If you’re looking for a fun, motivating way to boost student engagement, consider using the new Achievements feature in Blackboard Ultra. From the Achievements tab, faculty can create course achievement badges and set criteria for student success. While faculty can review which students have earned a course badge, students can also see the requirements for how to earn a badge and monitor their earned and unearned badges. Monitor Progress Toward Achieving … Continue reading Introducing Achievements in Blackboard Ultra
AI Spark Tips: Teaching through Real World Connections
When students see the relevance of course content in their own lives, they are often more motivated to study, strive for excellence, and succeed. Introducing practical applications can help students connect abstract disciplinary concepts to the kinds of questions they are already asking in real world contexts. Specialized Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools, like the … Continue reading AI Spark Tips: Teaching through Real World Connections
AI Spark Tips: Using AI to Improve Image Accessibility
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Akash Garg, Instructor of Biology The CAST guidelines for Universal Design for Learning emphasize the importance of offering learners multiple ways to perceive information, including images and visualizations for sighted students and text-based descriptions of that content for students who engage with course materials with screen readers or audio formats. In courses … Continue reading AI Spark Tips: Using AI to Improve Image Accessibility
AI Spark Tips: The New World of AI Tutoring
In recent months, a range of journal and news articles featuring Harvard's AI Tutors have touted the effectiveness of AI tutorbots in fields like physics, accounting, and statistics. Harvard's AI tutor studies have found that students achieve greater academic success and engagement with personal tutorbots that can generate practice problems and questions or coach students … Continue reading AI Spark Tips: The New World of AI Tutoring
AI Spark Tips: Custom Instructions for Responsive Chats
In the world of AI, context matters. A prompt that begins "I am a university professor teaching an undergraduate course..." will produce a completely different result than a prompt for a teenage superhero attempting to balance coursework with saving the world (AI-Generated Image). If you find yourself repeatedly reminding ChatGPT.edu about your context or your … Continue reading AI Spark Tips: Custom Instructions for Responsive Chats
AI Spark Tips: Coaching Students for Ethical AI Use
The UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Students stresses the importance of AI ethics and a human-centered mindset. As educators, our goal is to guide students in their progress from novice to expert. Helping students develop responsible and effective AI prompting techniques can be an important part of their learning journey. 100 Chats for College Students … Continue reading AI Spark Tips: Coaching Students for Ethical AI Use