ETE Conference
Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI
Wednesday, August 19, 2026 | 8:00am – 5:00pm
Teaching now unfolds within an evolving educational landscape shaped by artificial intelligence, digital tools, and increasingly blended or asynchronous learning environments. These shifts influence how instructors design courses, how students engage with knowledge and build skills, and how learning is experienced. Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI invites educators to reflect on this changing terrain and to explore how thoughtful, intentional teaching practices sustain connection, curiosity, and meaningful learning experiences across physical and digital classrooms.
As technologies become more present in academic work, instructors face complex questions. How do we preserve the distinctly human dimensions of teaching within increasingly technologically mediated environments? How do we integrate AI and digital tools in ways that enhance rather than fragment learning? How do we design support structures that acknowledge both the opportunities and concerns students experience with emerging tools? When might technology deepen engagement, and when might it introduce distraction or overload? This conference creates space to examine these tensions with nuance, openness, and intellectual generosity.
Keynote Speaker
Flower Darby
Estrella Mountain Community College
Flower Darby celebrates and promotes effective teaching in all class formats to include, welcome, and support all students in their learning and success. Flower recently became the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Estrella Mountain Community College in her home town of Phoenix, Arizona. Prior to that, as Director of the University of Missouri Teaching for Learning Center, Flower offered courses, workshops, peer observations, and individual and departmental consultations to promote effective teaching in every class. In addition to being an internationally renowned keynote speaker and author, Flower has taught in higher ed for 30 years in a range of subjects including Psychology, English, Technology, Leadership, Dance, and Pilates. A seasoned face-to-face and online educator, Flower applies learning science across the disciplines and helps others do the same.
Through her publications and presentations, Flower has helped educators all over the world become more effective in their work. Her co-authored books include The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching (2023) and Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes (2019), and she’s a regular contributor to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Her new book, The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Classes (2026) explores how we can thrive in online spaces and help our students do so as well.
