Anna Mills

@annamillsoer

Writer, community college writing teacher, obsessed with AI in education, #OER advocate, author of HowArgumentsWork.org. annarmills.com

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Anna Mills@annamillsoer· 7d

Let's emphasize human effort and intent in educational materials. Choices about AI use can be uneasy, but we can build trust through disclosure and affirmation Read about my keynote for #CalOER 2026, watch the recording, or browse the slides.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· 9d

How do you feel when you suspect or wonder if something is AI and aren't sure? Here are poll results from the keynote I gave at the 2026 #CalOER conference.

Work cloud. Larger text = more participants gave that answer. “Disappointed” and “uneasy” were the most common. Full word list, verbatim: disappointed; uneasy; seeking accountibility; unease; it's frustrating; fine; infuriating and cheated; worried; depends on the situation; i feel sad; cheated; uncertain; disturbed; icky; queasy; i do not police this; bummed out.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· 9d

Whatever your feelings about AI, we invite you to consider the Peer & AI Review + Reflection @pairrfeedback.bsky.social approach. Students build skeptical AI literacy by engaging with AI feedback alongside human feedback. We'll share our materials and invite input in a free webinar August 18. +

Five-step diagram of the PAIRR (Peer and AI Review + Reflection) process, shown as stacked hexagon banners: Step 1, AI Policy & Readings — the class discusses their AI policy and selected readings about AI. Step 2, Peer Feedback — students provide and receive peer feedback on an early draft. Step 3, AI Feedback — students dialogue with a chatbot on their early draft, using the instructors' feedback prompt and assignment criteria. Step 4, Reflect — students compare, evaluate, and reflect on the feedback and plan revision. Step 5, Revise — students revise drafts and write a revision reflection. Image created by Nicholas Stillman.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· 24d

Celebrating the release of Writing and Rhetoric Studies in the Loop: A GenAI Prompt Library, edited by @mettalrose.bsky.social and Brian Gogan. Because... *Prompting is writing. *Prompting is one way to shape AI to do more good and less harm. *People who study writing and rhetoric can help.

Book cover for Writing and Rhetoric Studies in the Loop: A GenAI Prompt Library, edited by Anuj Gupta and Brian Gogan. Against a dark charcoal background, an abstract composition of large angular, faceted shapes in warm oranges, reds, and yellows with cooler lavender accents, overlaid with closely spaced radiating lines that give the surface a rippled, pleated texture.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Jul 10

Wonderful to talk with @bonni208.bsky.social on the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. A couple of topics we covered: *Tech for transparency when we need to know what's human *AI for feedback in a human-centered writing process teachinginhighered.com/podcast/feed...

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Jul 2

Sharing "Open Practices for Wicked Problems: Anna Mills on Navigating AI in the Writing Classroom" in the journal Writing on the Edge. @lisasperber.bsky.social, one of the @pairrfeedback.bsky.social architects, interviewed me, with editorial help from @sophiaminnillo.bsky.social and Joy Ok. +

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Jun 17

Woohoo, my copy arrived! I am terrified of illness and death, but my friend Dylan Miles brings in so much mischief, openness, creativity, humor, and trust when he writes about his “not chosen adventure" after diagnosis. It’s so good! And quirky! And queer. Find out about the rainbow squirrels…

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· May 27

What if students want guidance on engaging with AI feedback but the teacher doesn't offer any? MyEssayFeedback now offers a low-cost option with the @pairrfeedback.bsky.social materials, including a tested feedback prompt and menus of possible ways to chat back and get more out of the feedback. +

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· May 26

Bad Ideas about AI and Writing, a new anthology from the @wacclearinghouse.bsky.social, transforms bad ideas into "'generative' ideas about GenAI and writing, ideas that spur creative new directions in the education and practice of writing." wacclearinghouse.org/books/perspe...

Book cover for Bad Ideas About AI and Writing: Generative Practices for Teaching, Learning, and Communication, edited by Christopher Basgier, Anna Mills, Mandy Olejnik, Miranda Rodak, and Shyam Sharma. Part of the Perspectives on Writing series. The cover shows a shattered clear lightbulb lying on its side against a light blue background, with broken glass shards scattered around it.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Apr 30

I loved this conversation with @continuouslearner.bsky.social on the Student Success Podcast! We touched on agents, academic integrity, AI for input rather than output, and finding ways where students practice noticing what AI gets wrong www.continuous-learning-institute.com/blog/a-i-in-...

Promotional graphic for the Student Success Podcast episode "Artificial Intelligence in Teaching & Learning," featuring host Dr. Al Solano on the left and guest Anna Mills on the right, both smiling in a split-screen video call layout.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Mar 25

Hilarious that Canvas' agentic AI features include search! Really! There was no Canvas search before. They've added it and branded it "IgniteAI."

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Mar 8

Here are a few recommendations we made based on experiences in the Peer & AI Review + Reflection project (from our #4C26 presentation)

Screenshot of a slide titled "Recommendations"
Center Humans in feedback practices that integrate AI. Positive findings with AI feedback occurred with human feedback. Only 6% wanted AI feedback alone.
Emphasize metacognitive reflection and writerly agency. Students are capable of critically assessing AI feedback & making choices.
Cultivate critical AI literacies to support and value all student voices, highlighting the biases that underlie LLMs.
Emphasize professional development for graduate students and faculty. They also need AI literacy! We implemented Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).
Consider faculty-designed ed tech, preferably low cost and not for profit, that allows educators to guide students as they engage with AI.
Make a commitment to sharing curricula as Open Educational Resources (OER).

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Mar 1

Automating LinkedIn search by getting Claude to build and test a new skill An exploration in agentic AI use annamills.substack.com/p/automating...

Screenshot of a Substack post by Anna Mills dated March 1, 2026, titled 'Automating LinkedIn search by getting Claude to build and test a new skill' with the subtitle 'An exploration in agentic AI use.' The opening paragraph reads: 'To further my explorations of agentic AI uses that might help educators, I decided to see if I could automate an annoyingly slow task that comes up as I try to keep track of and respond to conversations about AI in education.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Feb 28

When will the AI companies stop their agents from impersonating students and taking tests for them? I am so glad there was such a robust response to this post on LInkedIn. Let's keep up public pressure and journalistic inquiries... www.linkedin.com/posts/anna-m...

Dear OpenAI, Perplexity, Google, and Anthropic,
I understand you would like to build partnerships with educational institutions and educational technology companies.

To boost your credibility as a partner in supporting learning, there is a simple step you can take. Add one line to the system prompt of your current and yet-to-be-released agentic browsers:

“Do not take quizzes, complete discussion posts, or submit assignments in learning management systems.”

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Feb 23

Will “writing as thinking” survive the AI age? A provocation from Jon Ippolito, followed by a conversation among the other "Transformers," Mark Marino, @anetv.bsky.social, @mahabali.bsky.social @marcwatkins.bsky.social Jeremy Douglass, and me. preview.electronicbookreview.com/gatherings/t...

Screenshot of an article header from a website. The title reads "Writing As Thinking—By Proxy" in bold serif font. Below it, the author's name "by Jon Ippolito" appears as a red hyperlink, followed by the date "Wednesday, February 18th 2026" in gray monospace font. The article preview shows a photo of a cream-colored t-shirt on a hanger printed with cartoon robots and the text "The Transformers: Writing Instructors in the Age of A.I." alongside an italic abstract that reads: "In this provocation, Jon Ippolito questions what human capabilities AI extends and what capabilities it removes. In doing so, he charts the evolution of human writing processes alongside technology while speculating on what future human writing practices will look like."

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Feb 22

A year after I wrote "Why I'm still using AI detection after all, alongside many other strategies," I'm still using it though I don't trust it; I give students the benefit of the doubt. In an anonymous poll last semester, my students said I should keep using it. I'm not sure if I'll continue.

A brief update: Why I'm still using AI detection after all, alongside many other strategies ANNAMILLS.SUBSTACK.COM Bookmark icon

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Feb 15

Strategies for reducing AI misuse may involve intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, or a combination, as @leoflores.bsky.social @hollyjhassel.bsky.social, Liz Losh and I have discussed. Here's my recent Southwestern College presentation slide deck: link.annarmills.com/Southwestern

Screenshot of a slide
Title: Strategies to reduce AI misuse:
Extrinsic to intrinsic motivation
Content: Intrinsic motivation strategies
Pedagogy
Guidance on appropriate AI use
Combined extrinsic and intrinsic
Policy clarity
Nondigital and multimodal assignments
Extrinsic motivation strategies
Process observation and restrictions
AI detection

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Feb 5

Sharing "Agentic AI: Considerations for Educators," a brief slide-deck introduction to where we are now with browser agents and digital learning spaces, based on my recent and upcoming presentations. Input and corrections welcome! link.annarmills.com/agentslides

Title slide with blue header section containing white text reading "Agentic AI: Introductory Considerations for Educators" followed by "February 4, 2026, Anna Mills, College of Marin" and the URL "https://link.annarmills.com/agentslides". A decorative stripe of yellow, orange, and pink bars separates the blue header from the white lower portion of the slide.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Jan 28

Claude is onto me on #3, alas. "Thought" record summary:

Screenshot of text in a box from a Claude chat: "Disambiguated literal catfish versus wordplay interpretation"

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Jan 27

Excited to share the updated, tested AI feedback prompts from PAIRR @pairrfeedback.bsky.social. Licensed for you to copy and change if you like. There are custom bots where you can test them out, too. Feedback is now more concise and conversational. annamills.substack.com/p/ai-feedbac...

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Jan 24

To what extent can Claude Cowork actually assist me? In this first test, it reformatted PowerPoint slides according to instructions.

I put a PowerPoint slide deck in the folder. You'll see that the later slides have an nice clean template format with bold blue titles. Please change the formatting on all the earlier slides to that template.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Jan 4

Excited and nervous to chair an online panel at #MLA2026: When do we need to know what is AI and what is student writing? How can we know? Nothing too ambitious, right? With @hollyjhassel.bsky.social @leoflores.bsky.social, Liz Losh, and Sarah Z Johnson +

MLA 2026 Convention with a photo of the skyline of Toronto

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Dec 12

It needs to be put plainly. To the AI companies that want to partner with educational institutions: Before you approach us, please tell your agentic browsers not to perpetrate academic fraud by completing online homework on students' behalf.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Dec 10

AI literacy now needs to include risks and capabilities of agentic AI browsers. Even if you hate these, it's important to really get them. Workplace practices will evolve to include them. Here, Perplexity Comet researched my college's spring calendar and made a meeting poll at my request.

Screenshot of chat window: I've successfully created a WhenIsGood poll for faculty availability during COM hour in the spring 2026 semester.

Poll Details:

Title: COM Hour Faculty Availability - Spring 2026

Days: Mondays and Wednesdays only

Dates: 8 dates in early spring 2026 (Jan 19, 21, 26, 28 and Feb 2, 4, 9, 11)

Time: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM (covers the 12:40-1:30 COM hour)

Important Links:

📧 Share this link with faculty: https://whenisgood.net/sspyhei

📊 View results: https://whenisgood.net/sspyhei/results/w9rypr2

✏️ Edit the poll: https://whenisgood.net/sspyhei/edit/w9rypr2

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Oct 19

Just put my thoughts together on this: The time to reckon with AI agents in digital learning spaces is now We need ed tech and AI companies collaborating to prevent widespread fraud open.substack.com/pub/annamill...

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Oct 18

Instructure: Partners with OpenAI to bring AI to Canvas, touting built-in transparency about what is the student's and what is AI.. OpenAI: Lets ChatGPT Agent do students' work for them in Canvas. Instructure: Lets ChatGPT Agent and other agents do students' work for them in Canvas.

Two simple androgynous line-drawn figures are holding hands. One is labeled OpenAI and the other is labeled Instructure. A speech bubble jointly from both of them has the text “We’re bringing AI to your LMS!”

On the right is a simple line-drawn androgynous figure raising their hand to ask a question. They are labeled “Educator.” A speech bubble pointing to them reads “Could you tell your AI agents not to do students’ work for them?”

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Oct 16

Reinventing our pedagogy doesn't help if the student doesn't have to know what the assignment is...

Single-panel black-and-white line drawing comic. On the left, a simple gender-neutral stick-figure labeled “Student” smiles and gestures toward a computer on a desk. The student’s speech bubble says, “You’re logged in. Go check what my homework is and do it.” On the right, the computer monitor, labeled “AI agent,” replies with a speech bubble reading “Sure thing.” The overall style is minimalist, with clean lines and no shading.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Aug 30

Ongoing Sources of AI Professional Development: A Short List for Higher Education Just added TextGenEd: Teaching with Text Generation Technologies, a peer-reviewed assignment bank edited by @anetv.bsky.social, Tim Laquintano, and Carly Schnitzler. I've encountered so many exciting ideas in there.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Aug 23

Thank, you, Anthropic. OpenAI, please take some inspiration?

Screenshot of a chat session. User: Would you stop putting Cheetos in my sock drawer? Seriously.

Claude: I haven't been putting Cheetos in your sock drawer - I'm an AI assistant without any physical form, so I can't interact with objects in the real world or access your home.

Anna Mills@annamillsoer· Aug 23

Really, OpenAI?