Derek Bruff
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derekbruff.bsky.social
Derek Bruff
@derekbruff.bsky.social
3.1K followers 330 following 2.2K posts
Educator, author, consultant. Associate director at the University of Virginia Center for Teaching Excellence. Author of Intentional Tech from West Virginia University Press. Host of the Intentional Teaching podcast. Birder.
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derekbruff.bsky.social
On today's podcast, @anetv.bsky.social on AI literacy: "Every time I use the term, it hurts my soul a little bit.”

Annette and I talk about "AI literacy," computational literacy via vibe coding, what students want you to know about AI, and more!

intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
January 13, 2026 at 7:35 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
January 9, 2026 at 1:57 AM
derekbruff.bsky.social
But there *are* reasons you can avoid justice for drug trafficking…
January 3, 2026 at 4:20 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Sweet
January 1, 2026 at 9:37 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
I’m pretty sure no one else has these top five podcasts for the year.
December 30, 2025 at 3:03 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Ken Bain (_What the Best College Teachers Do_) passed away in October, and to honor his legacy I'm sharing in my podcast the full interview I conducted with Ken in 2023 for the oral history I produced of the Vanderbilt CFT, a center Ken founded. intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
December 16, 2025 at 4:01 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Oh yeah, I started reading this article and got to the second paragraph and realized it was written in an alternate universe. 🙄
Tom was always a right-of-center guy. Wealthy, in tech, but never particularly partisan: "I was never a card-carrying anything." 9/11 changed that. The smoke had hardly cleared before, he felt, the mainstream talking heads were suggesting that the US had essentially asked for it. Then, language changed. You weren't supposed to say the word "terrorist" anymore.
December 16, 2025 at 3:10 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
It took 11+ months but I finally saw the @aba.org Bird of the Year today! I spotted half a dozen Common Loons at Percy Priest Lake here in Nashville. #birding
December 10, 2025 at 5:13 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
What if your college or university decided that every undergraduate student there would be an entrepreneur, not just studying entrepreneurship but doing it? Paul Quinn College, a small HBCU in Dallas, decided to do just that.

intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
December 2, 2025 at 4:53 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
I also saw some passerines (perching birds). I’m pretty sure the bird in the last photo was a Winter Wren. #birding
White-throated Sparrow Yellow-rumped Warbler Cedar Waxwings Empty perch and a few tail feathers
November 24, 2025 at 11:45 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
I went to Radnor Lake here in Nashville to see some waterfowl and I wasn’t disappointed! Sunshine + these migrants = an hour well spent. #birding
Pied-billed Grebe Northern Shovelers Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Ducks in the foreground, Northern Shovelers in the background
November 24, 2025 at 11:44 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Today on the podcast, I share a "Take It or Leave It" panel on the role of generative AI in online learning! The panel features Michelle Beavers (education), Sara McClellan (public policy), and Leo Lo (@uvalibrary.bsky.social), all from UVA! intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
November 18, 2025 at 1:43 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Two days at UVA means a morning bird walk at Ivy Creek Natural Area. Beautiful weather and excellent birding this morning. The highlight was a Northen Flicker who posed for me. I don’t get to photograph Flickers very often! #birding
Northern Flicker in flight Ruby-crowned Kinglet, posing for me Pileated Woodpecker, basically a dinosaur Red-shouldered Hawk
November 12, 2025 at 5:42 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Does your staff retreat include Lego? No? It should.
November 12, 2025 at 4:57 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
New on the UVA Teaching Hub: a curated set of practical activities for use early in a course to set the stage for civil discourse and dialogue across difference. Thanks to JT Torres, Kylie Korsnack, and colleagues for this new resource! teaching.virginia.edu/collections/...
November 11, 2025 at 7:37 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Today on the podcast: How does one move from faculty member to faculty developer? What are the pathways into jobs at centers for teaching and learning? And why are educational developers so important to higher education with all this happening?

www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
November 4, 2025 at 3:53 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
“To the extent consistent with judicial decisions”

federalinfo.virginia.edu
October 22, 2025 at 9:21 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Brown pelican fishing on the east coast of the Yucatán peninsula earlier this month

#SuperSeabirdSunday
October 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Spotted at #NoKings in Columbia, TN, which is a very red small town:
October 18, 2025 at 7:08 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
What happens when you integrate AI-generated feedback into a peer review process in a writing course? You get PAIRR: Peer and AI Review and Reflection. On the podcast, I talk with @annamillsoer.bsky.social & Marit MacArthur about the PAIRR Project.

intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
October 14, 2025 at 11:56 AM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Birding in Mexico: Look it’s a mockingbird, but not our mockingbird! And a woodpecker, but not our woodpecker!

Here are two such lifers for me, a Tropical Mockingbird and a Brown Jay.

#birding
October 10, 2025 at 7:55 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Also, a few Royal Terns. I had seen them standing around near Galveston, Texas, but these were flying and fishing. They’re a little extra.

#Birding
October 10, 2025 at 2:41 AM
derekbruff.bsky.social
The WiFi is strong for once so it’s time for birds.

At our first stop in Mexico was immediately greeted by multiple Magnificent Frigatebirds, which have wingspans bigger than pelicans! And they have “Magnificent” right in their name!

#Lifer #Birding
October 10, 2025 at 2:39 AM
derekbruff.bsky.social
I've been tracking how instructors are using custom AI chatbots, and since I love to put things in categories, here is my current taxonomy of teaching applications of custom AI bots: derekbruff.org/2025/10/01/f...
Image generated by Midjourney from this prompt: several small birds depicted as light bikes inspired by Tron flying circles around a larger bird, dark mysterious background, very dynamic scene, high contrast, futuristic aesthetic
October 1, 2025 at 4:21 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
How can you manage hot moments in the classroom when just about any topic can be a hot one?

Today on the podcast I talk with @prairiedogking.bsky.social and @bethanynmorrison.bsky.social about navigating high-stakes discussions in the year 2025.

www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
September 30, 2025 at 1:59 PM