{"id":163530,"date":"2026-06-17T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=163530"},"modified":"2026-06-17T15:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:45:24","slug":"new-national-publication-gives-guidance-to-teachers-on-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/new-national-publication-gives-guidance-to-teachers-on-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"New National Publication Gives Guidance to Teachers on AI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ole Miss researcher co-authors new guide for AI in higher education<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Clara Turnage<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With artificial intelligence tools available on every phone, laptop and tablet, higher education has struggled to implement consistent recommendations for how and when AI can be used. A new national guide seeks to change that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(W.W. Norton and Co., 2026) will offer instructors strategies for teaching in the age of AI, whether the instructor hopes to embrace the technology, prohibit it or strike a balance in the classroom. The e-book will\u00a0be available in July<\/a>, and the hard copy will\u00a0be published in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“This guide is for teachers to start really thinking about their values, learning outcomes and how AI can either complement or complicate those,” said Marc Watkins<\/strong>, director of the Mississippi AI Institute for Teachers<\/strong><\/a> at the University of Mississippi<\/strong><\/a> and co-author of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That takes a lot of work and a lot of time. We’re trying to make many different options available for faculty and to show different approaches that we’ve seen work at other universities, as well as what we’re using at our university.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Watkins, who is also a lecturer in the Ole Miss Department of Writing and Rhetoric<\/a><\/strong>,<\/a> wrote the guide alongside Annette Vee<\/strong>, associate professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh<\/strong><\/a>, and Derek Bruff<\/strong>, associate director of the University of Virginia<\/a>‘s Center for Teaching Excellence<\/a><\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Annette Vee. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Derek Bruff. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The guide helps instructors handle the ubiquity of artificial intelligence, Vee said. A recent study in the journal Science<\/a> found that approximately one-third of college students at major public universities are using AI on a regular basis, but only 9% have used it to cheat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Students are using this technology in a variety of ways, and it’s not just cheating,” Vee said. “They’re using it to augment their reading, understand subjects better, plan study guides and structure their study habits. Students with disabilities are even using it for accessibility purposes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students can record lectures on their phones, use the built-in, AI-powered transcription system to turn those lectures into notes and use another AI to condense those notes into summaries, flash cards and slideshow presentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Cheating is an issue, and we recognize that, but when we paint all (AI use) as cheating, it paints any student who uses it in a negative light,” Vee said. “There are a lot of policies that are banning AI outright without an understanding of how students are using it and the ways that AI can be used productively.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students, too, need guidance on when AI can improve learning and when it hampers it, Vee said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We use the word discernment in the book often,” she said. “We have to help students discern when to use AI, when not to and how to evaluate those outputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think it’s important for us \u2013 even if you’re not teaching with AI \u2013 to make it clear you’re not using AI in your classroom and tell students the reasons why. Because there are good reasons not to use it, but there are good reasons to use it, too.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other faculty, seeing how common AI has become in certain jobs, feel pressured to help students learn to use the technology to prepare them for careers, Watkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The reaction you get from faculty is mixed, and for good reason,” Watkins said. “A lot of faculty are upset by the fact that Silicon Valley has foisted this upon us, and they’re concerned about students and the skill loss that can come with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There’s also a pressure to try to upskill students for the workforce and what role AI plays in their careers. We’re not trying to be AI cheerleaders, but students do need to learn about AI, warts and all.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book is neither meant to instruct faculty to use AI nor tell them not to use it, Watkins said. Instead, it offers a guide for deciding whether AI is right for a particular classroom and how to implement regulations that set expectations for students early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This technology is very powerful, but we need ground rules about disclosure and transparency when it’s used, if it’s used,” he said. “We’re trying to give them different pathways so if they want to use or refuse AI, here’s what that might look like in your class and here’s how to communicate that to your students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Regardless of whether you use it or to what extent you use it, there have to be ground rules in place. It’s just not realistic to take your entire class up on academic misconduct charges when students don’t understand the technology and instructors haven’t asserted the guidelines.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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