My weekly EDUCAUSE newsletter listed a 2023 article by Florence Martin and Albert Ritzhaupt entitled “IDEAS Framework for Teaching Online.”
I remember reading it last year. The IDEAS (Inclusion, Design, Engagement, Evaluation, Assessment, and Support) Framework is a suggested comprehensive guide for online teaching and learning. It was developed based on extensive research and expert feedback, resulting in 44 elements across six interrelated dimensions:
- Inclusion: Focuses on creating a welcoming environment for all learners, emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
- Design: Emphasizes organizing course content, aligning materials with learning outcomes, and incorporating varied resources and activities.
- Engagement: Concentrates on promoting learner interactions and building a meaningful community through instructor presence and facilitation.
- Evaluation: Stresses the importance of assessing course effectiveness using various strategies and feedback sources.
- Assessment: Focuses on measuring learner progress and achievement of learning outcomes through diverse assessment techniques.
- Support: Highlights the need for administrative, instructional, technological, and resource support for both instructors and learners.
The framework was designed to guide online instructors throughout the entire course lifecycle: before, during, and after course delivery…and I find much to like in this framework.
But I also felt that this framework left out the faculty…and left out the opportunity to partner with AI. In my post “Where’s the Faculty?“, I noted that with the emerging role of AI in education, it struck me that much of the “work” listed in this framework could now be automated. My post in May 2023 came out before many of the tools we have seen this past year.
So let me add to my previous post with these ideas on partnering with GenAI and using IDEAS.
- Inclusion:
– Use GenAI to analyze course content for bias and suggest more inclusive language.
– Develop AI-powered translation tools to support multilingual learners.
– Create personalized learning paths based on individual student needs and preferences.
- Design:
– Employ GenAI to generate varied learning resources tailored to different learning styles.
– Use AI to suggest optimal instructional sequences based on learning analytics.
– Develop AI-assisted course organization tools to help instructors chunk content effectively.
- Engagement:
– Implement AI chatbots to provide 24/7 support and answer common student queries.
– Use GenAI to generate discussion prompts and facilitate online discussions.
– Develop AI-powered virtual study groups to enhance peer-to-peer learning.
- Evaluation:
– Utilize GenAI to analyze student feedback and suggest course improvements.
– Implement AI-driven sentiment analysis to gauge student engagement and satisfaction.
– Develop AI tools to assist in peer review processes and provide constructive feedback.
- Assessment:
– Use GenAI to create adaptive assessments that adjust difficulty based on student performance.
– Implement AI-powered plagiarism detection and academic integrity tools.
– Develop automated grading systems for certain types of assignments, with human oversight.
- Support:
– Create AI-powered virtual teaching assistants to provide additional instructional support.
– Develop intelligent tutoring systems to offer personalized academic assistance.
– Implement AI-driven early warning systems to identify students who may need additional support.
These suggestions could enhance the IDEAS Framework by leveraging GenAI’s capabilities to create more personalized, efficient, and effective online learning experiences while maintaining the framework’s core principles of inclusion and engagement.
I would be interested in your thoughts. Does this use of GenAI with the IDEAS framework seem practical?
{Graphics: Educause, DALL-E}