Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on AI tools and assignments for college professors and students.
By now, many of you have started your semesters. I hope it’s going well. For those of you about to start an academic quarter after Labor Day, best of luck squeezing everything into 10 weeks. Can you tell I prefer semesters over quarters?
Here are some more tools to help you prepare and execute this Fall. Suggestions? Let me know.
Gamma
Good slide-building tool. Free with paid upgrades.Lucid
Whiteboarding toolGenially
Add hotspots to images. Free tool.Figjam
Interactive brainstorming tool. Free with paid upgradesPadlet
Digital bulletin board and sandbox for brainstormingCult of Pedagogy: Catch Them Learning – A Pathway to Academic Integrity in the Age of AI
University-Wide AI Policies
Policies from several universities on this Padlet.Zoomcorder
Zoomcorder.com gives power to people to record Zoom and other video meetings without being at their PC or phone. Simply enter a meeting URL and a recording of the meeting is sent to watch at any convenience time on a phone or PC like a YouTube video.Grain
Record and transcribe Zoom meetings.Loom
Screencast in your browser with the Chrome plug-in.Scribe
This tool automates the creation of how-to guides via a desktop app or Chrome extension. Users follow a process on the web or in tools they use, this app records clicks and keystrokes and turns it into a guide with text and images. Guides can be shared internally or externally, and embedded in web pages or wikis. This tool is helpful for educators who create digital tools guides, and community- and solutions-focused journalists can speed the document creation process to better help their audiences.Butter
Alternative to Zoom for meeting hosting and teaching.Gogle also has two outstanding introductory training programs: one targeted specifically to educators and another more to journalists:
Google: Introduction to AI for Journalists
And here are a few gems shared by Jeremy Caplan of Wonder Tools at the Online News Assocation 2025 convention last week:Chronicle
AI slide-creation toolKosmik
Moodboard/note-taking/browser that allows you to collect things to save and create something with it.Eddie AI
Edit video with prompts. It will work with Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, etc., but also as a prompt-driven editor.Fathom.ai
Create meeting summaries using AI
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Textbooks
The Journalist’s Toolbox
My new book, “The Journalist’s Toolbox A Guide to Digital Reporting and AI” is available here,
Data + Journalism
Samantha Sunne and I co-authored a textbook, “Data + Journalism” that’s available on Routledge. (Order here). It’s an introductory- to intermediate-level guide to learning data storytelling from A to Z. It’s good for newsrooms and classrooms.
In Quotes …
“Don’t let tech lead us [media outlets and journalists]. We have a live voice in this next technology, but we’re not standing up to the tech companies. We need to recognize our role and lead.
“I might get in trouble for saying this: ‘Do we have the right leadership in news?’ We’re too defensive. We need leadership that is open-minded and ambitious [with AI].” - Ricky Sutton, Future Media, at ONA 25 conference talk on generative engine optimization (GEO)
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