Led by Dr Helen Benton (ARU) together with Dr Zoe Handley (University of York) and Boguslawa Lightbody (ARU), this project explores how higher education educators can navigate the growing role of AI in teaching and learning.
It addresses a key challenge in higher education: preparing students for future roles requiring AI skills, while avoiding over-reliance on AI that can lead to cognitive off-loading and impact critical thinking, decision-making and analytical reasoning. It responds to this “cognitive paradox” by exploring how technology can be integrated into teaching and learning practice, guided by the question: how can we co-design desirable futures for the role of the Higher Educator in 2040?
Using a qualitative co-design approach, the project engages academics, learning technologists and students in envisioning workshops to develop future scenarios for the educator role. These scenarios will be analysed using the Advance HE UK Professional Standards Framework (2023) and examined for enablers and barriers, with outputs informing the development of a toolkit and resources to support professional development.