Educational Technology

Events

Recorded Events

Kickoff Event with the AI Committee. Virtual event on Friday, January 31, 12:15-1:45 PM. Members of the AI in Creative Practice Committee shared their experiences with the year-long AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. This was a thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion that included information from a student panel on Gen AI use, reflections on changes in attitudes and ways we are (and are not) utilizing Gen AI, and sharing of the big questions raised by this technology.

Using AI in Teaching. This is an asynchronous version of a workshop on using AI in Teaching. Topics include ethical considerations, using AI to support challenging assignments, crafting prompts to support teaching and learning, and the importance of having course policies on AI.

Video link
Slide Deck: AI & Teaching.pdf

AI & Ethics. AI use in art and design fields raises particular ethical issues in addition to the more commonly-discussed environmental impacts of related technologies. This session includes an overview of these ethical issues with additional context from the recent student town hall.

**Reminder - if you watch a recording, please report your attendance using this form

Past Events

Student Town Hall on AI. Friday, February 14. The AI in Creative Practice Committee facilitated a listening session to get student input on AI use.

Gen AI: Studio Faculty Sharing Practices. Wednesday, February 26, 11 AM-12 PM. In this peer learning session, studio faculty share ways in which they are utilizing Gen AI in their creative and teaching practices. This session was facilitated by faculty members Jason Tilk and Jimmy Kuehnle.

AI Philosophy

As a hub of creativity, collaboration, and learning, CIA strives to provide a holistic education that allows our students to enter the professional world with confidence, awareness, and critical frameworks for engagement. The growing presence of Artificial Intelligence in our tools and systems is undeniable. In response, it is our responsibility to foster an ethical and well-rounded understanding of this evolving technology among our community. We seek to equip students, faculty, and staff with critical tools to assess, question, and engage with AI on campus and beyond — and to empower our members to find and utilize the principles and tools that support their personal missions.

This philosophy was created by the Teaching and Learning Committee in 2024 and approved by Cabinet in May 2025.

AI Course Policy Development

This Fall, all course syllabi must include a policy on student use of AI tools. Faculty have full autonomy to decide whether and how AI may be used in their courses. Policies should clarify if AI is permitted, and if so, when and how it may be used—whether broadly or specific to assignment types.

Because “AI” encompasses a wide range of technologies—from built-in spell-check and grammar suggestions to tools that generate code, images, or text—clear guidance helps students make informed decisions and supports their learning about responsible AI use. Faculty should also clearly state the consequences for unapproved use of AI tools, such as whether it will be considered academic dishonesty or plagiarism, and what penalties may apply (e.g., failing the assignment, receiving a zero, or being referred for academic misconduct). Faculty may want to reference CIA's Student Handbook for specific language or policies, particularly the section on academic integrity.

There are several excellent resources to assist in crafting your syllabus policy, such as this one from Stanford University, or this one from Kent State.

Faculty are also encouraged to set up a meeting with the NCTL for individualized support.

AI Course Policy Worksheet.pdf: This worksheet was created by the NCTL to help guide your course development process.

AI Course Policy Workshop: This slide deck was used in a workshop to support the creation of course policies on AI.

Collection of AI Course Policies: This document includes a large number of course policies from different institutions. This resource can help you identify different versions and potential statements that align with your intended outcomes.

News and Resources

Industry Panel Webinar - AICAD AI Cross-Institutional Dialogue Series

High priority

Fri, Apr 10 2026 at 10:52 AM

Recording of a panel discussion from the AICAD AI Cross-Institutional Dialogue Series. This panel features creative industry professionals who discussed how AI is currently impacting creative work across sectors.

Panelists responded to the following questions, along with questions from the audience:

How are you using AI in your day-to-day work?

In your daily (creative) work, where does AI fail? Where do you have to "step in" to fix the AI or take back control of the creative vision?

Given the changes brought on by AI use, what are the durable skills we should focus on as educators?

What AI tools do you think would be most useful that do not currently exist?

AI Slop vs Art

High priority

Mon, Mar 30 2026 at 2:24 PM

AI slop vs Art.pdf

In this thought piece, CIA faculty member Cullen Houser (FNDN) welcomes others to critically consider AI use in art practices. As a Nord Center Faculty Fellow, Cullen has been exploring tensions around art production using AI, and shares some culminating thoughts in this article. While he recognizes reasons for being deeply skeptical around AI use related to art practices, Cullen warns against weaponizing critiques of AI use by corporations against the individual artist. Cullen outlines 3 characteristics of AI slop that demonstrate a clear delineation between slop and art: disparagement of human labor, mimicry, and laziness/lack of artistic vision.

Resist, refuse, or rationalize - Just don't roll over (Furze, 2025)

Fri, Mar 14 2025 at 12:48 PM

"This article is a response to the ongoing tensions between resistance and rationalisation: between the educators banishing GenAI from their classrooms, and the ones trying to find ways to coexist with the technology, or even adopt it fully. It is also unapologetically filled with block quotes from everybody’s favourite French philosopher."

Making Space for Student 'Sorrow' Over AI

Tue, Feb 18 2025 at 10:00 AM

This article from Inside Higher Ed addresses concerns of art students particular to AI usage, and encourages "careful, constructive dialogue between professors and their students, including those who are fearful and anxious that AI is cheapening creativity and threatening their job prospects."

Podcast Episode: Creativity & AI

Tue, Jan 21 2025 at 9:47 AM

This podcast episode features Computer Science scholar Harsh Kumar, whose research "focuses on developing algorithms and systems for social good, particularly in cognition, mental health, and education". His work has explored questions of Gen AI in the learning context, such as 'when should people utilize LLMs in learning?' In this episode, Kumar describes a recent study looking at the effect of using Gen AI tools on divergent and convergent thinking.

The AI Challenge

Tue, Jan 21 2025 at 9:34 AM

Design Forward (DF), an online faculty development program grounded in values and approaches of critical pedagogy, offers The AI Challenge, a "flexible, self-paced module on artificial intelligence" that outlines fundamentals of this technology and "how to teach with, against, and about Gen AI."

Their site includes The AI Challenge Collection - various "ideas for assignments, assessments, and other activities" related to Gen AI.