupneet K. Singh  are amongst the 2023 Rhodes Scholars, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes. This year’s Rhodes Scholars "will go to Oxford University in England next October to pursue graduate degrees across the breadth of the social sciences, humanities, and biological and physical sciences,” says Elliot Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust. “They inspire us already with their accomplishments, but even more by their values-based leadership and selfless ambitions to improve their communities and the world.”

MIT is part of the Transfer Scholars Network (TSN), an initiative aimed at opening a pipeline between community colleges and four-year colleges for transfer students, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes. “As a part of TSN, we hope to send a message to community college students everywhere that you belong and you can succeed at a school like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” says Jeremy Weprich, senior assistant director of admissions.  

Prof. Diana Henderson, Prof. Daniel Jackson, Prof. David Kaiser, Prof. S.P Kothari, and Prof. Sanjay Sarma have released a new white paper “summarizing their ideas for a new type of undergraduate institution,” writes David Rosowsky for Forbes. “The authors have done a commendable job identifying and assembling some of the proven high-impact practices each of these types of higher educational institutions can offer,” writes Rosowsky.

MIT has been named one of the top 10 best colleges in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, writes Celia Fernandez for CNBC.

Institute Prof. Barbara Liskov discusses the importance of including ethics and foresight as a key parts of computer science education, reports Susan D'Agostino for Inside Higher Ed. “The days of being naïvely technical, which we were for many years, are over,” says Liskov. “We need to open students’ minds so they think about the harm that can come from what they’re doing and so they ask, ‘What could I add that could act as a safeguard?’ It’s more than ethics. They need to think from a different perspective.”

Prof. Cynthia Breazeal discusses her work exploring how artificial intelligence can help students impacted by Covid, including refugees or children with disabilities, reports Ryan Heath for Politico. “We want to be super clear on what the role is of the robot versus the community, of which this robot is a part of. That's part of the ethical design thinking,” says Breazeal. “We don't want to have the robot overstep its responsibilities. All of our data that we collect is protected and encrypted.”

The MIT Educational Justice Initiative has developed a 12-week program called Brave Behind Bars that teaches inmates “basic coding languages such as JavaScript and HTML in hopes of opening the door for detainees to one day pursue high-paying jobs,” reports Washington Post reporter Emily Davies. “The level of 21st century technology skills they just learned, I can’t do those things,” said Amy Lopez, deputy director of college and career readiness for the D.C. Department of Corrections. “They are transferrable, employable skills.”

Prof. Joshua Angrist speaks with CNBC about how his research on schooling and education has helped shaped government policy. “We don’t make specific policy recommendations, but we do encourage policy makers to look at the evidence,” says Angrist. “Whenever there is something on the public docket that is related to education policy, we always encourage both voters and politicians to look at the evidence.”