The Horizon Learning Lab is a new university-wide initiative led by the Institute for Excellence in Teaching & Learning to explore how emerging technologies, tools, and new learning models can strengthen teaching and learning at Boston University. The Lab brings together collaborators from across BU — including BU Virtual, IS&T, faculty, academic leaders, and other partners — combining perspectives on pedagogy, technology, student experience, operations, and implementation.

At a time when new technologies and capabilities are emerging at unprecedented speed, the Lab will provide a front door for the focused exploration and evaluation of promising opportunities in teaching and learning. We want to encourage innovation and experimentation across BU while creating a more intentional way to examine select tools, technologies, and approaches with the potential for broader impact.

The goal is to focus on select areas where deeper exploration can help us understand emerging opportunities and inform future decisions. We will set priorities based on where focused evaluation can add the greatest value, working with partners from across BU and bringing together the right expertise for each area of exploration. The Lab is not intended to provide oversight of every technology or innovation underway at BU, but to create greater focus around opportunities that warrant deeper consideration.

The Lab will help us ask not simply what is possible, but where can new capabilities create meaningful and sustainable value?

Areas of Exploration

The Lab’s initial work will center on two complementary areas: AI in Teaching and Learning and the broader Learning Experience Ecosystem.

AI in Teaching & Learning

As AI capabilities continue to advance, the Lab will explore how emerging tools and approaches can support and reshape teaching and learning. This includes areas such as course and learning design, assessment and feedback, AI tutors, student engagement, faculty workflows, and other emerging applications.

The Learning Experience Ecosystem

The rapid growth of learning technologies has also created an increasingly complex ecosystem of platforms, tools, and capabilities. The Lab will examine how this broader environment can best support a high-quality, coherent learning experience across residential, online, and hybrid education.

From Exploration to Opportunity

Central to the Lab’s approach is a commitment to move beyond what is simply new or interesting. We will evaluate opportunities in the context of the teaching and learning challenges they are intended to address, the experiences and needs of faculty and students, their potential educational impact, and the resources and conditions required for successful and sustainable implementation.

If you are a faculty member or academic partner interested in an emerging technology, learning challenge, or new approach that you believe warrants deeper exploration, we want to hear from you. Horizon Learning Lab provides a place to bring forward ideas, questions, and opportunities that may benefit from collaborative exploration and evaluation.

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