• How to Use ChatGPT in the Classroom–Without Abandoning Critical Thinking
    Your students are likely going to be using ChatGPT no matter what–but how they learn to use ChatGPT can make or break if it helps or hinders their learning. AI has been steadily evolving and becoming more commonplace in our everyday lives. However, the explosion in popularity of the chatbot ‘ChatGPT’ has raised many questions […]
  • Quick Tip to Get More Students Watching Your Videos
    Learn about a simple tweak to your video scripts that can increase how many students engage with your instructional videos. You spend hours developing an instructional video – preparing the script, adjusting lighting, recording multiple takes, and trimming and combining. You put it up on your course site for students, then check back in after […]
  • How to Create Anonymous Discussion Boards with New Canvas Redesign and Why You Might Want To
    Canvas Discussions Redesign offers instructors the ability to create anonymous spaces for student engagement that might otherwise be stifled by social pressure. Anonymity is a tricky pedagogical tool. On one hand, it can encourage learners to engage more honestly. While on the other hand, we have this sense that anonymous responders will seize the opportunity […]
  • What Role Should Smartphones Play in Education? 
    Examine data from students about smartphone usage and consider how this affects the place of smartphones inside and outside the physical classroom space. In a previous post, I advocated for taking a “mobile-first” approach to course design, offering 10 teaching practices that benefit students accessing your course from mobile devices. In this post, I want […]
  • Helping Students Fit Education Into Their Lives (Part 2)
    In this special two-part blog post, we examine what Ball State students say about flexibility and how teachers can offer students flexibility so they can fit their education into their busy lives. In Part 1 of this two-part blog post, we examined what students have to say about flexibility. Both quantitatively and qualitatively, Ball State […]