SAILing the AI wave by focusing on AI Literacy

The rapid development and adoption of Generative AI have changed the educational landscape, with students and staff regularly using AI tools, institutions beginning to integrate AI into their student-facing platforms, and educational decision makers at the highest levels promoting the introduction of AI tools such as AI tutors, graders, and research browsers into the education ecosystem. There is no doubt that generative AI is a powerful tool, able to create multiple types of complex output from simple prompts, but with great power comes great responsibility. Academics and students alike need to develop their AI literacy to ensure that higher learning is enhanced rather than undermined. In this session, we will explain how the SAIL framework provides a roadmap to AI literacy that can guide best practices in AI-supported education. The framework provides a scaffolded learning pathway that not only covers core capabilities but builds toward the higher levels of literacy and beyond to include even specialist tertiary study.

Timings

1.00pm: Guests arrive

1.15pm: CoE Introduction

1.20pm: Keynote Speaker

1.50pm: Q&A Session

2.00pm: Speaking finishes, guests network

2.30pm: Event finishes

Wednesday 17 September

1.00pm - 2.30pm

Inaka, Waimarie Building, Lincoln University

About Our Speaker

Assoc. Prof. Kathryn MacCallum

Kathryn MacCallum is an Associate Professor of Digital Education Futures at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and Director of the Digital Education Futures Research Lab. Her research focuses on the integration of digital technologies in education, with a particular interest in how emerging technologies (AI, VR and AR) are shaping our teaching landscape and impacting digital equity and the need to build digital skills across the educational sector. Kathryn served as the President of the International Association for Mobile Learning (IAmLearn) from 2021 to 2023, was a board member of EdTechNZ, and is currently part of the AI Forum NZ working group focusing on developing a national strategy for AI in Education. Kathryn is also Editor-in-Chief of several international journals and was awarded the National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award in 2019 for her sustained contribution to teaching.

Adjunct Prof. David Parsons
David Parsons is Research Director at academyEX, supporting staff and students to develop and publish their research. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Educational Studies and Leadership at the University of Canterbury and a subject matter expert for the Open Polytechnic. He holds a PhD in Information Technology and has had a broad and varied career as a teacher, academic, software industry practitioner, and researcher, with a particular interest in the role of ICT in education. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning and has published widely in software development and technology-enhanced learning. He is a Certified Member of the Association for Learning Technologies and has a keen interest in the role of AI in education.