Building Peer-to-Peer Trust in the Age of Pervasive AI

In higher education, academic integrity policies dominate conversations about students’ clandestine use of generative AI. This is understandable and appropriate. Misuse is cheating and rules matter. But for asynchronous online courses, the real crisis is upstream of academic integrity policies—it is the interpersonal trust those policies are meant to protect. When students suspect that the […]
Innovate 2026: A Time to Be Bold, Brave, & Brilliant

I have a canvas in my office with the phrase “Be Bold, Brave, & Brilliant” on it. While this may only be a step above Live, Laugh, Love in terms of cliched office décor, I love it. It reminds me to speak confidently and push against the status quo with fresh ideas, but to do […]
From Tool to Interlocutor: Pedagogical Strategies for AI Integration in Online Learning

AI as Interlocutor GenAI tools like ChatGPT are powered by large language models (LLMs), which use deep learning and huge amounts of text to figure out patterns and connections in language (Xie et al., 2019). This ability allows GenAI (hereafter, AI) to give responses that make sense in context and sound natural (Houssein et al., […]
Why Innovate 2026 Matters Right Now

When I first stepped into the role of Conference Chair for OLC Innovate 2026, I carried with me a quiet but persistent question: What does innovation in digital learning actually require of us right now, at this moment? It’s a question I’ve been sitting with for a while, and the more I reflect, the more […]
The AI Sandwich: Human-First, Human-Last in an AI-Rich Educational Environment

Introduction – The Human Challenge in an AI-Rich World In just a few short years, artificial intelligence has begun to reshape how we teach, learn, and lead in education. The last major shift of this magnitude was the rise of the internet and personal computing. But there is an important difference: computers and the web […]