Mark your calendars!
The Upper Peninsula Teaching Conference (UPTLC) is back in Marquette! Northern Michigan University is hosting the 2026 UPTLC
When:
- Friday, May 29, 2026
- Pre-conference workshop and events on Thursday May 28
Where: Northern Michigan University Northern Center
Schedule and Program
Thursday night (pre-conference) social events:
- In the planning stages, but don't you worry, we will be social!
Pre-conference Workshop
Dr. C. Edward Watson will present the Pre-conference Workshop on the afternoon of Thursday, May 28th.
Exploring AI for Teaching and Learning: A Hands-On Workshop
Designed for those who are interested in employing artificial intelligence (AI) within the context of their curriculum and/or courses, this hands-on workshop will begin by providing participants with a guided, hands-on exploration of key generative AI tools being used today. After exploring this landscape, the workshop will shift to specific applications of AI within teaching and learning settings. A key theme will be how faculty can ensure their students achieve the learning outcomes of their courses while also engendering AI competencies and literacies that are increasingly in demand in the world of work. Assignment design, feedback, and grading will be key topics. A hallmark of this session will be opportunities for attendees to explore AI within the specific context of their own courses.
Plenary Session
Dr. C. Edward Watson will present the Plenary session at the conference on Friday, May 29th.
AI’s Impact on Teaching and the Future of Higher Education
Generative AI tools have had an astonishingly quick impact on the ways we learn, work, think, and create. While higher education’s initial response was to develop strategies to diminish AI’s influence in the classroom, it is now clear that AI competencies and literacies must be embraced as essential learning for most colleges and universities. These responses and realities create challenging tensions that higher education must work to resolve. Drawing from his new book, Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024), Dr. C. Edward Watson will detail the challenges and opportunities that have emerged for higher education, especially in terms of pedagogical practice and student learning. Additionally, key opportunities provided by AI include ways for faculty to improve instruction and save time, but these benefits also have the potential to have an impact on the profession of teaching itself. The future of the professoriate will also be discussed and suggestions will be provided regarding how faculty can participate as their profession evolves.
Dr. C. Edward "Eddie" Watson
C. Edward Watson, Ph.D., is the Vice President for Digital Innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). He is also the founding director of AAC&U’s Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Watson was the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia (UGA) where he led university efforts associated with faculty development, TA development, learning technologies, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He continues to serve as a Fellow in the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education at UGA and recently stepped down after more than a decade as the Executive Editor of the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. His most recent publications are the second edition of Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025), Leading Through Disruption: Higher Education Executives Assess AI’s Impacts on Teaching and Learning (AAC&U, 2025), and the Student Guide to AI (Elon University & AAC&U, 2025). Dr. Watson been quoted in the New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Campus Technology, EdSurge, Newsweek, U.S. News, EdTech, Consumer Reports, UK Financial Times, and University Business Magazine and by the AP, CNN and NPR regarding current teaching and learning issues and trends in higher education.
