Target Audience

Primary Audience

The target audience for this mini course is Higher education Instructors who are employed in community colleges or universities, such as professors, adjuncts, Assistant professors, and lecturers.

Learners Needs

Participants need to know what AI can do, the ethical framework for AI use, and the relevant applications to their discipline.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, Instructor participants will be able to:

• Analyze ethical principles, including transparency, equity, privacy, and academic integrity, and apply them to at least two discipline-specific instructional scenarios drawn from their own teaching or professional context, documented through a structured written scenario analysis.
  
  

• Analyze and categorize AI-supported instructional scenarios from professional practice as appropriate or inappropriate using course-provided ethical guidelines and an evaluation rubric.
  
  

• Design an AI-integrated instructional component, such as a syllabus, assessment, or learning activity, that aligns with ethical principles and meets established authentic learning criteria, evaluated using a course design rubric.

Demographics

The primary target audience for my mini course is people aged 30-65+ who seek to learn and possibly update their understanding of the ethical application of AI tools to teaching and learning. The audience is expected to be from diverse cultural backgrounds and should have at least 1 year of experience as an instructor.

Disciplines

The participants are Higher Education instructors from all fields of education, including the social sciences, STEM, Business, and Education. The ethical integration of AI tools across academic disciplines varies with instructional goals and practices. For example, lesson planning in education, drafting outlines in the humanities, and case analysis in business and quantitative application in STEM require contextual guidance on aligning AI tools with professional and ethical standards.  The mini course addresses these differences through discipline-specific examples while preserving a consistent ethical framework.

Prior Knowledge.

Participants have basic intermediate digital skills in learning management systems (Blackboard, Canvas, and Google Sites) with experience in student-centered learning, curriculum development, and assessment design.

Artificial Intelligence Knowledge

Participants are aware of Artificial Intelligence through the media, but lack structured knowledge of its professional applications in their disciplines. Based on recent surveys and research, many instructors have some experience with AI tools but face limitations in accurately applying them ethically, while a smaller number demonstrate advanced competence in their use but seek only ethical applications (Campbell University Academic Technology Services, 2025; Zawacki-Richter et al., 2019). This aligns with the variance in proficiency, thereby categorized into basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels.

The basic level is approximated at 40%; they have no knowledge or hands-on experience with AI tools. The intermediate level, approximated at (45%), has used AI tools like ChatGPT for personal or professional purposes, but is uncertain about ethical boundaries for professional applications. The advanced level, approximated at 15%, reflects advanced knowledge of integrating AI tools into professional practice, but seeks ethical frameworks rather than basic skills. All subgroups share a desire to understand the ethical framework for designing effective learning experiences for learners.

Dispositions and concerns

The participants are motivated to stay current and relevant in their professional practice. They are concerned that AI will replace human instruction. They are also concerned about the unethical use of AI tools and the pressure to integrate AI into the learning process.

Mindsets

Participants are open-minded, may need support, but are willing to experiment.  The participants are enthusiastic; however, they require support to feel confident and empowered.

Learners Engagement/Environment Preferences

Instructor participants want flexibility due to unpredictable schedules and a self-paced asynchronous learning environment. Participants also prefer the use of video content ranging from (5-15minutes), hands-on activities for skill building, prompt templates, and text-based learning to accommodate diverse learning styles.

Age, Accessibility, and Inclusivity Considerations

With age differences come varying technological levels and experience, which will be addressed by providing scaffolding where necessary. For all participants' accessibility and inclusion, I will ensure that all languages are simple and clear, that caption transcripts are included with audio descriptions, and that alt-text is provided for images. The examples used in the mini course will represent diverse cultural perspectives and educational contexts. In addition, all course materials will include inclusive, respectful language across instructions, assessments, feedback, and multimedia content.

Challenges

Due to faculty busy schedules, time constraints are a variable that will be planned for by reducing the time duration and ensuring the key points and message are administered during the time frame of approximately (2-5hours).