Education Re-imagined: Reflections from Ryan Allen

The world of teaching and learning has felt off balance since late 2022, when generative AI quickly appeared on college campuses. But in many ways, that’s nothing new. Before AI, it was the pandemic, smartphones, Chegg, laptops, and everything else reshaping how we teach and learn. Higher education is, whether we like it or not, in the business of change.
 
There’s no single story for how AI is showing up on our campus right now—which is okay. Some people jumped right in. Others are skeptical. Many are still making sense of it. The concerns are real: academic integrity, student learning, cognitive offloading, intellectual property, and what it all means for the role of faculty. We need these diverse perspectives. We need to wrestle with them, have courage to test ideas, and stay true to our core values.  This is what it means to live our mission.
 
Our role isn’t to push a particular technology. It’s to create space for reflection and discussion. Good teaching hasn’t changed, but how we get there continues to evolve. Our Catholic, Marianist mission has always been and will always be our north star. Marianist values and faith traditions remind us to root these conversations in relationships, reflection, and the common good, helping us make choices that align with our ethics and purpose.
 
If  we’re going to lead now, it won’t be because we have the answers. It will be  because faculty and staff engage in meaningful dialogue with students and  encourage them to ask better questions and work collaboratively to fully  explore what it means and what it impacts. AI is part of the world our students  are entering. Our job is to help them engage it thoughtfully and ethically,  with a clear sense of who they are and who they’re called to be. It’s also our  job to foster creativity and encourage them to be curious, engaged leaders  within this space. We can’t wait for AI to go away, but we can guide its use in  ways that strengthen learning, character, and conscience.