Whether in a social or professional context, community plays a critical role in our lives. It creates a support system, offers opportunities for networking and allows people to connect based on shared values. For educators, being part of a vibrant, collaborative community is not just beneficial—it's essential for growth and innovation.  Community in education goes beyond mere networking; it's about building a shared space where experiences, insights, and challenges can be exchanged openly. At Macmillan Learning, we’ve seen the impact that a strong and engaged community of educators can have. We’ve witnessed firsthand the impact that our peer consultants have had on instructors across the country through knowledge sharing and the power that ideas carry when instructors can engage freely and openly with their colleagues.  Understanding the importance of community and peer learning, Macmillan Learning recently launched The Institute at Macmillan Learning. The new venture aims to build and support a community of instructors, provide practical knowledge, and empower educators to meet modern teaching challenges with confidence.  The first course “Teaching With Generative AI: A Course for Educators”, was designed to create a community of practice with asynchronous and synchronous components, interactive workshops, and platforms for discussion and collaboration. During the two month course, attendees improve their abilities, keep up with the latest in technology, and discover ways to leverage artificial intelligence to create enduring benefits for their students and institutions.  Importantly, they’ll participate in an active and accountable community with their peers.  Simply put, we designed the Institute not just to educate on a topic, but to connect educators from various backgrounds, disciplines and institutions to create a rich tapestry of knowledge and experience.  Building a Community of Instructors At the heart of The Institute is community. We want educators to engage in meaningful conversations, explore current educational topics, and collectively seek solutions to contemporary challenges in education. This approach is not only about imparting knowledge; it's about fostering a collaborative environment where every instructor feels heard, valued, and empowered to contribute. And AI is just the beginning. The Institute’s community offers a private online space where instructors can ask and reflect on the complex questions that have been keeping them awake at night. There’s more than one way to take on a challenge, and we believe that hearing perspectives from across disciplines and institutions from both seasoned educators and those newer to teaching offers unparalleled access to insights. In addition to the learning and synchronous parts of the course, feedback and reflection within this community will forge both personal and professional development and, importantly, help facilitate a culture of continuous improvement in AI pedagogy. By participating in this community, educators not only gain access to a wealth of knowledge and resources but also become part of a larger movement in shaping the future of education.  The Institute's focus on collaboration and community building is a testament to Macmillan Learning’s commitment to enhancing the educational landscape, not just for students, but the instructors who inspire them. It will be a place that provides practical knowledge, meaningful community, and opportunities for educators to showcase newfound expertise. About “Teaching with Generative AI: A Course for Educators” Teaching with Generative AI: A Course for Educators is a two-month course that offers a blend of asynchronous and synchronous learning, including hands-on experience developing a course policy around AI, designing assignments with considerations for AI, and navigating conversations with students about the use of AI. Each week will delve into a new topic designed to deepen participants' pedagogical practices, enhance their comfort with and understanding of AI, provide practical assignment blueprints for classroom use, and build a vibrant community of practice for professional growth and innovation in education. The course will be delivered in Macmillan Learning's courseware platform, Achieve.  Participants who successfully complete the course will receive digital certification that can be easily shared with their institutions and with colleagues on platforms like LinkedIn. Registration begins on April 15, and the first 100 to sign up get a 60% discount. For more details, and for information on future courses, visit the Institute’s website.   ... View more

Today, the fifteenth of February, marks the middle of Black History Month in the United States and Canada. Though the roots of this affinity month date back to the 1920s with the recognition of “Negro History Week” by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), a month-long affinity period was first proposed in 1969 by educators and students at Kent State University, followed by their first celebration of Black History Month in 1970.  Historically, both educators and students have played a pivotal role in changing culture; for it is often their firm belief that education and knowledge lead to the empowerment of marginalized groups. To them, classrooms have served as places where ideas are fostered, engaged with, and critiqued; students should leave them feeling equipped to enter the world as positive change-makers, sharing with others the history that they have learned and tools they’ve acquired to become the difference they want in the world.  However, classrooms have not always been accessible and inclusive to all students, as education was once–and too often remains–a symbol of status and privilege. Where and when education has been made equitable and accessible to underserved populations, the most significant cultural change occurs.  Going back in history, we recognize time and time again the impact that education has made in advancing the rights and freedoms of marginalized peoples in the United States and elsewhere. For Black History Month this year, we’re recognizing seven Black leaders who understood the power of education to inspire what’s possible for the generations that followed.  Septima Poinsette Clark (1898 - 1987) Referred to as “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement” by Martin Luther King Jr., Septima Poinsette Clark was an educator and civil rights activist best known for organizing citizenship schools for African Americans. The schools were developed with the goal of improving literacy among African Americans in the Deep South, which, Clark hoped, would also empower these communities to learn about citizenship rights and become active in the fight for voting rights.  Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 - 1955) Founder of the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 1904, Mary McLeod Bethune spent decades of her life developing and improving educational opportunities for Black youth. Her school eventually merged with the boy’s Cookman Institute in 1931 to become the Bethune-Cookman College, of which she became president. In 1935, Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW); she earned a full-time staff position at the National Youth Administration (NYA) in 1936, where she was quickly appointed to Director of the Division of Negro Affairs; and in 1938, after befriending Eleanor and Franklin Rooselvelt, Bethune formed the Federal Council of Negro Affairs, which served as an advisory board to President Roosevelt.  Anna Julia Cooper (1858 - 1964) One of the first African American women to earn a doctoral degree, Anna Julia Cooper emphasized the importance of education for Black women and is considered one of the most significant contributors to the field of African American women’s studies through her scholarly work. Her first book, A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South, is considered her most important work and is recognized as one of the earliest books about Black feminism. In 1930, she became the president of Frelinghuysen University, where she was dedicated to increasing literacy among unskilled Black workers.  William Leo Hansberry (1894 - 1965) William Leo Hansberry, a pioneering scholar in African history and studies at Howard University, was the first to teach African history at a university in the United States. During his more-than-forty-year tenure at Howard University, Hansberry mentored many African and African American students, including Kwame Nkrumah, who would later become the first prime minister and president of Ghana, and Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was a driving force in the movement for Nigerian independence and became the country’s first president.  Marva Collins (1936 - 2015)  Dedicated to providing high-quality education to low-income African American students, Marva Collins founded the Westside Preparatory School in Chicago in 1975. With decades of teaching experience in the inner-city Chicago Public School system, Collins developed innovative teaching methods that instilled confidence and a love for learning in her students, achieving academic success with children that were mislabeled by the Chicago Public School system as being learning disabled. Together with her daughter, Collins ran the school for more than 30 years.  Carter Godwin Woodson (1875 - 1950)  Often referred to as the “Father of Black History”, Carter Godwin Woodson was an educator and historian who devoted his life to promoting the study of African American history. In 1915, Woodson founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, which created Negro History Week in 1926. Woodson elected to celebrate Black history in the middle of February each year because the time coincides with the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14). While Woodson did not live to experience Negro History Week becoming Black History Month, he is one of the most important driving forces behind the February designation.  Johnnetta Betsch Cole (1936 - )  The first female African American president of Spelman College, Johnnetta Betsch Cole is a prominent advocate for diversity and inclusion in education. While at Spelman College, Cole established innovative programs aimed at empowering African American women and promoting academic excellence and social responsibility. Cole also served as the Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, became the 7th president for the National Council of Negro Women (2018 - 2022), and was once considered for the cabinet post of Secretary of Education. ... View more

What is modern love? That’s a question that The New York Times seeks to address in its weekly column. Though a specific, yet generalizable answer remains elusive; modern love takes on a different shape for everyone. It’s not always romantic. Sometimes it’s transactional. And sometimes it’s about seeking the love that one never had before but wishes they could find–or create for oneself–in the future.  This was the type of love that Heather Sellers, author of The Practice of Creative Writing and Professor of Creative Writing at University of South Florida, grapples with in her 2013 submission to the Modern Love column. With the title “Do Not Adjust Your Screen Or Sound,” the reader immediately wonders what type of love story this could be. A long-distance relationship between a couple overwhelmingly in love with one another? One of scandal and heartbreak caused by infidelity? Within the first two paragraphs, the reader learns that it is neither. Rather, it is a story about a daughter and her father. A story about reconnection and forgiveness–and whether or not it’s possible to forgive. It’s also a story that redefines what love can become when it is contained to a box–a desktop computer screen.  For this year’s Valentine’s Day, we asked Heather to reflect on both her essay from ten years ago and the more recent Modern Love podcast episode in which she was asked to read excerpts from her essay and provide commentary. Keep in mind that there may be spoilers in our interview with Heather, so we encourage you to read her essay and check out the podcast first.  Heather Sellers, Professor of Creative Writing, University of South FloridaIn your Modern Love essay, you’re searching for a kind of love with your father. In doing so, I couldn’t help but feel that in searching for love–that almost fantasy perfect parent-child love that we all recognize in books and movies–you were also redefining what “love” could mean. You even describe yourself as finally feeling like a “normal daughter” through the process of reconnecting with your father. Could you talk about what it was like to strive for this ideal type of love that children desire from their parents?  I wanted, very much, to have a relationship with my father, even though it was pretty clear not much was available. I wanted to be able to feel I loved my dad. And she had a father. I was under no illusions this would look anything like a fairy tale. I just wanted to feel, before he died, that we had connected in some authentic way, that we had known each other, and maybe, in spite of enormous difficulty, that there was some mutual cherishing. That striving for connection with the parent is hardwired in. I don’t think there was any way I could escape that longing–no matter how awful things were. And they were awful, much more awful than I could permit myself to acknowledge, for a very long time. I needed to protect him. But more importantly, I needed to protect myself. How is your understanding of “love” different after not only writing this essay, but also reflecting on it 10 years later?  What I’ve learned in working with the truly amazing team at The New York Times is that it’s so crucial to keep looking at our relationships, to keep turning them over, and examining every nook and cranny for meaning. My understanding of “love” is much more nuanced and complex now than it was when I was a younger woman, craving some kind of healing in that family. So, I’m sorting out, in the essay and in the subsequent process via the podcast, how to sort out the longing for love with love itself. (Aren’t we all?) In the end, there’s this: I showed up for my dad. He was not able to do that for me. I showed up anyway. I’m gobsmacked by how much fantasy I had to construct in order to pull that off (much more fantasy than I understood at the time, at the end of his life). But I have no regrets about showing up, and telling myself it all went much, much better than it actually did. I have a lot of compassion for the woman who did that–tried to make us look like good, loving people. She wanted that fantasy so badly! Could you tell us more about decisions made when writing the original essay? In the podcast, you laugh about what you wrote 10 years prior and admit to the host “That’s not true” about certain scenes in the essay. Yet, the essay remains quite true and reflective of what you were feeling at that time. Is it fair to say that this essay captures what happened, while simultaneously depicting how you wish things would have been different?  I haven’t listened to the podcast, and I can’t imagine doing so. I laughed? Wow. That must be a laugh of…shock.   I hadn’t reread the piece since I wrote it 10 years ago. They asked me to wait, and to read it cold, on the air. I was crying when I came upon those tender, tender words written by that younger self, that daughter who so desperately wanted to have a beautiful ending with her dad. That laugh–it’s a gasp, that kind of defended laughing we do when we’re feeling caught, perhaps.  Nothing I said in the essay is false, exactly. It’s not true though, the way it’s framed–that we talked, over a period of days, in a loving and connected way. My dad did not have that capacity. Not at the end of life, not ever. It was super hard for me to let go of the notion I could enforce a meaningful relationship. I imagine that you must encourage your students to pursue similar experiments in their creative writing. How do the two–memories and lived experiences combined with wishes and desires–marry in the creative writing process?  In my classes at University of South Florida, the work is to train students to observe the external world, and to carefully observe their internal worlds–to work the muscles of paying closer attention, on a daily basis. It’s such hard work and so much practice is required just to be semi-proficient. (This is what my textbook is about!) The mind is always wanting to get in there, and to pull in emotion and judgment. All my assignments come from this objective. But I think I know what you mean–the writer has to work to portray those disjunctures, where one thing is happening before us, and a very different reality is playing out internally. Your question makes me want to write an assignment sequence based on this premise–it’s so smart. On it! I want to briefly discuss the “desktop-sized box” in your essay to which your father is effectively contained. You write “Here, in a box, was a man I could love.” This was, of course, during a time before the pandemic and the boom of video communication as we know it today. How do you see these boxes (our computers, cellular phones, etc.) changing the way we both communicate with and love one another moving forward?  It’s so wonderful to be able to see our people, in real time, in this way. It’s been life changing! I have severe face blindness, a neurological disability that prevents me from reliably recognizing people, even my closest associates. So to be able to always know who I am with, at all times–I can’t even begin to tell you how transformative this has been for me. So in terms of access, and ability, and thinking about what we know about connectedness as being critical for not just mental health, but physical health, I’m thrilled we have these visual, real time communication tools. Life changing. Lastly, I have to ask because it continues to be a topic on everyone’s mind. The box itself now has a mind of its own with the emergence of artificial intelligence. Could you please share a little bit about how you are incorporating AI in your teaching and perhaps in your own writing?  As a creative, I’m always going to be a fan of disruption and the AI disruption, which has been around for some time, is exciting. Because of ChatGPT thundering onto the scene, this past summer, I retooled every assignment in my courses. Every assignment. My old ways of working to assess student learning are no longer remotely relevant. Labor intensive, but I loved getting to think intently about what it is I’m teaching, and how students are learning, and how our conversations can be productively shaped and advanced because of AI. I use AI as a tool all the time–to help me create our annual program review (so helpful), to write recommendation letters, and to generate content for all kinds of writing situations at work.  In the classroom, we are called to teach a new set of skills to our students, helping them shape the material generated by AI tools, and to learn about the suite of tools that is available. These skills are ones we have always been teaching in our revision modules–the shift for us is only a slight one, but it’s a crucial one. Creative writing students are capable of all kinds of interesting and complex projects, and part of my work is giving the students agency to come up with AI uses in the creative writing classroom that will deepen our connection to language, and to each other. I begin class with a poem written by AI, so we can talk about all the things that humans can do, and must do. It’s an exciting time. As a teacher, I’m super interested in a conversation that keeps at the fore all the ways in which English and writing studies programs can remain a vibrant, core part of every learner’s development as a thinker and a creator. ... View more

At Macmillan Learning, our commitment to education and the transformative power of learning are at the forefront of our mission: "inspiring what’s possible for every learner." We understand that learning is an inherently human experience, and that technology can play an important role to support it. But with new technologies come new responsibilities and new questions we must ask ourselves; and in our journey to develop AI-driven educational tools, we’re aiming to establish thoughtful governance. While AI can be incredibly helpful to both students and instructors, there are flaws in many AI tools that may negatively impact the learning journey. Given the potential challenges of AI-driven tools, we became determined to avoid perpetuating biases whenever possible, maintain high ethical standards to guide development of digital tools, and seek active guidance from experts.    To navigate these ethical waters successfully, we sought guidance from experts with deep knowledge of both higher education and AI tools. Additionally, we wanted to ensure that the perspectives and experiences of our instructors and students were represented in the advisory process. This led to the creation of two advisory boards, the Macmillan Learning Ethics Advisory Board and the Data Privacy Board. Together, the boards help us to explore complex issues like ethical and equitable ways to ensure representation of the diverse groups we serve, effective mitigation of data privacy concerns, and improvements in how we could leverage AI to fortify our research practices. Our Ethics Advisory Board In my role leading our Learning Science and Insights team, I helped manage the ethics advisory board, which is composed of distinguished individuals who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. Each of the advisory board members were carefully selected for their deep understanding of AI and their direct interactions with students; they worked roles that range from Data Science and Data Activist to Professor of Learning Analytics. The advisory board held two virtual sessions during the summer of 2023. In the first session, we presented the Macmillan Learning preliminary AI guidelines, which aimed to establish principles for the responsible development and use of AI in education. The board members provided valuable feedback, helping us refine our guidelines and develop a mission statement that would guide all our AI-related work. Our Mission: "We create research-driven opportunities through AI for educators to better support the diversity of students within their learning environments." We next worked together to create AI principles that will guide our product development. Our AI Principles Based on the feedback and insights gained from these sessions, the Macmillan Learning team is now diligently working on the development of new AI technologies. These technologies are designed to support our instructors and students in meaningful and equitable ways while adhering to the ethical principles established with the guidance of our advisory board. As refined with the advisory board's input, our principles are: We are transparent, accountable, and ethical in how we use AI. We keep people at the center of AI oversight and improvement. We promote AI literacy and education on AI safety, ethics, and responsible use. We strictly observe, monitor, and improve data privacy and security principles. We continually monitor our AI tools and research to verify that we are not introducing unintended harms or exacerbating inequalities. We continually learn from diverse groups of experts to improve AI safety and ethics.  As we move forward, we remain committed to using AI as a tool to augment learning, while also retaining the humanity of learning and fostering meaningful and transferable educational experiences. AI can be a helpful companion on the path to learning, and we are determined to make that learning journey safe, reliable, effective, and unbiased for every learner.  We recognize that our work isn't done. The landscape of AI is constantly evolving, and so we remain committed to updating our practices and policies to ensure our research and development practices are ethical and transparent.  By continuing to have conversations with our learners seeking expert guidance, and undertaking  collaborative explorations of AI's potential uses, we underscore the broader narrative - that the integration of AI into education must always be guided by ethical considerations and a deep commitment to keep learning at the heart of what we do at Macmillan Learning. Stay tuned as we continue to shape the future of AI in education. Read more about Macmillan Learning’s AI journey, including Generative AI and Product Development: What We’ve Learned & What’s Ahead,  The Impact of AI on the Inherently Human Experience of Learning, and how we’re Readying our Workforce for an AI World. ... View more

On the surface, gaming and academic learning may seem fundamentally opposed—perhaps even antithetical—to one another. After all, what place could the cult classic Mario Kart, for example, possibly have in the classroom?  The intersection of technology and pedagogy has given rise to transformative approaches that both captivate and inspire learners. Though AI has recently saturated much of the conversation surrounding technology and education, the concept of gamification in learning has been comparatively more studied and is utilized across many of the digital platforms we know and love.  Merriam-Webster defines gamification as “the process of adding games or game-like elements to something (such as a task) so as to encourage participation;” in this case, gamification represents a unique opportunity to integrate game elements into educational platforms, designed to enhance engagement, motivation, and student learning outcomes (Armstrong & Landers, 2017; Rigby & Ryan, 2011). Studies suggest that gamification can positively impact cognitive, motivational, and behavioral learning outcomes (Sailer & Homer, 2019). In particular, the inclusion of engaging game fiction—a setting, context, and stakes—as well as competition and collaboration have been shown to benefit learning. As its name implies, the nostalgic first-person role playing game The Oregon Trail leads players through a journey inspired by and based on the historical event, which is a clear example of the use of game fiction in teaching history. In addition, trivia games such as Pictionary or Jeopardy encourage both team-based competition and collaboration.  Given the increasing number of distance learning and hybrid classrooms, student engagement in all formats is more important now than ever before. Therefore, here are four research-backed ways that instructors can incorporate gamification in the classroom now: Create leaderboards. A leaderboard can introduce healthy, low-stakes competition to the classroom. Instructors may provide a visual representation of team or class-wide achievements, whether based on a single activity or as a semester-long tracker. Students, “competing” in teams, would be able to benchmark their progress against their peers, fostering a sense of camaraderie and shared achievement. For example, instructors assigning Macmillan Learning’s LearningCurve adaptive quizzes can challenge students to compete for percentage completion, all the while working in opportunities for further understanding.  Add quests and ground content in a story. The inclusion of game fiction is particularly effective in grounding learning in a relatable or memorable context. To take this a step further, instructors may develop “quests” for students to embark upon, whether through story-based challenges or milestones. By weaving educational content into a compelling storyline, gamification transcends rote memorization. This allows students to connect with the material on a deeper level, enhancing long-term retention and understanding.  Create and launch live polls. Much like games provide players with relatively low-stakes opportunities to practice their skills and engage with content, live polls can similarly encourage students to do the same. Macmillan Learning’s iClicker helps instructors facilitate effective polls while offering unique insights and analytics to visualize student response data. Coupled with a leaderboard, this could enhance both individual and class motivation.  Use a points system unrelated to—or, at least contributes little to—grades. The key here is to decouple the leaderboard, quests, points, etc. from actual grades. Students should feel free to make mistakes and be rewarded for achieving milestones or mastering specific concepts. Tracking points not only quantifies progress but also taps into the intrinsic motivation of learners, fostering a sense of accomplishment that goes beyond traditional grading.  Despite what its name suggests, gamification is not only about playing games and earning points; it is also about creating a context and an environment for learning, where students are rewarded for their engagement and can interact with their peers in meaningful ways. By integrating game elements like leaderboards, game fiction, live polls, and point systems, instructors can create educational opportunities that support student success and garner classroom participation. And this way, both students and instructors can work to level up learning experiences, one lesson at a time. ... View more

This time last year, Macmillan Learning updated our mission, vision and values. We remain committed to our mission: to inspire what’s possible for every learner. At the core of this mission is our unwavering belief in the enduring value of education. We believe that an investment in education is an investment in human potential. Whether that means a more prosperous future or by providing a stepping-stone to personal and societal growth, we know we have a role to play.  Over the past year, there have been concerns about AI in education leading to its overuse, students’ diminished critical thinking skills, or a reduction in students' investment in their own learning. But I believe that those of us who intimately know what makes learning successful understand that an education is more than just accumulating facts or mastering skills; rather, it's an exploration of self and world and the genesis of lifelong curiosity and learning. This is a new era for education – one that embraces the dynamics of a digital age. But also one that acknowledges the timeless value of human connection and the importance of learning from each other. As we navigate this rapidly changing landscape, our mission remains our anchor, guiding our endeavors and fueling our passion. AI doesn't change this. We believe all  technology enables the human-centric experience of learning. In a world marked by political turbulence, the role of education becomes even more critical. We remain steadfast in adhering to our values and mission and believe that classrooms must be places where ideas are fostered, engaged with, and critiqued – not removed or banned. Which brings me to another thing that hasn’t changed for us in 2024: our dedication towards diversity and inclusion.  We understand how access to our course materials and technology can help transform 'what’s possible' into reality and carry this responsibility with a deep sense of purpose and optimism. Importantly, we take pride in creating products that reflect the rich diversity of the student populations we serve and strengthen the inclusive value of educational environments. It’s through such commitments we envision neutralizing persistent gaps in outcomes reflective of racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, and cultural lines. We believe that educators and students should feel represented in our learning materials, and that no student should be expected to adopt any particular political or cultural point-of-view in order to succeed in the classroom. As we proceed in this new year, expect to see us further embolden our commitment to our mission. Expect us to stand firm in our belief in the value of education, and steadfast in our dedication to inspiring possibilities – to fostering curiosity and enabling success for every student. Our ultimate goal? To make a difference in learners' lives – to not just educate, but inspire what’s possible. And we envision a world in which every learner succeeds. Through our content, services and tools we aim to make that a reality. We invite you to join us on this journey, as it will surely be an interesting and exciting one in 2024. ... View more

There are two experiences that have always been important to the history and legacy of struggle and perseverance in the lives of Black people. Sunday morning in the Black church represents a coming together once a week, under song and sermon, to express the pain of the past, the possibilities of the moment, and the hopes of dreams deferred. We come together, under the watchful eye of God, to seek what the world could not offer us–the divine validation to keep living. However, another experience presents a different moment of expression: birthdays.  Like so many aspects of Black life in America, birthdays are often an opportunity to celebrate not only the individual milestones in a person’s life, but also the collective joy, love, and victories experienced by the family and even the entire community. For as long as I can remember, in every Black family that I was ever connected with, including my own, I witnessed this sense of freedom and liberated expression that came out most prominently during a birthday celebration. Children clothed in untamed innocence, dignified and decorated members of the community, and elders worn with wisdom all took center stage on their birthday. In front of the whole family, in the presence of beloved friends, neighborhood buddies, sister circles of Black women together again–there is a rare and beautiful moment in the Black experience where you are a king, a queen, a conqueror, a celebrity, and a showman for an audience all your own.    The birthday celebration, no matter the length of time or the location, becomes this transformative moment where you can transcend your vocation, rise above your station, live larger and broader than your title allows, and totally immerse yourself in the full embodiment of freedom. Through the centuries of celebrations, Black people have always found a way to celebrate each other, collectively, under the backdrop of a world, a society, a community not willing to acknowledge the whole beauty of our identity. So, the birthday celebration has become this right that we give ourselves to say, among ourselves and to ourselves, we are spectacular and born with purpose.  Now I grew up in the eighties, and by that time, the birthday celebration in Black life had shifted to take on an even greater meaning. Since the 1970s, many Americans had been campaigning for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday to become a national holiday. Several states enacted holidays on his birthday in the 70’s, including Illinois, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, but Congress stopped short of passing a national day into law. In November 1979, despite the endorsement of President Carter, the King Holiday Bill was defeated by five votes. But then something incredible happened that changed everything. The superstar Stevie Wonder stepped in and changed the national consciousness about the importance of Dr. King to the American legacy of freedom, and in the process, added an important element for Black people to channel into our birthday celebrations.  After the 1979 defeat of the bill, Wonder wrote “Happy Birthday” and included it on his “Hotter Than July” album of 1980. He held the Rally for Peace press conference in 1981, when the song was released as a single. His song became the anthem for the movement to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday and, in late 1983, President Ronald Reagan approved the holiday, to be observed on the third Monday in January each year. The campaign to get the holiday federally acknowledged seemed to be doomed as the decade changed. It looked as if the American sense of justice and freedom was too bruised and tattered from the riots and uprisings in American cities following the assassination of Dr. King on April 4, 1968. That’s when Stevie Wonder did something “wondrous", as his stage name implies–he took the best of the atoning hope of Sunday morning in the Black church and fused it with the lively love of a Black birthday party, fit for a “king”.  Stevie Wonder gave us an anthem to celebrate, not only Dr. King’s beauty and his spirit, but the singer/songwriter gave Black America another conduit to collectively celebrate ourselves each year on our own birthdays. We had permission to fully clothe ourselves in the dignity of Dr. King’s dream. Even if we were not there and we were born too late to remember his image on television or his voice on the radio, we could march with him, laugh with him, cry with him, dance with him, and sing with him in a moment that we owned in the presence of others who valued freedom. And so as the ritual goes, ever since I was a boy, the normal American birthday tradition would start at some point during the birthday celebration–seated or standing, with close family and friends, someone would come from behind the veil of a kitchen with a birthday cake lit and ready to be presented to the birthday celebrant. Everyone would gather around huddled closely, quietly singing the traditional Happy Birthday tune in unison. But at some point in the ritual, whether towards the end of the traditional song or after the candled wishes are made, everyone would break out in an explosive roar of Stevie Wonder’s tune, singing: “Happy Birthday to Ya! Happy Birthday to Ya! Happy Birth-Day!” Clapping and dancing, chanting and shouting, the space would be filled with the lyrics to Stevie’s song.  You could fully recognize a shift in the energy and a shift between the two moods, and the two songs. The shift is always purposely done, as if to say that we as Black people live in two worlds and shift between consciousness–one consciousness that we’ve learned to understand and another higher consciousness where we are understood. And it is in that higher consciousness, at the height of song and dance, love and laughter, redemption and reflection that we embody on our birthdays, the last words spoken by Dr. King in his “I Have A Dream'' speech: “Free at Last, Free at Last…Thank God O’ Mighty, I’m free at Last!”    ... View more

Here at Macmillan Learning, we understand that learning is a process that begins at birth (or even before) and continues indefinitely. It’s how we acquire new knowledge, skills, behaviors, attitudes, and preferences. We also understand that learning is a robust process that can be optimized to suit different needs and learning styles. It’s both an intuitive and active process. Today many students are more comfortable learning online and in hybrid classrooms. As a result, it’s pivotal that we, as instructional designers, continue to evolve and adapt to student needs. Thus, it follows that Macmillan Learning’s flagship digital learning platform, Achieve, uses core instructional design principles to provide an exceptional learning experience that’s personalized, engaging, and supports learners of all abilities. Instructional design is like the architect’s blueprint but for education. It’s the strategic art of planning, producing, and delivering educational content and experiences, whether in digital or physical formats. The primary goal is to ensure that this process is dependable and results in efficient, effective, and engaging knowledge acquisition. “The Achieve platform was built on a foundation of learning science and instructional design principles,” says Sarah Gray, Research Specialist on the Learning Science and Insights team at Macmillan Learning. She noted that to drive learner outcomes, the company applies what it learns from research to improve product design as well as the user experience. Today we’ll dive into how Achieve incorporates core learning science and instructional design principles in its product. While there’s no universal way to implement instructional design, one model that's been cited for more than 50 years belongs to Robert Gagné, an American Educational psychologist. Here are his Nine Instructional Design Principles, and the features within Achieve that support them: Gain attention: The first principle is to grab the students’ attention and ensure they’re engaged. Many Achieve courses come with Lecture and iClicker slides that serve as visual aids and help students pay attention during class. For example, film class instructors can share a slide where they ask students to list their favorite movie directors. This can immediately get the student thinking about movies and why they prefer some directors’ styles over others. Tell the learners the learning objective: What will the student gain from the instruction? Achieve has Learning Objectives (LOs) attached to many assignments informing them of the exact outcome they’re trying to arrive at. Additionally, Achieve also has Draft Goals in its Writing Assignments, which help give students some direction during the drafting process. This guidance acts as a de-facto LO that helps students figure out what to focus on for that particular draft. For example, if instructors notice that their student is struggling with writing their topic sentences, they can set their topic sentences as a Draft Goal for them to focus on. Doing this helps the student keep the objective in mind and understand what they’re working toward. Stimulate recall of prior learning: Many courses in Achieve come with various Instructor Activity Guides. These guides are resources for instructors who want to organize activities or group work in remote or in-person classes. These guides include pre-class assignments that serve as mental primers, designed to connect the day’s lesson with prior learning. These tasks get them ready and make it easier to remember and contextualize new knowledge with the old. Present the stimulus: Achieve comes with a variety of stimuli such as videos and podcasts, which cater to diverse learning styles and preferences. For example, in a Communication course, students may find it more helpful to see an example of body language rather than just read about it. Provide learning guidance: How can instructors make sure that students can get the support they need? Through LearningCurve, Achieve’s adaptive quizzing feature. Let’s say that a student has been learning how to write effective theses. One solution is to assign them the LearningCurve for Argument and have them learn by answering multiple-choice questions of varying difficulty levels on this topic. LearningCurve gamifies the learning process by rewarding students points based on how many tries they take to get the correct answer. It also allows students to refer to the e-book for help, encouraging them to read and learn. Elicit performance: Students can demonstrate their comprehension and application of the content they’ve learned in class through formative assessments. There are quizzes, reflection questions, and video activities that ask students to apply key concepts they learned in practice. These assessments all help instructors track how well their students understand the core principles of the lesson and whether they’re able to demonstrate understanding of those principles. Provide feedback: Imagine a virtual classroom where students are asked to complete a writing assignment. In Achieve, students are able to peer review and provide feedback on each other’s work. Peers provide constructive feedback on each other's writing, offering diverse perspectives and insights. The instructor can also add a layer of valuable feedback on the next draft, identifying areas of improvement and growth. This dual feedback loop supports a robust learning environment where students not only receive feedback from their teacher but also their peers. Assess performance: For this important principle, Achieve excels in helping instructors identify how well their students have been performing. The Diagnostics feature comes with a pre-test to identify knowledge gaps, a personalized study plan that’s tailored to fill those gaps, and a final test to assess whether students have truly learned the content. For example, if a student has problems with subject-verb agreement but is otherwise solid with pronouns and sentence fragments, results on their pre-test would reflect that imbalance and automatically generate a study plan. Through using the Diagnostics feature, instructors can also see which students are having trouble with which topics. If instructors are interested in the data, they can use Achieve Reports which provides further insight into which LO students struggle with, which assignments students are excelling at, and also student login activity. These tools are all available to help both instructors and students get the most out of Achieve, but more importantly, their learning journey.  How’s that for coverage? Enhance retention and transfer to other contexts: Hearkening back to earlier principles, the best examples of how students can retain and transfer key ideas to other contexts is through videos and reflection questions. If students watch videos in their history courses that demonstrate how specific geography shaped regional politics, for example, they can apply what they’ve learned to other similar situations across different continents and time periods. This knowledge can also be transferred towards other subjects as geography can also have an effect on studying biology, history, economics, etc. Furthermore, reflection questions can be used to gauge students’ knowledge and ask how they can apply that knowledge elsewhere.  These examples showcase only a fraction of what Achieve offers in alignment with Gagne’s Instructional Design principles on the learning journey. It's a flexible tool designed not just for convenience but to inspire innovation—where the value goes beyond prescribed use. Gray concludes that "Good instructional design needs to bridge the gap between what learning research says works best and what instructors and students can practically use in the classroom. Co-design with learners is at the heart of what we do." ... View more

AI has the potential to transform education by improving students' learning experiences and bolstering their critical thinking skills. This topic is of particular interest to many instructors and surfaced many times during “The Importance of Truth, Honesty, and Pedagogy in an AI World” webinar, which featured Macmillan Learning CEO Susan Winslow. t that  For some instructors, AI raises the concern that LLMs (Large Language Models) will serve as a shortcut to students, hindering the development of their critical thinking skills, including problem-solving and writing. However, that doesn’t need to be the case. One instructor noted during the webinar: “If the gauntlet is just to submit a written paper, we’ve missed the mark of what and how to teach.” He said that the goal instead should be to encourage students to critically navigate life. He added that this would require teaching in a way that helps students to recognize when or why to use these LLMs and, in turn, help them better understand the world around them.  From educators becoming AI learners themselves, to the crucial role of teaching responsible AI use, there are many different ways that it is showing up in the classroom. Before the start of the Spring term, here are seven ways that AI can impact students’ critical thinking skills. Teaching Responsible Use: A crucial aspect of fostering critical thinking in an AI-driven world is teaching responsible AI usage. AI is undeniably a powerful tool, and one instructor on the webinar stated that "it is on us to teach responsible use." By imparting the importance of using AI consciously and ethically, instructors can help equip students with the skills needed to make the best possible choices both in and out of the classroom.  Understanding AI Limitations: Critical thinking involves not only leveraging AI, but also understanding its limitations. Knowing this helps students to make informed decisions about when and how to use AI as a resource. In addition to helping foster a deeper understanding of its role in their learning journey, students can also learn the kind of human touches that AI simply cannot replicate -- which they’ll need to know as they consider their future careers. According to one instructor, part of teaching responsible use is letting students know "what AI can do well, what it can't, and what do WE add that AI can't?"  Mitigation, Not Elimination: Because challenges such as plagiarism may never be fully eliminated, some instructors support the idea of "mitigation" instead. One instructor noted, “as educators, we have the duty to help students navigate the gray areas and use AI to improve, not undermine their writing.” To that end, instructors can encourage students to view AI as a means to expedite research, fix grammatical errors, or enhance their understanding of a topic. By steering students away from the temptation to copy and paste, educators help students leverage technology to augment their learning rather than supersede it. AI's Role in Feedback: Constructive feedback is paramount to learning, but not all students readily embrace it. Introducing AI into the feedback loop can transform this experience and make it more positive, engaging and effective for students. As students interact with AI-generated feedback that’s personalized to them, they are prompted to reflect critically on their work, fostering continuous improvement and enhancing their overall critical thinking abilities. Evolving Classroom Dynamics: AI introduces a level of scalability and personalization that can change classroom dynamics. By tailoring learning experiences to individual student needs and pace, students can engage in a more participatory learning process tailored to their abilities. One instructor noted: “if we allow for AI to take care of most of the basic education students need, then brick and mortar schools have the opportunity to become a place for flourishing of project-based learning, social and cultural development, and experiential education-- all of which will still need us teachers to facilitate!" AI as an Enhancer of the Learning Process: Although AI cannot replicate human touch or original ideas, it can contribute significantly to the learning process. It can provide explanations, aid comprehension, and offer a platform for students to explore and understand complex topics. For students who may feel uncomfortable asking repetitive questions in a traditional setting, AI can act like a tutor and serve as a reliable and accessible resource. It democratizes education and becomes what CEO Susan Winslow refers to as “the great equalizer.” Educators as AI Learners: When it comes to AI, instructors are also students. Many are actively engaged with AI technologies, continually experimenting with different approaches to harness its power in and out of the classroom. This iterative process of improvement ensures that they’re well-equipped to guide their students as well as take advantage of the latest advancements. As they adapt and refine their approaches, they become role models for students in embracing technology to help augment their critical thinking abilities. AI in education represents more than just a technological advancement; it is a paradigm shift that empowers students to adapt, explore, and refine their critical thinking skills. It can bring about a significant shift in education, creating new landscapes for students to adapt, explore, and enhance their critical thinking skills. As educators embrace AI as a tool for enrichment, they pave the way for a more engaging, equitable, and intellectually stimulating educational landscape. If you're curious about the intersection of education and AI, check out additional insights from instructors on Supporting Academic Integrity in an AI World or check out Five Things Instructors Should Consider When Assigning Homework in a World with ChatGPT.   ... View more