AI + VARK Redefine the MBA Case Study Classroom

Posted by Mike O'Brien on September 25, 2025 in Postcards from the digital frontier | Leave a comment

Not long ago, I was working with a group of lecturers in a case study training session. The debate in the room wasn’t about the case itself – it was about the tools. Several faculty members were adamant: no technology in the room. Their concern was that devices, apps, and AI assistants would distract from the real work of the Harvard Case Method – the live dialogue and the whiteboard pastures where the case takes shape.

I get it. There’s a purity in the room when the lecturer is facilitating, the students are pushing and probing, and the pasture boards – Context, Culture, Creativity, Communication, and Contribution – fill up with handwritten notes and diagrams. That’s the heartbeat of case teaching.

But here’s the challenge: not every student accesses that moment of learning in the same way. Some need to see the argument. Some need to hear it. Some need to write it. Some need to do it. That’s not distraction – that’s human difference.

As Sir Kenneth Robinson reminded us:

“Creativity is as important as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.”

The VARK model, first developed in the 1980s, gave us a language to understand those differences: Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, Kinesthetic. And in today’s classrooms, where the ambition is not just to teach the case but to create individuated student experiences that resonate at the personal level, AI tools can help – not by replacing the whiteboard, but by deepening and extending what happens on it.

Start withwWhy

Why do we use the Harvard Case Method? Not because we want students to memorise facts. Not because we want them to get the “right answer.” We use cases because leaders are made in the moment of decision. When the room is alive with debate, when uncertainty is real, when you have to defend a point of view – that’s when true learning happens.

But here’s the reality: not every student can access that moment in the same way. Some need to see it. Some need to hear it. Some need to write it out. Some need to do it. That’s the power of the VARK model – recognising that we all learn differently.

And now, in the age of AI, we have the chance to take that to the next level. Tools like NotebookLM, Fireflies, Otter, journaling apps, and Miro AI aren’t about shortcuts. They’re about helping every learner engage more fully with what’s happening on the pasture boards.

Then move to how

Here’s how it works when AI is used as scaffolding around the whiteboard pastures:

• Visual learners: as the lecturer builds up the pasture boards (Context, Culture, Creativity, Communication, Contribution), tools like NotebookLM or Miro AI can recreate the board digitally – turning bullet points into diagrams, strategy maps, or timelines to reinforce recall.
• Auditory learners: Fireflies or Otter capture the live discussion, with attributed transcripts. Students can replay how an idea landed or how a debate shifted – hearing the energy of the case, not just reading a static note.
• Reading/Writing learners: NotebookLM generates structured summaries of the pasture boards and the case packet, giving students written anchors. Journaling apps allow them to extend these into personal reflections.
• Kinesthetic learners: by engaging in role-play and simulations within the case, then linking outcomes back to the Contribution pasture, learners embody the decision-making process. AI “what if?” prompts can extend the action beyond the room.

And through it all, the lecturer remains the conductor – deciding which student voices to surface, what to capture on the board, and when to push the group deeper.

Myth vs Reality: does AI kill engagement?

Myth: “If we let AI into the room, students will disengage and the whiteboard will lose its central role.”

Reality: AI doesn’t compete with the board – it extends its life.

• The pasture is still created by the lecturer and the group, in real time, by hand.
• AI tools simply make that artefact portable, explorable, and personal afterwards.
• Fireflies transcripts show who contributed what; NotebookLM helps students test the meaning of those notes; journaling apps encourage reflection and personal application.

The whiteboard stays sacred. AI just ensures its impact doesn’t end when the marker pen is capped.

Journaling, meaning-making, and assessment

After class, students move from the collective whiteboard to the individual journal:

• Fireflies and Otter transcripts provide attributed evidence of contributions.
• NotebookLM links case text with what was written on the pastures, surfacing patterns and possible contradictions.
• Journaling apps prompt students to reflect: What did this mean for me? What patterns do I see? How might I act differently as a leader?

As Alvin Toffler once said:

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

That’s exactly what the combination of case method + pastures + AI journaling enables: learning in the moment, unlearning in reflection, and relearning through personal application.

The future classroom

Looking ahead, imagine this evolution:

• Integrated wall-surface monitors replace passive TVs. Every note, diagram, or pasture sketch made by the lecturer is captured in real time, tagged, and linked to external resources.
• Interactive desks become login surfaces. Students can annotate, query, and save the whiteboard content directly to their own profiles – even those who can’t afford laptops.
• Case packets and external data are seamlessly connected to the pasture boards, so a student can tap on “Context” and instantly pull up a chart, a case exhibit, or a timeline generated by NotebookLM.

This isn’t technology for technology’s sake. It’s about making sure every learner – regardless of style, background, or resources – can access, retain, and extend the learning experience. True individuated learning opportunities for everyone.

Finally… what

So what does this mean?

• It means the pastures – Context, Culture, Creativity, Communication, Contribution – remain the centrepiece of the classroom.
• It means AI and interactive environments orbit around them, helping each student engage in their own way.
• It means learning becomes layered: collective in the moment, personal in reflection, objective in assessment, and inclusive in access.

The Case Method doesn’t need replacing. It needs recharging.

The call to action

At Jam Partnership, we believe the future of education is hybrid: tradition plus technology, debate plus AI, human judgement plus machine support.

If you’re teaching with cases, ask yourself: what happens when every student can carry the pasture board home with them, replay the debate, see the patterns, and reflect on their own role in it – regardless of their resources?

Because when we teach this way, we don’t just prepare students for a case.
We prepare them for anything.