Developed by Distance Learning Specialist Maggie Gilchrist and Instructional Technology Consultant Eric Brinkman at the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, this clear and self-paced Canvas course is designed to help faculty: take a closer look at types of GenAI, get a clearer sense of current IU policies and expectations, and gain insights into how other faculty have been using these tools.
Vivian Halloran
IU Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, and Arts and Humanities
Professor of English, IU Bloomington
Vivian Halloran thinks so highly of IU's GenAI in the Classroom Canvas course that she wrote the below feature on it (after she and her co-instructor used it to boldly redesign their Human Dilemmas course). For her, it proved to be a timely resource for bridging the knowledge-gap between faculty and students about the uses and dilemmas posed by rapidly proliferating generative AI (GenAI).
The speed and change within this sector, and the threat it poses to the fundamentally important level of trust that should exist between instructor and students, make this a particularly good time for faculty and instructors to take advantage of this wonderful resource.
Features that make this course especially useful for IU instructors
There are three key aspects of IU's GenAI in the Classroom Canvas course that set it apart from other professional development opportunities offered by outlets such as The Chronicle of Higher Ed and Inside Higher Ed and vendors such as Adobe and Grammarly.
Companion course: GenAI Essential Skills
GenAI Essential Skills is IU's other free, self-paced course designed to help you gain hands-on experience with AI. (You can even earn a verified digital badge to showcase your AI knowledge.)
Take it yourself, or import one or more modules directly into a course for your students.
1. The ease and convenience of a self-paced course available via Canvas
Being able to navigate this course on demand at any time enhances its usefulness and contrasts greatly with just-in-time webinars on the latest trend or newest tool in this sector.
Enrolling in this course also provides the invaluable experience of seeing first-hand how differently others use Canvas to present material. It's a welcome change to interact with these modules from the perspective of a student, and that helped me question my assumptions about what Canvas can and should do as a tool to facilitate both teaching and learning.
The five modules that form the heart of the course give instructors the opportunity to customize their learning experience, and make finding specific resources a simple and efficient process:
- Modules 1 "AI Basics" and 2 "AI Literacy" provide a useful history and context for those wanting to understand how GenAI tools are the latest in an ongoing and evolving set of technological developments in the fields of large language models and algorithmic logic.
- Module 3 "Responsible Use" addresses the various ethical dimensions that follow the choices to use or abstain from GenAI tools in classes and the impact such decisions have upon students' skill development leading to career readiness.
- Finally, Modules 4 "Designing Assignments and Assessments" and 5 "Course (Re)Design" empower faculty and instructors to experiment and play around with GenAI tools, both to make personal workflows more efficient and to develop fresh and new approaches to teaching.
I have directed more than a few instructors in IU's College of Arts and Sciences to Module 3's pages on "Creating Course Policies" and "Creating Assignment Policies" because the content presents a variety of approaches faculty and instructors may take when doing both of these tasks.
2. Clarification of IU policies regarding use of GenAI tools in the classroom
The second aspect of IU's GenAI in the Classroom Canvas course that sets it apart is that the content clarifies IU policies regarding the use of GenAI tools in the classroom (like the enterprise version of Microsoft Copilot) and explicitly discusses the rationale behind why IU will not approve the use of GenAI detectors. (It was through this course that I found the 2024 IU GenAI Taskforce report.)
Likewise, Module 1 made it easier for me to understand IU's standards for data privacy. This information is directly relevant to how IU faculty and instructors can perform their duties in accordance with university policies, and it reminds those enrolled in the course that help from IU colleagues like Gilchrist and Brinkman is only a click away.
3. Insights about how IU colleagues are using these tools
IU's GenAI in the Classroom Canvas course made me aware of how colleagues like Professor Attia Yousef (Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures) already ask students to use GenAI tools to practice their language skills by interacting verbally. The course also directs students to Eric Brinkman's CITL blog posts, as well as to Professor Justin Hodgson's (English) work on GenAI and ethics.
Last fall, I worked with a group of faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences who enrolled in this course and used what they learned to change their assignment design and to develop more robust and clear policies regarding when and how GenAI tools may be used in their respective classes. One of these attendees was my co-instructor for HUBI-B 300 Human Dilemmas, Professor Amy Berndtson.
Together, the two of us have developed a more intentional approach to how and how often we require students to use GenAI tools in our course as part of their overall preparation for joining the workforce after graduation. This bold redesign would not have been possible without the tools and context that IU's GenAI in the Classroom Canvas course gave us. My hope is that more faculty can take advantage of this great resource.