How do you design online courses that feel human at any scale without letting AI do the learning for students? Maikel Wright from Florida International University shares how FIU uses custom-built chatbots, paired with Harmonize as a core engagement layer, to support course design. Allowing robots to robot things so humans can do human things. You’ll see how multimodal discussions, student-created media, and intentional use of AI help faculty stay present, reduce repetitive workload, and design learning experiences that are both scalable and AI-resilient.
This webinar is sponsored by:
Speaker Bio
Maikel RightAssociate Director of Instructional Technology, FIU Online
Maikel Right is currently the Associate Director of Instructional Learning Technology with FIU Online. With degrees from the University of Florida and Florida International University in the fields of cultural anthropology, healthcare, and business; his main research interests and publications are in cardiovascular molecular biology, aging, social media, anthropology, and online pedagogy. Within FIU’s honors college Maikel teaches the fully-online course Digital Fairytale; merging social movements, disruptive technologies, and business trends with a dash of neuropsychology. He is also an instructor for the hybrid course Power of Play, in which students examine the importance of play throughout their lifetime and partner with local elementary schools to design games for K-5 students. Maikel currently serves on the University’s Academic Integrity and Student Conduct committees, the online experience consultant for FIU’s Honors College, the Upper-Division Curriculum co-chair, the CDO for a digital consulting company based in Miami, and he is on the board of VirtueCo, a non-profit organization that provides art programs and resources for underserved youth throughout South Florida, the Caribbean, and throughout Latin America.
Marcus PopetzCEO, Harmonize Learning
Marcus founded Harmonize Learning (AKA 42 Lines) 15 years ago and has worked in education technology for 20 years. Early on, he tried to become a highschool teacher but failed fast with a healthy respect for the day to day lives of instructors, their workloads and the importance of their role to society. He fled back into education technology with the intent to help instructors do their jobs more easily while supporting students and has been there ever since.