2024 L.O.P.E. CONFERENCE
Leading Online Pedagogy and Engagement
Welcome to the Leading Online Pedagogy and Engagement (L.O.P.E.) Conference presented to you by the Department of Online Teaching and Learning at Grand Canyon University. The theme for the 2024 conference is, “Artificial Intelligence and the Pedagogy of Care”! In an age where technology increasingly shapes the landscape of education, it’s crucial to explore how we can infuse our teaching practices with the essence of care, empathy, and human connection.
The Pedagogy of Care, at its core, embodies an approach to education that prioritizes the holistic well-being of students and educators alike. It emphasizes fostering meaningful relationships, nurturing inclusive learning environments, and acknowledging the diverse needs and backgrounds of learners.
Join us as we leap into the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and the Pedagogy of Care, exploring how AI technologies can be harnessed to enhance teaching and learning experiences while maintaining a steadfast focus on empathy, ethics, and the human element in education.
Throughout this conference, we’ll engage in thought-provoking discussions, share innovative strategies, and envision a future where AI and care converge to cultivate thriving educational communities. Together, let’s embark on this transformative journey toward creating a more compassionate and equitable higher education landscape.
Presentation Descriptions & Registration
Register for each presentation individually.
AI-Enhanced Pedagogy: Guiding Emerging Technologies in Higher Education
This presentation delves into the exciting intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and modern teaching methodologies in higher education, highlighting how AI can be a significant catalyst for pedagogical innovation and inclusivity. It explores the concept of ‘prompt engineering,’ a cutting-edge approach in AI education that involves embedding emotional intelligence and educational values into AI systems. This method transforms AI from a mere technological tool to an empathetic educational partner.
Integrating Artificial Intelligence with Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
In the rapidly evolving educational landscape, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with culturally relevant pedagogy presents a unique and innovative challenge. The deployment of AI in education, with its adaptive algorithms and data-driven insights, raises critical questions when integrated with culturally relevant pedagogy. This pedagogical approach values students’ cultural identities and experiences as assets, yet AI’s algorithmic decision-making might risk systemic biases and marginalization. The presentation seeks to address whether the use of AI in higher education can be tailored to reflect cultural nuances and how it can avoid undermining the cultural assets students bring to the learning environment. This presentation will explore the intersection of AI and culturally relevant pedagogy, highlighting the importance of creating inclusive and dynamic learning environments that respect and utilize students’ cultural contexts.
Ethical and Societal Implications of Generative AI
This training session, designed for college professors and others working in academia, delves into the ethical and societal implications of generative AI, providing an essential understanding of this rapidly evolving technology. It begins with an introduction to generative AI, highlighting its significance and the crucial need for ethical boundaries. The session offers a succinct overview of how generative AI operates, including a look at various types such as GPT and DALL-E, and their applications across different fields. A significant focus is placed on ethical considerations, examining issues like data privacy, bias, fairness, and accountability. Participants are encouraged to engage with real-world scenarios through case studies, fostering a deeper understanding of the societal impacts of generative AI, including its effects in higher education and the proliferation of misinformation through hallucinations and deepfakes. The training also addresses the legal aspects surrounding AI, such as intellectual property and regulatory frameworks. The session concludes by exploring future trends in generative AI and discussing the role of educators in guiding ethical AI development. This comprehensive training not only informs but also equips educators with the tools to foster an ethical AI culture within their academic environments.
AI and the Compassionate Classroom: Transforming Feedback and Assessment
This presentation explores AI’s revolutionary role in establishing a compassionate and adaptive learning environment. It will highlight how AI tools in feedback and assessment are integral to developing a pedagogy that supports the diverse academic needs of graduate students. The session will introduce AI-infused approaches for feedback and evaluation, aiming to elevate the learning journey of graduate students within online platforms. Attendees will learn practical ways to engage with these innovative tools, showcasing AI’s capacity to address individual learning preferences in a digital education space.
Saving Time with AI – Unleashing the Power of AI in our classrooms
The idea of “Saving Time with AI: Unleashing the Power of AI in Our Classrooms” is gaining momentum in the education sector. AI has the potential to revolutionize education by automating routine tasks, such as grading assignments and personalizing learning experiences for students. By leveraging AI, teachers can focus more on creating memorable classroom experiences and providing personalized support to students. The integration of AI in education is seen as a way to empower students and educators, enhance teaching methods, and improve accessibility to education. This 30-minute conference session will show participants how to use AI to create presentations, create quizzes for formative assessments, make slide decks, and more.
Using AI to help students be successful beyond the classroom
Based on recent trends in technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming a tool that can help students and faculty both inside and outside the online classroom. There is a lot of work being done to determine how students and faculty can appropriately use AI in the classroom, but what about beyond the classroom? We believe that AI can be a tool that faculty can help students learn to use outside of the classroom in developing study and career plans, and creating goals and this can help with their overall mental health and well-being. Since online college students often struggle with issues related to isolation, based on the inherent nature of online courses, this additional guidance from faculty surrounding AI could also enhance the faculty-student relationship.
In the presentation, we will discuss the following questions and share tangible AI examples to use in helping students beyond the classroom:
1. What AI tools are best suited to help students outside the classroom develop study and career plans, goals, and mental health and well-being?
2. How can faculty introduce and incorporate these AI tools to help their students?
3. How does the incorporation of AI tools impact the faculty-student relationship?