MITCHELL — When the artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT debuted in 2022, it marveled users with its ability to perform tasks both menial and complex for anyone who could craft a well-structured prompt.
There were also concerns, particularly in academia, where teachers raised red flags about the system’s ability to craft academic papers, reports and assignment answers on behalf of students who may not have felt like doing the work. How this new technology fit ethically into the modern classroom became a major debate among educators.
Dakota Wesleyan University asked those same questions, and it now believes it has the answer — embracing the new technology fully to tap the potential of AI for its students and faculty, but on its own terms.
“We want to make sure our graduates are using it ethically and appropriately, using it in the workforce to enhance wherever they want to go,” Lori Wehlander, director of library resources and a teaching and learning specialist at Dakota Wesleyan, told the Mitchell Republic. “So it’s a tool, but we want our students to be the leaders of how it’s used.”
The university is preparing to roll out its partnership with BoodleBox, a collaborative AI platform specifically built for higher education as a tool that is private, safe and secure. Dakota Wesleyan University will be the first and currently only university in South Dakota launching a campus-wide AI initiative with the company, according to school officials.
BoodleBox, which will be provided to all students and faculty free of charge beginning next semester, serves as a hub where users can work with multiple AI systems — including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, within a secure, controlled environment.
The adoption of the platform was spurred by faculty at the college, who acted as the primary drivers of the project after evaluating the tool’s potential through early trials.
“There are some faculty members who we set up with an initial trial looking at it. It’s really been faculty-led. They’ve kind of gotten used to the tool and have seen the advantages they could use in their classrooms and with the students and pushed forward with it,” Wehlander said. “But AI is everywhere. We’re not going to be able to run away from it. So we felt we needed to be ahead of the game.”
What those faculty trials revealed was intriguing.
The BoodleBox platform prevents data from being shared or used to train external AI models, addressing common concerns about privacy and proprietary research. Its tools are designed for use across all departments, from fine arts and theater design to biomedical science and English composition.
Rather than view AI as a problem and attempt to discourage its use, the university is treating it as an essential workforce skill that requires practice to use effectively. With industries around the world embracing AI, current students and future employees will need to know how to effectively and ethically use the technology.
Students will be trained on how to effectively work with AI rather than just using it to get quick answers. Part of that is learning how to ask the right questions the right way. By teaching students how to write effective prompts, they are forced to engage with the material critically.
The platform helps those students work. It doesn’t do the work for them, Wehlander said.
“We want to make sure our graduates are using it ethically, appropriately. They can actually see how they can use it to enhance their learning instead of the other way around,” Wehlander said.
For professors and faculty, the platform can be used to foster collaboration and enhance the student educational experience in other ways.
Instructors can create private chats and assign students to specific classes or projects. They can deliver assignments directly through the platform, allowing students to engage with coursework in the AI environment. The platform is also customizable, allowing professors to tailor AI tools to their specific needs.
Early faculty feedback indicates the tool is already being used to improve project-based learning and the quality of student research.
“The faculty have been through some training, and they are already coming out with some great ideas that really can enhance the research they’re doing,” Wehlander said. “So the faculty who had early access to kind of try it out just really have really pushed for it after they tried it and saw what it could do.”
Professors and students working within the same AI structure will also allow for increased transparency and collaboration. They can work together to decide the best AI model to use for different tasks, and professors will be able to develop specialized tools and create personalized learning pathways for their students.
Students will also be able to efficiently cite and share AI-assisted work directly with professors. That will allow educators to evaluate the overall body of work, including how students interact with AI, rather than focusing solely on the end results. That helps maintain academic integrity, Wehlander said.
“It has led professors to think differently about assessment, and looking at assessing the process more than just the final product,” Wehlander said.
Like other learning institutions, Dakota Wesleyan has adapted to the presence of AI over the last few years.
Students and faculty are more familiar with it than ever before, and its use in the classroom has become more prevalent. Some instructors already allow for its use with proper citation, and the ease of access to publicly-available AI models has made it more of a question of how it’s used rather than if it’s used in the classroom.
But those public AI-based websites, such as ChatGPT, have pricing tiers depending on how powerful the specific model is. Some platforms offer enhanced performance for around $20 per month, while others can climb to as high as $250 per month.
Through the new system, all students and faculty will have free access to multiple AI platforms that would usually require a subscription. That makes the technology available to everyone, not just those who can afford the pricier versions.
“Beginning with the upcoming school year, all students will have access to BoodleBox, which will standardize engagement with AI resources, reduce barriers and ensure equitable access,” Dan Kittle, president of Dakota Wesleyan University, said in a statement. “This includes undergraduate and graduate-level students. Now, students won’t have to worry about paying for a premium ChatGPT subscription and competing with their peers who do.”
BoodleBox provides customizeable AI tools for use on collage campuses. Above, a pair of tools geared specifically toward the McGovern Library on the Dakota Wesleyan University campus are displayed.
Erik Kaufman / Mitchell Republic
The project is expected to evolve and change as students and faculty learn the ins and outs of the new system. There will be a learning curve for everyone, but campus leaders say they are up for the challenge.
Fredel Thomas, vice president of admissions, marketing, and technology at Dakota Wesleyan University, said the collaboration should mark the school as a forward-thinking institution that is looking for ways to enhance the student educational experience through innovation. As a smaller, private college, the school can shift with changing trends more quickly than some of its larger, public counterparts, she said.
“This is an actual indicator that Dakota Wesleyan continues to take steps forward to meet the students where they are and to supply them with the knowledge and education that they need,” Thomas said. “I love to show (prospective students) how nimble we are and how adaptable we are. That is one of the main differences between what private and public education can do. We turn quickly, we pivot and we adjust.”
For its part, BoodleBox officials said they were excited to partner with Dakota Wesleyan and were looking forward to bringing their platform to Mitchell. The system is already used at 1,300 colleges and universities, and the company takes pride in the impact it can have on education while also minimizing environmental impact, said France Hoang, CEO and founder of BoodleBox.
“Dakota Wesleyan approached this partnership with a clear sense of mission — not just to adopt AI, but to do it responsibly. That kind of intentionality is exactly what we built BoodleBox for,” Hoang said in a statement. “Our token optimization technology reduces the computational demands of AI interactions by up to 96%, which means less energy, less water consumption and a dramatically smaller environmental footprint per chat. We’re grateful to partner with an institution that cares about being a good steward, of its students, its community and the planet.”
The school is planning to launch the platform Aug. 1. Between that date and the start of classes on Aug. 24, the focus will be finalizing the technical infrastructure, promotion and comprehensive training for staff and faculty.
The university has also formed a faculty committee tasked with overseeing the AI initiative and its policies. Because AI technology changes so frequently, the committee meets regularly to evaluate current practices and update policies to ensure the program remains appropriate and effective.
But when students return to campus in the fall, they will find a new, cutting-edge system ready to support students and faculty into the next era of educational instruction. Julie Brookbank, an associate director of communications who has done some adjunct teaching at the university, said the program is a new frontier in education, and the future it opens the door to should be embraced, not feared.
Dakota Wesleyan University is partnering with AI platform provider BoodleBox to provide students and faculty with access to a collaborative AI system specifically built for education.
Image Provided by Dakota Wesleyan University
Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and Dakota Wesleyan plans to be part of its future, she said.
“It’s a tool, and when you hear that we are a part of this launch, that we’re rolling this out, this is not something to be fearful of,” Brookbank said. “It’s something to learn from and learn with, and hopefully improve the whole life learning experience.”
