I'm back from my birthday trip to Costa Rica! I visited the Sarapiqui region on the Caribbean side of the country, and I spent the whole time birdwatching. The birding was amazing, and I picked up 71 lifers while I was there! I saw hummingbirds, herons, trogons, kingfishers, toucans, parrots, manakins, flycatchers, and more. I had a couple of really fantastic guides who helped me find a lot of those birds, and I visited some really fantastic nature preserves while I was there. You can see the full list of birds on my eBird trip report, if you're into that kind of thing, and I've included a few of my favorite photos at the end of this newsletter. Everyone said I would enjoy Costa Rica, and they were right!

The Book Launch Continues

The day after I got back from Costa Rica, I had the opportunity to present on AI-aware teaching at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. I don't think I had been back on campus since I left Vanderbilt four years ago, and I received a most excellent welcome. And the school had purchased 100 copies of The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching to give away to the faculty and staff! There's nothing quite like seeing stacks of your own book on display.

Both digital and paperback versions of the book are now available through major online retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble as well as from smaller retailers like Bookshop and from Norton. And if you'd like to do a bulk order like VUSN did, see my website for info on getting a bulk discount.

Scaling AI-Aware Teaching from Course to Campus

What does it take to help the entire faculty of a college or university learn and adopt new teaching practices?
​
The MIT report on AI and teaching got me thinking about the kinds of organizational development that can scale AI-aware teaching beyond the individual course. I'm impressed at the call to action the MIT report provides, but the steps they outline won't quite be sufficient for the kind of campus change needed to respond to AI.
​
On my blog today, I outline three important principles for the faculty development needed to go from a small number of faculty-facing programs to institution-wide teaching change. Read about those principles in my post "Scaling AI-Aware Teaching from Course to Campus."

Gaming Across Ages and Abilities

I don't usually share my board game podcast episodes here in the Intentional Teaching newsletter, but the latest episode of my First Player Token podcast features an interview that some readers will find interesting.

In the episode, I talk with Dylan Kistler, founder of Kistler Games, a publisher that specializes in games that "empower players of diverse abilities, ages, and gaming experience to play together." I met Dylan when I was working at Vanderbilt and he was an undergraduate student there. Given our shared interests in games and education, we crossed paths several times and we stayed in touch after he graduated. After Dylan heard my podcast episode about gaming with a three-year-old, he reached out, and I was happy to have him on the show for an extended interview.

Dylan and I first discuss some of those games I play with the now-four-year-old and why they work well with players of different ages. Then we discuss the kinds of games that Kistler Games will be publishing. What does it look like to create games where people of different abilities—perhaps even radically different cognitive abilities—can play together? Dylan draws on his background in neuroscience and special education and his internship at Leder Games, the publisher of Root, to help us imagine what’s possible.

​You can listen to my interview with Dylan Kistler here, or search for "First Player Token" in your podcast app.

Birdwatching in Costa Rica

As promised, here are a few of my favorite photos from my birdwatching trip to Costa Rica. These are from a few different places, including Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat (where I stayed), La Selva Research Station, Tirimbina Rainforest Center, and Lapa Verde Nature Reserve.