Do you know someone who hasn’t embraced AI? Have you not embraced AI? Let’s explore ways to foster AI literacy and inspire change as we engage in using and evaluating AI as a personal tool to better prepare us to use it with our learners. AI isn’t going away.

AI is overwhelming. There are so many BIG things to think about and this can block our ability to even begin learning more about it as a potential tool in both our personal and professional lives. To begin the journey with AI, we need to begin with our own individual use and understanding of the tool so that we can determine how it can be used in our work. Research demonstrates that members of higher education are not ready to embrace AI (Lee, et. al, 2024) for fear of the negative impacts it may have on learning (Cacho, 2024, Westling, 2023), lack of knowledge about the tool (Ruiz-Rojas, et. al, (2023), ethical concerns (Crawford et. al, 2023), to only name a few. Whether it is you that is hesitant to move forward with AI or it is the faculty around you, this conversation session will focus on how to foster AI literacy and inspire change in those that may be tentative to move forward with the tool.

To overcome fear and concern with anything, we must face what impedes our learning and focus on how we can overcome it. This session will concentrate on our current understanding of AI in our work and how we can become critical consumers of the tool by putting it into practice. In addition, we will discuss how we can model AI for our learners as it is incorporated into the learning environment.

AI literacy, according to Westling (2023), "is a set of competencies that enable individuals to evaluate the accuracy and biases of AI technologies and communicate effectively with AI" (p. 3). She presents five strategies for teachers to use in their classroom. The first is to focus on the AI prompt creation. Second is to emphasize fact checking and third focuses on the importance of editing. Number four is to provide effective examples of effective AI use and the final strategy is to offer hands-on practice. The strategies are meant to teach students about the use of AI, but they can also be used as we, as faculty, become more comfortable with our own use of AI. During our time together, these strategies will be applied in three areas of faculty work, which include administration, teaching, and research, and it is hoped that the ideas shared in each of these areas will help us become critical consumers of the tool and increase our comfort with tool. As each of us become more familiar with using the tool in effective and ethical ways, it is hoped that we can then share and demonstrate this with our learners.

AI is not going away. It continues to grow each day and infiltrates higher education, and we have a choice. We can be fearful of the tool, we can ignore the tool, or we can begin to embrace the tool and see how it can help us grow as professionals.

In a study completed by Lee, et al. (2024), the authors wanted to better understand how survey participants were using or planning on using artificial intelligence in the areas of administration, teaching, and research. These three areas will be addressed, along with Westling’s (2023) five competencies. For this session, administration will not just be administrative duties of our jobs, but also personal reasons in which we might use AI. Using AI for our own needs is a great way to experience the tool and the stakes are low when it comes to evaluating the results for ethical use. Collaborating with AI for our personal interests also provides a springboard for easing it into our professional work. Following this, the session will focus on incorporating AI into teaching and research in one’s work to prepare and become more comfortable to use the tool for a larger student audience.

If you are still exploring the concept of AI in your work or working/guiding/leading others that are questioning this tool, this session will allow for a space to begin this journey. By sharing ideas and strategies related to these areas of implementing AI into personal work first and allowing that experience to guide how we eventually incorporate it into our courses with our students, it is hoped that more confidence will be gained in the AI journey. During this conversation session, ideas will be shared with the audience to prompt discussion in each of the three areas. Examples for introducing AI include using AI to save time or kickstart work (administration), creating higher order discussion or assignment prompts and avoiding bias in assessment (teaching), and verifying data analysis or summarizing articles (research).

Following these prompts, audience members will contribute ideas, experiences, or examples of how they have used AI in the areas of administration, teaching, or research. Interactive tools including online polling, voting, and small group conversation will be used to share ideas, experiences, and examples so that everyone can leave the session with a larger toolbox of beginner ideas for using AI in their work or ideas and strategies to share with others.

References
Cacho, R.M. (2024). Integrating generative AI in university teaching and learning: A model for balanced guidelines. Online Learning Journal, 28(3), 55-82. DOI: 10.24059/olj.v28i3.4508

Crawford, J., Cowling, M., & Allen, K-A. (2023). Leaderships is needed for ethical ChatGPT: Character, assessment, and learning using artificial intelligence. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 20(3). https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.3.02

Lee, D., Arnold, M., Srivastava, A., Plastow, K., Strelen, P., Ploeckl, F., Lekkas, D., & Palmer, E. (2024). The impact of generative AI on higher education learning and teaching: A study of educators; perspectives. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 6, 1-10. https://doi.org?10.1016/j.caeai.2024.100221

Ruiz-Rojas, L.I., Acosta-Vargas, P. De-Moreta-Llovet, J., & Gonzalez-Rodriguez, M. (2023). Empowering education with generative artificial intelligence tools: Approach with an instructional design matrix. Sustainability, 15, https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511524

Westling, M. (2023). 5 strategies for teaching AI. Course Hero. https://facultyclub.coursehero.com/teaching-with-technology/ai-literacy/