This hands-on session explores how generative AI can be used to design purposeful, multimodal language-learning experiences that integrate stories, songs, visuals, and student voice. Studies on multimodal composing point to the importance of moving beyond print-based language practice and engaging learners through multiple modes of meaning-making (Lim & Kessler, 2023; Yu & Zhang, 2026). Research on authentic materials and task-based language learning further emphasizes meaningful language use, learner engagement, and connections between classroom practice and real-world communication (Gilmore, 2007; East, 2021).
Participants will explore how tools such as Gemini, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot can support the design of multimodal language-learning experiences across diverse teaching contexts. The session will showcase examples of AI-generated storybooks, songs, visual conversation prompts, and other creative media formats that scaffold language development and increase engagement. Through detailed demonstrations, participants will experience how these tools can be used to generate, refine, and adapt instructional materials.
Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Global
Dr. Weina Li Chen is an Associate Professor and program leader of Bilingual Education at the University of Massachusetts Global. She has years of experience in the field of bilingual education as a Mandarin teacher, teacher educator in TESOL and bilingual education, researcher, and... Read More →
Literature offers readers lessons that transcend beyond its pages. Through these lessons, through thematic topics, and through characters’ interactions and conflicts, there are opportunities for students to notice and develop connections to our dynamic everyday lives. Join me as I share a unit that fosters student creativity at the intersection of literature, media literacy, and technology: Dear Evan Hansen through the lens of Critical Media Literacy. In this session, participants will learn how I, an ELA teacher, paired with my district’s EdTech team to design a unit focused on teaching students more than the literacy processes of reading and writing. Participants will learn how, through our partnership, we connected the trials and tribulations the characters in the play faced, with tangible strategies for how students could, and should behave and interact with peers, friends, and their communities online. We developed strategies to incorporate meaningful utilization of AI in the classroom, including an opportunity for students to interact with the plays’ characters through a character chatbot, an activity that lifted conflicts and characters off the pages of the play. Additionally, participants will walk away with strategies for teaching Critical Media Literacy, not in isolation, but connected directly to the curriculum to foster analytical thinking.
AI deployment in education has been dominated by fear and far-too often biased “AI detection” tools. But at ABCUSD, we’ve found that the real breakthrough isn’t in the software –it’s in the Human Intelligence (HI) that guides it. This session pulls back the curtain on our district’s ongoing journey to move AI from a scary plagiarism machine to a transparent partner in the classroom. We’ll discuss how we’re moving beyond reactive “gotcha” approach to build a proactive “we’ve got you” framework that leverages AI to support the "cognitive struggle" of learning. By focusing on trust over surveillance, we’ve empowered our leaders, teachers and students to remove the taboo of AI use and start being the architects of a new, transparent academic culture.
We’re not just talking theory; we’re sharing the tools we’ve built to "practice what we teach." You’ll get a hands-on look at our AI Trust and Transparency System, including our Transparency Badges and the "AI Trust You" workflow designed to keep the human element at the center of the work. We will share the practical lessons learned from our community roundtables and the evolution of our "boots on the ground" tech leadership model. Attendees will walk away with a ready-to-implement roadmap for creating guardrails that don't just protect, but actually provide the psychological safety necessary for staff and students to be prepared for an AI-infused future.
Director of Information & Technology, ABC Unified School District
Mike Lawrence, Director of IT at ABC Unified, leads districtwide digital learning and infrastructure strategy. Nationally recognized among the top 100 in EdTech, Mike co-founded Google’s global educator programs and served as CEO of CUE. A lifelong learner, he is dedicated to advancing... Read More →
Differentiation doesn't fail because teachers don't believe in it. It fails because producing three versions of one lesson costs three evenings. This hands-on session collapses that cost so the students who most need a different path actually get one: English learners who need multimodal, language-supported explanations; students with IEPs who need self-paced content they can replay; and students without academic support at home. This is a build session, not a presentation. Model: participants begin inside a student-facing module, experiencing an interactive lesson path, an AI avatar explanation, and scaffolded practice exactly as a student would. Show: a brief live build makes every decision visible: why this prompt structure, why this element stays human written, how AI content is checked for bias, and what student data never enters an AI tool. Explore: working in pairs, participants design and begin building a differentiated module for a real upcoming lesson from their own classroom, supported by a reusable template and decision checklist. Every tool (Genially, AI text and avatar generators) is chosen only where it moves students toward deeper learning, expanded access, or greater ownership of pace and path, and participants practice that same judgment themselves. Educators leave with a started module, a reusable template, a responsible AI checklist, and a workflow that makes differentiation a sustainable weekly practice.
High School Teacher, Downey Unified School District
Abida Merchant teaches AP Computer Science, AP Cybersecurity, and Business at Warren High School (Downey USD), where she serves as department lead and, beginning this school year as Teacher Technology Lead specializing in AI. A Project Lead The Way Master teacher since 2016, she has... Read More →
You know your students' needs better than any EdTech company. But finding (or building) a tool that solves your specific problem? That takes time, money, or coding skills you may not have.
This session teaches intermediate-to-advanced AI users to vibe-code: describe what you need in plain English, and let AI build it. You'll see a working example, identify a real classroom problem you want to solve, and walk out with a custom tool ready to use Monday. No coding experience required.
Paul Dietrich is an Academic Coach at Fairview Middle School in the Gonzales Unified School District and brings 12 years of diverse educational experience, including a decade in the classroom. His journey in education encompasses teaching math for two years at the high school level... Read More →
