Abstract:

Oral instruction remains the predominant teaching method in Higher Education, whether asynchronous or synchronous. However, challenges with concentrating, processing information and capturing notes have a limiting effect on students’ ability to learn from them.

Learning is a process, not a single event. In order to study effectively, a learner needs to be able to capture information from class, encode its significance, and then store it for recall. Glean’s 2023 study of 1200 learners found that only 41% believed they could easily engage with a lecture.

This presentation will introduce Glean, an AI-powered note taking app designed to help students with executive functioning challenges to study effectively and independently from lectures. Unlike other AI tools which can bypass the learning process, Glean supports engagement during class while enabling learners to study from the content in their own time when they get home. Glean facilitates active learning from content through the creation of personal, multimedia notes which are an effective way to synthesize and encode information. Glean also has functionality which supports study skills development and retrieval practice, such as self quizzes.

Glean has been designed following extensive research and with over a decade’s experience working directly with learners with distinct learning challenges. It addresses the barriers inherent in the lecture environment which stop learners from taking meaningful notes and is designed to minimize cognitive load while performing any given task. As such, it is used globally as an accessible technology to create a more inclusive learning environment supporting neurodiverse learners, those with mental health challenges, international students and more.

In this session I will outline learnings from our user research and explain how the Glean app has been designed to meet the needs of both students and educators.

Keywords:

Technology, AI, inclusivity, UDL, lectures, note taking, effective learning, study skills, neurodiversity.