Faculty Instructional Technology and Strategies Institute   (FITSI)

2025 FITSI: Essential Skills and Digital Literacies in Higher Education

August 13 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30pm (on Zoom)

                    
Keynote – Chris Dede Senior Research Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Education

Topic: Join us for a pragmatic consideration of essential skills, including digital literacies, for USNH students. With keynote speaker Chris Dede, we'll examine the importance of preparing students for success in an everchanging world and discuss the role of generative AI in higher education. Our sessions will include explicitly teaching and assessing learner’s critical skills, demos of AI integration in the classroom, and specific AI tools supported at USNH. You'll also learn about a new digital ethics module for students as well as current recommendations and policy guidelines around generative AI use. This event focuses on empowering educators to equip students with essential competencies for the future of work and learning.

All USNH faculty and staff are encouraged to register here and join the conversations. A single zoom link will be the location for all sessions throughout the day, and it will be sent to registrants several days before the event. For those unable to attend, recordings for each of the sessions will be made available to the USNH community after the event.

Agenda 

9:00am – Welcome, overview of the day, intro to Chris Dede

9:10-10:40 am Key Note (90 minutes)  We'll examine the importance of preparing students for success in an ever-changing world. Identifying what skills and abilities will be essential for all of us, including those we are graduating. This will include discussions about the role of generative AI in higher education.   

10:50-11:45 am Using technology to enhance learning and the practice of essential skills (50 min) Three speakers will share their experience using technology, particularly AI, to enhance learning and the practice of essential skills, such as writing, critical thinking, and quantitative reasoning in their respective areas of teaching (occupational therapy, project management and finance, and K-12 education). Each panelist will share their perspective on prompt engineering as an emerging “essential skill” that is being fostered in their courses.

11:45 am – 12:15 pm - LUNCH BREAK

12:15 – 1:05 pm  Demo of AI in the classroom (50 min) Three faculty are sharing how they have structured assignments, activities, and assessments to incorporate AI 

1:15-1:50 pm Copilot and DeepThought Walkthrough & ET&S supported AI (35 min)  Introduction to the available AI tools, how to appropriately use, options and limitations.

2:00-3:00 pm  Policies, Standards, and Guidelines at USNH (60 minutes)  General Counsel will review legal requirements with regards to what information can be shared with AI tools (e.g., FERPA). Then, Julie Simpson from Research Integrity Services will talk about some ethical issues and recommendations. And finally, the Provost’s Office will discuss existing academic affairs policies and areas where we might like to formalize more academic affairs policies. Plans for coordinated efforts in the coming academic year will be discussed.  

3:00-3:25 pm New Digital Ethics Module for Students (25 min) This session will outline a 2-hour module currently being developed for students that faculty will be able to insert into their courses (as desired). The goal of this module (which is also a digital badge-microcredental) is to provide students with foundational knowledge for ethical engagement with digital technologies. The module will serve as a cornerstone for instilling digital citizenship, and it will also include ethical considerations for Generative AI use. A subsequent microcredential will later be developed following this Digital Ethics module, which will focus solely on Generative AI uses. It is essential to ground students in digital ethics prior to introducing the larger suite of Gen AI tools. 

3:25-3:30 pm – Closing - continue the dialogue, feedback, communication

Additional Resources:

For information about Generative AI, you may also visit this page on the Teaching and Learning Hub.

Please see this document to explore three categorial approaches to incorporate AI in your teaching.

If you are interested in appropriate AI citations, Purdue University provides helpful guidance.

Teaching and Learning Technologies is offering the following trainings prior to FITSI:

Canvas Enhanced Rubrics: 
August 11, 2025, 1:00pm-1:30pm 
https://at-training.unh.edu/apps/ssr?action=session&id=5934