Higher education institutions globally are being forced to re-evaluate all aspects of teaching and learning as advanced generative AI becomes a ubiquitous part of everyday technologies. AI is changing how we seek, create, and represent knowledge, which in turn impacts the reliability and validity of historical approaches to evaluating learning. This workshop explores some of the assessment frameworks that are emerging in response to the challenges and opportunities of AI in education, and offers some practical advice on developing both disciplinary knowledge, and AI literacy.

As the AI evolution/revolution continues at full pace, it can be very difficult to keep up with the latest developments. One significant recent development is the wide availability of functional, user-friendly agentic AI, both as a standalone service and integrated to browsers, which can autonomously complete tasks on our behalf (e.g. finding and comparing products, making purchases, completing surveys, and even completing course work). This online session will provide an introduction to the capabilities of emerging, publicly available agentic AI and explore some of the implications of these tools for teaching and learning, research, and daily work tasks. The session will include demonstrations of some of the emerging capabilities of agentic AI.

As AI systems reshape how humans learn, research, and work, faculty and students across all disciplines need to develop foundational AI literacy to enable agency and informed decision-making about when and if to engage responsibly with AI. Faculty don’t need to become technical experts, but do need to understand evolving disciplinary norms with respect to these systems to effectively guide students and make informed decisions about AI in their teaching. This online workshop explores what AI literacy means (including some of the established AI literacy frameworks), how it may be distinct from other literacies, why it matters for higher education and society more broadly at this moment, and some practical strategies for developing AI literacy in yourself and your students. AI literacy is not about adopting the technology, but it does encourage curiosity, criticality, and a willingness to engage with one of the defining challenges of contemporary education.

Note: This is the first session in an ongoing discussion about AI on our campus. AI is all around us, becoming embedded in our technologies and daily practice. The AI Curious Community provides a space for all members of the University of Windsor community to have a conversation about AI and how it is impacting their work, learning, teaching, and research. These informal sessions will be offered on an approximately monthly basis and are open to everyone as a hybrid event with in-person (CEI 1232) and online (Teams) participation options. The goal is to discuss what's working, what's not, the big challenges we face, things we have tried, successes, and the big questions we still have about these powerful technologies.