Original - Information Matters

graphic of AI in education with books and tablet

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly a topic of interest and concern in higher education. Much of the current research focuses on AI policies, how AI is changing education, and the AI use cases that include benefits (e.g., new insights) and concerns (e.g., academic integrity) of AI use. This article focuses on AI integration and builds on an earlier article on AI tools, algorithmic literacies, and educational technology, demonstrating how inclusive design impacts accessibility and the design of AI in education. With this understanding, educators can evaluate existing educational technologies and AI tools as options they may consider adding to their curriculum. The integration ideas presented may help educators plan for educational technology practices, such as scaffolded lessons and assessments for AI literacy (which include digital and AI literacy frameworks and the benefits and challenges of AI). Additionally, these ideas may help educators get started with AI by offering suggestions on technologies to evaluate.

Education Original

May 14, 2025 A. Miller

Ensuring Human-Centered AI EdTech: Inclusive Design and Evolving Information, Digital, Media, and Algorithmic Literacies

Emerging technologies increasingly impact the design of and access to education. Current research in higher education and educational technology argues the benefits (e.g., time-saving, personalization, scalability) and concerns (e.g., academic integrity, accessibility, data reliability, ethics, privacy) of students using artificial intelligence in education. Though these pro and con lists may be valid and growing, a perspective is often missing from conversations about AI in education: accessibility and people with disabilities. This article first reviews the importance of understanding relevant literacies—information, digital, media, and algorithmic—and describes examples of educational technologies (EdTech) that highlight learning objectives of using and creating knowledge and content with those tools. Then, inclusive and human-centered design principles are discussed as a foundational construct to design human-centered AI and use cases for integrating AI in learning design.

Frontiers Original

May 1, 2025 Jodie Lobana

Forging a Middle Path: Canada’s Moment to Lead in AI Governance

Today, with the AI landscape evolving rapidly, especially with the explosive advancement of generative AI technologies, Canada finds itself pulled between two global powers: the United States, favouring open innovation, and the European Union, doubling down on strict AI regulation. Canada does have a proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), introduced in 2022 as part of Bill C-27, which aims to regulate high-impact AI systems. However, AIDA is still under review and has yet to be finalized, leaving a critical gap in national legislation.

Featured Original

April 28, 2025 Ali Shiri

Digital Self-Determination: Data Sovereignty in Inuvialuit Communities of Canada’s Western Arctic

Since 2013, researchers from the University of Alberta School of Library and Information Studies and the Inuvialuit elders, leaders, and community members in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), Northwest Territories have collaborated to develop digital library and digital storytelling platforms to support Inuvialuit cultural heritage digitization, revitalization, preservation and access.

Featured Original

April 18, 2025 Elisa Tattersall Wallin

All talk and few facts: Reflecting on the role of podcasts in climate obstruction

What role do podcasts play in spreading information about climate change? For a research project on environmental communication, I explored how these issues are discussed in podcasts. I found that serious channels with the ambition to inform about climate change issues share the space with channels with a dubious agenda and a loose relationship to facts.

Original

April 15, 2025 Milena Head

A Canadian Approach to Rethinking Technology Design for Aging Populations

Older adults are the fastest-growing segment of the population. In Canada, one in five people are 65 or older, and by 2065, this will increase to more than one in four. Yet, despite their growing numbers, older adults often face exclusion and marginalization in technology design. This digital divide has significant consequences, leading to isolation, loneliness, frustration, and poor health outcomes, particularly when we intersect factors like lower socioeconomic status, race, gender, and immigrant status.

UI sketch on paper and phone and tablet devices

Original

April 3, 2025 A. Miller

Interactive Design and Interaction Cost: Communicating and Designing with Digital Media and User Experience Principles

Communication technologies help people communicate with each other, whether through email, computer-mediated technologies such as message boards and Internet forums, and through voice, video, or conferencing systems, and the long list of new media (virtual reality, augmented reality, AI communication, podcasts, video sharing platforms, etc.). These communication technologies influence social and cultural transformations by evolving how people communicate, impacting the patterns of communication they use, and resulting in social interactions designed and carried out through a web-based environment.

Original

March 19, 2025 Sheng-Hsiang Lance Peng

Rationalists, Zizians, and the Search for Truth: How Does Information Shape Belief?

Zizians, an emerging and loosely defined intellectual network, hold anarchist beliefs, emphasise animal rights and veganism, and promote a non-dualistic understanding of consciousness, including the idea that the hemispheres of the brain can have different genders and conflicting interests. This perspective challenges conventional Western assumptions about individual identity, rationality, and the pursuit of knowledge. By looking into how these two communities approach information, one can better understand their impact on contemporary discussions, from scientific discourse to digital subcultures.

Education Featured Original

February 28, 2025 Simon Mahony

Empowering Global Engagement through Research and Teaching

How might we understand the way in which research and education can be used as a positive force in bringing the world closer together? This difficult question is one that those of us within digital humanities at University College London want to address. Looking at our institutional history can help to clarify this. The history of digital humanities is gaining attention, with an increasing focus on understanding its development and recognising its role of addressing diversity, gender, race, and linguistic backgrounds in knowledge production, and promoting inclusive representation.

Featured Original

February 4, 2025 Andrew M. Cox

Academic Libraries in Northern England Support Mental Health and Wellbeing

Academic Libraries North is sharing resources about how libraries can support mental health and wellbeing, including case studies based on experience. ALN is a consortium of 33 higher education libraries in the north of England in the United Kingdom. Through collaborative activities and mutual support, they provide opportunities for their members in the exchange of knowledge and experience.