David Hicks

David Hicks

Virginia Tech

David Hicks is professor of history and social science education in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. He is co-author, with Amy Allen, of open access book Teaching History with Chatty Geeps: A Technocurious Approach to Generative AI in the Classroom (VT Press, 2026).

Featured Resources

Female student talking to chatbot

Why AI literacy must include supporting student – and faculty – well-being

In embedding artificial intelligence into curricula without considering how it shapes students’ thinking, relationships and sense of self, educators risk switching one problem for another. Amy Allen and David Hicks offer an approach to help ensure well-being in the age of AI

Amy Allen, David Hicks

Virginia Tech

Illustration of robot and man on either side of ball of scribble

Faculty must embrace the ‘messy middle’ to guide AI proficiency

The primary source of institutional AI proficiency must be universities themselves, not the technology companies who offer training for their platforms. Without that agency, we risk surrendering educational practice to commercial interests, write Amy Allen and David Hicks

Amy Allen, David Hicks

Virginia Tech

Magician conjuring magic out of a hat

Defining and developing students’ critical AI literacy

By the time they arrive at university, most students are using AI. So, with the lines between AI use and original work increasingly blurred, academia now needs to teach them how to use the tools critically

Amy Allen, David Hicks

Virginia Tech