Ask an ID: Packback for Better Discussions and Smarter Grading
Dear Instructional Designer,
My pilot this semester is using AI to help with grading discussion boards. Do you have any tips for making the most of these functions? I’d also love to hear from others who have tried AI for managing discussions and would be open to sharing their experiences.
–Discussion Dynamo
Dear Discussion Dynamo,
I haven’t personally used AI for grading discussions in Blackboard, but I have had a lot of experience with a tool called Packback—have you heard of it? At ACC, it started with just a few faculty members, but they loved it so much that we now have a license for the whole college.
Packback is designed to encourage deeper student engagement in discussion-based assignments. Instead of simply answering prompts, students are coached by the AI to ask curiosity-driven, well-supported questions. As they write, Packback provides real-time feedback, nudging them toward stronger critical thinking and clearer support for their ideas. It even flags issues like low-effort posts or potential academic integrity concerns, giving students a chance to revise before submitting. This means the quality of the posts you receive is much higher before you ever start grading.
For faculty, this support translates into less time moderating and a smoother grading process. The AI helps surface the most insightful contributions and ensures posts meet the required standards. Once you get comfortable with the workflow, you may find you spend very little time grading because Packback’s structure guides students through the steps before their post is complete.
It does take a shift in how you think about discussions since the focus moves from students answering questions to asking them. But this shift can really pay off, especially in large classes or courses where participation and critical thinking are core outcomes. If more classes in a department adopted it, students would quickly become comfortable with the approach and faculty would benefit from easier-to-grade, higher-quality discussions.
Packback also includes a tool for essays that works with students as they draft, helping them improve their writing without doing the work for them. It’s a strong option if you’re looking to integrate AI into your teaching in a way that supports learning outcomes while reducing your workload.
Here are a couple of video resources if you’d like to learn more:
I hope this gives you a sense of how Packback can transform discussion into deeper learning opportunities for students while also simplifying grading for you.
With AI becoming such a big part of students’ lives, I’m not sure how to handle it in my classes. Should I ban it, allow it, or encourage students to use it? And how do I explain my approach clearly to students in my syllabus?
– Syllabus Strategist
Dear Syllabus Strategist,
Let’s talk about AI. It’s here, it’s evolving, and it’s already a part of our students’ lives. That’s why, as a college, we’ve decided to be proactive and create a framework for how we approach Artificial Intelligence in our classrooms.
You might be thinking, “Another thing to add to my syllabus?” I get it. But this isn’t just about adding a new rule; it’s about opening a dialogue with our students and thoughtfully integrating a technology that will undoubtedly shape their futures. This policy isn’t a top-down mandate. It was thoughtfully crafted by a committee of your peers—faculty and staff from across the college—who understand the realities of our classrooms.
So, how do you get started? Let’s break it down into a few simple steps. And to make it even easier, we’re going to use a simple and memorable “stoplight” model to guide your thinking. 🚦
Step 1: Reflect on Your Course
First things first, take a moment to think about your course. What are your core learning objectives? What skills are you trying to build in your students? Now, consider your assignments in that context. Ask yourself:
Where could AI be a helpful tool? Could it help students brainstorm, conduct initial research, or practice coding?
Where would AI get in the way of learning? Are there assignments where the goal is to assess a student’s individual writing, critical thinking, or problem-solving skills without outside assistance?
Could AI be used in a way that enhances the assignment? Perhaps students could use an AI image generator for a presentation or a grammar checker to polish their writing.
Jot down some initial thoughts. There are no right or wrong answers here—it’s all about what’s best for your students and your course.
Step 2: Choose Your Approach 🚦
Now that you’ve reflected on your course, it’s time to choose your approach. Think of it like a stoplight:
🔴 Red Light (Prohibited): For some assignments, you may decide that any use of AI is inappropriate. This is your “red light.” It’s a clear signal to students that the work must be entirely their own.
🟡 Yellow Light (Permitted with Conditions): You might decide that AI can be used, but with certain limitations or requirements. This is your “yellow light.” For example, you might allow students to use AI for brainstorming but not for writing their final draft. Or you may require them to cite their use of AI.
🟢 Green Light (Required or Encouraged): In some cases, you might want to actively encourage or even require students to use AI. This is your “green light.” This is a great option for assignments where you want students to learn how to use AI tools responsibly and effectively. I think it’s great to give your students a chance to get familiar with how to use AI tools responsibly because they are going to be a big part of the future.
Step 3: Craft Your Syllabus Statement ✍️
Now it’s time to put your policy in writing. A clear and concise syllabus statement is key to setting expectations from day one. If you’re new to AI, this is a great opportunity to experiment with a generative AI tool like Gemini. Here’s how:
Open your preferred AI chatbot (like Gemini).
Copy and paste the following prompt into the chat: I am a faculty member at Austin Community College, and I need to create a syllabus statement about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in my course. I have reviewed the college’s AI policy, which encourages faculty to choose a “prohibited,” “permitted,” or “required” approach.
Please help me draft a syllabus statement. I will provide you with the following information:
1. **My chosen approach:** [Choose one: Prohibited, Permitted, or Required]
2. **My rationale for this choice:** [Briefly explain why you chose this approach for your course]
3. **Specific guidelines or examples:** [List any specific rules, such as “You may use AI for brainstorming but not for writing your final paper,” or “You must cite any use of AI.”]
Based on my input, please generate a clear and friendly syllabus statement that I can include in my course materials.
Replace the bracketed information with your own. Be as specific as you can. The more detail you provide, the better the AI’s response will be.
Review and revise. The AI will give you a great starting point, but you’ll want to read it over and make sure it reflects your voice and the specific needs of your course.
Want another option? Our very own faculty member Herb Coleman has created a customAI Syllabus Statement Bot that’s designed just for this purpose. It’s fast, easy, and tailored to our college’s policy. (You’ll need a ChatGPT account to use it.)
Step 4: Plan a “Week 1” Conversation 🗣️
Your syllabus statement is a great start, but don’t stop there. Dedicate some time in the first week of class to have an open and honest conversation with your students about AI.
Explain your policy and your rationale.
Ask them about their own experiences with AI.
Answer their questions and address any concerns.
This proactive conversation can help prevent misunderstandings down the road and create a classroom culture of trust and transparency.
We’re Here to Help! 🤗
I know this is a new frontier for many of us, but you’re not in it alone. ACC is here to support you every step of the way. We offer:
Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs): Join a community of your peers to explore AI in education, share ideas, and learn from one another. FLC website
Sandbox Sessions: These informal sessions are a great place to experiment with AI tools in a supportive and low-stakes environment. Check out theFCLI website for upcoming dates and topics.
Instructional Designer 1:1 assistance: Our TLED Academic Technology Instructional Designers are happy to sit down with you in the Teaching and Learning Center or over Zoom to work with you on your policy and explore the options. Fill out our form here: Instructional Design Consultation Form
We’re excited to embark on this journey with you. Let’s work together to create a learning environment that embraces innovation while upholding academic integrity.
Panopto has released a new feature that is now available to ACC users: “Save As.” This option allows users to edit a video in the Panopto editor (trimming a video, for example) and then save the changes as a brand new video file. Users also have the ability to discard the trimmed content when saving the copy, keeping a full version of the original video intact.
More information, including step-by-step instructions on using the “Save as” feature, can be found in this article on the TLED Faculty Knowledge Base.
I have a lot of reading materials and student submissions I want to use for a literature review assignment but I’m struggling to organize everything and make it manageable. Any ideas on how to streamline this process?
-Overwhelmed Organizer
Dear Overwhelmed Organizer,
A tool you might find incredibly helpful is NotebookLM. It’s a research and organization tool that lets you upload your own materials, then uses AI to help you synthesize information, create outlines, and prepare resources. The beauty of NotebookLM is that it only pulls from your uploaded documents and footnotes exactly where it got the information so you stay in control of your sources.
For your literature review assignment, you could upload your readings and student submissions, then use NotebookLM to highlight key ideas, draft outlines, or even generate summaries that save you time without losing accuracy.
You can access NotebookLM here. To help you get started, I encourage you to check out this tutorial created by Dr. David McMurrey who teaches Business, Government & Technical Communications at ACC: Getting Started with NotebookLM.
I hope you find this tool helpful in taming large sets of materials while keeping the process transparent and manageable.
Explore Arun John’s proposal to integrate immersive virtual reality (VR) into humanities courses, examining themes such as disability and displacement. This white paper showcases how VR fosters student engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and deepens empathy to enrich learning in the digital age.
Explore how ACC’s Health Sciences Division is preparing students and faculty for an AI-driven future. In this white paper, Estrella Berrera outlines how this symposium united experts, educators, and students to examine AI trends, ethics, and hands-on applications in healthcare and education.
My students are working on Economic Research Projects. When they use the free Chat GPT, it is not enough, so they sometimes get kicked out before accomplishing their task. I want to avoid equity issues for the student who doesn’t own a subscription to OpenAI. So am looking for a free alternative to put all students on equal footing. Do ACC students have free access to Perplexity or another AI that is suitable for economic research?
-AI Instructor
Dear AI Instructor,
I got your request and I have some answers for you but the bigger answer is there is an GAI Strategic Planning Committee that is working on guidelines and investigating potential tools for ACC. As it is right now, ACC does not offer students any specific AI tools. However, there are quite a few free models that we have access to and combining them can get you pretty far.
First, you mentioned Perplexity and I have the free version of this tool. I use it extensively to find research materials and I haven’t hit the paywall yet. I would recommend to your students to use the Spaces feature to collect their research. Depending on what you are researching, users can also change the focus of the research to rely on academic sources, or social media sources, or the internet at large. These different focus areas change the results dramatically and can be very interesting.
Another tool that I recommend is Consensus which is an AI tool designed to search only academic papers. Like Perplexity, it footnotes every source it mentions with a link to the actual paper and it also creates academic citations.
Scispace has unlimited usage at the Basic level but it doesn’t do as thorough a job as the paid account. It’s similar to Consensus and only uses academic papers. The cool thing about this tool from a teaching POV is that it asks some clarifying questions to make sure it understands exactly what the user is looking for. It will then do a search and order its finding by relevance. Each paper will have an “Insights” column automatically added so I can see if the paper is applicable. I can make columns to quickly compare conclusions or methods of different papers to find exactly what I’m interested in.
You are definitely not alone in your concerns about student equity. I think these tools will all come at a price in the future and it could cause lots of harm to our students at that point. But right now, since all the tools are competing with each other and experimental, the free versions are really helpful and always provide more information than I can handle!
I hope this information addresses your question. If you need any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
I enjoy using Adobe tools in my classes but some of my students need more support with the software than I am able to provide. I know there are resources on the Adobe site but is there anything else available to students, like live training or one-on-one support, that I could offer to them? I really want my students to feel comfortable and confident in their learning and having a better grasp of the tools we are using would really help!
-Adobe Educator
Dear Adobe Educator,
I love that you are invested in your students’ success and making sure they have the technical knowledge they need! I reached out to Adobe on your behalf to determine what additional support might be available and here is what they shared:
Thank you for your message and for bringing awareness around these faculty inquiries. We recommend asking faculty or students to leverage the “Discover” section available in All Apps Pro, or checking out what’s available online, where they can search “How-to” videos, or find videos on the latest AI functionality for specific Adobe Apps.
We also offer Adobe Education Institute in-a-box among other great training resources and videos within our Creative Campus Marketing Portal’s “Training” tab (Login: Adobe / Password: Creativecampus).
Additionally, they’re always welcome to have an Admin Console Administrator for Austin CC log into the console to request an Expert Session covering a specific product and area of interest:
Request an Expert Session
To request an Expert Session, do the following:
In the Admin Console, navigate to Support > Support Summary.
Click Request Expert Session. The Request Expert Session window opens.
Alternatively, you can navigate to Support > Expert Sessions and click Request Expert Session.
Select a topic you would like to discuss.
Provide more details about your issue in the window that appears.
Details to be filled
Description
Specify a product
Specify the product that you would you like to learn more about. This option is not available if you’ve requested an Expert Session for administrators.
Session topic
Choose a session topic from the drop-down list.
Describe the nature of your request
Describe the issue in some detail, including the workflow that caused the issue.
Propose session times
Enter three preferred time slots when you’re available for a call. Session times must follow the criteria here to be able to submit the request.
Time zone
The time zone is populated by default, according to your system’s information.
Email
The email to which the session updates are sent is listed on the page.
Phone number
Enter your preferred contact number, including country and area codes.
Click Submit. An Expert Session is created, and a notification displays.
When you request an Expert Session, a case ID is assigned, and you can track its progress. All responses are updated to the case and are also sent by email.
Additionally, we’re holding monthly office hours sessions that may soon include informative sessions on specific Creative Cloud applications, in addition to other key topics of interest (they could join Open Office Hours or Teaching & Learning sessions):
Join us for 30 minutes each month to meet with people in similar roles at our partner institutions. Come with your questions! The first 10-15 minutes may include a brief presentation of a relevant hot topic.
IT Admins: 1st Wednesday each month
Teaching & Learning, Faculty, Academic focus: 2nd Wednesday each month
Career Services: 3rd Wednesday each month
Open Office Hours: 4th Wednesday each month
If the rare 5th Wednesday occurs, it will also be open office hours
All sessions will be held on Wednesdays at 10am PT / 11am MT / 12pm CT / 1pm ET at the address below:
They can create their own repeating Microsoft Teams meeting using this information (or defer to the instructions provide in our October Newsletter for more options):
Faculty, please note that ACC Zoom licenses are only available for employees, and students do not have College-issued Zoom accounts. Student Technology Services has recently received an influx of support requests from students who are unable to join Zoom meetings scheduled by instructors and staff.
When creating a Zoom meeting that involves student attendance, be sure that the meeting does not require authentication. Zoom Meetings that require authentication will not be accessible to students. Additionally, if students attempt to sign into Zoom using an ACC email address, they will receive an error message.
If you have questions about scheduling Zoom meetings, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team by submitting a Mojo Ticket.
I would like to create some e-learning modules for my students. I’m interested in using any e-learning software that might be helpful.
Thanks for your guidance! E-Learning Explorer
Dear E-Learning Explorer,
I’m thrilled to help you develop e-learning modules for your class and I’ve outlined the steps you can take to get started below:
Create a Course Map This will help outline the structure and content of your modules.You can access a sample course map here to get you started.
Develop Course Objectives Use Eduaide to craft objectives for your weekly modules, ensuring they align with your instructional goals. Reviewing your textbook can provide insight into the key areas to focus on.
Explore New Tools To enhance student engagement and learning, I recommend familiarizing yourself with the following tools:
Padlet (you must follow the directions on this page to get ACC sponsored access)
VoiceThread (you can see how to set up a VoiceThread assignment here)
These steps will set a solid foundation for creating effective and engaging e-learning experiences for your students. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. I have a wealth of materials on crafting course learning objectives that I’d be happy to share.
