Inside BUV with Eric Newman

Inside BU Virtual offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people, ideas, and innovations that make Boston University’s online programs flexible, accessible, and impactful. Through candid Q&A conversations with staff, students, and faculty, this series highlights award-winning faculty who bring academic rigor and creative approaches to online learning, students’ experiences in virtual programs, and the ways these programs prepare learners to succeed in a rapidly evolving workforce. By reaching learners wherever they are and opening doors to new opportunities, BU Virtual, in collaboration with BU’s schools and colleges, helps expand access to transformative learning and drive meaningful impact in careers and communities.

Eric Newman: My path into learning design is a bit unconventional—I started in screenwriting and even co-wrote an episode of NYPD Blue. Film school taught me storytelling fundamentals like suspense, “planting and payoff,” and narrative structure—all of which show up in my course designs. Instructional design excites me because it combines creativity with real outcomes: transforming expertise into experiences that help learners practice, grow, and succeed.

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Eric Newman: AI finally allows us to make at-scale learning feel personal. Instructional design has long been strong at creating meaningful experiences for large groups, but making those experiences responsive to each learner has been difficult. When used thoughtfully, AI can provide targeted practice, coaching, and feedback, all grounded in clear learning goals and strong pedagogy. That said, my approach is always human-led. Faculty expertise and learning design strategy drive the work, and AI becomes a creative and production partner—helping us prototype, test, and refine experiences faster.

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Eric Newman: The most exciting applications are practical and learner-centered. AI can support students through role-play simulations, scenario-based branching activities, interview practice, and coaching prompts to prepare for live sessions or assessments. It can also provide rubrics, generate personalized practice sets, and support multilingual learners. When designed intentionally, these tools don’t replace faculty or reduce rigor—they expand opportunities for practice and feedback, which is exactly what learners need.

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Eric Newman: Risks arise when AI is treated as a shortcut. The biggest is “generic-ifying” a course: using AI outputs without iteration often produces bland, surface-level content disconnected from what makes a BU program distinctive. Excellent results require craft, iteration, and clear standards. That’s why I insist on guardrails: keep humans in the loop, anchor everything to learning goals, and develop AI activities with strong context and faculty input. AI is powerful, but without direction, it smooths out the very expertise and personality we want students to experience.

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Eric Newman: Working with Questrom has been a true co-design process: faculty shape the academic core, and learning design translates that into an applied, interactive online experience. This program is simulation-driven, building AI fluency for business leaders. What makes it distinctive is the emphasis on decision-making in context. Instead of a traditional “learn, then quiz” approach, learners repeatedly enter realistic business scenarios, making choices about AI approaches, potential pitfalls, and responsible implementation. The curriculum moves from fundamentals to operationalization to strategy and governance, so students learn not just the tools, but how to evaluate, manage, and deploy AI in the real world.

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Q: What trends in online learning and AI are you most excited about over the next five years?

Eric Newman: Three trends stand out: First, agentic workflows — systems that coordinate multi-step tasks with clear guardrails will make it easier to build richer learning experiences and consistently support students. Second, I’m excited about personalized feedback at scale especially for authentic assessments like projects and applied writing, where students learn most from, timely and specific guidance. And third, interactive digital avatars — not as a novelty, but as a way to create practice opportunities that feel human—role-plays, coaching conversations, and scenario-based interactions students can repeat and improve over time.

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Eric Newman: Critical thinking and judgment—being able to evaluate outputs, spot weak reasoning, and decide what’s trustworthy. Also, a willingness to experiment, try, test, iterate, and a real commitment to creativity. The people who thrive with AI aren’t just using tools—they’re imagining better approaches, asking sharper questions, and learning through rapid cycles of practice and refinement.

About Eric Newman

Eric Newman is Associate Director of Academic Innovation at BU Virtual, collaborating with faculty across BU’s schools to develop innovative online programs. Since joining BU Virtual in 2024, he has supported programs such as the Online MBA and is now leading development of the soon-to-launch online AI in Business master’s program, also in collaboration with BU’s Questrom School of Business. Eric’s background spans instructional design, digital content development, and even screenwriting, bringing a unique blend of creativity and strategy to online education.