Tools that leverage generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and large language models (LLMs) to generate new code or text (e.g., Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.) are becoming increasingly available and are likely to have long-term impacts and on what and how we teach.

Higher education has faced similar disruptions with previous technology innovations, including calculators, Google search, and Wikipedia. While these innovations can be disruptive to our practices of teaching and assessment, incorporating them into our teaching practice is also an opportunity to prepare our learners to live and thrive in a changing world. When intentionally leveraged for classroom instruction, generative AI technologies may also provide new possibilities for enhancing accessibility and engagement for students with varied learning needs.

When integrating GenAI into your courses, there are several opportunities to foster an inclusive learning environment:

• Encourage AI literacy and future readiness. As generative AI tools develop in capabilities, they will continue to shape what distinctive human skills are prioritized across disciplines and fields of work. By incorporating opportunities within courses to explore, use, and assess generative AI tools, students are better prepared to strategically engage with and critically reflect on these emerging technologies.
• Encourage metacognition, creativity, and critical thinking. By designing carefully constructed assessments and forms of active engagement, students have the opportunity to explore different viewpoints, self-reflect, and engage in analysis and knowledge synthesis.
• Address barriers to equity and accessibility. Generative AI tools can be leveraged to provide multiple options for motivating and engaging learners, for representing information, and for inviting learners to express and communicate. This can create learning experiences that are personalized to students’ diverse needs and abilities.

When integrating GenAI into your courses, there are several considerations to ensure equitable and responsible use, including:

• Availability. While many generative AI tools are currently freely available, their availability could change at any time. For any third-party software that is not approved by the University or your Division, there are several considerations related to privacy, security and student intellectual property that should be considered before asking your students to use non-approved generative AI tools.
• Accuracy and bias. Text created by generative AI technology may be biased and may not be correct.
• Academic integrity. The University is discouraging the use of tools that claim to be able to detect AI generated text. See Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom: FAQ’s for more information.
• Privacy and security. A version of Microsoft Copilot is currently available to the public (and U of T students), however the public version does not have full privacy and data protections in place. U of T has access to the enterprise edition of Microsoft Copilot, which conforms to the University’s privacy and data protections, unlike the public version. Note that other publicly available generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT may not offer such privacy and data protections.
• Copyright and intellectual property. It is important to be mindful of what content is entered into generative AI platforms that do not have institutional data protections in place. Never input confidential information or intellectual property for which you do not have the rights or permissions. All content entered may become part of the tool’s dataset and may inadvertently resurface in response to other prompts. See the U of T Library’s Generative AI tools and Copyright Considerations for more information.

You can learn more about strategies to plan for and integrate generative AI into courses by visiting the Teach with Generative AI section of this website.