I believe many of the problems we call motivation problems, technology problems, or achievement gaps are really design problems wearing other names. This is an argument I have spent most of my career testing, first in the classroom, then leading an online division, and now working with institutions nationally. Nothing I have seen has moved me away from it. When a course is built around one kind of student’s assumptions and experiences, students who don’t fit that model hit barriers the course was never tested against. Sometimes the problem isn’t the student. It’s what we designed and what we assumed when we designed it.
My dissertation looked at whether course structure itself changes how deeply students engage with difficult ideas, not just whether they complete assignments. What has stayed with me is how much of what we attribute to student effort can actually be traced back to structural choices made long before a student ever logs in. That reframing changed how I think about my job. Teaching well, especially at scale, means anticipating where a course may break for students who weren’t at the center of its design and building deliberately so that it doesn’t.
That does not mean making learning easier. Good design should allow us to ask more of students because we are clearer about what matters and more intentional about how they get there. Rigor should come from the intellectual work we ask students to do, not from their ability to decipher our expectations, navigate unnecessary complexity, or already know how higher education works. A well-designed course makes the challenge clear and gives students a meaningful opportunity to meet it.
Technology is part of that design, but I have never believed technology itself transforms teaching. I have spent much of my career working at the intersection of teaching and technology, and that experience has made me more skeptical of technology for technology’s sake, not less. A new platform, tool, or AI capability matters only if it helps us create a better learning experience, gives students better opportunities to practice and demonstrate what they know, or gives faculty better evidence on which to make decisions. The question should not begin with what the technology can do. It should begin with what we are trying to help students learn.
Generative AI has made that distinction even more important. If an assignment can be completed successfully by producing something that merely looks like evidence of learning, AI may be exposing a weakness that was already there. My response is not to retreat from technology or try to recreate a classroom that existed before it. It is to ask harder questions about what counts as evidence of learning in the first place. What do I actually need a student to know or be able to do? What evidence would convince me that they can do it? And what judgment am I making from that evidence?
Those questions shape how I think about assessment as well. I am less interested in whether students can reproduce information than in whether they can use what they know, explain their reasoning, make decisions, and apply ideas in contexts that do not look exactly like the examples they were given. Assessment should give students opportunities to practice those things and give faculty meaningful evidence of learning. When it does neither, we should be willing to reconsider the assessment rather than assume the problem lies with the student.
Ultimately, my teaching philosophy is grounded in the belief that faculty have enormous influence over the conditions in which learning happens. We cannot control every variable a student brings into a course, and good design cannot guarantee that every student will succeed. But we can examine the assumptions built into our courses. We can be deliberate about the evidence we ask students to produce. We can use technology where it improves learning rather than simply because it is available. And we can continually ask whether the learning environment we designed is actually doing what we intended it to do.
For me, that is the work of teaching: design deliberately, look carefully at the evidence students give us, and use our judgment to make the experience better the next time.
Louder, J. R. (in production). Building a Framework for Institutional and Industry Collaboration in STEM Microcredential Development. In Moore, R.L. and Crippen, K.J. (eds). Mapping the STEM Microcredential Landscape, Volume 1: Frameworks, Applications, and Future Directions. Springer
Louder, J. R. (2025). Building micro-credential frameworks: A strategic approach for institutional success. TxDLA Journal of Digital Learning, 6, Article 6. https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/txdla_jdl/vol6/iss1/6
Louder, J. R. (2025, November 17). Faculty are ready for workforce alignment. Institutional leaders must be, too. University Business. https://universitybusiness.com/faculty-are-ready-for-workforce-alignment-institutional-leaders-must-be-too/
Louder, J. R. (2025, August 21). Teaching the future: How AI can empower every student. Tech for Good. https://www.techforgood.net/thoughtleadership/teaching-the-future-how-ai-can-empower-every-student
Authority Magazine Editorial Staff. (2025, July 21). Education Revolution: Dr Justin Louder of Anthology on innovative approaches that are transforming education. Authority Magazine. Medium. Retrieved from: http://bit.ly/40NoYbi
Louder, J. (2025). Elevating community college success through technology: A strategic imperative. Trustee Quarterly, Winter 2025, 33. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3TG8Y7p
Louder, J. R. (in press). Stackable/micro-credentials: Bridging education and employment in international applications. In A. Wiseman & J. McNaughtan (Eds.), The Emerald Handbook on International Higher Education: Navigating Workforce and Leadership Changes in a Digital Age. Emerald Publishing.
Louder, J. R. (2024, December 6). Unlocking AI’s potential in higher education. EdSurge. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-12-06-unlocking-ai-s-potential-in-higher-education
Louder, J. R. (2024, October 16). Mobile phones: A distraction or a key resource? EdTech Digest. https://www.edtechdigest.com/2024/10/16/mobile-phones-a-distraction-or-a-key-resource/
Louder, J. R. (2024, April 9). Higher ed guardrails: Leveraging AI for teaching and learning. eCampus News. https://www.ecampusnews.com/teaching-learning/2024/04/09/higher-ed-guardrails-leverage-ai/
Louder, J. R. (2023, December 22). The power of lifelong learning: Embracing education in a rapidly changing world. Retrieved from https://www.anthology.com/blog/the-power-of-lifelong-learning-embracing-education-in-a-rapidly-changing-world
Louder, J. R. (2023, December 5). The benefits of hybrid learning: A modern approach to education. Retrieved from https://www.anthology.com/blog/the-benefits-of-hybrid-learning-a-modern-approach-to-education
Louder, J. R. (2023, October 31). Transforming teaching and learning experiences with emerging technology. Retrieved from https://www.anthology.com/blog/transforming-teaching-and-learning-experiences-with-emerging-technologies
Louder, J. R. (2023, October 4). Responsive institutions: The key to student success in the digital age. Retrieved from https://www.anthology.com/blog/responsive-institutions-the-key-to-student-success-in-the-digital-age.
Louder, J. R. (2023, October 2). Adapting curriculum for the AI-Driven economy. Retrieved from https://www.anthology.com/blog/adapting-curriculum-for-the-ai-driven-economy
Louder, J. R. (2023, April 4). Trauma-informed teaching: Creating a community of compassion and inclusion. University Business. Retrieved from https://universitybusiness.com/trauma-informed-teaching-creating-a-community-of-compassion-and-inclusion/
Louder, J. R. (2023, March 30). The future of AI in education: How will it transform learning? Anthology. Retrieved from https://www.anthology.com/blog/the-future-of-ai-in-education-how-will-it-transform-learning
Louder, J. R. (2023, March 15). Building a Microcredential Program Framework to Meet the Needs of a Changing Academic Landscape. Campus Technology. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2023/03/15/building-a-microcredential-program-framework-to-meet-the-needs-of-a-changing-academic-landscape.aspx
Louder, J. R. (2023, March 9). Teaching in the AI-powered future. Anthology. Retrieved from https://www.anthology.com/blog/teaching-in-the-ai-powered-future
Paton, V. O., Louder, J. (2022). Assessment of Co-curricular Support in Predominantly Online Learning Environments. Student Affairs Assessments: Building on the past, navigating the present, envisioning the future, Mitchell, A. A. and Dixon, K. M. (editors)
Louder, J. R., Tapp, S., Phillippe, L. K., & Luft, J. (2016). Technology review: Video captioning software to help comply with ADA accessibility requirements. The Community College Enterprise, 22(1), 71-75.
Schmidt, M. & Louder, J. (2013, February). Perception of consequences for academic dishonesty: A mixed method study. Paper presented at the 2013 Association of Practical and Professional Ethics Conference, San Antonio, Texas.
Louder, J. & Schmidt, M. (2013, February). Assessing student understanding of academic integrity. Paper presented at the 2013 Southwest Educational Research Association Conference, San Antonio, Texas.
Louder, J., Maushak, N., Crooks, S., Jones, S. J., & Lan, W. (2012, February). Graduate student’s preference toward strong instructor support over peer-to-peer collaboration in online courses. Paper presented at the Global Conference on Technology, Innovation, Media & Education (Global TIME), Virtual Conference.
Louder, J., Hughes, J., Paton, V.O., & McKenzie, K. (2011, December). After the Quality Enhancement Plan: Creating and Sustaining QEP Initiatives. Paper presented at the annual conference for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on College (SACS COC), Orlando, Florida.
Louder, J., Maushak, N., Crooks, S., Jones, S. J., & Lan, W. (2011, October). Graduate student’s preference toward strong instructor support over peer to peer collaboration in online courses. Paper presented at the annual international meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Louder, J., Canham, A., & Sattler, S. (2011, October). Fostering Climate Change on Campus. Paper presented at the 2011 International Center for Academic Integrity Conference: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Revisiting & Reviving the Fundamental Values of Integrity, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.