Photo courtesy of Camille Dempsey
Dr. Elizabeth Langran, a longtime Marymount University professor of Education, was selected as a member of the inaugural cohort for the AI Explorations for Educator Preparation Programs (EPP) Faculty Fellowship by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). With a focus on accelerating innovation in education, those selected for these coveted fellowships will explore how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education can be safely harnessed to better teach the students of today and tomorrow.
Fellows will participate in over 50 hours of specialized professional learning and coaching, collaborations with other fellows to develop educational and instructional material, conducting presentations, participating in networking events and, ultimately, leading a virtual EPP workshop. In a competitive application process, Dr. Langran was one of only seven applicants across the U.S. who were selected. She was chosen based on the strength of her overall application, her meaningful contributions to the field and her potential to make a positive impact nationally and internationally through this program.
“The current rapid pace of AI deployment in education will have many consequences that educators need to understand. AI is not going away, so we need to consider safe, effective and ethical practices about how to interact with AI in the classroom,” Dr. Langran explained. “There is a lot of concern around how AI is being deployed and how that may impact existing equity gaps, privacy, surveillance, data ownership and more. We need to make intentional plans for how to move forward and work together with fellow stakeholders.”
Dr. Langran’s experience with AI and education began in 2019 when she attended events at UNESCO’s headquarters and co-led a panel on AI and teacher education at the National Technology Leadership Summit. Now, aided by her work as a fellow in this EPP program, she is set to deliver a workshop this fall for teacher education faculty.
During ISTE’s 2023 conference, Dr. Langran presented on how equity, ethics and cultural responsiveness play a key role in the formation of seven critical strategies that prepare teachers to teach about, and with, AI.
“I think many educators, certainly those in the room, understood that AI is increasingly impacting education, and the seven strategies are a way for educator preparation programs to intentionally address preparing teachers to teach with, and about, AI,” Dr. Langran said.
Dr. Langran has taught at Marymount for over 10 years, coauthored multiple publications and served as a past president of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE). She has taught secondary and postsecondary students in the U.S., in Morocco as a Peace Corp volunteer and in Switzerland, among other places. She holds a doctorate in Instructional Technology from the University of Virginia and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Trinity University. She has also been educating and mentoring online doctoral students as well as pre-service and in-service teachers in the Washington, D.C., area since 2003.
The fellowship lasts until November 15, 2023. More details are available in ISTE’s official announcement here.
