Category: Teaching & Learning
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GenAI@VIU: In Conversation with Julia Hengstler
Julia Hengstler is a professor and educational technologist in VIU’s faculty of education. In this episode, Julia tells us about how using generative AI tools can enhance teaching by enabling personalized content, reimagined assessments, and improved efficiency. We also hear how avoiding AI in education raises ethical concerns, as it can limit students’ learning and…
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Sustainability: Teaching and Learning Showcase Series 2025
The May 14 roundtable at the 2025 Teaching and Learning Conference, hosted by the Centre for Innovation in Excellence in Learning (CIEL), focused on the theme of sustainability. The discussion explored how teaching practices can promote environmental responsibility, foster well-being, and strengthen community connections.
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Digital Literacy: Teaching and Learning Showcase Series 2025
Learn how three VIU faculty integrate Digital Literacy into their work and teaching.
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Rethinking Assessments and Rubrics
As generative AI (GenAI) continues to grow, educators are finding new ways to navigate or integrate it into their teaching while upholding academic integrity. Educators are modifying assignments, adapting assessments to focus on critical thinking and uniquely human skills, and discovering ways to enhance learning through GenAI. This blog provides an overview of strategies for…
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CIEL 2025 Teaching and Learning Conference – Showcase Series
The Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning (CIEL) invites you to the Teaching and Learning Conference – Showcase Series. This series features roundtable discussions on Community as Pedagogy, Truth and Reconciliation, Sustainability, and Digital Literacy. As part of the Showcase Series, CIEL will also launch a new podcast, GenAI @ VIU: In Conversation.
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20-Minute Tea Series Resources
In the 20 Minute Tea Online series we shared teaching strategies in just 20 minutes, as a quick way to learn new strategies and leave with inspiration for your classroom. Those who stayed longer joined in discussion to deepen the conversation. The series has wrapped up for the semester, but you can still access the…
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Spoiler Alert: AI Detectors Don’t Work
Generative AI presents opportunities for learning but also challenges academic integrity. Some educators have turned to AI detectors, but these tools are unreliable and inaccurate, raising ethical concerns.
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Early Feedback Service
The Early Feedback Service is a mechanism for gathering feedback from your students around midterm—before it is too late to make changes that might improve your students’ learning experience this semester.
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GenAI Challenge Part 2: Showcasing Teaching and Learning Artifacts
The CIEL initiated a two-part Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) challenge this Fall. The first part, The Not-So-Scary Gen AI Image Competition, wrapped up last month. Now, for Part 2 of the GenAI Challenge, we invite you to share how you’ve integrated Generative AI into your teaching. Submit a teaching artifact that demonstrates your innovative use of…
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Prompting Learning Outcomes
In the previous CIEL Generative AI blog, we shared an AI literacy framework based on Bloom’s Taxonomy: (1) Understand AI, (2) Use & Apply AI, (3) Analyze & Evaluate, and (4) Create AI (Ng et al., 2021). As we collectively continue our journey to build AI literacy, this blog explores Level 2: Use & Apply…
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Building AI Literacy
Applications of artificial intelligence (AI) are part of our daily lives. From smart home devices to virtual assistants like Google and Siri, AI applications are ubiquitous. As AI-generated content becomes more common in many professions, students will need to be skilled in using it. How can we help students develop critical thinking skills, especially when…
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Using Teams to Build Connection
The importance of building connection into teaching and learning is not unique to online learning environments, but it can be more challenging when you are not in the same physical space as your students. To build connection into an online learning environment, there are three types of interaction to consider. These interactions can be built into…