ChatGPT Teaching Assistant: Lesson Plans in Minutes | Lynn Dickinson

Eighty-six percent of students already lean on AI—yet only 22 percent of faculty have even opened ChatGPT.
Author-trainer Lynn Dickinson joins Dr. Norma Jones to help instructors close that gap. Lynn traces her journey from wary observer to classroom pioneer, shares the prompt pattern she uses to build full slide decks in about ten minutes, and explains how a one-month writing sprint (with ChatGPT as co-author) produced her faculty guide How to Use ChatGPT as a Teaching Assistant. She also previews Santa Monica College’s new cross-disciplinary course “Teaching in the Age of AI,” designed to crowd-source resources so no educator starts from zero. The payoff: faster prep, richer discussions, and faculty who feel empowered—not replaced—by generative AI.

Take-aways
• Craft discussion prompts students can’t copy-paste, safeguarding authentic learning
• Repurpose Lynn’s “why / what / how” prompt flow to generate slides and activities in minutes
• Reframe AI for colleagues: from cheating threat to creativity booster and time-saver
• Build cross-campus resource banks that scale faculty expertise across disciplines