Faculty and staff participated in Blackboard AI Day on Friday, Jan. 31. The morning began with a panel about the use of artificial intelligence among faculty, followed by breakout sessions about Blackboard Ultra’s AI Assistant tool.
AI in Higher Education Panel Discussion
Experts from Syracuse University and Anthology, the parent company of Blackboard, participated in a panel discussion about the role of AI in higher education teaching and learning. Panelists included:
- Lisa Clark, EdD, Associate Vice President of Academic Transformation, Anthology
- Michael Morrison, PhD, Associate Director, ITS Academic Services
- Adam Peruta, Director of Advanced Media Management and Associate Professor of Magazine, News and Digital Journalism, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
- Matthew Peters Warne, PhD, Senior Instructional Technology Analyst, ITS Online Learning Services
Assessment with AI Design Assistance
This session demonstrated the use of the AI Design Assistant in the context of Blackboard assignments and tests. See how you can use the Assistant to analyze course content for generating assignment prompts and test questions. The session also covered using AI to create rubrics that help instructors clearly outline grading criteria and provide efficient feedback.
Participation and Engagement with AI Design Assistance
Thought-provoking ideas are essential for encouraging student engagement in Blackboard. This session demonstrated how to use the AI Design Assistant to analyze course content and generate prompts for discussions and journals. It also covered the AI conversation tool, which allows instructors to create interactions in which students complete Socratic questioning exercises or role-play scenarios.