Author: Cana Fuest
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The Slow Work of Learning
I haven’t written much about my PhD journey. I have been in a PhD program for four years now (sometimes it feels like it will never end!) I am getting closer to the point where I will conduct my research and report the results. Having gotten this far, I am…
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Inside My AI Workflow
I’ve been working with various AI tools for nearly two years now in an instructional design capacity. The early days of my “experiments” with AI were more like trial and error, and finding out what tools I liked working with. As an instructional designer at a large university, I do…
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Notes from an Instructional Designer on Teaching with AI
As an instructional designer at a large university, I am hear many diverse perspectives related to AI in teaching and learning. Some faculty members are enthusiastic, frequent-users of the tech, and encourage their students to use it as much a possible in their classes. Other faculty members are adamant that…
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Why AI can’t innovate: The human brain’s unique potential
Artificial intelligence—whether we’re talking about AI assistants like ChatGPT or highly specialized learning algorithms—stands on an impressive foundation. But there’s a limit that AI will always have, rooted in the way it functions. AI is trained on data from the past. It’s learning from patterns, structures, and information that already…
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Can AI reduce cognitive load and boost teaching effectiveness?
In today’s teaching environment, where educators are expected to manage a wide range of tasks, AI is proving to be more than just a way to save time. It has the potential to significantly reduce cognitive load, allowing both teachers and students to focus on higher-order thinking and creativity. Cognitive…
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Crafting Better Learning Objectives with ChatGPT
Another way that I have been using ChatGPT to assist with course design is in writing strong learning objectives. Although I have years of experience lesson planning, there’s always room for improvement, and ChatGPT has become a go-to resource for me in this area. One of the biggest challenges when…
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My Teaching Assistant, ChatGPT
This fall semester, I have become more intentional about using AI to enhance my teaching practice, and reduce the time I spend planning lessons. After teaching the same subject material for several years, I have plenty of lecture notes, assignments, and learning material to work with. However, I want to…
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Navigating the AI landscape
Since the start of this year, I have done a rather deep dive into the world of artificial intelligence. My PhD studies in educational technology have leant to my interest in this fast-changing and ever-growing technological trend. Something I have learned from research, podcasts, and webinars related to AI is…
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More AI Experiments: Ollama
I recently downloaded Ollama on my Macbook Pro (my computer has a M3 chip and 8GB of memory). I’m very new to LLMs but determined to learn, so I have been experimenting with Llama3 to see how it compares to LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini. So far I like it.…
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A resource for teachers: The Merlot database
My interest in pedagogical recommender systems led me to a website called merlot.org. The website description at the top reads, “The MERLOT system provides access to curated online learning and support materials and content creation tools, led by an international community of educators, learners and researchers” (Merlot, n.d.). I love…
Cana Fuest, PhD Candidate 