Facilitator: Dianna Murphy, Director, Language Institute
Description
This semester-long, non-credit seminar was a forum for UW-Madiso language educators to engage in shared learning about the potential impact of generative AI on language teaching and learning. The seminar focused on questions such as: What is generative AI, and how is it related to other language technologies? What are potential affordances–and potential pitfalls– of the use of generative AI in language instruction and assessment? What are ways that instruction might be (re)organized to leverage AI to empower language students, and to enhance and improve their learning? What are ethical issues and policy implications related to using AI-powered technologies that language educators need to take into consideration? More broadly, what does it mean to be a human language teacher in a time of rapid technologization?
The seminar included readings, guest speakers, and discussion. A follow-up hands-on workshop, open to all UW–Madison language educators, is scheduled for Friday, February 14, 2025.
Participants in the Fall 2024 seminar were eligible to apply for a small award to pilot an instructional activity or develop instructional learning materials using generative AI in Spring 2025.
Dates and times
3:00-4:15 pm, Friday, October 4, November 1, November 15, and December 6, 2024
Guest lectures
- Twenty-First Century Technology and Language Education: Thinking Together About Some Existential Questions, Rick Kern, University of California, Berkeley, 2:30-3:30 pm, Friday, September 20, online (recording). Sponsored by the Language Institute.
- Generative AI and its Applications in Language Learning: A Duolingo Perspective, Parker Henry, Duolingo, 4:30 pm, October 23, 8417 Social Science Building, in-person. Sponsored by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Eligibility
UW-Madison faculty, academic staff, and graduate students who teach language courses, or direct or otherwise support UW-Madison language programs were eligible to apply to participate in the seminar.
Participation was limited. Participants were selected based on the applicant’s commitment to full participation in the seminar on all dates, the relevance of the seminar to the applicant’s teaching or research interests, and on the language(s) they teach (to include as many languages as possible).