2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This evidence-based practice paper describes the perceptions of a university-level academic course development team regarding the use of generative AI and voice cloning technology in the development of content and lecture videos for an online course. Development of digital course materials is a highly complex and time-consuming endeavor that is crucial for creating an effective online teaching and learning experience. Recent advancements in generative AI tools have enabled faculty and instructional designers to reimagine procedures and workflows for creating course content and media. The ability of generative AI to process language and generate human-like text makes it an excellent candidate to assist in content development efforts. In addition, emerging capabilities in voice cloning technology provide new options for creating instructional audio and video components. While the use of such tools may appear promising, it is imperative to carefully analyze the efficacy of these tools to inform future decisions and address any academic concerns of both faculty and students. Presented as a case study, this paper describes the journey and observations of a team of online course developers who employed the assistance of generative AI tools and voice cloning technology to reduce the time required for course development.

The main goal of this study was to contribute to a rapidly growing body of knowledge that could lead to the development of a systematic approach for the integration of generative AI tools in the course development process. This study focused on the impact of generative AI tools on the efficiency of course development projects and their subsequent student learning outcomes.

Specifically, the research aimed to answer the following questions:

1. How does the use of generative AI affect the efficiency of the course development process and the quality of the content produced?
2. What are the perceptions of the subject matter expert regarding the use of generative AI tools in course development?
3. What are the perceptions of the instructional designer regarding the use of generative AI tools in course development?
4. What are the perceptions of program administrators regarding intellectual property considerations related to using generative AI for content development?
5. How does AI generated content affect student learning outcomes?

This paper adopts a case-study approach to explore and develop a deep understanding of the integration of generative AI in course development endeavors. Each tool was purposefully introduced and evaluated for possible benefits to the course development process. The authors use artifacts from the content development process, interviews with the subject matter expert and instructional designer, and student grades and course evaluations as sources of data to answer the research questions.