The Teaching Professor Conference on
AI in Education
Live Online: December 3-4, 2024 • On-demand: Through February 17, 2025
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Concurrent Sessions
We’re excited to share a preview of the dynamic and diverse sessions lined up for our upcoming conference. While we’ve listed some of the sessions below, please note that this is just a glimpse of what’s in store. Our team is hard at work finalizing additional sessions to ensure a comprehensive and engaging experience for all attendees.
Ethical and Inclusive AI Practices in Education
Building an Equitable AI Ecosystem: Navigating Ethics and Bias in Education
Corrie Wilder, Washington State University Everett
The rapid rise of generative AI in education presents transformative opportunities and critical ethical challenges. This interactive session guides participants through a critical examination of the potential for bias in AI systems and equips them with practical strategies for promoting equitable AI integration. Through real-world case studies and collaborative analysis, attendees will explore key ethical considerations, including data privacy, transparency, and access. The session culminates with a hands-on action planning workshop, empowering participants to develop concrete steps for mitigating bias, ensuring fairness, and building an AI ecosystem that benefits all learners. We’ll proactively discuss creating a more just and equitable future for AI in education.
Ethical Use of Gen AI for Educators
Brittany O’Meara, Boise State University
This session examines the ethical integration of Generative AI tools in education, focusing on four key areas: privacy and data security, bias and fairness, student engagement and learning outcomes, and transparency and accountability. We will explore best practices for safeguarding student data and strategies to mitigate bias in AI-generated content. Additionally, we will address how policy statements help us foster ethical and responsible use that addresses privacy, bias, student engagement, learning outcomes, transparency, and accountability. The goal is to offer practical insights for educators to incorporate AI effectively and ethically into the classroom.
AI Ethics: Beyond the Hype
Torrey Trust, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Generative AI tools can aid, enrich, and enhance innovation in education; and yet, these tools are often used by students and teachers in more traditional ways (e.g., ChatGPT as a search engine or DALL-E to generate an image for a slideshow). This talk offers practical strategies, tips, and key insights for being innovative and creative with AI in education while also exploring the critical ethical issues surrounding the use of AI in teaching and learning (e.g., data, privacy, bias, hallucinations, intellectual property rights, misinformation).
Empowering Educators: From Novice to Expert the Unveiling of AI in Educational Pedagogy
JJ Wallace and Iva Katzarska-Miller, Transylvania University
The rapid rise of AI in higher education has sparked a range of responses, from enthusiastic adoption to hesitation. This session is designed to support educators at all levels who are looking to effectively integrate AI into their teaching practices. It opens with a poll to gauge attendees’ experiences and concerns regarding AI, followed by discussions on creating AI syllabus statements, practical examples of AI applications in education, and ready-to-use templates. Key ethical considerations, such as confidentiality and plagiarism, will be addressed. Participants will also learn how to craft effective AI prompts, distinguish between search engines and conversational AI, and implement best practices.
Innovative Approaches to AI
in Faculty Development and Professional Growth
Teach Students AI Fluency by Infusing AI Requirements Into Your Assignments
Kevin Yee, University of Central Florida
We know employers expect our students to enter the workforce with AI Fluency, but which exact skills are needed? And how do we teach them to students? In this session, we’ll break down the elements of AI Fluency and discuss ways to alter our classroom assignments. In this fashion, students will experience first-hand practice with the AI skillsets they will need in the future.
Bots, Projects, Notebooks and Pages: Exploring Customizable AI Features
Lance Eaton, North Shore Community College and College Unbound
Many of the most popular generative AI tools have customizable features that can be incredibly helpful for staff, faculty, and students. In this session, we’ll explore a couple of them, how to create them, and relevant use cases. This will include Custom GPTs with ChatGPT, Projects with Claude, Notebooks with Google’s Gemini, and Pages with Perplexity. By the end of the session, participants will be able to more strongly understand the value of these tools and guide others in the deployment of them. Participants will learn to distinguish, consider, and select the right customizable generative AI feature for the right kind of work.
Using Generative AI for Teaching, Learning, and Design
Luke Hobson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
This presentation explores the transformative impact of Generative AI on teaching, learning, and instructional design. Through the use of AI tools such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, Runway, NotebookLM, HeyGen, and others, participants will see innovative ways to enhance instructional strategies and create personalized, meaningful learning experiences. Key concepts covered include integrating AI into curriculum design, developing adaptive virtual instructors, and utilizing AI for student support.
The Future of Research and Literature Reviews: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence
Delaney W. La Rosa, Northern Arizona University
In this session, educators will explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the process of conducting literature reviews and research. Using Afforai, a platform specifically designed for these tasks, this presentation will demonstrate how AI can guide both students and scholars in improving their research strategies, deepening their understanding of complex topics, and conducting more efficient literature searches. Afforai is particularly suited for both early-stage researchers and seasoned academics, offering a unique blend of AI-powered tools to facilitate critical engagement with academic sources. Participants will learn how to support their students in using this platform to enhance the quality and depth of their research in less time than traditional methods without allowing the software to take over the intellectual rigor required for the task. Participants will learn how the platform provides structured guidance for literature searches, summarization, and source evaluation, ensuring that students remain actively engaged in the research process while benefiting from the efficiencies that AI offers.
Integrating AI into Course Design
Leveraging Generative AI to Enhance Writing Instruction: Strategies and Opportunities
Nate Pritts, University of Arizona Global Campus
Writing instruction represents a particularly relevant opportunity to explore collaborating with generative AI technology, incorporating it more fully into the core teaching and learning of courses. Students are already using AI-powered tools as shortcuts in the classroom. But we’ll consider how to steer toward a more ethical and effective usage by combining explicit instruction in how gen AI may assist students in their work, with targeted strategic deployment of gen AI in the instruction of the course. An iterative and developmental approach to the written communication competency opens the door to designing and refining AI-adaptive assessments for targeted learning outcomes like outlining, audience analysis, or thesis development. Through collaborative engagement with AI, students are empowered to actively participate in their learning journey, while simultaneously honing their digital literacy and critical thinking skills. We’ll share insights and strategies educators can use to take the lead in showcasing the effectiveness and strength of this technology to improve education. And we’ll explore the transformative potential of generative AI in shaping the future of teaching and learning across diverse academic landscapes.
The Integration of AI into the Online Classroom
Anthony Richards and Michael Walsh, Bryant & Stratton College
The impact on AI in the online classroom is profound. It shifts the role of professors from content delivery to facilitators of learning, encourages the development of critical thinking skills, and prepares students for a technologically advanced society. As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in the workforce, understanding its role in education prepares students for future careers where they will likely interact with AI technologies. From this presentation, attendees will take away the transformative potential of AI in education, offering both opportunities and challenges that need careful consideration, focusing on personalized learning tools, curriculum enhancement models, and best practices including fostering ethical and critical thinking among students.
Beyond Basics: Collaborating with AI in Course Design
Ian Selig, Western Carolina University
As generative AI becomes a powerful tool in education, its role in course design is evolving beyond simple question-and-answer interactions. This session explores how educators can collaborate with AI to enhance their course design process by creating effective prompts, avoiding common pitfalls, and leveraging AI for more than just quick fixes. We will dive into practical strategies for integrating AI to transform assignments, support learning outcomes, and foster innovation in teaching practices. Join us to discover how AI can be a true co-creator in your course development efforts.
AI-Powered Tools for Enhancing Student Engagement and Learning
Embedding Chatbots into Course Design to Enhance Student Learning
Rebecca Tyler, Great Falls College MSU
This session will explore how chatbots can be effectively integrated into course design to enhance student learning and engagement. Drawing from education and instructional design best practices, this session will focus on the appropriate use of AI in all courses, particularly, course-embedded chatbots. These chatbots offer personalized, adaptive learning experiences to students. While the instructor dashboard allows educators to track and assess student interactions with the chatbots. Further, the dashboard provides valuable metrics on student engagement, progress, and mastery of course material, offering insights to help instructors tailor their teaching strategies based on real-time data. Participants will gain practical insights into how chatbots can serve as individual tutors, providing students with targeted support on course concepts at their own pace. Through guided demonstration, attendees will quickly be able to create their own chatbots tailored to their courses and student needs. Lastly, the technology is completely free for educators, requires no coding experience, is accessible to diverse learners, and satisfies FERPA, including data privacy.
Transforming Asynchronous Learning with AI: Building Active Learning Pathways in the Digital Classroom
George Hanshaw, Los Angeles Pacific University
In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, the integration of AI into asynchronous courses offers a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between passive content consumption and dynamic, active learning experiences. This presentation will explore innovative strategies for harnessing AI to foster interactivity, engagement, and student agency in asynchronous environments. From intelligent tutoring systems that adapt to individual learner needs to AI-powered tools that facilitate interaction and reflective learning, we’ll get into practical approaches that can transform static course materials into interactive, immersive experiences. Participants will be equipped with actionable insights and tools to implement AI-driven active learning techniques, revolutionizing the way educators approach asynchronous course design and student engagement. Join us to discover how AI can turn your asynchronous courses into vibrant, student-centered spaces where active learning flourishes, regardless of time or place!
Lessons from English Composition
Laura Dumin, University of Central Oklahoma
When ChatGPT emerged in late 2022, I was uncertain about its place in education. By spring 2023, after experimenting with various approaches, I developed strategies that have shown promise in my teaching. This session will explore the successful integration of AI tools in my English composition courses, focusing on practical guidelines, meaningful discussions, and hands-on experimentation. Attendees will gain insights into how these tools can be leveraged to enhance student engagement and learning, along with adaptable strategies for incorporating AI into their own classrooms, acknowledging its growing impact on education.
Enjoy Teaching Again: Harness AI to Improve Student Learning and Reduce the Grading Burden
Michael Rota, University of St. Thomas
Learn how professors can use Personify, a software app built on ChatGPT, to deliver their own low-stakes assignments to students in a chat format. Students receive immediate feedback and a one-on-one tutoring experience based on the professor’s input and expertise, and the AI does the grading, based on evaluation criteria provided by the instructor. Let AI do the things it can, so you can have more time in class to do what AI can’t.
Exploring AI-Enhanced Approaches for Engaging Online Discussion Boards
Christa Sandidge and Bethany Schultz, Northwest Nazarene University
In online education, fostering critical thinking and meaningful student engagement through discussion boards is vital. This session will explore how AI can be thoughtfully integrated to create more engaging and innovative discussion board activities. Participants will learn practical strategies for designing prompts that encourage students to think critically and apply course concepts. We will also discuss various approaches, such as case studies, choice boards, research-focused discussions, and reflective journals, while addressing the ethical considerations of student use of AI and discussion board activities.
AI Fundamentals and Emerging Technologies in Education
What Do I Do If My Students Hate AI?
What It Really Means to “Meet Students Where They Are”
Jason Gulya, Berkeley College
Imagine this. You’re a forward-thinking educator. You’ve been using Generative AI for a while. You have a good sense of the opportunities and challenges. You feel like you have a handle on things. You decide to work it into your assignments. You send it to everyone, excited. Then, you meet everyone in-class to talk about it. A student chimes in: “I’m not using AI.” Another one says: “I thought AI was going to kill us all. Why am I using it?” And yet another: “Nope, no way. It’s destroying our environment.” I’ll come clean. This is not a hypothetical scenario. This is an all-too-real situation that happened to me. In this presentation, I’m going to talk about one of the most difficult of questions. How we manage incorporating AI into the classroom if everyone’s on a different page? Because let’s be honest. Our students have very different views of this technology. Some see it as part of everyday life. Others see it as uninteresting and boring. Others see it as dangerous. If we’re not listening to our students and what they think about AI, we’re missing a huge part of the puzzle.
Help Your Students Succeed with Personalized AI Tutoring
John Orlando, Colorado Technical University
While much attention has been given to general AI tools like ChatGPT, the true potential of AI lies in its ability to deliver personalized tutoring to students. This session will explore various AI systems that can be used to create tailored learning experiences, helping students master course material while reducing your workload. Attendees will discover how to implement personalized AI tutors in their courses, enhancing student success through individualized support and guidance.
Meet Spark, LAPU’s new AI Powered Course Assistant
Joanna Vance, Los Angeles Pacific University
Join this session for an exciting overview of the remarkable journey from pilot to full implementation of LAPU’s AI Course Assistant named Spark in just four weeks! Spark is specifically trained on our course content and can answer student questions, explain directions, and support student progress 24/7 with individualized interactions. Hear about the results from our pilot study comparing outcomes for students who had use of the new AI Course Assistant to outcomes for students who did not have use of the new AI Course Assistant. Discover the future of AI-powered education and hear out our groundbreaking journey!
The Real Power and False Promise of Generative AI: Student Use, Performance, Perceptions and Faculty Applications of ChatGPT
Thomas Mennella, Western New England University
The rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT is transforming higher education, offering both significant opportunities and challenges. This presentation explores how AI can streamline teaching practices, such as drafting exam questions, summarizing evaluations, and designing class activities, while also enhancing student learning through AI-assisted assignments. However, it also addresses the concerns surrounding academic integrity, evolving skill requirements, and student perceptions of AI. Drawing on practical examples, we will discuss strategies for integrating AI into coursework, including prompt competitions and collaborative editing exercises, alongside models for citing and fact-checking AI-generated content. The goal is to equip educators with the tools and policies needed to embrace AI while preparing students for an increasingly AI-driven future.
What Does It Mean to be AI Literate in a Constantly Evolving Field?
Madeline Craig, Molloy University
This session will cover foundational principles of generative AI and how we might prepare our students for this ever-evolving field. The presenter will share her experiences preparing current teachers, pre-service teachers, and teacher educators for generative AI’s impact on the field of education. An overview and tools to use to become AI Literate will be shared during the session while allowing time for discussion about how to keep up with the constant changes happening in the field of generative artificial intelligence.