The festive roundtable update of fun. With James Lamont and Deanne Cobb-Zygadlo

Deanne, James and I gather around a virtual Yuletide fireplace, roast chestnuts and perform that time-honoured festive tradition of chewing over key moments in learning tech and EAP from the year gone by. Much as the shepherds probably did.

Is a full in-class digital detox a good idea, and is this a weird thing to suggest in a technology enhanced learning podcast? Did we ever figure out whether students real-time subtitling us is a problem? Would any of us pay for AI-generated music? Did we get carried away with flipped learning after COVID? 

As we look back on the debates that have lit up 2025, we'd like to wish all our listeners an awesome holiday and a happy new year.  

Further reading

Listen to Klaus Mundt and Michael Groves on TELSIG

Eaton, S. E. (2025). Global Trends in Education: Artificial Intelligence, Postplagiarism, and Future‑focused Learning for 2025 and Beyond – 2024–2025 Werklund Distinguished Research Lecture. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 21(12). https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40979-025-00187-6.pdf 

Flenady, G., & Sparrow, R. (2025). Cut the bullshit: why GenAI systems are neither collaborators nor tutors. Teaching in Higher Education, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2025.2497263 

Kirschner, P., (2025), When phones go out the window, learning comes in the door. Krischnered. Available at: http://www.kirschnered.nl/2025/11/01/when-phones-go-out-the-window-learning-comes-in-the-door/  

Plate, D., & Hutson, J. (2025). The intellectual bankruptcy of anti-AI academic alarmism: a rebuttal. Teaching in Higher Education, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2025.2562594 

Timecodes

00:00 Intro to the guests 02:41 James’ new paper on student use of translation 10:24 The case for digital detox 14:03 Pedagogy leads 16:41 Phil’s phones away experiment 19:55 Has flipped learning failed? 26:03 Do students still need English? 29:31 Do unsupervised assessments provide evidence of learning? 34:50 The AI bullshit paper 38:04 Plug for the TELSIG symposium 39:54 Would you pay for AI music? 46:47 Reverting to what makes for good learning 51:35 TELSIG’s Christmas message

Guest bios

James Lamont is an Associate Lecturer in Skills Development, Department of Education, University of York in the United Kingdom. His research interests include the effects of generative AI on student thought processes and outputs, and how universities can adapt to this new environment.

Deanne Cobb-Zygadlo has been an EAP tutor at Nazarbayev University since 2015. She is the  co-coordinator of the Technology-Enhanced Learning Special Interest Group (TELSIG) with BALEAP, which is the accreditation organization for the NU Foundation Year Program. She is also a member of the ENAI (European Network for Academic Integrity) Policies Working Group.