As generative AI continues to reshape teaching and learning, finding the time and space to explore these tools thoughtfully can be incredibly challenging, especially with new tools and updates appearing constantly. That is one reason the GenAI Faculty Fellows Program has benefited faculty like Dr. Akesha Horton, who is also known affectionately (and, as she'll tell you, sarcastically) as "Doctor Fun Facts." We sat down to talk about what the GenAI Faculty Fellows program has actually been like from the inside.
Horton, director of curriculum and instruction at IU Bloomington's Luddy School, already had more exposure to generative AI than the average person joining the program. Even so, she joined because she wanted a deeper understanding of how to approach generative AI in teaching and learning, especially in an environment where students are not only using these tools but, in some cases, learning to build them.
"What drew me in," Horton explained, was the chance to think about "how we in Luddy should be considering using generative AI in the classroom and what are the affordances and constraints."
She was also interested in how students are being shaped by competing ideas about what these tools can and should be used to do.
A safe space to ask questions
The phrase Horton kept returning to was "safe space." While she found the program highly practical, she points out that it is "a safe space to ask questions and get those questions answered by somebody who is extremely knowledgeable and could also follow up with resources." That sense of safety became one of the defining strengths of the experience, given how quickly the landscape is changing.
The cohort model also played a major role. Horton emphasized that the group included people at different levels of experience, and that variety made the experience richer. Faculty new to generative AI brought interesting questions, and power users shared examples that pushed others further.
"Everybody contributes because of the types of questions they ask. Someone who's really new will see things from a different perspective and is thinking about how to use AI a lot differently than I'm thinking about it, just like somebody who's more advanced than me. I'm learning from both lenses, and it's helping me think through how to better support faculty who are thinking about it through multiple lenses as well."
Being curious and critical
Even though each week's hands-on challenges are designed to push fellows through a high volume of prompting practice in a short time, the goal is reflection. "Maggie [Gilchrist] does a good job of helping us be critical of [generative] AI and not just jumping in to use it because it's really cool."
For Horton, that meant reflecting on issues such as environmental impact, data collection (and the companies training the models), labor, and the human costs that can be hidden from us as users. These sacrifice zones were important to Horton as she continued to delve deeper into when and where this technology should be used. This critical mindset became part of how she now talks and writes about generative AI in her broader teaching and learning work.
What faculty need right now
Beyond becoming fluent in the different generative AI platforms, one of the fellowship's biggest lessons for Horton was about learning what educators need to navigate what's coming. "That's what these challenges have been teaching me," she said, "what types of literacies and understandings do educators need in order to make informed decisions about what this looks like in your discipline."
When asked what would help faculty the most, she answered, "Time. They need time to explore how these tools work." Horton pointed out that while many faculty are already discussing the ethics of generative AI, they may have had less opportunity to think holistically about how students are actually experiencing these tools across classes—or what practical generative AI use should look like in a discipline.
If you're on the fence about applying for the next cohort, Horton says,
In the end, her description of the fellowship points to something deeper than technical training. The GenAI Fellows Program offers faculty time to experiment with generative AI and discuss their findings with colleagues.
