Peak Higher Ed: AI’s Possible Futures with Bryan Alexander

Bryan Alexander shares about Peak Higher Ed on episode 604 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast Quotes from the episode “It’s another form of thinking, it’s another form of organizing information and that we have to treat it seriously as such. The computer scientist actually recommends that we think about generative AI as children. These are AIs that have some degree of autonomy and they’re also not very wise in the world yet, and we have to train and rear them up.” – Bryan Alexander “So if AI is bubble, if it turns out to be a bubble and it pops, this might be bad news for the entire economy.” – Bryan Alexander “The problem of how do we actually figure out what people are doing with AI within post secondary education? That’s a really great challenge because if you polled people, they have all kinds of great incentives to not respond accurately.” – Bryan Alexander Resources Peak Higher Ed, by Bryan Alexander: How to Survive the Looming Academic Crisis, by Bryan Alexander Bryan Alexander’s Website Maha Bali’s Blog On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜, by Emily M. Bender et al Helen Beetham’s Newsletter: Imperfect Offerings Pluralistic: Daily Links from Cory Doctorow Faraday Cage Georgetown University: Learning, Design, and Technology John Warner John Warner’s Newsletter GTD – Workflow diagram Todd’s AI Playground Todd’s AI Songs About His Course Evaluations Adam Tooze Chartbook

Matthew Mahavongtrakul shares about active learning that engages all learners on episode 603 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode You don’t need to change your entire course tomorrow. What is one simple thing that you can do that will push you on the path? – Matthew Mahavongtrakul “The number one kind of piece of pushback that I get from faculty is I just simply cannot cover everything.” – Matthew Mahavongtrakul “I think at the crux of it, it is the shift in mentality between us as being, as we say, the sage on the stage to being a facilitator in the classroom.” – Matthew Mahavongtrakul Resources UC Irvine Division of Teaching Excellence & Innovation’s Active Learning Institute Stephen Brookfield Todd Zakrajsek You Care About It, Do It in Class: Why faculty members need to shift the balance of class time from first exposure to skills practice Why Students Resist Learning with Anton Tolman on Episode 171 Notsu Notes Lily Abadal’s workbook, outlining her process of having students write a research paper throughout her entire class Bluesky post of Andrea Kaston Tange sharing about her reading scenario experimentation POD Network Conference

C. Edward Watson shares about navigating AI’s rapid transformation in higher ed on episode 602 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode I never include AI in the beginning of my processes. -C. Edward Watson There’s a lot of incremental shifts, but the increments are quite large. -C. Edward Watson I would argue that maybe this is the first time in the history of higher education that we have learning outcomes that are at war with one another. -C. Edward Watson We’ve never built a curriculum for something that’s changing so quickly. We’re being asked to keep up with this rate of change in a meaningful way that actually serves our students well. -C. Edward Watson Resources Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning, by José Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson Teaching with AI Website (Including Free Resources) AAC&U Artificial Intelligence Resources AAC&U Teaching with AI Workshops AAC&U Report: The Agility Imperative: How Employers View Preparation for an Uncertain Future Wharton School of Business Survey: How Are Companies Using Gen AI in 2025? Shell Game Season Two Caraway Cookware

Christopher Ostro discusses the AI grief cycle on episode 601 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode The fact is there are things we’re grieving. Our job has profoundly changed in huge ways in a very short period of time. -Christopher Ostro Our traditional assessments suddenly are not working effectively like we used to think that they did. -Christopher Ostro I want my students to view me as a resource and as someone that they can trust. -Christopher Ostro When something makes me uncomfortable, I want to lean in and understand it better. -Christopher Ostro Resources AI Grief Cycle Talk for CU, by Christoper Ostro Slides for Chris’ AI Grief Cycle Talk Mosaic Approach Docs from Christopher Ostro Swiss Cheese (or Roumy Cheese) Model for Assessment/Assignments Swiss Cheese Analogy for COVID-19 – Rumi Cheese Analogy for Inclusive Education, by Maha Bali Daniel Stanford’s LinkedIn Post Kristen Howerton Bonni’s Go Somewhere AI Resources and Episodes Chris’ AI Literacy Assignments Goblin.Tools Long Shadow: Breaking the Internet – The End of the World as We Know It What AI Companions Are Missing, by Adam Grant Chris’ CU AI Reading Group Reading List

Dave Stachowiak joins Bonni to explore 6 pedagogical practices from 600 episodes on episode 600 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode When we stop aiming for perfection, we allow ourselves to then be fully present for others. -Bonni Stachowiak Practice 1: Start and end small. Practice 2: Build courses around curiosity, not coverage. Practice 3: Prioritize presence over perfection. Practice 4: Focus on relationships. Practice 5: Remember what is yours to do and what is not yours to do. Practice 6: Focus on becoming. -Bonni Stachowiak Resources Episodes with James Lang Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, 2nd Edition, by James M. Lang Episodes with Tracie Addy Who’s in Class Form Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education, by Thomas J. Tobin and Kirsten T. Behling Episodes with Tolu Noah Episode 404 – Annotation Is with Remi Kalir Episodes with Mia Zamora and Alan Levine Episode 577 – Teaching and Learning When Things Go Wrong with Jessamyn Neuhaus Episodes with Jesse Stommel Robert Talbert’s Intentional Academia Episode 529 – Working the Gardens of Our Classrooms with James Lang Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College, by Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert Episode 331 – Relationship-Rich Education with Peter Felten and Leo Lambert Episode 551 – Relationship-Rich Education at Scale with Peter Felten and Kassidy Puckett Episodes with Karen Costa Episode 454 – Mental Health and Well Being with Zainab Okolo Episode 563 – Defy – The Power of Saying No in a World That Demands Yes with Sunita Suh Episodes with Stephen Brookfield Episodes with Kevin Gannon Tripsy Unsplash Wallpapers Festivas https://readwise.io/read

David Gooblar shares how better teaching can make college more equitable on episode 599 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode Most of our scars are hidden. I think most of the time people don’t see the scars that we carry. -David Gooblar We get such a small window into our students lives. -David Gooblar The imaginary idea of the college student in America is of a privileged student. And that’s just not the case when we talk about American college students today. -David Gooblar We need to work to earn their trust, to convince our students that we’re working for them, that our job is to help them develop, learn, and grow. -David Gooblar Resources One Classroom at a Time: How Better Teaching Can Make College More Equitable, by David Gooblar Pedagogy Unbound: Weekly Thoughts on College Teaching from David Gooblar Stereotype Threat Tuckman’s Stages of Team Formation Episode 585: Toward Socially Just Teaching with Bryan Dewsbury The Mentor’s Dilemma: Providing Critical Feedback Across the Racial Divide, by Geoffrey L. Cohen, Claude M. Steele, & Lee D. Ross Kagi Search Clip from Decoder Episode with Cory Doctorow on Mastodon The Verge: How Silicon Valley Enshittified the Internet with Cory Doctorow Adrienne Salinger: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms

Jeff Young shares clips from his Learning Curve Podcast regarding AI in higher education on episode 598 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode It is crazy to think of how much we’ve all learned about generative AI just in the last couple years. -Jeff Young I’ve been really interested in how students are thinking through AI and where their perspectives are. There is not one student view. You can find students that think all kinds of things. -Jeff Young Students are very aware of AI and they’re also very aware of how it’s changing the job market that they might enter. -Jeff Young One danger of these tools is that they give you such instant gratification. There’s a hit of dopamine. -Jeff Young Students are using AI tools, not just for academics. They’re experimenting with AI. -Jeff Young Resources Learning Curve Podcast Paul LeBlanc Maha Bali Students ‘will spend 25 years on their mobiles’ in The Times, by Mark Sellman Google NotebookLM Supporting Student Learning and Metacognition Shell Game Podcast Phonograph Podcast

Bonni Stachowiak shares about her card game, Go Somewhere: A game of metaphors, AI, and what comes next on episode 597 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode A lot of you have been asking me about this game that I’ve played now and facilitated at over 10 universities and conferences called Go Somewhere. -Bonni Stachowiak What the game allows people to do is to be a little bit playful, laugh, and smile as we explore very serious things. -Bonni Stachowiak It can be helpful to have a map when we think about all of the different ways that artificial intelligence might impact our teaching. -Bonni Stachowiak The other issue that comes up a lot as we start talking about artificial intelligence is how often it bumps up against our sense of identity. -Bonni Stachowiak Continue to learn, reflect, and keep moving. Go somewhere. -Bonni Stachowiak Resources Assistant, Parrot, or Colonizing Loudspeaker? ChatGPT Metaphors for Developing Critical AI Literacies, by Anuj Gupta, Yasser Atef, Anna Mills, & Maha Bali Teaching in Higher Ed AI Resources and Episodes All Aboard – Digital Skills Map (Ireland) Where are the crescents in AI? by Maha Bali Different Critiques of AI in Education, by Maha Bali Critical AI Literacy is Not Enough: Introducing Care Literacy, Equity Literacy & Teaching Philosophies, by Maha Bali Teaching AI Ethics, by Leon Furze Scooby-Doo AI Metaphors We Live By: The Language of Artificial Intelligence, by Leon Furze Her (2013) On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots, by Bender, Gebru, et al. Episode 576: The AI Con with Emily M Bender and Alex Hanna The Princess Bride (1987) Are We Tripping? The Mirage of AI Hallucinations, by Anna Mills & Nate Angell ChatGPT is a Blurry JPEG, by Ted Chiang Permission Slip, by Bryan Mathers from Visual Thinkery How Will AI Impact Gen Z?

Christy Albright + Clarissa Sorensen Unruh share about teaching, learning, and the lessons of grief on episode 596 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode Take two deep breaths. -Clarissa Sorensen Unruh None of the books that I researched on grief actually defined grief. It’s like they just assumed you knew what it was because it’s such a universal experience, but it’s not universally experienced by everybody in the same way. -Christy Albright Anticipatory grief is when you know something is coming and you’re already grieving that situation. -Christy Albright People assume that grief gets smaller, and actually we grow around it. -Clarissa Sorensen Unruh The big griefs in my life stay forever. -Christy Albright Resources Bonni fact checks her anecdote about birds Fractals: Is Hasan Smarter than a 13-year-old Math Genius Peter Felten: Can We Teach Curiosity? Resources for Grieving (Christy’s website) Capsule Ish, by Peter H. Reynolds The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds The Let Them Theory, by Mel Robbins An Educator’s Guide to ADHD, by Karen Costa Good Hang with Amy Poehler An Educator’s Guide to ADHD, by Karen Costa

Roberta Hawkins + Leslie Kern share about their book, Higher Expectations: How to Survive Academia, Make it Better for Others, and Transform the University on episode 595 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode We advise lots of different ways of rethinking our relationship with work in the book. -Roberta Hawkins You can’t solve institutional problems with individual sacrifices. -Leslie Kern We are not cogs in an institutional machine. -Roberta Hawkins One of the challenges, is the idea that our work is kind of a calling. It’s a passion project. The institution knows that we love our work and that we are passionate about our students and that we care about bringing great ideas to fruition in the world, so it will extract every little drop of that from you in terms of your time and energy. -Leslie Kern Invisibilized labor is an equity issue as well as a workload issue. -Roberta Hawkins Resources Higher Expectations: How to Survive Academia, Make It Better for Others, and Transform the University, by Roberta Hawkins and Leslie Kern What you didn’t learn in class: Revealing the hidden curriculum, by Lindsay Vreeland, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Northern Illinois University Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose, by Martha Beck