Chatting is synonymous with interaction. One of the main premises of language learning is that learners must engage and interact with the target language in order to learn it. In this workshop, participants will explore how chatbots on free platforms such as Magic School and Mizou can be customized by teachers and students to increase the interactivity of the classroom. Participants will learn to create, and teach students to create their own chatbots that transform information and academic tasks into opportunities for interaction. Participants should be familiar with the basics of AI and should have some experience with using ChatGPT or other AI applications.
This session is probably most relevant for late elementary and middle school teachers.
Learning outcomes
1) Participants will gain proficiency with creating, and teaching students to create, chatbots for various purposes. 2) Participants will grow in their appreciation of the potential of chatbots to help students interact with an array of language and language-based tasks. 3) Participants will value play with emerging language teaching / learning tools.
