New UAlbany Podcast Explores Effective Teaching in the Age of AI
By Bethany Bump
ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 17, 2024) — UAlbany’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Learning, and Online Education (CATLOE) has launched a new podcast that will broadly address ideas about effective teaching in higher education, with the first season exploring the role of artificial intelligence in education.
The Pause for Teaching podcast debuted Wednesday and will feature UAlbany faculty and outside experts in conversation with CATLOE instructional consultants, Nyssa Knarvik and Aviva Bower. Each season will focus on a specific theme.
“We are hearing a lot of questions and concerns about AI, so that’s why we decided to focus our first year specifically on teaching and AI,” said Billie Franchini, director of CATLOE, a central resource for teaching and learning at UAlbany. “People are really hungry for information and ideas about it, and there’s something about the convenience of listening to a podcast that we thought would be a really nice way to reach people.”
The first episode — available for streaming now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and via CATLOE’s website — features an interview with Jason D’Cruz, an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at UAlbany whose research explores the ethics and trustworthiness of AI.
Future episodes this season will include conversations about teaching and AI with UAlbany’s Lauren Bryant and Jon Mandle, professors in the departments of Communication and Philosophy, respectively, and Marc Watkins, a lecturer of composition and rhetoric at the University of Mississippi whose research and writing routinely explore the role of AI in education.
While many of the early concerns from faculty about AI and teaching had to do with cheating and plagiarism, Franchini said many are now wondering whether and how to incorporate AI into teaching — something she hopes the podcast will help address.
“I think people are getting a little bit more used to the idea that AI is out there for students to use and that they may use it in ways that are inappropriate, and we have tools to respond and help prevent that,” she said. “What people are really starting to think about now is, what role does AI have or not have in my teaching?”
Faculty often feel pressure to incorporate new technology into their teaching, and many are wondering how to do so thoughtfully, effectively or at all when it comes to AI, Franchini said.
While AI can support teaching and learning in many ways, there are a lot of contexts where having students use AI won’t make sense, she added.
“Sometimes when we get anxious about a new tool, especially one that we are afraid students might use inappropriately, it's easy to say, oh my gosh, I just don't want to think about that,” she said. "But the reality is students and faculty are having a lot of confusion about AI. They don't always understand very well what its benefits are and what its limitations are. So I think having really good, structured, thoughtful conversations about that will be super helpful.”