Where Faculty Are Learning AI This May
Five AI teaching events that are verified, currently open, and worth your time. Two are happening this month, both free. Three are worth bookmarking for later in 2026.
Every university now expects faculty to "integrate AI" into their courses. Very few of them are funding the training to make that possible. The result is a lot of well-meaning institutional memos and a lot of faculty left to sort out the landscape on their own, in whatever time they have between teaching, research, and service commitments.
This guide is short on purpose. Every event listed here was verified in the first week of May 2026: the dates are confirmed, registration is open or pending, and the program is explicitly designed for higher-ed faculty. Anything that we could not verify, anything whose application window has already closed, and anything whose 2026 edition is still unannounced was cut.
The guide is organized into two parts: events happening this month first, then events worth bookmarking for later in 2026. Candid annotations for each one explain what it does well and who it is best suited for. The goal is to save you the hour of research it would otherwise take to find out whether any of these are worth your time.
Available This May
Two events that are confirmed for May 2026 and currently open to faculty. Both are free, both kick off May 13, and both can produce real change in how you approach AI in your courses.
UNC Charlotte AI Summit for Smarter Learning
UNC Charlotte Center for Teaching and LearningThis is a full-day summit, not a workshop or webinar, which means it can actually move you somewhere. The agenda covers generative AI, AI literacy across disciplines, assessment and academic integrity, and hands-on practice sessions. Previous editions drew 300+ attendees from 90+ departments, which tells you this is genuinely cross-disciplinary: you will not be in a room full of computer science faculty trying to make analogies to your context.
The academic integrity session is worth attending for that topic alone. The conversation in higher education about AI and integrity is often stuck in a binary (ban it or allow it) that this kind of event tends to move past. Open to faculty from all disciplines and all institutions; registration is free.
Google + ISTE Free AI Training for Educators
Google, ISTE, ASCDThe largest free AI literacy initiative for educators currently running. The modules are bite-sized by design: each covers a specific tool or concept (Gemini, NotebookLM, responsible use, student safety) without requiring you to block out a full afternoon. You can work through one module between classes and still make meaningful progress.
The emphasis on responsible use and instructional alignment is more substantive than most free offerings at this scale. It does not assume you want to use AI for everything, which is the right starting premise. Micro-credentials upon completion give you something to document for your institution's professional development records if that matters in your context. Designed for K-12 and higher education faculty.
Bookmark for Later in 2026
Three more events that are verified for later in 2026. Worth saving for end-of-summer or fall planning, or for a department professional development line item that needs a target.
EDUCAUSE Symposium: New Approaches to Assessment Design for AI-Enabled Learning
EDUCAUSEA focused two-session online symposium on how generative AI tools have disrupted traditional notions of academic integrity, and how to redesign assessment in response. The framing is constructive rather than punitive: the work is moving toward transparency, co-creation, and ethical development rather than banning, surveilling, or catching. If you are wrestling with what to do about your existing essay or take-home exam assignments, this is the most direct match in the calendar.
Two 3.5-hour sessions plus small-group activities. EDUCAUSE members receive reduced rates; check the registration page for current pricing. The narrow topic and shorter time commitment make this an easier yes than a multi-day conference if you only have one window of professional development time this summer.
Teaching and Learning with AI Conference (Orlando)
University of Central FloridaNo virtual option. That is a deliberate choice, and it shapes what the event actually is: an in-person convening of higher education professionals who have made a concrete commitment to be in the same room. The sessions cover innovative practices, current research findings, and strategic thinking about AI at the institutional level. UCF has a well-regarded track record running AI-in-education programming, which means the curation is generally higher quality than a general call-for-proposals conference.
Held at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. If you are asking your institution to fund this, the combination of UCF's reputation, the in-person format, and the June timing (before fall courses begin) makes a reasonable professional development case. This is the right event if you want peer networking with faculty who are serious practitioners, not just curious observers.
Illinois Online Higher Education Symposium
Consortium of Illinois public universitiesFree and open to anyone who teaches, develops, supports, or administers online education, regardless of whether you are at an Illinois institution. The symposium runs tracks for community college pedagogy and HyFlex teaching modalities in addition to the main sessions, which makes it one of the few free events that explicitly addresses the range of instructional contexts faculty are actually operating in.
Useful if your institution is making decisions about HyFlex formats or if you are teaching in a community college setting where most AI training content has not been designed with your context in mind. November timing also gives summer enough space to apply what you learn from earlier programs on this list.
Match the Event to Your Situation
If you want to start with something low-commitment before deciding how deep to go, the Google and ISTE self-paced training is the right entry point. You can complete a module in 20 minutes and stop if it is not landing. Most people keep going.
If your institution will not pay for professional development, the two May options are both free: the UNC Charlotte summit (full-day, in-person, all disciplines) and the Google + ISTE training (self-paced, online). Both kick off May 13.
If your specific concern is what to do about essay assignments, take-home exams, or assessment more broadly under generative AI, the EDUCAUSE Symposium in June is the most direct topical match in the calendar. Two 3.5-hour online sessions, narrower scope than a multi-day conference. Paid (with member discount).
If you are planning further out and want a multi-day in-person experience, the UCF Orlando conference in June is the strongest pick: serious AI-in-teaching curation, peer networking with practitioners, before fall courses begin. Or for a free, virtual, end-of-year option with HyFlex and community-college tracks, bookmark the Illinois Online Symposium in November.
"Most faculty do not need permission to use AI in their teaching. They need enough working knowledge to use it deliberately, and enough peer conversation to know they are not doing it alone."
Know of an event we missed?
We update this guide throughout the semester. If you are attending or hosting a faculty-facing AI event, we want to hear about it.
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