PRE-VIEWING EXERCISE
Download any of the reflection images for this cycle and spend a few minutes looking at it without rushing to interpret it. What does it say to you about change, stability, or the illusion that everything is “normal” when it really isn’t? Share your first impressions with the group.
DURING VIEWING
Read the "about this video" section to gain some context. When ready to watch, Turn off the lights and give the video your full attention. Jean De Oliveira’s music is woven into the rhythm of the edit, and he even appears in the piece, so volume matters. If you split your attention with your phone or email, you will miss the tonal shifts that set up the activity. Treat it like a short documentary with a pulse; let it pull you in.
ABOUT THIS VIDEO
I learned about Patricia Rodrigues through her papers on transmedia learning, where she presented her experience creating Connecting Cat, a wildly imaginative and simply brilliant project that, while designed to help students learn English, was really a justification to encourage them to strengthen their digital literacy and develop essential outcomes such as storytelling, creative thinking, and more. Oh yeah, that’s the type of person I like. People who can go beyond what we understand as the norm, who are unafraid of mixing strategies to push our minds into places we can reach, but are rarely encouraged to explore through traditional education. Knowing she was from Portugal made it even better, since it’s one of my favorite countries in the world. There she was, quietly developing her new transmedia masterpiece, using language learning as an excuse to help students actively understand AI. Visiting her was a must!
Patricia is a rare scholar, one that is even harder to find inside the walls of academia. Inside our universities, things tend to work in silos. I do this, you do that, we meet here and there, but we are essentially living in different worlds. What a waste of time that is, especially in the face of the AI revolution happening right in front of us. The world has changed. Lines are blurred. Systems that can write a book can also write code, solve complex equations, and help you refine your next soufflé recipe. Specialization still matters (doctors should be good doctors, pilots should be good pilots) but each of us now has access to assistants that can help us look at any issue from a full 360 perspective. And if computers can instantly help us understand other languages, is language learning still the main objective, or is the real goal learning how to communicate with people who speak those languages by understanding their cultures from within, and by having something meaningful to say back?
This cycle is about embracing the fact that things change, and therefore the way we approach life - and definitely the way we approach higher education - has to change too. Maybe it means more active learning. Maybe it means seeing universities as service centers that solve real problems for their communities. Maybe it is about rethinking how students learn in an era where simple papers can be written with an AI assistant in seconds. To explore this, I bring in multiple perspectives: Patricia’s, of course, as well as those of visionary scholar Cindy Royal and Texas State University Provost Dr. Pranesh Aswath. And one of the most interesting reflections comes from students, such as Soheil Balklja (good luck finding his real name), who sees the urgency of change far more clearly than many tenured faculty who want to keep everything exactly as it is, even while the world is changing all around them.
For the post-viewing activity, I ask you to take on the role of the instructor and design new ways of learning with this changed world in mind. Read the directions below and, please, don’t be afraid to break things, fail, or look like an idiot. That’s what embracing change is all about. If only academics embraced that!. As a bonus, you can download one of Patricia’s recent papers on AI.
POST-VIEWING EXERCISE
Now step into the role of the instructor. Choose a course you teach or know well and redesign two major assignments for a world where everything has changed, even if the classroom still looks the same. Use AI intentionally as part of the design, not as a shortcut and not as the enemy. Once you create your two assignments, pair up with someone else and refine them together. Each pair should leave with two polished ideas that feel bold, relevant, and intentionally crafted for this strange new reality we all inhabit. These assignments will eventually join the collective handbook your group is building, so commit to the process and allow yourself to experiment.
PARTICIPANTS
Independent Scholar and Transmedia Creator.
Dr. Patricia Rodrigues
Dr. Patricia Rodrigues is a learning experience designer and researcher with a PhD in Digital Media Arts, specializing in transmedia storytelling and its applications in education. With a background as an EFL teacher, trainer, and online tutor, she focuses on creating immersive learning environments that help students build language fluency while navigating contemporary media landscapes. Her work blends narrative design, digital literacy, and educational technology, offering educators new ways to integrate cross-platform storytelling and AI-supported creativity into their practice. Patricia is committed to helping teachers rethink pedagogy for a world shaped by rapid technological change, sharing her expertise with those seeking to design richer, more meaningful learning experiences.
PhD Candidate Texas State department of Adult Professional & Community Education
Soheil Behdarvandirad
Soheil Behdarvandirad is a doctoral candidate in the Adult, Professional and Community Education program at Texas State University, where he also serves as a doctoral research assistant in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education and School Psychology. His work focuses on adult English language education, applied linguistics, and the study of learning processes through empirical and systems-based approaches. His recent scholarship includes research on second-language acquisition through complex dynamic systems theory, examining how language learning emerges through patterns, variability, and nonlinear development. He also explores how digital tools and AI-mediated environments are reshaping research methods and instructional practices in higher education.
Professor/ Regents' Teacher - School of Jrnlism & Mass Comm Texas State University
Dr. Cindy Royal
Dr. Cindy L. Royal is a Professor in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Texas State University, where she teaches digital and data-driven media skills and concepts. She earned her Ph.D. in Journalism and Mass Communication from University of Texas at Austin in 2005. Her research focuses on data journalism, media product management, artificial intelligence, and coding education. Dr. Royal has received numerous teaching and service awards, including Texas State’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Service and the AEJMC/Scripps Howard Journalism Teacher of the Year award.
Lecturer @ Fontys
Pieter Wels
Pieter Wels is a lecturer and design researcher at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, where he works within ICT and Open Learning, guiding students as they experiment with new technologies, storytelling and media. He is also a partner at studio welgeen, a design practice he shares with collaborator Chris Geene, where they explore the intersections of art, design and artificial intelligence through playful, critical projects. At Fontys ICT InnovationLab, Wels focuses on how AI reshapes creative processes and learning environments, encouraging students to question tools, embrace experimentation and treat technology as a medium rather than a destination
Provost and Executive Vice President at Texas State University
Dr. Pranesh Aswath
Dr. Pranesh B. Aswath serves as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Texas State University, a role he began in 2024 after more than three decades at the University of Texas at Arlington. A distinguished scholar in materials science and engineering, he has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles, supervised more than 20 doctoral students and 35 master’s students, and holds multiple patents as well as recognition as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Aswath earned bachelor’s degrees in physics and chemistry from St. Joseph’s College at Bangalore University, a bachelor’s in engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, and both his master’s and PhD in materials science from Brown University.
RESOURCES
Expand your knowledge and follow your curiosity!
Credits
PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Romina Olson
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Annelly Estrada
PRODUCER
Sergio Carvajal-Leoni
ANIMATIONS
Juan Olmedillo
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Jean de Oliveira
ACTORS
Sergio Carvajal-Leoni
Jose Carvajal
Gian Luke Carvajal-Olson
Romina Olson
Media usage disclaimer:
This video story is a non-profit educational effort; all media sampled and used conforms with fair use licensing (education). Several videos used are also in the public domain or licensed through Creative Commons attribution.
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