Introduction
The emergence of generative AI in higher education has proven a transformative force, and educators are increasingly seeking resources to navigate this complex landscape. In response to this demand, our team embarked on a rigorous Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research project to develop an Open Educational Resource (OER) tailored to the unique needs of higher education instructors.
Our OER represents a collaborative effort to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to effectively integrate AI in higher education. By leveraging the benefits of open education and embracing a research-informed approach, we aim to support instructors in harnessing the transformative potential of AI to enhance student learning outcomes and foster innovation in teaching and scholarship.
Please note that this content will continue to evolve as we add new material and make revisions. Any changes will be tracked in the versioning notes.
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Why Develop It?
The benefits of OER in the context of AI integration are substantial. Traditional educational materials often struggle to keep pace with rapid advancements, leaving instructors without adequate support. Our comprehensive review of existing AI-related OER revealed critical gaps: many resources lacked a research-informed approach, failed to address the specific needs of instructors, and provided insufficient guidance on navigating the plethora of available AI tools and materials. This open text fills in those gaps and provides a valuable and evolving resource for instructors.
Who Is It For?
Our OER guide is designed to meet the needs of a diverse audience within higher education. While primarily targeted at faculty and instructors seeking to integrate AI into their teaching practices, the guide is also valuable for educational leaders, curriculum developers, instructional designers, and anyone interested in the ethical, critical, and effective integration of AI in higher education. Furthermore, educators across various disciplines will find the guide adaptable to their specific contexts, ensuring its broad relevance and applicability.
Who Developed It?
This research team is comprised of educational developers, faculty, graduate students, instructional designers, media specialists, and educational technologists from George Mason University, James Madison University, Bridgewater College, and the University of Virginia.
Throughout the development process, we actively engaged with key stakeholders across the state of Virginia to gather feedback and insights, fostering a collaborative and iterative approach to guide refinement. The contributions of these higher education faculty, staff, and students have made our work better, and we are grateful for their perspectives and their time.
How Did We Develop It?
We conducted an extensive review of scholarly literature published between 2023 and 2025, synthesizing key insights and emerging trends in AI integration within higher education. Building upon this foundation, we iteratively developed and refined the content of the OER guide, incorporating feedback from instructors who participated in pilot testing and usability evaluations. This iterative process allowed us to address instructors’ specific needs, enhance the OER’s usability, and ensure its alignment with best practices in AI-enhanced pedagogy.
The Role of AI in Development
Our research team did all core development work for this OER. We used generative AI tools in strategic but limited ways to support the development of this resource, including:
- Brainstorming; e.g., generating ideas for learning objectives and reflection questions
- Summarizing; e.g., extracting key takeaways from articles and videos
- Generating images
- Enhancing accessibility
- Maintaining stylistic consistency across authors
All content has been carefully reviewed, edited, and approved by human authors. The authors—and those whose work is cited or shared—retain full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and scholarly merit of the content presented here.
AI tools hold tremendous potential for advancing the development of OER. Research indicates that these tools can save significant time and effort in developing resources [1], allowing educators and content creators to focus on areas where human expertise—such as creativity and collaboration—are needed [2]. Additionally, AI technologies provide scalable solutions to increase access to high-quality educational materials, making it easier to address diverse learning needs globally [3].
Beyond efficiency, AI introduces opportunities for personalization and accessibility in OER. Machine learning algorithms can adapt content to suit individual learners’ needs, enabling differentiated instruction at scale. AI can also generate alternative formats such as audio descriptions, transcripts, or simplified text, making resources more inclusive for all learners. Moreover, AI-powered platforms facilitate the discovery and remixing of OER, helping educators identify relevant materials and adapt them to specific cultural or pedagogical contexts, ultimately enhancing the relevance and impact of these resources [4].
A systematic and scholarly inquiry into how students learn and how teaching practices can be improved in higher education.
Teaching, learning, and research materials freely available in the public domain or under an open license, allowing anyone to use, adapt, share, and redistribute them without cost and with fewer legal restrictions than traditional copyrighted materials.
