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| “Are you smiling at your crotch?” This playful question is the final code in a series my students and I have developed to tactfully highlight when smartphones are distracting us. We collectively agreed on this humorous approach to maintaining focus in the classroom (full details below).
Now that the initial “honeymoon” phase of the first few weeks has passed, how has smartphone use been in your classes? |
CfLT Newsletter
The posts below are from the CfLT newsletter which includes curated, research-based digital resources to support ongoing faculty development and pedagogical engagement. As of August 2025, CfLT Director Karen Spierling oversees the content. Posts from July 2020-May 2025 were compiled by previous Director Lew Ludwig.
Tech: Crafting Assessments that Matter in an AI World
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| Lisa Blue, Director of Artificial Intelligence Strategies at EKU, has developed this wonderful presentation and this useful set of handouts. It’s time to reconsider our assessment strategies in light of AI advancements like Strawberry. |
Tech: GPT-o1 aka Strawberry
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| Open AI just released a new model, GPT-o1, which some call strawberry. It lets the AI “think through” a problem before solving it. As someone once quipped, today’s AI is the dumbest it will ever be. |
Tidbit: What about us?
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| Okay, so we’ve explored the student mental health crisis in the teaching section, but what can we do for ourselves to do more than just survive another semester? In “When Disruption Is Perpetual, It’s Time to Think Differently About Work,” Beth McMurtrie highlights strategies for professors to thrive, such as setting boundaries based on scope-of-practice framework and finding community support through learning groups. |
Writing as Thinking vs. AI as Thinking
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| Alexis Hart, English Professor and Director of Writing at Allegheny College, shared this writing activity at the GLCA AI workshop in August:
According to writing professor and author of Why They Can’t Write, John Warner, “Writing is thinking” because “the basic…unit of writing” is the idea (144-145, emphasis added). However, in May 2023, a student at Columbia University, Owen Kichizo Terry, wrote an article in the The Chronicle of Higher Education claiming that when college students are given an essay assignment “it’s very easy to use AI to do the lion’s share of the thinking” and therefore, “writing is no longer much of an exercise in thinking.” |
Tech Tip from ETS: Show your students some love through Canvas
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Students appreciate accessible and well-designed Canvas courses. ETS is here to help you amp up your Canvas course through:
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Teaching: Student Mental Health
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| In a previous post, I shared insights from Bonni Stachowiak, host of the “Teaching in Higher Ed” podcast. As featured in the Chronicle, she highlighted a mental health crisis as one of the three significant changes in higher education. This week, I’d like to dive deeper into her concerns.
The Chronicle article, ‘Why Students Can’t Work on Their Own,’ addresses what many faculty members are likely already experiencing: a significant decline in students’ ability to complete substantial independent work since the pandemic. |
Teaching: What Does It Really Mean to Learn
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| Typically, we publish one TTT (Teaching, Tech, and Tidbit) every two weeks, featuring articles, resources, and more. During alternate weeks, we issue ‘In the Center,’ which highlights upcoming events.
I am breaking the cycle this week because Catherine Stuer shared such a fantastic New Yorker article that I wanted to get it in your hands as soon as possible. |
Tidbit: Classroom Rules
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Tech Tip from ETS: AI and Assessment Strategies
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As you think about your learning goals and AI, check out these timely resources on course policies, assessments, and usage examples from Alchemy’s recent webinar: “Navigating AI and Assessments: Strategies for the New Academic Year.”
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