“Digital Detox”: Using Norton Critical Editions To Promote Critical Thinking

The Norton Learning Blog has recently featured several posts that offer suggestions for generating greater classroom success by integrating ChatGPT and similar machine-learning-applications. (I find the latter a more accurate—and less anthropomorphizing—term than AI.) However, this particular post goes out to all who—for pedagogical, or numerous other reasons—search for the grail of LLM-free spaces. 

AI: An Unexpected Cure for Faculty Burnout 

The fear of technology replacing the human element in education is real. I’ve thought about these concerns: Will AI encourage laziness? What about bias? What if it makes mistakes? But I’ve found a way to use AI that isn’t replacing me as an educator; it’s supporting me. And in a time when faculty burnout is rampant, that support makes all the difference. 

Using Famous Figure Chatbots to Make Challenging Ideas Accessible: Q&A with Martin Puchner

I started to play around with the technology and was amazed how relatively easy and interesting it was. It made me realize that much of what had driven my work—how to make the past speak to the present, how to read ancient texts, and what it meant that the words of long-dead authors were available to us in the present—was relevant for interacting with chatbots.  

AI Ethics in the Classroom

Artificial Intelligence has become ubiquitous, with its bots and algorithms permeating every aspect of our lives. For several years now, it’s been too late to turn back; AI (often invisibly) powers our smartphones, vehicles, homes, and businesses. But with the more recent advent of widely available generative AI, educators now face the divisive challenge of how, or whether, to use this technology in the classroom.

Disability Concerns for Our Collective Futures    

Earlier this year, I was interviewed by a reporter about large language models (LLMs, like ChatGPT) and disability. I talked about the many concerns ​the disability community might have about LLMs not providing very good information, and about how biases against disabled people will be repeated and amplified in what LLMs spit out.

From Content to Ideas: Helping Students Craft Their Voice in Writing Technical Documents During the Age of Generative AI

Dr. Laura Gonzales teaches technical communication at the University of Florida. In academia, many of the conversations about generative AI focus on surveillance and cheating. If students can have AI generate content for them, how can teachers assess students’ work? In the introductory technical communication course, many traditional assignments focus on teaching students to generate content—the …

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Advancing Equity through Teaching with Artificial Intelligence

In this age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (often abbreviated GenAI or, simply, AI), many educators are understandably apprehensive about students’ illicit use of these tools and the possible negative impacts on students' critical thinking and authentic learning. I frequently hear from dedicated instructors who worry about how to ban or detect their students’ use of AI. While I empathize with and validate these concerns, I’ve concluded that ultimately this is not a productive way to spend our intellectual energy. Instead, I propose that we reframe the opportunity in front of us: we can help our students learn the ethical and responsible use of AI. In doing so, we are advancing equity in teaching, learning, and society more broadly.