Innovative AI platforms have catapulted virtually every digital venture into a new, exciting, and enhanced state. Mentimeter targets presentation-making, offering users a host of tools not only to create sleek presentations, but also to engage the audiences that consume them.
Requiring students to present in front of their peers has long been a means of encouraging those students to step out of their comfort zones, preparing them for public speaking in their professional lives, and enriching the classroom experience. For this reason, Mentimeter should be a platform that professors not only condone but actively encourage.
Odds are that many professors won’t share this perspective.
Despite artificial intelligence becoming increasingly commonplace in a short period, its place in higher education remains tenuous. Some schools and professors have quickly embraced AI (at least in some forms), but others have continued to punish students for using even AI platforms explicitly designed for students.
If using Mentimeter or another AI resource has you facing discipline, do not wait to call the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team. Call us today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online to speak with the legal team that makes students’ rights (and their defense) the priority.
Why Mentimeter Fits Seamlessly into the University Student Experience
Mentimeter elevates the presentation game in three primary ways:
- The Creation Phase: While Microsoft PowerPoint long dominated the presentation creation space, that’s no longer the case. A slew of AI-powered presentation tools, including Mentimeter, have offered students and professionals a new way to present their ideas visually. Mentimeter offers templates and editing tools that enable complete customization of presentations from start to finish.
- The Presentation Phase: Many will gravitate to Mentimeter due to its interactive features. As the presenter shares their slides, the audience can enter a unique code to access the presentation. This gives the audience the ability to engage with polls and questions the presenter has embedded in their slideshow—a feature that will surely counter the persistent problem of audience inattention.
- The Analysis Phase: After the student has completed their presentation, Mentimeter shows them metrics about how the audience engaged with their slides, questions, and polls. This feature could help students create more engaging presentations in the future and might even be used by professors to evaluate the impact of each student’s presentation.
Mentimeter’s site specifically references a professor at Cal Poly University, who uses the platform to keep students engaged and participating in the classroom experience. This demonstrates that professors who utilize resources like Mentimeter can achieve gains in their mission to make a lasting impact on their students.
Mentimeter’s website also includes a section dedicated to the “ethical considerations and user privacy” concerns specific to artificial intelligence. While this section does not explicitly address students, it hints at the type of AI-related issues learners must consider when using resources like Mentimeter for schoolwork.
Students Sometimes Fail to Protect Themselves from AI-Related Misconduct Allegations
Students are not always at fault when they are accused of misconduct related to AI platforms such as Mentimeter. That being said, a student might heighten the risk of such accusations when they:
- Rely solely on their common sense and rationality to determine if using Mentimeter is acceptable: There is nothing wrong with a student using common sense and critical thought. It’s generally good practice. However, relying solely on your common sense and critical thought can put you at odds with a professor’s AI usage policy, which may not necessarily be rational.
- Make assumptions: Furthermore, students who make any assumptions about how a professor might view their AI use run the risk of violating that professor’s policies and behavioral expectations.
- Do not take extra measures to confirm their professor’s AI usage policy: For one, a student is always within their rights (and wise) to speak with their professor about specific AI platforms they might use, like Mentimeter. If the student can get a written assurance that their use of AI is condoned, that is even better.
- Stray outside the defined boundaries of their professor’s AI usage policy: Once a student knows their professor’s policy for AI use, it’s smart to stick within the guidelines. Anytime they stray outside those boundaries, there is a greater risk of the professor accusing them of violating the rules.
Our Student Defense Team has helped many students whose own actions contribute to the difficult circumstances they find themselves in. Nobody is perfect, and we do not judge those whose lapses in judgment, lack of consideration, or other (perfectly human) errors play a role in a student being accused of wrongdoing. Quite the contrary—we fight for them.
Just as Often, Adults in Higher Education Let Students Down (and Accuse Them Thoughtlessly)
Every university administrator and professor should:
- Be wholly committed to students’ wellbeing and development, not just academically but personally
- Consider disciplining a student only as a last resort, especially when the student has not clearly or intentionally engaged in misconduct
- Have Windex-clear AI usage policies meant to help students avoid any behavior that might qualify as misconduct
- Grant students the opportunity to clarify AI usage policies, ask about specific platforms like Mentimeter, and explain themselves in circumstances where misconduct may have occurred
Our Student Defense Team knows that, just as often as students engage in misconduct, administrators and professors are also responsible for avoidable disciplinary issues.
Whenever the Word “Misconduct” Comes Your Way, Call in the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team
The word “misconduct” is an imminent threat to students’ reputations, in-school relationships, and professional goals. As soon as this word is directed towards you or your student, contact our Student Defense Team to:
- Evaluate the circumstances that have led to the misconduct allegation
- Design a defensive strategy for you based on the facts and evidence we uncover during our investigation
- Advise you about what to do, and what not to do, as we resolve your disciplinary matter
- Guide you through the entire disciplinary process, including any necessary appeals
Universities too often violate students’ right to due process, and such a violation can occur at any time. Do not wait to call the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.