Supporting Faculty Through the Google AI for Education Accelerator Program
Practical guidance for exploring AI in your teaching
Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly visible part of teaching and learning at UIC. Through the Google AI for Education Accelerator Program, you now have access to new AI-powered tools that can support course design, content and assessment development, research, and many of the day-to-day tasks that come with teaching. Along with these new opportunities come practical questions: Where should I begin? Which tools are appropriate for my teaching? How can I use AI in ways that support student learning while remaining aligned with my instructional goals?
Those questions have guided our work as we’ve developed new AI resources and learning opportunities for the UIC community.
Why We’ve Taken This Approach
Over the past several months, the Learning Design team has been developing workshops, website content, and consultation materials to support your exploration of AI in teaching and learning. One thing we’ve learned throughout this process is that there isn’t a single AI workshop that will meet everyone’s needs.
As you begin experimenting with AI, your questions naturally become more specific. Instead of asking how AI works, you may find yourself wondering how to create meaningful assessments, use Gemini Notebook with your course materials, support students in using AI responsibly, or apply AI within your own discipline.
Those questions have shaped how we’ve organized our guidance. Rather than focusing primarily on individual AI tools, we’ve organized our resources around common teaching and learning tasks, making it easier to find information that aligns with the work you’re already doing.
How You Can Get Started
To support those different needs, we’re expanding our AI website with practical, task-based guidance that you can explore at your own pace. Organized around common teaching and learning activities, the website includes guidance for integrating AI into your teaching, along with sample prompts, instructional considerations, and suggestions for reviewing AI-generated content. Our goal isn’t simply to demonstrate what AI can produce. It’s to help you make informed decisions about when, where, and why AI should become part of your teaching practice.
These online materials are designed to complement, not replace, workshops and consultations. The website gives you a flexible place to begin exploring AI, while our workshops and consultations allow us to focus more closely on your specific teaching goals, questions, and instructional challenges.
As AI continues to evolve, so will the ways we use it in higher education. We’ll continue developing practical, pedagogically grounded guidance that responds to changes in these technologies and to the needs of our faculty. Whatever your goals, LTS is here to provide guidance and support as you explore what AI can mean for your teaching.
Support and Resources
If you have questions as you begin using the tools available through the Google AI for Education Accelerator Program, support is available. Our instructional design and technology support teams can help you think through how these tools might fit into your teaching, answer questions about their use, and connect you with additional guidance and resources.
We’ll continue updating our workshops and online materials as the tools change and as faculty needs develop.