*This message is cross-posted. I'm resharing this message because I think all the librarians out there would agree that this topic is a big one for those balancing teaching critical thinking skills with AI use. Heather Blicher CCCOER Director ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Karen Cangialosi <kcangial@gmail.com> Date: Monday, February 9, 2026 at 1:29:28 PM UTC-5 Subject: Dr. Allison Lester - on open pedagogy and AI To: CCCOER Advisory <cccoer-advisory@googlegroups.com> The RIOS Institute <https://qubeshub.org/community/groups/rios> invites you to join our next Brew and Banter session with Dr. Allison Lester from Arizona State University <https://qubeshub.org/community/groups/rios/other_projects/brew_and_banter> on *Friday, Feb 27 at 3:00 PM ET.* Co-Creating with AI to Enhance Critical Thinking As generative AI reshapes higher education, many instructors are responding with tighter rules and greater surveillance. This session offers a different entry point. Drawing on classroom-based inquiry and open pedagogical practices, it explores how co-creating with AI can strengthen critical thinking when learning environments are built on trust, shared norms, and student authorship. Rather than focusing on rules or detection, the session highlights co-creating AI policy with students as a meaningful learning activity. Participants will see how shared agreements about AI use can open space for ethical reflection, student voice, and deeper engagement. Through classroom examples, the session illustrates how students use AI to build tools and projects, encounter ethical challenges, and return to collective norms around verification, responsibility, and judgment. Designed for higher education faculty across disciplines, this session offers practical strategies and a clear framework for integrating AI in ways that align with existing teaching values and support thoughtful, student-centered learning. Register Here <https://bates.zoom.us/meeting/register/zR9hJsAKR0yqPw_Wyccfsg#/registration> RIOS Brew & Banter sessions are free and open to the public. For questions or more information, Please contact Karen Cangialosi, kcan...@keene.edu or kcan...@gmail.com Hope to see you there! Karen -- Karen R. Cangialosi, PhD RIOS Institute, Director Open Ed & Open Science Professor of Biology, emeritus, Keene State College https://karencang.net *“All power-holders, even the most ruthless and corrupt, rely on the consent and cooperation of ordinary people” *-Maria J. Stephan