Jenae Cohn, PhD
@jenaecohn.bsky.social
Learner. Writer. Educator. Executive Director, CTL
@UCBerkeley. Views my own. Author of two books: "Skim, Dive, Surface" & "Design for Learning."
@UCBerkeley. Views my own. Author of two books: "Skim, Dive, Surface" & "Design for Learning."
Ted's thread brings up so many tremendous points about the erosion of instructor agency as the LMS perniciously adopts a bunch of AI. The LMS is a fascinating piece of edtech. It's simultaneously so mediocre and yet so powerful for organizing instructional logic. Essential, but inadequate. (1/7)
This article will rightly freak people out, but not for the reason in the headline. Integrating AI in course management as such—to summarize student posts or whatev—is not a huge deal. What's scary about the article is that it reveals what the next step is: which is to integrate AI in instruction.
Instructors Will Now See AI Throughout a Widely Used Course Software
New features integrated into Canvas include a grading assistant, a discussion-post summarizer, and even a way to pair assignments with generative AI tools.
www.chronicle.com
July 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Ted's thread brings up so many tremendous points about the erosion of instructor agency as the LMS perniciously adopts a bunch of AI. The LMS is a fascinating piece of edtech. It's simultaneously so mediocre and yet so powerful for organizing instructional logic. Essential, but inadequate. (1/7)
Reposted by Jenae Cohn, PhD
Introducing COYOTE Media Collective!! The Bay Area’s first journalist-owned newsroom — modeled after the smart, sassy, fun alt-weeklies of yore — is launching later this summer. Help us get this rad project off the ground! @coyotemedia.org
givebutter.com/coyotemedia
givebutter.com/coyotemedia
Launch Coyote Media Collective
A new alt-weekly-style publication is hitting the Bay Area
givebutter.com
June 16, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Introducing COYOTE Media Collective!! The Bay Area’s first journalist-owned newsroom — modeled after the smart, sassy, fun alt-weeklies of yore — is launching later this summer. Help us get this rad project off the ground! @coyotemedia.org
givebutter.com/coyotemedia
givebutter.com/coyotemedia
Rhet & comp pals: I'm trying to find a free online resource w/ foundational advice abt giving students feedback, but was finding a lot of things are feeling very dated (I used to rely on WAC Clearinghouse). What are the resources you're liking most for advice on response to student writing?
February 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Rhet & comp pals: I'm trying to find a free online resource w/ foundational advice abt giving students feedback, but was finding a lot of things are feeling very dated (I used to rely on WAC Clearinghouse). What are the resources you're liking most for advice on response to student writing?
Worried about getting students to do the reading this semester? I've curated some resources for the UVA Teaching Hub just in time for the start of Spring. Gratitude to @derekbruff.bsky.social for curating these excellent collections!
Have we published three new collections on the UVA Teaching Hub this week? Yes, yes we have! Our newest is on reading pedagogy curated by @jenaecohn.bsky.social featuring fantastic resources for teaching critical reading skills. teaching.virginia.edu/collections/...
Reading Pedagogy — UVA Teaching Hub
<p>This collection includes resources about clear and effective ways to assign reading. These resources will help you consider how to motivate student engagement in reading tasks, while being attentiv...
teaching.virginia.edu
January 9, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Worried about getting students to do the reading this semester? I've curated some resources for the UVA Teaching Hub just in time for the start of Spring. Gratitude to @derekbruff.bsky.social for curating these excellent collections!
"We must recognize the harms that will result when writing is primarily treated as a tool to transcribe answers, including its implications for critical thinking, democratic decision-making, and linguistic variation and expression.” 🔥
refusinggenai.wordpress.com
(1/5)
refusinggenai.wordpress.com
(1/5)
Refusing Generative AI in Writing Studies
Visit the post for more.
refusinggenai.wordpress.com
January 2, 2025 at 7:57 PM
"We must recognize the harms that will result when writing is primarily treated as a tool to transcribe answers, including its implications for critical thinking, democratic decision-making, and linguistic variation and expression.” 🔥
refusinggenai.wordpress.com
(1/5)
refusinggenai.wordpress.com
(1/5)
I recommend reading these 2 articles side-by-side on how higher ed instructors can protect their value in the face of threats to substitute valuable teaching labor with AI: 1. @biblioracle.bsky.social's take on getting faculty ready for "botification" www.insidehighered.com/opinion/blog... and (1/8)
Great ready for faculty bot-ification
If we want there to be such a thing as college faculty, that is.
www.insidehighered.com
December 17, 2024 at 4:31 AM
I recommend reading these 2 articles side-by-side on how higher ed instructors can protect their value in the face of threats to substitute valuable teaching labor with AI: 1. @biblioracle.bsky.social's take on getting faculty ready for "botification" www.insidehighered.com/opinion/blog... and (1/8)
Delighted to chat with Joshua Kim about my chapter in "Recentering Learning!" I give a teaser on my chapter, reflect on the value of re-centering "joy" when you re-center learning at a research university, and tackle the big, bad "what about AI" question. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/blog...
Three questions on "Beyond 'Zoom University'"
A conversation with Jenae Cohn on her chapter in Recentering Learning.
www.insidehighered.com
December 6, 2024 at 3:12 AM
Delighted to chat with Joshua Kim about my chapter in "Recentering Learning!" I give a teaser on my chapter, reflect on the value of re-centering "joy" when you re-center learning at a research university, and tackle the big, bad "what about AI" question. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/blog...
Delighted to receive my copy of "Recentering Learning!" My chapter, "Beyond Zoom University" makes the case that we need to think flexibly about the future of where and how learning happens with a nifty heuristic for designing digital pedagogy from a student-first perspective. #edusky
November 27, 2024 at 9:01 PM
Delighted to receive my copy of "Recentering Learning!" My chapter, "Beyond Zoom University" makes the case that we need to think flexibly about the future of where and how learning happens with a nifty heuristic for designing digital pedagogy from a student-first perspective. #edusky
👋🏻 Hi, new followers! I'm delighted you've found me here! I'm still slowly re-building my engagement with my beloved pedagogy network (partially due to Twitter migration, primarily due to being a new parent to an infant and figuring out where blogging fits into my professional praxis)! (1/5)
November 24, 2024 at 6:20 PM
👋🏻 Hi, new followers! I'm delighted you've found me here! I'm still slowly re-building my engagement with my beloved pedagogy network (partially due to Twitter migration, primarily due to being a new parent to an infant and figuring out where blogging fits into my professional praxis)! (1/5)
Honestly, the student use cases for skimming and finding summaries of readings described here all make perfect sense to me! If you are assigning reading simply as a content delivery mechanism, then it shouldn't matter if students take "shortcuts."
www.insidehighered.com/news/student...
www.insidehighered.com/news/student...
Students turn to AI to do their assigned readings for them
Students are turning to YouTube, podcasts and ChatGPT-crafted summaries rather than actually reading their assignments for class. Professors are unsure how to adapt.
www.insidehighered.com
September 26, 2024 at 3:13 AM
Honestly, the student use cases for skimming and finding summaries of readings described here all make perfect sense to me! If you are assigning reading simply as a content delivery mechanism, then it shouldn't matter if students take "shortcuts."
www.insidehighered.com/news/student...
www.insidehighered.com/news/student...
Finally listened to this episode and it breaks down why the narrative about smartphones destroying teens' mental health is over-simplified and reductive. Haidt's book joins an incredibly long list of books that reproduce the same, boring thesis, which is important to note because... (1/x)
Episode 31: The Anxious Generation
Is social media to blame for the teen mental health crisis? A middle-aged libertarian tells Joe Rogan that it is.
Is social media to blame for the teen mental health crisis? A middle-aged libertarian tells Joe Rogan that it is.
If Books Could Kill on Apple Podcasts
Society & Culture · 2024
podcasts.apple.com
September 18, 2024 at 3:04 AM
Finally listened to this episode and it breaks down why the narrative about smartphones destroying teens' mental health is over-simplified and reductive. Haidt's book joins an incredibly long list of books that reproduce the same, boring thesis, which is important to note because... (1/x)
The biggest ick factor here is not actually the AI, but the assumption that "good" reading somehow requires expert interpretation to "get it." Sure, classics can be hard to read, but you don't need AI versions of scholars to explain them to you. What you need is a book group!
“The creators of a new, artificial-intelligence-assisted publishing effort called Rebind hope that offering interactive, personalized guidance and commentary from well-known writers, scholars and celebrities will help bring classic books alive for students.”
Can AI Bring Students Back to the Great Books?
Rebind, a new, AI-assisted digital publisher, is betting that interactive, personal guidance and expert commentary will revive a love for reading.
www.the74million.org
September 17, 2024 at 4:17 AM
The biggest ick factor here is not actually the AI, but the assumption that "good" reading somehow requires expert interpretation to "get it." Sure, classics can be hard to read, but you don't need AI versions of scholars to explain them to you. What you need is a book group!
My feed is full of discussion around NaNoWriMo's AI sponsorship and their justification that rejecting AI is "classist and ableist." I'm interested in the classroom implications of this; to what extent are AI bans "ableist?" To what extent are required AI assignments similarly "ableist?"
September 2, 2024 at 9:22 PM
My feed is full of discussion around NaNoWriMo's AI sponsorship and their justification that rejecting AI is "classist and ableist." I'm interested in the classroom implications of this; to what extent are AI bans "ableist?" To what extent are required AI assignments similarly "ableist?"
Rebuilding teaching and learning community online is going to take time (and I'll admit I've been slow to contribute), but I'm delighted to see so many excellent folks make their way here to Bluesky!
Creating some starter packs! This is one is focused on teaching & learning in higher ed.
go.bsky.app/VDmrMSi
go.bsky.app/VDmrMSi
September 2, 2024 at 9:08 PM
Rebuilding teaching and learning community online is going to take time (and I'll admit I've been slow to contribute), but I'm delighted to see so many excellent folks make their way here to Bluesky!
The AI rhetoric in education just feels like endless deja vu. Remember how giving all students access to iPads would also "liberate" their capacity for human connectedness? When "personalized learning tools" (AKA automated quizzes with various learning paths) would "humanize education?" Sigh.
Don't believe the AI hype!
"[D]espite the rhetoric of transformation, all these AI tutors really seem to promise is a one-to-one transactional model of learning where the student interacts with a device," writes @benpatrickwill.bsky.social. codeactsineducation.wordpress.com/2024/05/24/o...
"[D]espite the rhetoric of transformation, all these AI tutors really seem to promise is a one-to-one transactional model of learning where the student interacts with a device," writes @benpatrickwill.bsky.social. codeactsineducation.wordpress.com/2024/05/24/o...
Oblongification of education
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash According to Microsoft and Google, artificial intelligence is going to be fully integrated into teaching and learning in the very near future. In the space of just a...
codeactsineducation.wordpress.com
May 24, 2024 at 6:39 PM
The AI rhetoric in education just feels like endless deja vu. Remember how giving all students access to iPads would also "liberate" their capacity for human connectedness? When "personalized learning tools" (AKA automated quizzes with various learning paths) would "humanize education?" Sigh.
I appreciate this take from @marcwatkins.bsky.social on the impacts of AI reading assistants. I agree that not enough people are talking about this! I'm sympathetic to interest in using these tools, and this should be a HUGE wake-up call to educators. marcwatkins.substack.com/p/no-one-is-...
No One is Talking About AI's Impact on Reading
What does it mean when we stop reading texts and instead offload that skill to AI? We desperately need another ChatGPT moment outside of text generation to wake people up and let them know how quickly...
marcwatkins.substack.com
May 22, 2024 at 9:58 PM
I appreciate this take from @marcwatkins.bsky.social on the impacts of AI reading assistants. I agree that not enough people are talking about this! I'm sympathetic to interest in using these tools, and this should be a HUGE wake-up call to educators. marcwatkins.substack.com/p/no-one-is-...
@bethmcmurtrie.bsky.social expertly navigated the complex reading convo. This insight strikes me as one of the most valuable: "Students will read... If they know why they are doing it and time is taken to help them begin to develop an approach that is effective.” www.chronicle.com/article/is-t...
Is This the End of Reading?
Students are less able and less willing to read. Professors are stymied. What needs to change?
www.chronicle.com
May 13, 2024 at 3:18 PM
@bethmcmurtrie.bsky.social expertly navigated the complex reading convo. This insight strikes me as one of the most valuable: "Students will read... If they know why they are doing it and time is taken to help them begin to develop an approach that is effective.” www.chronicle.com/article/is-t...
I only have three weeks left of maternity leave, and I know I am basically just yelling into the void here, but 4 months of leave is really, truly not enough time (and I know that is considered generous leave in the US).
May 10, 2024 at 4:00 PM
I only have three weeks left of maternity leave, and I know I am basically just yelling into the void here, but 4 months of leave is really, truly not enough time (and I know that is considered generous leave in the US).
This is a great response from Liz in response to some unfortunately common faculty complaints about managing student accommodations. I'd still love to see more about faculty partnership with staff to support students. Faculty and staff often have adversarial interactions. They needn't! 🧵
Yesterday @insidehighered.bsky.social ran a piece that asked the question of how accommodating can (should) faculty be? I had a lot of thoughts, most of which I formed over a series of tweets that I shared on the other place. Because I know not all of you are there, I'll share that here as a 🧵.
May 9, 2024 at 10:50 PM
This is a great response from Liz in response to some unfortunately common faculty complaints about managing student accommodations. I'd still love to see more about faculty partnership with staff to support students. Faculty and staff often have adversarial interactions. They needn't! 🧵
Reposted by Jenae Cohn, PhD
I've been following this since the article originally published, and while I agree it's a fraught and complicated set of issues, I wish people realized that there's actually been some really thoughtful work done here, beyond just vibes. Like @jenaecohn.bsky.social's book, for example:
Skim, Dive, Surface: Teaching Digital Reading
Skim, Dive, Surface
Jenae Cohn
wvupressonline.com
April 28, 2024 at 5:51 PM
I've been following this since the article originally published, and while I agree it's a fraught and complicated set of issues, I wish people realized that there's actually been some really thoughtful work done here, beyond just vibes. Like @jenaecohn.bsky.social's book, for example:
This topic has been my professional obsession for over a decade now. I think what I keep returning to is what we actually care about when we ask students to read. What are the purposes of that reading task? Because we need to exercise very different skills for reading in different contexts.
2/2
A new and worrisome trend I am noticing: the ubiquitous nature of audiobooks, Google Read/Write, micro-video w/ captions social media is creating a culture where the ability to read silently is *regressing* in young people.
I didn't think such a thing was possible, and yet here we are.
A new and worrisome trend I am noticing: the ubiquitous nature of audiobooks, Google Read/Write, micro-video w/ captions social media is creating a culture where the ability to read silently is *regressing* in young people.
I didn't think such a thing was possible, and yet here we are.
April 28, 2024 at 8:05 PM
This topic has been my professional obsession for over a decade now. I think what I keep returning to is what we actually care about when we ask students to read. What are the purposes of that reading task? Because we need to exercise very different skills for reading in different contexts.
Something I struggle with in the CTL is how to reflect diverse faculty in campus teaching decisions without exploiting NTT women, the group most likely to be tapped or to volunteer deliberately. CTLs function at the intersection of teaching and service, a tricky space! kifinfo.no/en/2024/03/w...
April 6, 2024 at 6:47 PM
Something I struggle with in the CTL is how to reflect diverse faculty in campus teaching decisions without exploiting NTT women, the group most likely to be tapped or to volunteer deliberately. CTLs function at the intersection of teaching and service, a tricky space! kifinfo.no/en/2024/03/w...
This is how you organize an online event to improve conference access! Well done!!
April 3, 2024 at 4:17 PM
This is how you organize an online event to improve conference access! Well done!!
It's fun to dunk on Haidt, AND I'm especially glad to see so much skepticism around his recent book about smartphones inducing anxiety (i.e. www.wired.com/story/pete-e... & www.nature.com/articles/d41...). Tech just isn't that deterministic and it's destructive to keep making arguments to that end!
March 31, 2024 at 11:52 PM
It's fun to dunk on Haidt, AND I'm especially glad to see so much skepticism around his recent book about smartphones inducing anxiety (i.e. www.wired.com/story/pete-e... & www.nature.com/articles/d41...). Tech just isn't that deterministic and it's destructive to keep making arguments to that end!