Free, reusable materials for teaching instructors to use an AI agent (Codex, in the ChatGPT desktop app) safely, starting with building a Canvas course. Written for faculty with no programming, command-line, Git, or Canvas API experience.
The standard throughout: the AI drafts, the instructor verifies, and nothing is published.
| Session | What you do | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| 0 · Getting Started with Agentic AI | Install Codex, open a practice folder, and give an agent small, safe tasks on fictional files. No Canvas. | Session 0 guide |
| 1 · From Syllabus to Canvas | Watch a plain-text syllabus become an unpublished Canvas shell: modules, assignment stubs, due dates, a landing page. | Session 1 guide |
| 2 · From Shell to Course | Fill that shell with overview pages, assignment descriptions, rubrics, and accessible HTML, drafted from your own materials. | Session 2 guide |
New to AI agents? Start with Session 0. Each session also stands on its own.
Each session runs 60 minutes on Zoom. Each folder holds a guide (README.md), copy-and-paste prompts (PROMPT-CARDS.md), the rules the agent follows (AGENTS.md), and slides as PDF, HTML, and Markdown.
You do not download a ZIP, and you do not need Git or a GitHub account.
- Make an empty folder on your Desktop.
- Open it in Codex.
- Paste the session's Card 0. Codex downloads the few plain-text files it needs from this page into your folder.
Every prompt card has a copy button on GitHub: hover over the box and click the icon in its top-right corner. If your campus network blocks the download, each session guide explains how to fetch the files with your browser instead.
- Practice with the fictional files in sample-course and an empty Canvas sandbox. Never use student records or other confidential data.
- Use your university-managed account if your campus has one.
- Keep the permission mode on Ask for approval, and read every approval request before you click.
- Never paste a Canvas token into a chat. Revoke it when you finish.
- If a device or campus security control blocks a step, stop there. Do not turn it off or ask for an exception.
The facilitator guide has the run of show for each session, a preparation checklist, notes on running an accessible Zoom session, and step-by-step instructions for adapting the series to another campus.
David P. Adams, PhD · California State University, Fullerton · dpadams@fullerton.edu
Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. You may copy and adapt these materials for your own campus with attribution, under the same license.