September 17, 2026

Vol. 1, Issue 5

The 2026 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report | Teaching and Learning Edition highlights a growing shift toward authentic, process-based assessment, AI literacy, accessibility, and workforce-relevant learning experiences. As AI becomes more integrated into everyday academic work, faculty are increasingly designing assignments that emphasize critical thinking, reflection, real-world application, and meaningful human interaction.

The report also emphasizes that while technology continues to evolve, strong faculty-student relationships remain essential for student success. Emerging innovations such as AI learning assistants, AI-powered textbooks, and immersive learning environments may reshape higher education, but human mentorship, feedback, and belonging remain at the heart of effective teaching.

Faculty Takeaway: Now is the time to explore how AI can enhance learning while preserving the skills that matter most. Consider reviewing one assignment, activity, or assessment this semester and asking: Does it encourage students to think, create, reflect, and apply knowledge in ways AI cannot do for them?

Read the full report: 2026 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report | Teaching and Learning Edition | EDUCAUSE Library

What If Every Student Had Their Own Personalized Textbook?

Textbooks have long been a cornerstone of education, but they have one major limitation: they are designed for everyone and, therefore, truly tailored to no one. Learn Your Way, a new research initiative from Google Research, explores how generative AI could transform traditional textbooks into personalized, interactive learning experiences.

The platform can reimagine content through immersive text, mind maps, narrated slides, audio lessons, quizzes, and visual representations. Students can select their grade level and interests, allowing examples and explanations to adapt while preserving the original material. The approach draws on learning science research suggesting that engaging with content in multiple formats can help students build stronger mental models.

Source: Learn Your Way: Reimagining textbooks with generative AI

Early results are promising. In a study with high school students, those using Learn Your Way scored higher on immediate assessments and long-term retention tests than students using a traditional digital textbook. They also reported greater confidence and satisfaction.

For faculty, the project offers a glimpse into how AI could support personalized examples, adaptive learning pathways, and multimodal course materials while maintaining core content and learning outcomes.

What becomes possible when students can choose not only what they learn, but how they learn it?

Learn more: Learn Your Way: Reimagining Textbooks with Generative AI [research.google]

Educator and researcher Dave Cormier encourages faculty to shift the conversation away from AI detection and toward the core purpose of assessment. In his blog post, A Human-Centered Model for Discussing AI in Assessment, Cormier argues that AI has not changed what students need to learn, but it has challenged long-held assumptions about how we measure learning. Rather than focusing solely on whether students completed an assignment themselves, he proposes asking broader questions: 

Does the assessment truly demonstrate learning? How does it help students continue learning after the task is complete? And how can we design assessments that support engagement rather than surveillance?

Cormier’s human-centered framework emphasizes balancing academic integrity, meaningful evidence of learning, and feedback that helps students grow. His model offers a timely perspective for faculty reexamining assessment practices in an increasingly AI-rich learning environment. Read his full blog post HERE. 

Free Resource!

As generative AI tools become increasingly capable of producing essays, code, and other academic work, educators face an important question: How can we design learning experiences that promote authentic student engagement? The Online Learning Consortium's microlearning course, AI-Resistant Assignments for Authentic Learning, explores practical strategies for creating assignments that emphasize critical thinking, creativity, and real-world application. Faculty will learn how to incorporate personalization, process documentation, dynamic content, and multimodal responses into their assessments, making student learning more meaningful and less dependent on AI-generated outputs. The course also offers guidance on redesigning rubrics to value originality, reflection, and the learning process itself. Whether you're revising existing assignments or creating new ones, this timely microlearning module provides actionable ideas to help ensure students demonstrate genuine understanding while developing skills that matter beyond the classroom

Explore the OLC Microlearning Library for free! Our university license gives UTA faculty and GTAs access at no cost.

Sarah Gibson, a higher education AI strategist and faculty leader at Lipscomb University, encourages us to think differently about AI and learning. Her message is simple: AI should spark thinking, not replace it.

In this LinkedIn post, Gibson shares practical insight into helping students use AI while staying curious, engaged, and in control of their learning.

Worth a quick read: What would it look like for AI to make your students' “brains tingle”?

Passionate about teaching excellence, faculty development, and educational innovation? CRTLE is seeking a Faculty Fellow for Teaching Innovation for Fall 2026. This paid leadership opportunity offers faculty the chance to help shape AI initiatives, faculty learning communities, professional development programming, and teaching innovation efforts across UTA. Applications are open to full-time UTA faculty with at least three years of teaching experience. 

Learn more here: CRTLE Faculty Fellow for Teaching Innovation

Explore AI Learning Opportunities with EDUCAUSE

Looking to deepen your understanding of AI in higher education? The EDUCAUSE AI Events and Trainings hub offers a variety of professional learning opportunities designed to help faculty, instructional designers, staff, and campus leaders develop practical AI skills and explore emerging trends. From webinars and demo days to learning labs and leadership programs, these events focus on the responsible and effective use of AI in teaching, learning, and institutional practice. Whether you're just getting started or looking to expand your expertise, EDUCAUSE provides valuable opportunities to learn from experts and connect with colleagues across higher education

Read for Free through the UTA Library Online: Link to Book

Curious about AI in teaching but want to start with learning, not the technology?

The Science of Learning Meets AI: A Practical Faculty Guide to Purposeful Integration, Student Engagement, and Ethical Practice by Lewis D. Ludwig and Todd D. Zakrajsek offers a practical, research-grounded approach to thoughtfully incorporating AI into college teaching.

Explore strategies for using AI to support student engagement, purposeful course design, and ethical teaching practices while building on approaches you already know, including UDL, Bloom’s Taxonomy, TILT, and Backward Design.

💡 A great read for faculty who are curious, cautious, or ready to experiment with AI.

What can Microsoft Copilot actually do for your teaching? In this Technology Test Kitchen session, UTA faculty explored practical ways to use Copilot for course preparation, teaching ideas, course content, productivity, and responsible AI use with time to experiment and try it out for themselves.

Missed the session? Explore the Technology Test Kitchen resources for key ideas, examples, and materials you can revisit as you experiment with Copilot in your own teaching.

👉 Explore the Technology Test Kitchen: 
https://websites.uta.edu/pedagogynext/technology-test-kitchen-1-fall-26-explore-experiment-teach/

Thursday, October 1, 2026

1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.

Trinity Hall, Room 105

FOCUS: Rethinking what counts as evidence of learning when AI can generate polished products in seconds.

This session creates an essential forum for faculty to move beyond a narrow focus on detection and discuss how assessment can make student thinking, decision-making, and growth more visible. Together, participants will consider approaches that preserve rigor while responding realistically to an AI-rich learning environment. Coffee and Cookies provided. Enter the raffle to win a book!

Friday, October 30

9:00 am - 2:00 pm

Microsoft Teams Only

Designing for AI Literacy, Career Readiness, and Confident Practice. This institute is designed for instructors who want time to explore, try, redesign, and leave with something tangible and not just a “sit and get” experience.