News of the Week – February 6, 2026
This week’s issue is curated by Alex Alderman. Alex is an Instructional Designer at Kenyon College. He works with the Instruction and Engagement Team at Chalmers Library.
Teaching and Learning
An Ancient Answer to AI-Generated Writing (Stephen Kidd, Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 27, 2026). Kidd, a classics professor, advocates a return to public speaking and debate in the classroom as an antidote to the use of generative AI in writing assignments.
Adapting the Library of Congress Tool for Place-Based Learning (Hillary Van Dyke, Faculty Focus, Jan. 30, 2026). Van Dyke describes adapting a framework developed for primary source analysis into a classroom activity for exploring a physical space.
Managing the Load: AI and Cognitive Load in Education (Michael Keener and Laura Landon, Faculty Focus, Feb. 2, 2026). Keener and Landon give an overview of cognitive load theory and make 7 suggestions on how faculty can use AI to reduce extraneous cognitive load for their students.
Tech-ish
Digital Tools for Note Taking and PKM (Bonni Stachowiak, Teaching in Higher Ed, Dec. 17, 2025). Stachowiak reviews several tools for digital notetaking and other forms of Personal Knowledge Management, such as reference managers and digital bookmarks.
How Meta Quest VR Is Transforming Experiential Learning in Higher Education (Alexander Slagg, EdTech, Jan. 5, 2026). Slagg describes some classroom applications for Meta’s virtual reality technology, including simulations, virtual labs, and AI-assisted virtual tutors.
Can AI Improve Intro Courses? A New Courseware Project Hopes So (Becky Supiano, Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 29, 2026). Supiano gives an overview of Learnvia, a Gates Foundation sponsored courseware initiative that is piloting a free, interactive Calculus I module to improve student engagement in a typical “gateway course”.
Tidbits
Colleges Must Help Professors Reimagine Assessment. Here’s How (Michelle D. Miller, Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 17, 2025). Miller gives some advice to institutions creating policies and workflows to regulate student AI use: protect innovators, keep workgroups focused, center disciplines, and let goals drive choices.
Flipping the Lens on Classroom Observations With the ‘Inside-Out’ Method (Michael McDowell, Edutopia, Jan. 28, 2026). McDowell advocates shifting the focus of institutional classroom observations away from criticizing faculty choices towards examining the evidence of student learning with a shared goal of supporting students better.
The Accidental Winners of the War on Higher Ed (Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, Jan. 29, 2026). Bogost outlines the advantages that small liberal arts colleges possess adapting to the current challenges to higher education in America, among them less dependence on research grants, a greater focus on teaching excellence, and more robust faculty governance.