AI and Digital Literacy 2025

Generative AI technologies have disrupted classrooms in a way not seen since the dial-up internet boom of the 1990s. As teachers, how can we cut through the hype surrounding AI in education to understand its limitations, ethical harms, and potential affordances for learning, access, and equity? 

The AI and Digital Literacy Institute (AIDL 2025) will explore how to teach writing, research, and critical inquiry in the face of developing generative AI technology. Designed for U.S. secondary school, community college, and college humanities educators, this program will put teachers in conversation with top scholars who work on AI and critical digital literacy. The institute offers educators resources to navigate the pedagogical and ethical challenges and opportunities posed by AI in the classroom, as well as providing opportunities to gain experience with tools and to design and/or redesign assignments, classroom exercises, and policies for one’s classroom, department, school, or district.

This institute has been developed by KU Department of English professors Katie Conrad and Sean Kamperman in partnership with the National Humanities Center and the Hall Center for the Humanities and is generously underwritten by Cindy Reiss-Clark, the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, the University of Kansas Department of English, and the William T. Kemper Foundation - Commerce Bank, Trustee. 

Each day’s sessions will include readings, discussions, interactive demonstrations and workshops, and presentations by expert scholars, as well as opportunities to share and connect with fellow teachers in an immersive, supportive environment. The institute will be held at the Hall Center for the Humanities (map) on the KU Lawrence campus from Monday, June 2, to Friday, June 6.

Applications for 2025 are now closed

Applicant priority will be given to ensure a diversity of schools, institutional types, geographical regions, and educational levels are represented. Particularly of interest are teachers who show evidence of leadership, a commitment to engaged teaching practices, and a willingness to promote digital literacy not only in the classroom but with colleagues. Successful applicants will receive a stipend.

Contact information

Questions about AIDL? Contact Katie Conrad (kconrad@ku.edu) or Sean Kamperman (sean.kamperman@ku.edu). 

Image Credit: Kathryn Conrad & Rose Willis | Extraction Network 1 | Better Images of AI | Licensed by CC-BY 4.0