A handful of tech companies are nearly single-handedly keeping AI developers afloat. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

It turns out that AI isn’t as inevitable as some are lead to think. Tech companies increase each other’s stock value through circular transactions that give the illusion of AI demand. Read more about how I’m resisting: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi... #ai #genai #highered

Question for college instructors: What’s your approach to managing students’ personal device use in the classroom, and why? How do you communicate/negotiate those expectations? #collegteaching #teaching #highereducation

Let’s stop and ask our students, “What do you think?” About AI (policies), about assignment formats, about their performance in the course. Implement their recommendations. Validate their insights. This is what student empowerment looks like #teaching #highered #facultydevelopment

Our stances on technology—whether students should use generative AI and mobile devices in general—don’t actually matter as much as how we determine and enforce these expectations in our teaching. Read this week’s piece: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Should classrooms mirror the workplace? When career preparation goes too far, and how to strike the right balance, in this week’s Substack piece: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

In celebration of #mlkday, I reflect on the powerful words of an 18-year-old Dr. King in his essay, “The Purpose of Education”, and what they say about higher ed’s current climate. Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

This is what I do it for ❤️. I’m so grateful to the Association of Faculties for Advancement of Community College Teaching (AFACCT) for inviting me to set the tone for their 36th annual teaching and learning conference. What a way to start the new year and new semester. #conference #keynote

As the opening keynote for AFACCT’s 36th Annual Conference, I shared an approach to setting learner-centered policies and expectations about technology with—not for—students. More conference fun tomorrow 🙌🏿❤️ #bmore #communitycollege #conference #facultydevelopment

This is an example of a personal device police that you might consider using in the Spring. It’s specific, transparent, and allows for discussion. What will be your approach to personal devices in the spring? #collegeteaching #highered #pedagogy #teaching #facultydevelopment

Are students so addicted to their phones that the only way to eliminate classroom distractions is to ban them altogether? I tackle the question, and share two strategies for setting personal device expectations in classrooms: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Are phones harmful enough to justify stripping students of their agency by outright banning them? I explore answers in this week’s Substack article: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Beloved friends and colleagues! This week's article-about the over-professionalization of higher ed, and its impact on students—will be shared tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Subscribe today to make sure it lands in your inbox. Sign up here: unteaching.substack.com

Read about how AI agents are already disrupting higher ed classrooms in my most recent piece: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Students and instructors can now use agentic AI browsers like Perplexity’s Comet and ChatGPT’s Atlas to complete and grade online assignments respectively without even needing to log into their LMS. Read more below: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Good teaching is unconventional teaching. To teach well, you have to go against teaching traditions that have been around since the 13th century. It sometimes requires winning over students who expect an efficient yet disconnected learning experience that involves consumption and recitation.

For those looking for guidance on how to respond to students when their work appears to be AI generated. Hint: Plagiarism checkers aren’t as helpful as you think they are. Read more here: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Because plagiarism checkers are so unreliable, and because it’s nearly impossible to definitively prove that a student quoted or paraphrased AI without attribution, I don’t even bother accusing or investigating AI misuse. Here’s what I do instead: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Read this week’s piece, “The Problem with Punisihing Plagiarism”, on Substack: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

I'm looking for insights on how educators manage smartphone use and the rationale and effectiveness of their policies. If you would like to contribute to an exploration of this topic, complete the short survey linked below: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

The most consequential talk I’ve given, for young people anxious, exhausted, and unsatisfied as they pursuit of their ideal careers. Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

This week, I wrote about Alpha School’s controversial AI-taught programs, and their implications for the future of K-12 education. ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

A syllabus pro-tip from a student I just spoke with: if a student needs to complete an assignment or task, and that task is listed in the “Couse Overview” or “Assignments” section of the syllabus, put it in read so it sticks out among the rest of the text in the syllabus 🔴👍🏿 Small things! #learning

I’m writing to share a teaching methodology I’ve been tinkering with, a philosophy that undergirds all the approaches I’ve been encouraging instructors to adopt in their classrooms the past few years. Learn more about unteaching and all it encompasses here: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

My most recent Substack post explains why the word “andragogy” is divisive, and how we can shift our thinking about the difference between adult and child education. Read here: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

I think I figured out the AI academic integrity issue (well, at least in my courses…for now). open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Students accounting grim stories about their schools' anti-Al culture.

For any educator wanting to engage students in responsible AI use this coming school year: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

I spoke to a professor last week who said, “We start all of our projects and assignments in class. Everyone one.” His rationale: it avoids confusion about instructions and expectations, it supercharges the brainstorming process, and it reveals students’ task management and creative processes.

I see exhausted people doing their jobs—airport and post office workers, business people, etc.—and feel the strong urge to walk up to them and say, “you’re off today. You can go home now.” If I could choose any superpower, it would be that.

An argument for eliminating participation grades 📝: If you believe that faculty should be assessing substantive work and measurable skills, then college instructors should focus on assessing the skills that students are practicing, not the mere fact that they practiced them.

Dusting off the Bluesky cobwebs to share my substack article on why participation grades are a threat to academic rigor. Like, comment, blow a gasket…whatever you need to do! open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

This is fascism.

I sifted through #badprofessors on TikTok so you didn’t have to Article link: unteaching.substack.com/p/the-new-co...

Does anyone else use ChatGPT as their default personal assistant for IT issues? I don’t know why I do it. It’s not even helpful most of the time.

Join me in commemorating Dr. King’s legacy: open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Critiquing teaching and learning practices is kinda my bag, but IG, Twitter, and LinkedIn didn’t really suite my creative needs. Well, Substack does! Subscribe for articles dissecting the good, bad, and unhinged about teaching. open.substack.com/pub/unteachi...

Hypothes.is just released a new #ai powered auto-grading feature so that faculty can have more time to “focus on teaching” The semantics matter: grading, feedback, and teaching are all different. My biggest question: how would students feel about this?

Question: what are your thoughts on cold calling? Effective teaching strategy? Unnecessary? Counterproductive? All perspectives welcome ⬇️💬 #edusky

I think about this quote in the context of the classroom. When we facilitate discussions with students, we should ask them (implicitly), “is your viewpoint rooted in your denial of someone’s humanity?” My dream is that we all learn to ask ourselves this question on a regular basis. #edusky

Just saw a bald eagle, a stork, two deer, a blue jay, and a wood pecker on my outdoor walk behind my apartment. Seeing creatures unbothered in their natural habitat reminds me that what we do on these digital forums is all a social construction. They remind me that there’s beauty in just being.

Many of us read #insidehighered, #thechronicle, NYT Education, etc. Are there smaller or more niche publications that you all get your Ed news from? Shout em out! ⬇️💬

I’m writing a book on the wave of cell phone bans hitting K-12 and higher ed classrooms. If you have a unique phone policy/philosophy for your classroom that you want to share, send me a dm!

*Calls Barnes and Noble* Me: “Hi, I’m calling to see if you all have a title, could you search it for me?” BN: “Sure! What’s the title?” Me: “Tomrrow, and tomorrow, and tom-“ BN: “Oouh, yeah we DEFINITELY have that” I’ve heard this book is really good. Starting it tonight.

I guess all the principals haven’t made it to #bluesky yet…principals where y’all at 👀!?

Decades from now, we’ll look back at this generative AI boom and see it as a renaissance for faculty development. There hasn’t been a more ubiquitous phenomenon that’s challenged every educator to look at their teaching practices all at one time #facultydevelopment #teaching #k12 #highered

For all my tech nerds and designers: I find it fascinating that Zoom whiteboard is an exact copycat of Miro. It’s spooky…but I like it. Whiteboards are easier to share IMO.

Professors and K-12 teachers, what is your classroom policy for phones? Do you ban them, allow them with restrictions, or allow free use? Let me know in the comments ⬇️📲 #phones #education #ai

This gives me hope!