The Future of Teaching: Meeting the Challenge of AI-Aware Education
Friday, September 25, 2026
Iona University | 715 North Ave., New Rochelle, N.Y
What is Education for in the Age of AI?
Artificial intelligence is no longer a future challenge for educators—it is a present reality reshaping how students learn, how teachers teach, and how institutions define their purpose. Now, as AI systems become increasingly capable of synthesizing information, solving problems, writing essays and performing complex tasks once considered uniquely human, we find ourselves confronting a pressing question: What is education for in the age of AI? And, just as importantly, how can schools and educators provide it?
At the Gabelli Center for Teaching & Learning’s Fall 2026 conference, these questions will take center stage as we explore what it means to build truly AI-aware education.
Featuring a keynote address by Marc Watkins, co-author of “The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching” and one of the nation’s leading voices on AI literacy, the conference will explore an array of practical strategies for teaching with confidence in the age of AI. Sessions will delve into adolescent development, attention and digital distraction; the challenges—and opportunities—generative AI poses to the learning experience; and Iona University’s pioneering Education in Real Life initiative, which examines AI and the future of work through a distinctly human lens. Together, these conversations will offer timely insights for educators at every level, from K–12 through higher education. We look forward to welcoming you to Iona University for an impactful and productive conference.
Keynote Speaker: Marc Watkins
Internationally recognized expert on generative AI’s role in education, writing expert and educator
Marc Watkins directs the AI Institute for Teachers and is an Assistant Director of Academic Innovation at the University of Mississippi, where he is a Lecturer in Writing and Rhetoric. He has led research initiatives, exploring generative AI’s impact on student learning, training workshops for faculty on AI literacy, and multiple institution-wide AI institutes. His work with generative AI in education predates ChatGPT and he advocates approaching the technology’s integration in education with curious skepticism. When training faculty in applied artificial intelligence, he believes educators should be equally supported if they choose to work with AI or include friction to curb AI’s influence on student learning. Watkins’ work with training faculty in AI literacy has been profiled in The Washington Post. He regularly writes about AI and education on his Substack Rhetorica.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Friday, September 25
- 8-9 a.m. | Check-in and Continental Breakfast
- 9-9:15 a.m. | Welcome Message
Tricia Mulligan, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs - 9:15-10:15 a.m. | Keynote Speaker: Marc Watkins
AI-Aware Education: Teaching with Confidence in the Age of AI
Q&A to follow. - 10:30-11:20 a.m. | Meeting the Challenge: Adolescent Development, Attention, and Digital Distraction
Christy Solorio, Ph.D. & Allyson Compton, Ph.D. - 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. | Fixing What Chatbots Broke
Eric Abrams, Ph.D. - 12:15-1:15 p.m. | Lunch
- 1:15-2:30 p.m. | Education in Real Life: Faculty Panel
Rob Kissner, Ivy Stabell, Ph.D., & Dean DeFino, Ph.D. - 2:30-3 p.m. | Education in Real Life: Student Panel
Q&A to follow.
Event Registration & Logistics
- Date: Friday, September 25, 2026
- Location: Iona University | 715 North Ave., New Rochelle, NY 10801
- Host: The Gabelli Center for Teaching & Learning
- Cost: Free (Registration Required)