Author: Victor Scavo

Reflections on the OHIO AI Faculty–Student Roundtable

The OHIO AI Faculty–Student Roundtable facilitated a significant discussion on AI’s impact in education, focusing on pedagogy updates, the importance of human expertise, preparation for hybrid environments, and the need for ethical guidelines.

The OHIO AI Faculty–Student Roundtable offered an organized and substantive discussion about the role of artificial intelligence in higher education. I appreciated the preparation shown by the student leadership and the structured way the conversation unfolded. The session created space for students and faculty to examine the academic, professional, and ethical implications of AI without reducing the topic to simple enthusiasm or concern.

Several points raised during the discussion stood out to me as particularly relevant to our work as educators.

Updating Pedagogy for the Current Reality

We addressed the fact that many traditional assignments no longer hold their original purpose in an environment where AI tools are widely accessible. This is not an argument for banning technology, but for redesigning assessments so that they reflect authentic learning. In my own courses, this has meant incorporating more transparency in student workflows, more emphasis on reasoning, and opportunities for students to explain their decisions rather than simply present a final output.

Human Expertise Still Matters

Cindy Yu, President of the OHIO AI student organization, noted in her follow-up message, referring to a reflection I made during the discussion, that “expertise remains the differentiator.” I agree. AI can generate content, but it cannot interpret, validate, or challenge its own results. Those responsibilities rest with people who understand their discipline. Our role is to help students build the judgment required to work with these tools responsibly and effectively.

Preparing Students for Hybrid Work Environments

The conversation also addressed the importance of preparing students to work in settings where AI will be part of daily operations. This includes creating learning experiences that reflect hybrid workflows rather than treating AI as an optional add-on. These experiences give students a realistic sense of when AI is useful, when it is unreliable, and where human judgment becomes essential.

Ethical and Equity Considerations

Concerns about transparency, hallucinations, and unequal access to advanced tools came up repeatedly. These issues reinforce the importance of clear institutional guidelines and the need for consistent expectations across courses and programs. They also highlight the broader responsibility we have to prepare students not only to use AI, but to question it.

Moving Forward

The roundtable demonstrated the value of bringing students and faculty together to discuss complex academic issues. I appreciated the professionalism of the student organizers and the contributions made by the faculty in attendance. These conversations will play an important part in how Ohio University approaches AI in the coming years, and I look forward to continued collaboration with the OHIO AI organization.

Teaching, Technology, and Learning Design

Three Episodes in My Instructional Technology Journey

Over the past several weeks, I have been reflecting on how instructional technology continues to shape learning design, collaboration, and pedagogical decision-making in higher education. My work spans MIS teaching, instructional innovation, and the integration of emerging tools such as generative AI and collaborative design platforms.

Below are three recent reflections that explore these ideas from different angles—ranging from AI-supported feedback, to design-thinking practices, to broader considerations about how technology reshapes educational environments.

1. Using ChatGPT for Reflective and Instructional Design

This reflection examines how generative AI tools can be used to promote deeper student reflection, provide formative feedback, and support instructional design decisions in a capstone course.
🔗 https://scavohighered.com/2025/11/06/digital-adventure-5-using-chatgpt-for-reflective-and-instructional-design/

2. Figma for Collaboration and Design Thinking

Here I explore the role of prototyping tools—specifically Figma—in facilitating collaborative student work, visual communication, and iterative design as part of systems-analysis coursework.
🔗 https://scavohighered.com/2025/10/16/digital-adventure-4-figma-for-collaboration-and-design-thinking/

3. Rethinking Education & Technology

A broader reflection on how digital transformation continues to influence teaching practices, learner expectations, and institutional approaches to instructional technology.
🔗 https://scavohighered.com/rethinking-education-technology/

Together, these pieces represent ongoing engagements with learning design, technology-mediated collaboration, and the evolving role of instructional tools across higher education. The themes explored in each entry continue to shape both my teaching practice and my academic trajectory.

Using ChatGPT 5.1 for Reflective and Instructional Design

Digital Adventure 5.

Tool Type: Generative Artificial Intelligence for Feedback and Learning Reflection

Watch the Screencast here

1. User Experience and Challenge

For this Digital Adventure, I explored ChatGPT as a feedback and reflection partner during the midterm presentation phase of my MIS 4800 Capstone Seminar. In this course, senior students act as consultants for real organizations. At midterm, each team submitted a written progress report and delivered a presentation summarizing their project’s current stage, findings, and next steps.

I provided students with structured memo guidelines and a required table of contents to ensure consistency in format and focus. After reviewing their submissions, I used ChatGPT to enhance the clarity and tone of my feedback. My goal was to shift students’ writing and presentation style from descriptive to analytical—helping them tell a compelling project story rather than listing findings. ChatGPT helped me rephrase recommendations, making them more actionable and aligned with each client’s objectives.

The challenge was ensuring that AI-assisted feedback maintained my instructional intent and voice. I found that refining ChatGPT’s prompts—asking it to “maintain academic tone while modeling professional consulting phrasing”—helped preserve authenticity. This balance between automation and authorship became a valuable learning experience in itself.

2. Starting Skill Level

My starting level with ChatGPT was intermediate. I had previously used it to brainstorm prompts and reword course materials, but this activity deepened my understanding of AI as a formative feedback tool. Designing AI-enhanced comments required more intentional framing, as the goal was not faster grading but better mentorship. This activity also allowed me to model responsible AI use for students, reinforcing that technology should support, not replace, professional judgment.

3. What I Learned

This project highlighted several ways that generative AI can strengthen instructional design and reflective learning:

  • Narrative over description: AI-assisted phrasing helped me model analytical storytelling, encouraging students to connect insights and recommendations more cohesively.
  • Feedback as coaching: ChatGPT supported a mentor-oriented feedback style that emphasized clarity, professionalism, and project ownership.
  • Alignment and precision: Reviewing AI-generated suggestions prompted me to double-check how student work aligned with client goals and original project objectives.
  • Metacognitive engagement: When students reflected on their revised reports and presentations, they became more aware of how narrative framing shapes perception and value in consulting work.

4. Classroom Application

I plan to integrate this AI-enhanced feedback process into future Capstone milestones. Students will first draft reports following a structured outline, then use AI-guided reflection prompts to evaluate their alignment with project goals and client expectations. After receiving my feedback, they will reflect individually and as a team on how their understanding evolved.

This process transforms feedback into a shared reflective cycle—where students, instructor, and AI collaboratively refine clarity, tone, and purpose. The outcome is not just stronger reports, but deeper professional awareness of communication and strategic storytelling.

Reflection

This digital adventure reaffirmed that AI’s greatest strength lies in partnership, not replacement. ChatGPT helped me deliver more thoughtful, consistent, and developmentally focused feedback without losing my instructional voice. By combining structure, empathy, and technology, I transformed a grading moment into a coaching moment—one that modeled reflective practice and professional growth for my senior students.

November 6th, 2025

Figma for Collaboration and Design Thinking

Digital Adventure 4.

Tool Type: Web-Based Collaborative Design and Prototyping Platform

Watch the Screencast here

1. User Experience and Challenge

For this Digital Adventure, I explored Figma, a real-time collaborative design platform, to highlight how teamwork and creativity merge in digital learning. I built a Prezi Video presentation that included a three-minute live tutorial recorded with my senior student and teaching assistant, Drishti, through Microsoft Teams. In that embedded segment, we appeared on camera while co-creating a simple interface prototype and demonstrating Figma’s shared editing, commenting, and presentation features.

The experience was fluid and enjoyable because Figma’s interface feels intuitive—everything happens in the browser, and edits appear instantly across participants’ screens. The main challenge came from balancing narration, screen sharing, and camera feeds while capturing the live collaboration without technical lag. Coordinating voiceover timing inside Prezi after embedding the Teams recording required careful alignment.

2. Starting Skill Level

My starting level with Figma was advanced. I teach this tool every semester in MIS 2200 Systems Analysis and Design, guiding more than forty student teams each year as they prototype apps for the Marketplace Simulation project. However, this digital adventure shifted my focus from teaching functionality to reflecting on how collaboration feels and evolves when learners share a live digital workspace. Preparing the screencast helped me see familiar workflows from the learner’s point of view.

3. What I Learned

This project deepened my appreciation of digital co-creation and design-thinking pedagogy:

  • Collaboration in motion: Watching cursors move simultaneously reinforced how shared visual spaces spark instant feedback and collective decision-making.
  • Design-based reflection: I realized that visual prototypes serve as discussion tools, not just deliverables—students learn by iterating together.
  • Tool integration: Combining Teams, Prezi, and Figma demonstrated the value of connecting synchronous and asynchronous technologies for richer interaction.
  • Instructional insight: Recording a real collaboration reminded me that authenticity engages learners more than polished demonstrations ever could.

4. Classroom Application

I plan to expand Figma’s role beyond design assignments into reflective collaboration exercises. Students can storyboard business processes, diagram systems, or co-create interface mock-ups in real time while discussing choices over Teams. In Capstone seminars, groups can present directly from Figma’s Presentation Mode, showcasing both product and process. As an instructor, I’ll continue using live collaborative sessions to model teamwork, version control, and iterative improvement—skills central to modern project environments.

Reflection

This digital adventure reaffirmed that collaboration is the heartbeat of creativity. Figma transforms static design into a shared learning journey where structure, dialogue, and imagination coexist. Pairing it with Prezi and Teams showed me how easily a digital ecosystem can support communication, feedback, and visual storytelling. By mastering this combination, I strengthened my own teaching practice and illustrated to students that innovation thrives where people design—and learn—together.

October 16th, 2025

How hands-on AI experience is shaping future business leaders

Ohio University College of Business is leading the charge by bringing AI teaching and research into the classroom. Our students are gaining experiences that prepare them to lead with both competence and integrity.

This proactive approach feels meaningful beyond buzzwords. The College of Business isn’t just talking about AI—they’re weaving it through every level of the curriculum, from first-year courses to capstone projects. By embedding ethical policies, hands-on training (such as the “Five AI Buckets”), and real-world applications in the Copeland Core, students learn not just to use AI, but to understand it critically and ethically.

That commitment to turning students into AI-capable—and AI-responsible—leaders is exactly the kind of forward-thinking education I aspire to support and reflect through my own teaching practice.

Professor Scavo: Higher Education Blog

Welcome to my professional academic website. This space reflects my journey as a professor, researcher, and consultant in Management Information Systems, analytics, and higher education.

As part of my Doctoral studies in Innovative Learning Design & Technology (ILDT)—formerly Instructional Technology—, I am exploring how hybrid and online learning models may evolve through the integration of AI-enhanced instructional design and adaptive learning approaches.

The purpose of this site is to share the development of my teaching philosophy, highlight my academic and professional experience, and document my ongoing scholarly explorations in the evolving world of instructional technology and higher education.