LDT Wins at UNC System Symposium
The 2025 UNC System Learning and Technology Symposium, held June 2-3 at Chapel Hill, brought together faculty, staff, librarians, and graduate students from across the system to explore innovative ways to enhance teaching and learning through technology. Centered on the theme “Connect, Collaborate, Create: Embracing the Future of Learning,” the symposium served as a platform for showcasing forward-thinking strategies and building collaboration across institutions.
Dr. Beth Oyarzun, announced two teams from UNC Charlotte received “Best in Track” presentation awards at the event. In the Course Design Track, the award went to the team of Dr. Ayesha Sadaf (Associate Professor, UNC Charlotte), Dr. Ji Yae Bong (Assistant Professor, UNC Charlotte), Katherine Jiawen Ren (Graduate Research Assistant, UNC Charlotte), Judson MacDonald (Doctoral student, UNC Charlotte), and Delandrus Seales (Teaching and Learning Librarian, UNC at Wilmington) for their presentation, “Systematic Review of Research on Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education.” In the Innovative Technology and Learning Spaces Track, the team of Dr. Ji Yae Bong, Dr. Beth Oyarzun (Clinical Associate Professor, UNC Charlotte), Dr. Stella Kim (Associate Professor, UNC Charlotte), and Daniel Maxwell (UNC Charlotte) received an award for their presentation, “AI Tools Adopted by Higher Education Students.”
What inspired your team to explore AI tools adopted by higher education students? Dr. Oyarzun shared that the team decided to examine the adoption of AI tools by students and faculty. This led to surveys for both audiences. The presentation at the symposium focused on a portion of the student data. However, the team has analyzed and submitted four papers from the dataset, one published just today. The inspiration came from the fast rise in AI tools and how quickly they were being adopted. We wanted to see what students and faculty were doing with these tools in the teaching and learning space.
What are one or two key insights you gained from your research? According to Dr. Oyarzun, students and faculty are using these tools, but most are in an exploratory phase of use and not fully adopted for teaching and learning. We also learned about the many different tools students use compared to faculty. There are also various levels of adoption by discipline.
What was most valuable about presenting at the Learning and Technology Symposium? The team enjoyed the symposium because it allowed them to network across all the UNC system campuses, which can help intercampus collaboration.
Congratulations to both teams for their outstanding work and continued contributions to the future of technology-enhanced learning!
News feature developed by: Bless Dupeh, Graduate Assistant