Classroom Engagement Techniques

A look at how CS50 has incorporated artificial intelligence (AI), including its new-and-improved rubber duck debugger, and how it has impacted the course already. 🦆 https://lnkd.in/eb-8SAiw In Summer 2023, we developed and integrated a suite of AI-based software tools into CS50 at Harvard University. These tools were initially available to approximately 70 summer students, then to thousands of students online, and finally to several hundred on campus during Fall 2023. Per the course's own policy, we encouraged students to use these course-specific tools and limited the use of commercial AI software such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and the new Bing. Our goal was to approximate a 1:1 teacher-to-student ratio through software, thereby equipping students with a pedagogically-minded subject-matter expert by their side at all times, designed to guide students toward solutions rather than offer them outright. The tools were received positively by students, who noted that they felt like they had "a personal tutor." Our findings suggest that integrating AI thoughtfully into educational settings enhances the learning experience by providing continuous, customized support and enabling human educators to address more complex pedagogical issues. In this paper, we detail how AI tools have augmented teaching and learning in CS50, specifically in explaining code snippets, improving code style, and accurately responding to curricular and administrative queries on the course's discussion forum. Additionally, we present our methodological approach, implementation details, and guidance for those considering using these tools or AI generally in education. Paper at https://lnkd.in/eZF4JeiG. Slides at https://lnkd.in/eDunMSyx. #education #community #ai #duck

We are excited to announce the release of our "Guide to Integrating Generative AI for Deeper Literacy Learning" - a collaboration between AI for Education and Student Achievement Partners. We co-developed the guide with SAP, experts in high quality instruction, with an understanding that both the technology and its educational applications are at it's earliest stages. We also know that many teachers, leaders, and students are concerned about the impact the tools will have on learning. We want this guide to act as a jumping off point for educators that are trying to determine if GenAI can positively intersect with high quality instruction in the literacy classroom. The Key Principles of the Guide: •  GenAI tools should support, not circumvent, productive struggle for students •  AI literacy should come before the Integration of GenAI tools •  GenAI should augment educators’ pedagogical expertise, content knowledge, and knowledge of students •  Integration when appropriate should enhance, not replace, proven instructional practices •  Usage should align with students’ developmental readiness and literacy goals Highlights: • A framework for distinguishing productive vs. counterproductive struggle in literacy classrooms • Practical strategies for using AI to enhance student engagement without replacing critical thinking for students •  Best practices for enhancing cognitive lift and what strategies to avoid that offload cognitive lift • Detailed GenAI use cases across foundational skills, knowledge building, and writing instruction • Elementary-specific guidance emphasizing teacher-led AI implementation and modeling • Comprehensive worked examples with Chatbot transcripts that illustrate these practices This is just the beginning, which is why we're actively gathering educator feedback to refine and expand these resources through a survey in the guide. Thank you so much to Carey Swanson and Jasmine Costello, PMP from SAP for being such wonderful partners in this work! You can access the full guide or watch the accompanying webinar in the link in the comments! #ailiteracy #literacy #GenAI #K12

Regardless of how great your ideas are in your virtual sales pitch, webinar, or team meeting… People are most likely checking their email, browsing social media, or working on other things while you present. How can you prevent that and actually get your audience to pay attention? Here are 4 of the most powerful techniques we use for our own virtual training courses: 1. Win the first five seconds According to research from the University of Toronto, people need only five seconds to gauge your charisma and leadership as a speaker. In virtual environments, this first impression is even more critical. To establish instant rapport: - Keep your posture open and inviting (avoid fidgeting, crossed arms, and closed-off postures) - Use open gestures that welcome the audience into your space - Gesture with your palms showing at a 45-degree angle - Speak with clear articulation and energy from the very first word The quickest way to lose your audience? Starting with tentative body language that signals you’re unsure or unprepared. 2. Design your presentation for virtual viewing When designing slides, assume varied viewing conditions. Design for the smallest likely device and the slowest likely Internet speed. Make your slides accessible by: - Using larger fonts (24-32pt) - Applying higher contrast colors - Limiting each slide to ONE clear idea - Adding more space between lines when using smaller text - Stripping excess content (you can provide additional information in a separate document) 3. Vary your delivery Our research shows the optimal length for linear presentations is just 16-30 minutes, while interactive ones can maintain engagement for 30-45 minutes. People’s attention will go through peaks and valleys during that time, so try these techniques to keep their attention: - Vary your speaking pace (faster to convey urgency, slower to express gravity) - Use intentional pauses to let key points land - Adjust your vocal tone (lower pitch for authority, higher for approachability) - Shift between slides, stories, and data at regular intervals Each change helps reset your audience’s attention and signals importance. 4. Build in structured interaction Don’t make your audience wait until the end of your presentation to interact. According to our research, presentations that incorporate audience engagement through polls, chat responses, or breakout discussions maintain attention longer. For the highest engagement: - Use a variety of interaction types throughout your presentation - Incorporate breakout rooms for small-group discussions - Switch modalities regularly to keep it interesting Remember: In virtual environments, you need to recreate the natural engagement that happens in person. Your virtual presentation success isn’t measured by perfection…it’s measured by action. Master these techniques and your audience won’t just pay attention, they’ll respond. #VirtualPresentations #CorporateTraining #WorkplaceLearning

No More Backbenchers! A simple shift in classroom seating—triggered by a Malayalam film—is sparking a real movement in Kerala schools. Today's article in The Times Of India reports this case of reel affecting change in real! Traditional rows of benches are built for passive listening. We've all grown up in school where one person talks, the rest receive. But learning doesn’t happen in a straight line—it happens in spirals, sparks, and shared stories. What if our classrooms reflected that? Flexible seating isn’t just a design choice—it’s a pedagogical statement. It tells children: “Your voice matters. Your way of learning is valid.” From U-shaped arrangements to open circles, bean bags, standing desks, and learning nooks, schools across the world are waking up to this truth: The way we seat children can shape the way they think, collaborate, and grow. Why does this matter? - It fosters small group collaboration and peer learning. - It enables pair work and student-led exploration. - It allows for quiet corners and reflective time. - It frees the teacher from the “front”—and places them in the center, as a facilitator. - It breaks down power hierarchies. Everyone is equal. No stigma about where you sit. As Dr. U Vivek notes in the article, “This new arrangement gives the teacher a bird’s eye view… but more importantly, it gives each child the space to be seen, heard, and understood.” Flexibility in seating reflects flexibility in thinking. In fact, school designers and architects like Rosan Bosch have long championed learning spaces that are modular and organic—environments that invite movement, creativity, and play. Her work with Vittra School in Sweden is a powerful reminder that space IS a teacher. Similarly, Danish Kurani's work in school design emphasises the need for voices of practitioners and students in the design process. He believes that new teaching methods can't be adopted without the change in the classroom design. Similarly, the STUDIO SCHOOLS TRUST in the UK, the Reggio Children (Reggio Emilia) approach in Italy, and Big Picture Learning schools in the U.S. all embrace flexible learning environments. These aren’t “alternative” anymore—they are becoming essential. If we want to create classrooms of curiosity, critical thinking, and compassion—let’s begin with the seating. It’s not about removing backbenchers. It’s about removing the very idea of front and back. And here’s the best part—this is the lowest-stakes ‘edtech’ upgrade we can make. No fancy gadgets, no big budgets. Seems like a no-brainer to me! Let’s stop teaching. Let’s start facilitating. Let’s redesign learning—one seat at a time.

If AI can now produce competent answers in seconds, what exactly are we assessing in our degrees? AI is already embedded in how students learn, think, and produce work. So, the question is no longer about its use. Rather, the real question is whether assessment is designed to treat AI as a liability to be controlled or as a resource to be used well. AI-integrated assessment does not mean looking the other way when students use AI. It means designing tasks where AI use is expected, visible, and evaluated. The shift is subtle but fundamental: from policing outputs to assessing judgment. Several practical design principles follow. First, assess decisions rather than artefacts. In an AI-rich environment, polished outputs are cheap. What remains scarce is the ability to frame problems well, choose appropriate tools, test assumptions, and decide when not to trust an AI response. Assessment can require students to justify how AI was used, why particular prompts were chosen, and how outputs were validated against disciplinary knowledge. Second, make the process evidence assessable. Short AI logs, annotated iterations, or structured commentaries can document how thinking evolved through interaction with AI. This is forensic reasoning about choices made, alternatives rejected, and risks managed. Used well, it turns AI from a shortcut into a cognitive amplifier. Third, build in authentic constraints. In professional settings, AI is used within limits, including ethical rules, organisational policies, incomplete data, and reputational risk. Assessment can simulate these conditions through ambiguous briefs, imperfect datasets, or explicit governance boundaries. Students are evaluated on how they navigate trade-offs, not how elegant the final output appears. Fourth, reintroduce dialogue selectively. Ask for recorded walkthroughs or live critiques, which allow students to explain how AI shaped their reasoning. The purpose is not detection but sense-checking judgment. Weak understanding surfaces quickly when students must articulate why they trusted or rejected an AI-generated insight. Finally, reward responsible AI use explicitly. Rubrics should recognise transparency, validation, ethical awareness, and the integration of AI output with human judgement. When expectations are clear, students learn how to use AI well rather than how to hide it. This approach develops genuinely transferable skills such as judgment under uncertainty, learning agility, ethical reasoning, and accountability. It prepares students for workplace realities where AI is normal, governed, and consequential. It fosters better feedback and stronger academic relationships by shifting conversations from suspicion to reasoned discussion. The irony is that AI-integrated assessment is not easier. It is harder. It raises the bar. We need to shift our thinking from compliance to using assessment to develop graduates who not only know how to use AI, but also when, why, and to what effect.

Over the next 3 months, I’m hosting 4 major events in France, UK, USA and KSA. Beforehand, I want to share my top tips on how to get the best out of networking. 1. Set Clear Targets Action: Make a hit list of the top 10 companies or people you need to meet. Research what they care about—know their wins, pain points, & what they’re hunting for before you walk through the door. Outcome: These conversations won’t just happen by chance. By doing your homework, you’ll turn a five-minute chat into a deal-building moment. Schedule meetings in advance, & after the event, send a tailored follow-up email that shows you were listening. 2. Take the Stage (Literally) Action: Get on the agenda. Whether it’s a keynote, panel, or fireside chat, nothing says “I’m the one to watch” like holding the mic. Use this time to address the industry’s biggest challenges & position yourself—& your company—as the answer. Outcome: Speaking builds instant credibility. It’s not just exposure; it’s authority. Post-event, share the highlights on LinkedIn & invite attendees to continue the conversation, turning an audience into a lead pipeline. 3. Own the Floor Action: Don’t just lurk—work the room. Engage with key exhibitors, ask questions, & position yourself as a resource, not just another pitch. Be direct but curious: “What’s your biggest challenge this year?” and “How can I help?” are powerful openers. Outcome: You’ll stand out as someone who listens. Take notes during conversations, & follow up within 48 hours with a personalised message. Not a generic “great meeting you”—send actionable insights or specific ideas that move the ball forward. 4. Host the Inner Circle Action: People bond better in a more relaxed setting than over Wi-Fi. Organise an exclusive dinner, roundtable, or cocktail event for a curated group of heavy hitters. Keep it intimate—this is about building relationships, not just showing off. Go easy on the heavy sell. Outcome: People remember who brought them value & connections, not who handed out free pens. Post-event, share any key takeaways & book one-on-one follow-ups to solidify what you started over drinks. 5. Hack the Tech Action: Use every tool at your disposal—event apps, LinkedIn, QR codes. Pre-event, reach out to attendees & book meetings. At the event, swap contacts digitally to keep things seamless, & use a CRM to track every interaction. Outcome: You’ll leave the event with an organised roadmap of leads, not just a stack of business cards destined for a desk drawer. Follow up strategically with segmented, value-driven emails & keep the momentum alive. The Bottom Line: Trade fairs & exhibitions aren’t just networking. Preparation, presence, & follow-up separate those who close deals from those who just collect swag bags. Be human. Don’t think of this as just a branding exercise but an opportunity for long term partnerships. Be genuine - your new contacts will become close contacts, if not friends. Make it count! #revenuegrowth

A lot of kids feel more anxious during the holidays. Structure disappears, stimulation increases, and bodies lose one of their main sources of regulation. One of the most effective ways to help—without undermining kids’ agency—is to work with the body. Big movement and physical engagement calm the nervous system by sending grounding signals from the body to the brain. Movement lowers stress hormones, releases endorphins, and pulls attention into the present—interrupting anxious spirals. What this can look like: • Let kids move while they think or talk • Normalize pacing, stretching, lying on the floor, fidgeting • Invite them into hands-on activities: cooking, baking, wrapping gifts, setting the table • Encourage dancing, walking the dog, playing outside, skiing, skating, sledding, swimming, building things • Create screen-free stretches where bodies are doing something real It’s about creating conditions that help kids regulate themselves through their bodies—especially when school is out. Helping kids be in their bodies, in the world can make anxiety easier to manage, while preserving their sense of control and self-trust.

“When a teacher believes in a child, that child starts to believe in themselves.” I’ve always believed that the greatest superpower a teacher has isn’t knowledge, or even skill, it’s belief. The belief that every child has greatness within them, waiting to be noticed, nurtured, and named. Back in the 1960s, psychologists Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson ran a study that changed the way we think about teaching. They told teachers that a few children in their class were about to have a huge leap in intelligence. The catch? Those children were chosen completely at random. But by the end of the year, those very children really had made remarkable progress. Why? Because their teachers believed they would. That’s called the Pygmalion effect, the idea that positive expectations lead to positive outcomes. But there’s a flip side too – the Golem effect, when low expectations quietly limit a child’s growth. Every interaction we have with our students is a mirror reflecting back to them who they think they are. The way we speak, smile, and respond tells them what we expect. And they rise (or shrink) to meet it. Here are four ways to bring the Pygmalion effect to life in your classroom: 1. Expect effort, not perfection - Praise persistence and progress. When children know you value the journey, not just the destination, they’ll take more risks and grow faster. 2. Speak belief out loud - Tell students what you see in them: “I can tell you’re thinking deeply about this,” or “I trust you to figure this out.” Those words plant roots that run deep. 3. Offer responsibility - Give every child a role or a moment to lead. When they feel trusted, their confidence becomes the engine for learning. 4. Catch them doing good - Notice the quiet acts of kindness, curiosity, or resilience. Recognition for who they are becoming is far more powerful than reward for what they’ve done. The truth is, children become what they see reflected in our eyes. When we look at them through a lens of hope, potential, and possibility, they begin to live up to it. #Education #Montessori #Teacher #Teaching #Children #TeacherTraining

When you align learning strategy with how the brain actually learns you'll find that performance improves. In many organisations, learning still means content delivery - I battle this challenge regularly. L&D teams measure outputs like number of courses, completions, attendance rather than outcomes. But humans don’t learn by consuming information. They learn by connecting ideas, making meaning, and putting their knowledge and skills into practice over and over again until their brains physically change. If you want to genuinely change behaviour and performance in your organisation then your whole strategy needs to be designed with the brain in mind. Here are three practical principles to share with your design and delivery teams: 🧠 Space, don’t cram Learning needs time to settle. Encourage teams to design experiences that build over time rather than delivering everything in one go. The return on retention is remarkable. 💡 Engage peoples emotions People remember what feels relevant and real. Challenge your designers to stimulate learners emotions with hooks like stories, challenges and personal connections. Don't just design pretty slides. 🔄 Practice and retrieval Learning journeys, rather than one off events, give people time to apply, reflect, and test new skills where it matters - on the job. This doesn't mean repetition for its own sake; it's simply how neural pathways are strengthened. When your learning strategy aligns with how the brain naturally works key metrics like engagement, performance and business impact improve. How do you enable your teams to bring brain science into the way they design and deliver learning?

Neurodiversity 101: How to host neuroinclusive meetings/conferences Creating neuroinclusive environments in workplace meetings can significantly improve engagement and productivity, especially for those with neurodivergent traits. Here are some practical tips on how to make your meetings more accessible and comfortable for all participants. Alternative feedback methods Not everyone is comfortable with handwriting feedback due to difficulties such as dysgraphia. Offer alternatives like setting up a camera for verbal feedback or using digital tools like voice-to-text applications. This ensures that everyone has the opportunity to contribute in a way that suits them best. Could you use Post-IT for some....different ways on offer... Polling on phones? Warm up a cold room! Start meetings with some warm-up time to help attendees settle in if they are new to the event/place/meeting. Plan for regular breaks and be flexible with how time is spent to accommodate different needs. This flexibility can help maintain focus and reduce stress for those who might feel overwhelmed by long, uninterrupted sessions. Does every meeting need to be 60 minutes? Who needs to be 'in the room' and who could be attending just as well virtually? Who doesn't need to be there at all! Consider the environment Pay attention to the lighting, temperature, and surrounding noises in your meeting space. Adjustments in these areas can help prevent sensory overload and create a comfortable environment for all attendees. Accessibility of materials Provide transcripts of talks and make recordings available to attendees. For presentations that include a lot of information, avoid asking for immediate decisions. Instead, provide a written version of the details and allow time for consideration. This helps attendees process information at their own pace and contribute more effectively. Thoughtful seating arrangements Keep seats at the end of rows in conferences free so that attendees can easily get up and move without disruption. Also, consider arranging some seating around the edges of the room for those who are uncomfortable with movement behind them. Structured discussions In group discussions, keep the groups small and give everyone time to express their opinions without interruptions or unsolicited questions. This structure helps to ensure that all voices are heard and valued. Encouraging feedback post-event after a conference or training event Recognise that some individuals may feel uncomfortable voicing their ideas or questions during the event. Encourage feedback after the meeting via different channels, allowing for more thoughtful and inclusive participation. What else do you suggest?