Derek Bruff

My new book, The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, co-authored with @anetv.bsky.social and @marcwatkins.bsky.social, is now available! We share promising practices--and lots of examples--for teaching in the age of AI, whether you're leaning into or away from AI. wwnorton.com/books/978132...

I'll be in Atlanta this week at the AAC&U Conference on AI and Higher Education! I'm not presenting, but I do have a few copies of the new book, The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, to give away. Look for me and my "Ask me about AI-aware teaching" button!

Me? I’m definitely participating in the democratic process.

So many Republican candidates for office are just refusing to participate in the democratic process.

Sitting in on a UVA CTE session where psychological safety was just mentioned. The context was student groups, but I can't help but think about this insightful essay by @liznorell.bsky.social on psychological safety in staff / faculty spaces: www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

Did I have Claude write a slightly creepy, slightly meta Choose Your Own Adventure story in Twine? Yes, yes I did. drkbrf.github.io/cyoa-/dist/t...

We're having an in-person launch for the new book at the University of Mississippi today! @marcwatkins.bsky.social and I will be there on site, and @anetv.bsky.social will join us virtually. If you're in Oxford, come join us at 2:30pm Central at the Johnson Commons!

My podcast panel on how college math ed is responding to AI went so well that I organized another one--this time on AI in computer science education! Today on the podcast, three CS profs reflect on their responses to AI. Listen here: intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...

My podcast panel on how college math ed is responding to AI went so well that I organized another one--this time on AI in computer science education! Today on the podcast, three CS profs reflect on their responses to AI. Listen here: intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...

If you’re not sure direct instruction is a good topic for an education podcast, might I suggest Zero Reject, reported by @anya1anya.bsky.social? It’s about the problems in the US special ed system, problems only getting worse under the current administration. www.understood.org/en/podcasts/...

He’s still marching.

Baby Spice?! Also, Brinkley played old in that movie. He was 26 years younger than Don Ameche.

ICYMI Two new books in the Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed series from @oupress.bsky.social "Classroom Mindscapes: An Introduction to Neurodiversity for Educators" by @sarahesilverman.bsky.social "UDL at Scale: Whole-Campus Universal Design for Learning" by @thomasjtobin.bsky.social

It’s a clip show! I share some of the light bulb moments I have had while interviewing guests over the years. And why those moments have stuck with me and continue to influence my work. 

When I launched the Intentional Teaching podcast, I used three digits to label my audio files--001, 002, and so on. Well, today I've earned that third digit! It's my 100th episode! intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...

I interviewed Keep the Faith designer @gregisonthego.bsky.social on the podcast last year about this storytelling game. We had a great conversation about the parallels between game design and learning design! Glad to finally try out Keep the Faith. www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...

We hear about AI misuse almost exclusively from the perspective of faculty in Higher Edu. Our students have agency to use or avoid AI and are capable of exercising it. I'm glad my former student talked about her experience dealing with AI detection with The Chronicle. 1/2

Managed to pick up two lifers at Radnor Lake today, both of whom decided to pose (very briefly) for my camera. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo and a Blue-headed Vireo!

Gonna make a point so important in tomorrow's presentation that I typeset it in Rockwell Extra Bold.

ICYMI, on Friday I shared some thoughts on how to scale AI-aware teaching from individual courses to whole campuses, leveraging what I've figured out about faculty development after 20 years on the job. Consider this my addendum to that MIT AI report. derekbruff.org/2026/10/02/s...

What does it take to help an entire faculty learn and adopt new teaching practices? Inspired by that MIT AI report, on the blog I share three principles for faculty development needed to scale AI-aware teaching from individual courses to an entire campus. derekbruff.org/2026/10/02/s...

What does it take to help an entire faculty learn and adopt new teaching practices? Inspired by that MIT AI report, on the blog I share three principles for faculty development needed to scale AI-aware teaching from individual courses to an entire campus. derekbruff.org/2026/10/02/s...

On my board game podcast today, I take a deep dive into the design of games that work across diverse ages and cognitive abilities with Dylan Kistler, a colleague from my Vanderbilt days. Dylan's new company, Kistler Games, specializes in such games! firstplayertoken.buzzsprout.com/2292265/epis...

We had at least a dozen of these scholars at Vanderbilt back in the day! HASTAC was an incredible networking opportunity for our graduate students, especially those with an interest in the digital humanities. 

The first two episodes are out, and I'm looking forward to listening. @anya1anya.bsky.social does great work, and this is an important topic.

Yeah, because this approach to grading sure has held back MIT over the years. 🫠

I love that Jack Smith reacts like a totally normal person. You can see him thinking, “Um, yeah, I would have to check my Google Calendar.”

Here’s some swag I haven’t received before—a robot-shaped stress ball from the Vandy School of Nursing’s AI initiative!

Y’all, Vanderbilt School of Nursing is having me in for a talk, and they ordered piles of the new book! @anetv.bsky.social @marcwatkins.bsky.social

Some of yesterday’s birds from Sarapiqui, Costa Rica. Three of these belong to families that don’t even appear in Tennessee! #birding

Time for more birds from Costa Rica! I think I’ve picked up 75 lifers this trip. #birding

First installment of photos from my Costa Rica #birding trip!

We've been developing promising practices for responding to AI at the course level, but what about at the curricular level? Today on the podcast, we hear how UC Berkeley Public Health has been defining program-level AI competencies. intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...

Physical copies of The Norton Guide To AI-Aware teaching have arrived! @derekbruff.bsky.social @anetv.bsky.social, and I wrote about approaches teachers can use to raise awareness about AI’s impact on learning. The guide is loaded with ideas to help students learn about AI, without AI, and with AI.

That time we had a four-day weekend and I had never been to Maine so we drove to Maine and back

I'm not really sure I could finish writing a book chapter without the soundtrack from Battlestar Galatica.

So Auburn's board decided this summer that they will have primary responsibility for the curriculum, even though (a) they lack the curricular expertise that faculty have and (b) Auburn's accreditor (SACS) requires faculty to have that responsibility. Things are not well at Auburn.

Episode 100 of my Intentional Teaching podcast is right around the corner! I would love your help making it a special one. What’s one idea or example or question or quote from an Intentional Teaching episode that you keep thinking about? Send me a message, email, or voice mail!

Fixing up the transcript for last week's episode. I thought that the acronym TEK was a challenge--AI transcribed it as "tech" about a hundred times in the episode--then I got to the Schitts Creek reference. #facepalm

TIL that I don't have to live with Windows Explorer's default column headings for folders full of MP3s. I knew you could edit columns for a specific folder--I didn't know you could apply to all folders with MP3s. Because my podcast recordings don't need "Album" or "Contributing Artists" columns!

How can humanities courseshelp students develop the durable skills--communication, collaboration, adaptability--that employers want? Today on the podcast, I talk with three U. Kentucky faculty who have an answer to that question! Listen here: intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...

The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching by is now available as an ebook and later in September as a paperback! @anetv.bsky.social and @marcwatkins.bsky.social and I have pulled together teaching principles and practical examples to help you adapt to a world with AI. More info: derekbruff.org/books/

“Over the past few years I’ve watched resentment grow as students complain that the things they’re learning to do at university are becoming increasingly detached from the external reality of the world of work.” generativehistory.substack.com/p/no-more-mu...

In today's Tea for Teaching podcast, @sarahesilverman.bsky.social discusses her new book, Classroom Mindscapes: An Introduction to Neurodiversity for Educators, which addesses strategies for supporting neurodivergent students. teaforteaching.podbean.com/e/classroom-... @cyberthread.bsky.social