The sixteenth annual National Distance Learning Week offers many virtual sessions focused on how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts education and training. The U.S. Distance Learning Association (USDLA) will host a week-long series of webinars designed to generate greater awareness of distance learning, discuss current issues and emerging trends, and highlight best practices. 

This year's events take place November 6-10, 2023. All sessions are free to attend, but require registration via USDLA. Highlighted topics include:

Day 1 - Monday, November 6, 2023 (1-2 PM EST)

Finding the Yin-Yang in Faculty Development Balancing AI-Centered with Student-Centered Learning

With the rise of Generative AI systems and platforms, universities can no longer get too comfortable. Integrating Generative AI into a university culture requires a certain level of risk-taking and commitment from a campus. Explore strategies to build up faculty development competencies and instructional design capabilities amidst this rapidly changing technology environment of Generative AI.

Day 2 - Tuesday, November 7, 2023 (3-4 PM EST)

Uncovering the Potential, Realities, and Future of Generative AI through Research

While much has been said and written about Generative AI in education, systematic investigations about its use are slow to emerge. The Canadian Digital Learning Research Association recently surveyed 438 administrators and faculty across 126 Canadian institutions to gauge their perspectives on generative AI. This webinar will present findings and provide a space for an expansive discussion.

Day 3 - Wednesday, November 8, 2023 (1-2 PM EST)

A real-world implementation of AI in education

Explore the real-world implementation of AI in education. Learn about AI fundamentals, using AI as an instructional tool for personalized learning, reimagining assessment with AI, ethical considerations for student use of AI, and administrative uses of AI for streamlining tasks and decision-making processes.

Day 4 - Thursday, November 9, 2023 (1-2 PM EST)

Data Justice, Data Rights and AI Ethics

Data Justice is an emergent area of digital rights and activism that has its roots in protecting the use of citizens and consumers' data in Europe which includes how AI is impacting worker and student rights. Technology is not neutral. We do need to question what rights learners and workers have in the age of big data, surveillance capitalism, algorithmic bias, and ubiquitous AI.

Day 5 - Friday, November 10, 2023 (1-2 PM EST)

GenAI Holds Great Promise for Distance Learning, But There Are Concerns

Generative AI has emerged rapidly into public awareness in the past year and much has been written about the cataclysmic threats and vast possibilities of this new technology. Working in distance learning, we know that our students have many needs (editors and statistics tutors are just two examples) that could be met by GenAI. But we also have fears that our students may use this technology to avoid the hard work of critical thinking rather than using it to allow more time for such deeper learning. Discover which assignment types that are easier or harder for GenAI to complete, review the challenges of using AI detectors, and discuss some of the ethical concerns of using GenAI with protected student information.

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Abstract When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and all higher education pivoted to online learning, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) created 'Finish Line', a programme designed to help former students with some college, but no degree to complete their studies, often several years after they had left the institution. More than 200 students have done so to date, which was a surprising pandemic silver lining for an institution with fewer than 5 per cent of all courses delivered online before 2020. But was Finish Line just a temporary strategic initiative to get through a global health crisis? Or could it also be a proof of concept for how to meet and support 'non-traditional' adult learners where they are -- and want to go? In this reflective case study, we offer candid lessons learned to go beyond the logistics of an enrollment management strategy of 're-recruiting' former students through the affordances of online education to reassessing and redefining our 'inclusive excellence' mission in a post-pandemic, often digital-first world.