Reading Time: 2 minutesEvery industry has its jargon, and if you’re not familiar with the industry, it could sound like a foreign language. Maybe you don’t realize how much jargon you use, so step back the next time you’re in a department meeting and try to listen as someone who’s never been in the room before. It can be a very intimidating experience. That’s how students sometimes feel when they’re just starting out in their major. They’re navigating through unchartered waters in the middle of a storm, and they’re only understanding maybe every third word being shouted to them by their captain. So, how do you help students learn these…
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2024 AECT Reflection: Student Usage of GAI, Part 2
Reading Time: 2 minutesA big concern among educators and practitioners is that students are using Generative AI to cheat, and this is a legitimate concern. With the vast amount of data that the LLMs have access to, students could easily type in “What is the name of the rabid dog that Atticus shoots in the street?” and get an answer in a split second. However, based on the presentations I have seen thus far, the presumption that students are using GAI to cheat is unfounded. In a previous post, I discussed what I learned from a session about student ethics in using ChatGPT for writing assignments. Another session I attended…
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2024 AECT Reflection: Student Usage of GAI, Part 1
Reading Time: 2 minutesDr. Jared Pyles recently attended the Association for Educational Communications and Technology conference and has prepared some reflections and takeaways for us. Join us for this mini-series on the hottest topics discussed at the conference! As expected, there are a lot of research presentations on Generative AI at AECT. Shocking, right? One presentation was on a study coming out of a public higher education institution in the US. They studied undergraduate students’ perceptions of using ChatGPT in higher education coursework and the ethical dilemmas associated with it. In this study, 365 undergraduate students filled out an online survey that contained demographics and presented six ethical scenarios of…
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Generative AI, In Practice: Using GAI for Course Planning
Reading Time: 10 minutesRecently, I was tasked with creating a remedial English course for dual-credit students – but for this course, I needed to expand beyond my standard role as the instructional designer and also be the subject matter expert. Playing both roles is difficult, so I decided to employ ChatGPT to help with parts of the design. I started with what I knew. Because this is a dual-credit course, I knew there would be English content the students were passing over and, as a result, not getting in their high school courses. I also knew that the learners in this course would go directly into another college writing course.…
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AECT Reflection: Jared Pyles on Quality Assurance Frameworks
Reading Time: 2 minutesFresh from the AECT conference in Orlando, I find myself swimming in a sea of thoughts and questions surrounding the role of Quality Assurance (QA) frameworks in higher education, such as Quality Matters and OSCQR. We at CTL work with faculty and constantly strive to provide the best learning experience for our students. But as we navigate the complex waters of QA, we’re left wondering: Are these frameworks helping or hindering our efforts? This was a hot topic at AECT this year, and one of the most pressing concerns that was surfaced is whether QA frameworks stifle faculty creativity. Educators value their ability to engage students in…
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Backward Design: Starting at the Finish
Reading Time: 2 minutesLet’s take a moment and think about this statement: “Our flight is at 5 AM.” As you think about it, consider the various questions you must answer to be on that plane at 5 AM. What questions would you ask yourself to prepare? Here are some that I have on my list: You may have similar questions or ones that I didn’t ask (or maybe fewer questions…my hamartia is overplanning), but hopefully you see that those questions need to be answered before you show up at the airport. You may also need to qualify how well they’re answered: Did you pack well or throw everything at the…
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Final Thoughts about Vegas
Reading Time: 3 minutesI was raised in Ohio and have never lived outside of it. So Las Vegas was a cultural experience for me, to put it lightly. Here are some of my final thoughts on the conference and Vegas, complete with pictures. Panel Presenters and Audience This was the panel and the audience for our presentation on how our institutions reacted and pivoted to COVID-19. Also: researchers are now starting to look at how that rapid transition has made a lasting impact on education. I attended several sessions on educators’ and students’ perceptions of education (both online and face-to-face). It will be interesting, to say the least, when those…
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Lessons from Vegas: Rapid Course Design with Project-Based Learning
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhile I was in Vegas, another session I attended focused on instructional design. A group of designers from Utah Tech University faced the daunting task of developing or redesigning 175 courses as part of 14 new online programs. And they had to finish it in nine months. Oh, and did I mention there were only four designers? Because there were only four designers. It was clear they would need some help. Their solution was to equip their faculty with the skills and tools needed to design courses. For their instructional method, they decided to employ project-based learning. As an aside: project-based learning is an excellent teaching practice…
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Lessons from Vegas: The Digital Florilegium
Reading Time: 2 minutesFlorilegium is a medieval Latin word that is a combination of flor (flowers) + legere (to gather). The term is first seen in print as a title of a book from 1590. The book was a collection of engraved pictures of flowers. That tradition continued through the 1600s and even today through printed books or curated collections. However, that’s not really where florilegium gets its roots. “Jared, that was a horrible pun. Also I’m lost.” I know. I’m getting there. Florilegium is a reading practice used by medieval scribes as early as the 5th century. It referred to the reading of a manuscript and gathering (legre) passages,…
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Lessons Learned in Las Vegas
Reading Time: 3 minutesI know what you’re thinking…what a bizarre title for a post. Especially on a blog that is part of Cedarville University. You would be right in thinking that if I had not attended the AECT (Association for Educational Communications and Technology) convention in Las Vegas last month. I was invited to be a part of a panel with some other Boise State doctoral students and alums to discuss how our professions changed in response to COVID-19. So I figured that while I’m in the area, I’ll attend some sessions and see what I can bring back to share. This month, I’ll be sharing some of the takeaways…