2025 Conference Resources
Conference Resources at Your Fingertips!
Explore resources below from this year’s HILT Conference "Learning Now: Strategies for a Changing Landscape," including session recordings, photos from the day's event, session presentation slides, and additional supporting materials.
Please visit the 2025 HILT Conference Playlist on The Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning (VPAL) YouTube Channel to view all conference recordings.
Questions? Please reach out to us at hilt@harvard.edu
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Conference Media Coverage:
Welcome remarks and Morning Plenary
Dustin Tingley, Interim Vice Provost for Advances in Learning, opened this year’s HILT Conference with welcoming remarks that set the tone for a day of reflection and discovery.
Following the opening, esteemed speakers from across the University led the morning plenary session, From Grades to Growth: Cultivating Intrinsic Motivation for Learning. The session explored how effortful learning and productive struggle foster motivation and drive transformative educational experiences.
Plenary speakers included Jal Mehta (Professor of Education, HGSE), Todd Rogers (Weatherhead Professor of Public Policy, HKS), and Karen Thornber (Harry Tuchman Levin Professor in Literature; Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations; Harvard College Professor; Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, FAS). The session was moderated by David Deming (Danoff Dean of Harvard College; Professor of Economics, FAS; Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy and Professor of Economics, HKS; Professor of Education and Economics, HGSE).
Click the links below to view both session recordings.
Breakout session recordings & materials below
For more details on this year's conference breakout sessions, please visit the 2025 Concurrent Breakout Sessions page.
Behind the Screens: Technology in Just-In-Time Online Learning
This session highlights how tools and technologies can enhance online and blended learning by balancing speed, scale, and cost. Participants will explore innovative solutions, from LXP platform features to multimedia development, offering practical insights for creating impactful learning experiences at scale.
Featuring: Mary Clarke, Managing Director, Content Production (HBS Online); Ian Tosh, Director of Academic Technology Services and Operations (HUIT); Jen Dee, Digital Accessibility Officer (FAS); Chris Linnane, Senior Creative Director (HBS Online); Alyshia Keys-Harris, Learning Designer (HGSE).
Beyond Checking the Box: From Participation to Engagement
This interactive session examines the role of participation grades, exploring how common methods align with learning goals and student needs. Participants will consider the strengths and biases of participation strategies and explore ways to give students more agency in their engagement.
Featuring: Sejal Vashi, Director of Learning Design and Instructional Support; Instructor (HSPH); Allison Pingree, Associate Director, Instructional Support and Development (HGSE); Luke Miratrix, Professor of Education (HGSE); Aisha Yousafzai, Professor of Child Development and Health (HSPH).
Beyond Information: Empowering Students and Educators in an Age of Knowledge Abundance
This session explores how educators can go beyond teaching content to foster discernment, agency, and creativity in today’s information-rich world. Through faculty reflections and dialogue, participants will examine how to empower students to navigate, understand, and contribute meaningfully in complex, evolving contexts.
Featuring: Gloria Tam, Instructor (DCE); Sarah Grafman, Director of Short-Form Content (VPAL); Edward Clapp, Research Associate (HGSE); Gloria Tam, Instructor (DCE); Jeff Wilson, Director of the Harvard Law School Writing Center (HLS).
Debating the Future of Learning: A Session with the Harvard Debate Council
This session demonstrates how debate and debate exercises can be used as active learning tools in the classroom. Participants will explore the basics of argumentation, watch a live debate, and engage in a discussion with the debaters and moderators.
Featuring: Tripp Rebrovick, Coach of Debate; Director of the Harvard Debate Council (FAS); Jazmine Pickens, Assistant Director of the Harvard Debate Council (FAS); LaTonya Starks, Assistant Director of Administration and Assistant Coach at the Harvard Debate Council (FAS); Members of the Harvard Debate Council, Michi Synn, Student at Harvard College (FAS), and Dora Chen, Student at Harvard College (FAS)
Discovery and Discomfort: Facilitating Productive Disagreement
This hands-on session equips participants with strategies to foster productive, respectful dialogue across differences in the classroom. Through real scenarios and small-group activities, attendees will explore ways to create inclusive norms and manage tense conversations, making civil discourse a sustainable part of teaching.
Featuring: Erin Baumann, Senior Associate Director of Professional Pedagogy (HKS); Matthew Sohm, Assistant Director, Civil Discourse and Classroom Culture, Lecturer on History and Literature (FAS); Hannah Waits, Postdoctoral Fellow in Civil Discourse (FAS); Anthony Foxx, Emma Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Director, Center for Public Leadership, (HKS); Ned Hall, Norman E. Vuilleumier Professor of Philosophy and Director of Undergraduate Studies (FAS); Rachel Viscomi, Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinic (HLS).
Engaged, Not Exhausted: Active Learning That Galvanizes Attention and Energy
This session explores active learning strategies that prioritize student agency while supporting educator well-being and energy. Participants will gain practical, manageable approaches to designing and facilitating engaging learning experiences that feel both effective and restorative.
Featuring: Chloe Chapin, Assistant Director, Course Development at the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning (FAS); David Ginnings, Associate Director of Learning Design; Instructor (HSPH); Bonnie Blanchfield, Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management (HSPH); Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof, Professor of History (FAS); Gregg Meyer, Professor of Medicine (HMS); Matthew Miller, Senior Lecturer on Education and Senior Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching (HGSE).
Fostering Community Across Learning Modalities
This interactive session explores practical strategies for fostering community, connection, and psychological safety in hybrid and online learning environments. Participants will examine common barriers, engage with low-lift approaches and tools, and draft a personalized plan to strengthen social presence in their own course design.
Featuring: Victoria Quamme Rhoden, Associate Director, Online Learning and Education (GSD); Adrienne Phelps-Coco, Director of the Program in General Education (FAS); Alexandra Sedlovskaya, Associate Director, Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning (HBS); Natalie Slopen, Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences (HSPH).
Redesigning Assignments in the Age of AI
This session guides participants in thoughtfully integrating Generative AI tools into assignments based on course learning goals. Through reflections and concrete examples, participants will explore how to balance AI use with academic integrity, while reimagining assignments to enhance student agency and skill development.
Featuring: Esther Kotecha, Associate Director for Teaching and Learning Technologies (HMS); Mae Klinger, Associate Director of Teaching and Learning Innovation (HKS); Teddy Svoronos, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy(HKS); Tari Tan, Assistant Dean for Educational Scholarship and Innovation; Lecturer on Neurobiology (HMS).
Lightning Round Showcase
This lightning round showcase offered a quick glimpse into the innovative work shaping teaching and learning at Harvard. During this afternoon session, presenters had three minutes to share a teaching and learning program, project, or resource they're working on from across the University. Click the cards below to view each presentation recording from this year's conference.
Accessible Teaching at Harvard (PAIF Grant)
By Kate Higgins, Associate Director, University Disability Resources (CADM) and Leora Simon, Director, Accessibility Services Office (DCE).
The Bok Center AI Lab: Using AI to Build a Community of Practice
By Marlon Kuzmick, Director of the Learning Lab (FAS) and Madeleine Woods, Project Lead of AI Initiatives (FAS).
Convu Peer Coaching Initiatives
By Barbara Best, Executive Director, Convu.
Co-designing Faculty Facing AI: Partnerships in Course Innovation
By Woden Teachout, PhD, Manager of Faculty Development (DCE).
Making AI Thinking Visible
By Dan Be Kim, Researcher, Center for Digital Thriving (HGSE).
Digital Latin Project
By Katherine Porter, Product Manager in Academic Technology (HUIT).
HUBot
By David Heitmeyer, Director of Academic Platform Development (HUIT).
Intellectual Vitality at Harvard
By Ari Kohn '26 and Jack Flanigan '27.
Curating and Developing Pedagogical Resources for Fostering Civil Discourse
By Tomer Perry, Safra Center Associate Director of Pedagogy (FAS).
Curious Kits
By Leonardo Gomez, Director for Active Learning, Electrical Engineering (SEAS).
An approach to teaching comparative education policy
By Fernando Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of Practice in International Education (HGSE).
AI & Animations at the Data Wise Learning Institute
By Sean Snyder, Multimedia Producer with the HGSE Teaching and Learning Lab (HGSE)
