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? 

Inspired by this question, the AI and Digital Literacy: Toward an Inclusive and Empowering Teaching Practice (AIDL 2025) Institute 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 the National Endowment for the Humanities Institute for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities. 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. 

Applications accepted until Feb. 14, 2025.

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.

Applications will be accepted until Friday, Feb. 14. 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.

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

Image credit: Kathryn Conrad & Rose Willis; photographs licensed through Adobe Stock

Disclaimer: Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.