Last week, I was hiking through the Grand Tetons with my son; no laptops, no Python, just trail time. Somewhere between conversations about wildlife and where to stop for lunch, I remembered something simple: we learn the most when we’re not afraid to try.
That’s the spirit behind the new instructional module I’m building for my doctoral class in Educational Technology at Central Michigan University / Central Michigan University Online.
Instead of asking EdTech students to memorize syntax or take a crash course in programming, I’m showing them how to use generative AI (OpenAI) to build a working Python tool without knowing Python. They’ll create a quiz generator that takes a text passage and returns multiple-choice and short-answer questions using the OpenAI API.
But more importantly, they’ll learn that AI can:
Write code on demand
Explain what it’s doing
Debug errors in real time
Empower people who never thought they could “code”
This project is designed to break the fear barrier, because maybe what’s holding back EdTech professionals from building more isn’t a lack of creativity, it’s the assumption that “I can’t code.”
LLMs are changing that. I’ve seen it firsthand in my Real Estate Data Mastery course I am teaching at Magnus Title Agency; adults with no tech background are writing scripts, building tools, and gaining confidence just by learning how to ask better questions.
This project is about more than building quizzes.
It’s about building confidence.