Virginia Tech AI Teaching Symposium

Name: Virginia Tech AI Teaching Symposium
Start: 2026-08-13T12:00:00Z
End: 2026-08-13T21:00:00Z
Location: Data and Decision Sciences Building

Data and Decision Sciences Building

August 13, 2026

Registration

David Wiley - smiling white middle-aged man with closely cut light hair wearing a white button-down shirt and glasses.

Keynote Speaker
David Wiley, Academic Affairs Fellow for AI in Education at Marshall University

Dr. Wiley has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and received more than $10 million dollars in external research funding. He is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER grant and has held appointments as Nonresident Fellow in the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, OLNet Expert Fellow at the Open University in the UK, and Visiting Scholar at the Open University of the Netherlands. His teaching and research combine generative AI, open education, entrepreneurship, and professional development with the goal of making education more meaningful, relevant, and affordable. He is one of the founders of the open educational resources movement.

Event Description

Virginia Tech faculty are invited to participate in the 2026 AI Teaching Symposium, a campus-wide event focused on thoughtful, human-centered approaches to teaching in a dynamic AI landscape.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how students learn, write, and research. Across disciplines, faculty are experimenting with new instructional approaches, grappling with new academic integrity questions, and reconsidering the role of human expertise in an AI-enabled world. The 2026 symposium theme, “AI On / AI Off: The Balance of Human-Centered AI,” invites faculty to share their experiences navigating these choices.

At Virginia Tech, some faculty are “AI on”—fully embracing AI tools in teaching and learning. Others are “AI off”—intentionally limiting AI use to protect specific learning outcomes. And many are still exploring where they stand, or striving to find a balance between “on” and “off” that aligns with their unique contexts and pedagogical goals. This event aims to create a space for thoughtful dialogue across all of these perspectives. Presentations will explore when and why instructors choose to integrate AI into teaching, when and why they choose to restrict it, and how they make intentional decisions that enhance student learning.

The symposium will feature four types of faculty-led presentations:

Lightning Talk (8-10 minutes): A short presentation highlighting specific teaching practices, assignments, assessments, or policies related to AI.
Tech Demo (20 minutes): An overview of an AI tool or workflow that could be used in a teaching and learning context.
Workshop (45 minutes): A hands-on session that offers practical tips and teaching strategies, then guides participants through the process of applying these in their own teaching.
Panel Discussion (45 minutes): A facilitated conversation that explores opportunities, challenges, risks, and tensions surrounding AI in education. Panels should include two or more faculty members, ideally with different perspectives.

The symposium planning committee is reviewing proposals and will update this site soon with the presentation schedule.

The AI Teaching Symposium is organized by Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies, with support from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, University Libraries, and Undergraduate Academic Affairs. Questions may be directed to the symposium planning committee at tlos@vt.edu.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact TLOS by email at tlos@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.