The Idaho State Board of Education recently announced the first recipients of its Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education fellowships.
Jason Blomquist, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, is one of two recipients for the 2024-25 academic year.
The new fellowship program aims to better understand how educators and students can apply generative AI and foster collaboration between Idaho’s higher education institutions.
According to the board’s press release, the fellows will further their study of generative AI through conferences and research, and then share their findings with Idaho’s higher education institutions.
To do so, Blomquist and Liza Long, the other fellow and College of Western Idaho associate professor of English, aim to provide consolidated resources and access for Idaho faculty to learn about AI in higher education “so they aren’t overwhelmed by the volume of information out there,” Blomquist said.
The fellows also hope to hold regular workshops and discussions across the state to generate ideas and learning, as well as establish formal networks for faculty collaboration. They’ll start among Idaho’s eight nursing programs.
“We all have the ability to influence how AI will be incorporated – or not incorporated into – our work, so we must work together to understand, form guidelines and learn together.”Jason Blomquist
“Teachers and faculty are grappling with what GenAI is, the deluge of information around its evolution and how to approach this tool in higher ed,” Blomquist said. “Love it, hate it, don’t know anything about it – our students have access to these tools, have questions about how it will impact their learning, and are trying to figure out how it may impact their future careers. We need to have conversations about AI, begin to understand how it impacts teaching, and embrace a growth mindset alongside our students.”
“We are so proud of Jason for being awarded the Idaho State Board of Education fellowship,” said Kelley Connor, interim divisional dean of the School of Nursing. “His experience, along with his academic background, make him the ideal person to learn to navigate and help others understand how to harness the power of this transformative technology in higher education.”
About Blomquist
With a background in telehealth nursing and leadership, Blomquist is no stranger to advancing technology. He developed several tech-focused projects at the School of Nursing and has readily engaged with the recent surge of generative artificial intelligence.
“My experiences have strengthened my belief that everyone needs to understand some of the basics of how current AI works so they can be better informed in how to appropriately apply and use it,” he said. “This fellowship offers an opportunity to engage faculty in Idaho to learn together.”
Blomquist was selected to participate in the 2023 AACN Graduate Nursing Student Academy’s Digital Innovator Program in conjunction with Apple educators. He has given several regional presentations on AI in healthcare and is an active member of Social Impacts of Computing (SioC), an interdisciplinary group of faculty at Boise State exploring the impact of computational innovations. He and a team of nursing faculty also published an article earlier this year on leveraging AI for education though a nursing communication framework.
“As proponents of AI talk about everything AI can supposedly do, I also want us to carefully think about how it is utilized,” he said. “There is also a need for a fundamental understanding of how many of the current models work – they are not “truth” machines, but “probability” machines. Understanding this difference is imperative in choosing when and how to use AI in fields ranging from healthcare to education and beyond.”