Since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, many educators have wondered how to best respond to and integrate generative artificial intelligence (AI) in their teaching. The rapid proliferation and wide adoption of AI tools has made it increasingly clear that it is imperative to prepare our students to understand and thoughtfully employ them, in their academic coursework and beyond.
In fall of 2025, The Ohio State University launched a university-wide AI Fluency initiative with the intent of embedding AI into the core of the undergraduate curriculum. The endeavor supports Ohio State students to understand AI tools and use them responsibly, effectively, and creatively—no matter their major or field of study. All learners will be given opportunities to develop the AI proficiencies they need to excel, innovate, and lead in their future careers.
AI fluency is the ability to understand, evaluate, and use artificial intelligence within academic and professional contexts, and to do so with ethical awareness and discipline-specific relevance.
The Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning provides a range of resources and learning opportunities to build your knowledge and skills around AI fluency. Available to all who teach at Ohio State, our offerings will guide you to make informed decisions about designing learning activities that incorporate AI, communicating transparent expectations for AI use, and employing teaching strategies that promote students' acquisition of AI knowledge and skills.
Building Students’ AI Fluency
An asynchronous online course
A fully self-paced online course to help Ohio State educators support AI fluency launched in Autumn 2025. Available to all who teach at Ohio State, Building Students’ AI Fluency will guide you to redesign elements of your courses to promote AI fluency. It offers information on the AI Fluency initiative, provides foundational knowledge related to the AI Fluency outcomes, and addresses the role of critical thinking and academic integrity as students learn about and use AI for coursework.
Teaching and Learning to Build AI Fluency
A new teaching endorsement
A recently developed teaching endorsement, Teaching and Learning to Build AI Fluency, is designed to support Ohio State educators and programs to align instruction and curriculum to the AI Fluency initiative. Participants will explore how to design learning experiences that build students' knowledge of generative AI, foster responsible and ethical AI use, and apply AI for discipline-specific purposes. You can customize your own endorsement pathway by selecting from core and elective learning opportunities.
Spring Book Club
The Spring 2026 Book Club on AI in education, held from February to April 2026, was a success! This annual offering for all who teach and support instruction at Ohio State will return in spring semester of 2027.
This year's selection was Generative AI in Higher Education: The ChatGPT Effect by Cecilia Ka Yuk Chan and Tom Colloton. One of the first books to take a detailed look at the opportunities, challenges and ethical considerations of integrating generative AI into academic settings, the readings offered participants practical insights, frameworks and case studies to navigate a new era of teaching and learning. Five virtual book club meetings covered topics including AI fluency concepts, curriculum and pedagogy, policy principles and more. Explore the key topics and themes of discussion, chapter summaries and session notes in the Spring 2026 Book Club's PebblePad.
The book selection and session registration for next year's Spring Book Club will be announced in December. Stay tuned!
Drake Institute Workshops
The Drake Institute regularly offers virtual and in-person workshops on a range of topics, including how to incorporate AI thoughtfully into course activities. The topics below represent highlights from spring semester of 2026—the autumn semester schedule will be available this summer.
- Teaching AI Fluency with Authenticity and Vulnerability: Engaging with AI Tools
- Teaching to Develop AI Fluency at Ohio State
- Supporting Student Development of AI Fluency
- Designing Assignments for Teaching about and with Generative AI
- Steering into the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and AI
- Writing Multiple Choice Questions Using AI as a Thought Partner
- Writing, Critical Thinking, and Generative AI
To stay in the loop on our programming, subscribe to Drake Institute Digest, a monthly newsletter that highlights opportunities for all who teach at Ohio State.
Teaching and Learning Resource Center
The Teaching and Learning Resource Center (TLRC) website is a cross-unit collaboration designed to help you enhance your teaching skills and support student success. Explore the following co-developed Teaching Topic articles on generative AI and teaching.
- AI Considerations for Teaching and Learning: Learn about generative AI and how to effectively incorporate it in your courses, with attention to learning goals and outcomes, transparency and academic integrity.
- Developing Your Course Policy: Consider how to determine your AI course policy, craft a policy statement for your syllabus and communicate your expectations to students.
- Having Conversations with Students: Explore strategies, conversation starters and activities for openly discussing AI with your students.
- Transparent Assignment Design: Learn how a transparent design process can simplify planning assignments that use generative artificial intelligence.