TEACHx 2026

Designing and launching a new course can spark our pedagogical creativity while challenging us to make decisions on a tight timeline. This workshop provides practical guidance and actionable steps to help instructors confidently begin shaping a new course such as selecting texts and readings, aligning assessments with competencies, planning meaningful in-class activities, and inviting subject matter experts into the classroom. 


Participants will engage in a fast‑paced, collaborative environment that mirrors methods of an effective class session as they build a ladder of success towards course development. Through hands‑on activities, attendees will begin developing a semester outline, identifying key learning outcomes, and creating the foundational scaffolding needed to continue building their course after the session concludes. Opportunities for dialogue with fellow instructors will encourage idea‑sharing, problem‑solving, and exploration of different approaches to course design.


This session is ideal for instructors preparing to teach a new course or seeking a structured, energetic approach to course planning. Attendees will leave with tangible deliverables, practical tools, and a clear plan of action to accelerate their course development with confidence.

As U.S. college classrooms grow increasingly diverse, Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) courses must be intentionally designed for accessibility, inclusion, and digital readiness. This 45-minute interactive presentation showcases the redesign of course materials, Canvas modules, and policies in an SHL track using Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Open Educational Resources (OER), and critical AI literacy.


Guided by UDL, the course integrates multimodal OER, scaffolded academic literacy supports, transparent assignment design, and flexible assessment options to address heritage learners’ uneven reading and writing development. The Canvas site was streamlined for clarity and accessibility, and policies were revised to emphasize flexibility, growth, and equity.


To prepare students for a rapidly evolving world, the course also incorporates structured, ethical engagement with generative AI tools. Drawing on digital competency guidance from UNESCO, students critically evaluate AI outputs, examine linguistic bias, and use AI as a tool for revision and rhetorical analysis.


Participants will engage in brief collaborative activities to redesign assignments and reflect on inclusive AI practices. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for implementing UDL principles, enhancing digital literacy, and creating more accessible, student-centered learning environments.

This session introduces a new approach to designing an AI‑enhanced assessment for online learning, created to deepen student engagement and support experiential learning in a course on NCAA Compliance in the M.S. in Sports Administration Program at the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies. Developed through a cross‑departmental partnership, the project brought together learning designers, faculty, and academic staff in the Office of Distance Learning, working closely with programmers in the Northwestern Emerging Technologies Lab. Rather than adopting third‑party tools, the team became early adopters of Discourse AI, a custom-built GenAI web application used across several Northwestern courses. Discourse AI employs “AI Personas” as fictional conversation partners, allowing students to role‑play career‑relevant scenarios in a safe, low‑stakes environment. This design prioritizes inquiry, strategy, and decision‑making over simple answer generation, while ensuring instructors remain central as subject‑matter authorities through their feedback on student–AI transcripts. The resulting assignment simulated a real-world compliance investigation within Canvas—an experience previously unattainable in an asynchronous format. The presentation will outline the assignment structure, share insights from its initial implementation, present student survey data and feedback, and describe plans for refinement. Attendees will gain practical guidance for using custom AI tools to create meaningful, immersive learning experiences and expand the pedagogical potential of GenAI in higher education.