AI in Practice – Turning Challenges into Opportunities (webinar recording)

An ARAISA and ISANS collaboration, these November and December 2024 webinars are part of a series of webinars to address the dynamic and evolving subject of integrating AI in our sector.

Session 1 explored how AI tools can enhance language education in your instructional practice. You will get practical prompts for material preparation, feedback methods, and learner activities with concrete examples of how AI technologies can help learners focus on the process of learning and not solely on the product.

Session agenda:

• Understanding AI & the value of learning
• Using AI outside the classroom
• Using AI inside the classroom
• Student feedback on AI Activities
• Final takeaways

Slides:

Session 2 built on the previous session. Presenters continued to share practical AI experiences and also explored next steps in building a Community of Practice. Presenters created a website where webinar attendees could experiment with Generative AI. They provide specific tasks to show specific tasks that participants might find useful and practical to apply to their work. They also focused on providing suggestions for creating effective prompts in Generative AI tools.

Presenters also created resource pages (on Padlet) where they continue to share AI and language learning resources:

• Denise’s Padlet Resource Page
• Nathan’s Padlet Sharing Page

Speakers

Denise Lo is an English for Academic Purposes and Teaching English as a Second Language teaching faculty at Douglas College, bringing over 15 years of global experience to her current role from the University of Alberta, Yonsei University, and the University of Southern California. Her experience extends to curriculum development projects, including Le Mauril project with Canadian Language Benchmarks and the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Additionally, she has shared her expertise in teacher training through the Norquest College TEAL program in Alberta, Canada. Denise’s passion for Educational Technology has earned the University of Alberta Remote Teaching Award. 

Nathan Hall is the Educational Technology and Pedagogy Coordinator for Douglas College as well as teaching faculty in the English Language Learning and Acquisition (ELLA) department and Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program. He also helped develop and currently leads the Douglas Educational Support Community (DESC) which provides support to all educators at Douglas College in various areas such as educational technology, Universal Design for Learning, and Open Education. Nathan started teaching English in 1997 and has worked in Lithuania, Ukraine, England, Scotland, and Canada in the areas of Business English, English in the Workplaces, LINC, and English for Academic Purposes. Nathan received the Douglas College President’s Distinguished Service Award in 2023 for his work in supporting faculty members as they moved their courses online during the pandemic.