Conference Workshops San Diego
Workshops take place over two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, before the main conference begins on Wednesday afternoon. These workshops are a great way to get hands-on experience across a number of amazing CALL-related topics, with the workshop leaders including some of the most amazing people from our field. You can register for the workshops on the main conference registration page (https://calico.org/product-category/conference). The small fee for these workshops will be well worth it, so take advantage of these workshops by scheduling your flight a day or two early!
Tuesday, May 27, 9:00am-12:00pm
Harnessing AI for Student Multimedia Projects: Enhancing Creativity and Efficiency
Multimedia projects in language classrooms engage students with language and culture, incorporating all language modalities and learning standards. However, they can be time-consuming, detracting from actual language learning. This presentation explores how generative AI (genAI) can streamline multimedia project creation, saving time while maintaining student engagement, creativity, and research. It includes an overview of genAI in language teaching, hands-on practice sessions, demonstrations of genAI applications for creating multimedia products, and showcases of AI-enhanced project-based activities and student work.
Using AI-powered Tools to Generate Authentic Lessons for Language Classrooms
This half-day workshop aims to demonstrate the use of artificial intelligence to enable language teachers to develop and/or tailor authentic lesson content. This workshop is composed of three primary stages. Initially, the facilitator will introduce several AI-generated lesson design tools, including Diffit, Twee, and Magic School. Secondly, the attendees will have a chance to explore and utilize these tools to develop materials collaboratively. Finally, a feedback session in which the participants will share their insights on one another’s lessons and the potential of these tools for assisting language teachers will be conducted.
Tuesday, May 27, 1:00pm-4:00pm
Supercharged PBL for Language Learning:
Leveraging AI to Amplify Student Creativity and Engagement
Project based learning (PBL) is a well documented pedagogical approach that incorporates principles such as collaborative learning, authentic tasks, iterative design, and alternative assessment to actively engage students. PBL is a natural fit with CALL. Still emerging, though, is how teachers can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to enhance PBL, taking student projects to new levels. This hands-on workshop will present a PBL framework, provide multiple examples of AI enhanced PBL projects and allow time for hands-on, guided exploration of potential AI projects participants can implement in their own language classrooms.
Implementing Cascade Reading for the Language Learning Classroom
Since languages express grammatical relationships differently, L2 learners would benefit from additional scaffolds as they learn and read. Cascade Reading’s automated formatting visually cues the grammatical relationships between words and phrases in a sentence, aiding students in the development of their syntactic knowledge as they read. This workshop focuses on how Cascade Reading’s free tools can be employed in the language learning classroom to help teach and instill grammatical concepts as students interact with increasingly complex texts, not just in English, but also in Spanish, French, Italian, and German. This workshop will emphasize implementation with specific classroom activities acted out.
Wednesday, May 28, 8:30am-11:30am
Real-World Tasks in Language Teaching:
Promoting Social Interaction and Digital Citizenship
This workshop introduces participants to the socio-interactional approach (Ollivier et al., 2018), real-world tasks (RWT), and the concept of digital citizenship in language education (Ollivier et al., 2021). Based on the eLANG Citizen project (www.ecml.at/elangcitizen), it provides theoretical and practical tools to help instructors develop learners\’ critical, creative, and autonomous use of digital media across multiple languages. The workshop is divided into two parts: the first presents the project’s pedagogical framework, while the second invites participants to explore its online resources and consider how to apply RWT in their own teaching. Participants will reflect on digital citizenship and authentic social interactions in the classroom.
Leveraging AI to Design Engaging Language Games for Your Classroom
Imagine designing a language-learning game but lacking technical skills. Using AI, we’ve developed dozens of HTML-based games that integrate audio and interactive resources to meet diverse learner needs. This workshop showcases examples and guides you in creating custom games for your course. Learn to use tools like ChatGPT, Firefly, and Notepad++ to streamline development. Join us to explore essential design principles and the unique advantages of personalized games that align closely with your course objectives and learner needs.
Wednesday, May 28, 8:30am-3:30pm
‘AI-Write’: AI Tools for L1 and L2 Academic Writing
& Open Education Resources for Students and Instructors
This full day workshop is based on the outputs of a transnational project, AI Write, co-funded by the European Erasmus+ programme on artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education writing instruction. The first part of the workshop introduces the AI-Write framework, in which the different writing stages are contextualised with AI literacies and tools. Examples of better practices are discussed with the participants and tools are presented to explore the use and interaction with AI in diverse writing settings. The second part of the workshop deals with the presentation of recently developed OER to support learners and instructors in the use of AI tools for Academic Writing.
Wednesday, May 28, 12:30pm-3:30pm
Creating Interactive Content with H5P and Artificial Intelligence:
Enhancing the Student Learning Experience
H5P is an educational technology tool that enables teachers to create, share and reuse more than sixty types of interactive multimedia content. H5P is available on e-learning platforms such as Moodle and Canvas. In this workshop, participants will learn to create H5P content to enhance the student’s learning experience. The session will begin with an exploration of various H5P content types and a brief theoretical introduction. Participants will then learn to create H5P content independently and with the help of ChatGPT. Finally, some participants will be able to present their interactive content to the class.
AI-driven Teaching Strategies: Grade Smarter, Not Harder
This hands-on workshop equips language educators to enhance assessment and feedback using AI tools like ChatGPT, Brisk Teaching, and Magicschool. Participants will explore how AI can streamline grading, create quiz questions, create rubrics, and provide feedback, reducing time on routine tasks. Designed for educators of all experience levels, the session combines prompt engineering with practical techniques to help teachers tailor AI for diverse learner needs. By the end, attendees will leave with classroom-ready resources and a stronger understanding of AI’s role in creating efficient, adaptive assessment practices that enhance language learning outcomes.