Spring 2024 Webinar Series Recordings: Rebooting Language Educ-AI-tion

In recent years, cutting edge tech tools such as neural machine translation (NMT), generative AI and extended reality (XR) have given rise to a mixture of excitement and concern as to their potential uses. In this webinar series, the opportunities and challenges these tools present will be explored and the pedagogies they require examined for the purpose of rebooting language teaching and learning.

Click on the titles below to access the recordings, slides and resources for the webinars in this series.

You can also view all the recordings in our YouTube webinar playlist!

Errol M. O'Neill

(University of Memphis)

Integrating Online Translators and other AI Tools in Language Instruction

Instructional technologies have revolutionized the way students learn and educators teach world languages. Online machine translators and Generative AI – two types of artificial intelligence tools that are available to the general public – represent both an exciting opportunity and a potential risk for language instruction.

In this webinar, participants:

Review research related to the use of online translators and AI chatbots and their effects on language learning.
Explore specific policies and activity types that allow for responsible use of these and related technologies, with examples of online translator and AI policies/tasks that have been adopted in K-12 and higher education.
Collaborate with other attendees to construct an activity incorporating online translator and AI chatbot usage that reflects their own priorities and the needs of their learners.

Some of what attendees told us they found most beneficial about this webinar:

I find the information shared on how to use AI chatbots in writing an insightful one. From the presentation, I have learned about the many different stages and processes of writing that AI chatbots could be leveraged. Additionally, seeing how the speaker, in a demo, had that interaction with the AI chatbot informs of the possibility of getting my students to replicate same following the guidelines for self training.

I can see that there are still the pros and cons on using the AI-based application or platforms, but the webinar today has strengthened my belief that using AI is helpful in language learning.

Concrete examples: writing, audio translation and conversation on Google Translate & ChatGPT. The research material was very beneficial too.

Generative AI in Language Education: Rewards, Risks, and Reboots

The primary goal of this webinar is to collectively explore and critically examine the role of generative AI in language education. It begins with a brief overview of key concepts related to generative AI before examining the benefits and rewards it may offer language educators. Next, a discussion of the risks inherent to generative AI adoption, as well as the ethical considerations that instructors should know to both teach their students about AI and use it in their own work. Lastly, one considers how language education may be “rebooted” for pedagogical innovation and address pressing questions that will impact the field moving forward. During the webinar, Dr. Kostka provides examples from her classes to show how she has used generative AI in both teacher-facing and student-facing ways and shares preliminary findings from classroom-based research projects conducted over the past academic year. This webinar is geared toward all language educators with a range of knowledge and experience using generative AI; technical expertise is not required.

Ilka Kostka

(Northeastern University)

A great presentation of a wide range of resources and how to ACTUALLY use them in class.

It was great to see how another faculty member is using this in her class. I appreciate sharing such ideas.

Lots of opportunities that AI provides to make the learning process more interactive and student centered.

Regina Kaplan-Rakowski

(University of North Texas)

Integrating Extended Reality in Language Instruction

The session features examples of immersive, interactive, and engaging language activities using XR technologies. Both premium quality and cost-effective solutions are showcased. This interactive webinar provides opportunities to reflect on XR classroom activities and discuss future directions regarding the integration of XR technologies in language instruction.

Learning about the differences between AR, MR, and VR. The apps that the speaker shared are also very helpful. I haven’t known about some apps if not for this webinar.

I recently purchased a 360 camera and started creating content with it, and this webinar encouraged me and showed me different ways to use the content I’ve created. I also know more about other equipment I need to purchase to be able to use AR, MR, and VR in my language and culture classes.

The incorporation of AR, VR and MR is a relatively new area to explore and this lecture has certainly put light on these upcoming yet integral new perspective in the relevant field.