Human Voices in a Digital Age: More than a Prompt
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For educators, thoughtfulness in interpersonal communication is part of our practice. We choose our words and delivery carefully, considering whether they are appropriate for the learner and how they might be misunderstood. This skill set is mirrored in the increasingly common "AI prompt engineering." As IBM notes, "A well-crafted prompt helps ensure that the AI comprehends the user's intent and produces meaningful responses, minimizing the need for extensive postprocessing."
The communication skills that matter most are not new. They include listening, reflecting, understanding different perspectives, and adapting our messages to the people in front of us. As some are shifting focus to prompting AI, how do we ensure these human capacities remain central to education and student development? This year, SUTLF 11 explores how instructors and researchers can develop, teach, model, and effectively transfer the skills needed to succeed in today’s world.
We invite teachers, learners, and researchers to share their insights and classroom strategies that answer our guiding questions. SUTLF 11 is fully hybrid, allowing presentations, posters, and workshops to be delivered and attended either in person or online.
PLENARY SPEAKER: Rab Paterson
Navigating Academic Integrity in the Age of Generative AI: From Detection Dilemmas to Interpersonal Pedagogy
ABSTRACT
The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence has fundamentally transformed the landscape of higher education, reshaping how students write, design, present, and demonstrate their learning. As traditional plagiarism gives way to sophisticated AI-assisted text generation, classic detection tools—like Turnitin—face significant limitations. Relying solely on automated software to verify student work is no longer a viable strategy for maintaining academic rigor as humanising apps make it harder for AI detecting apps like Copyleaks, GPTZero, and Originality.ai to accurately detect AI writing.
The 1st part of this keynote explores how educators can move beyond the "arms race" of AI usage and AI detection by adopting holistic, authentic assessment models and human-centered teaching strategies. Grounded in practical classroom application, the session outlines a multi-step framework that pairs technological checks with direct student interaction on an on going and regular basis. Central to this approach is the integration of capstone oral defenses in the post writing phase, where students verbally articulate and explain their reasoning and conclusions, helping to ensure genuine comprehension and authorship.
After writing, the 2nd part of the session addresses the double-edged sword of AI in visual communication and presentation slideshow creation. While tools like Canva streamline slide design, uncritical reliance on AI often yields inaccessible and poorly structured presentations. Educators must guide students in ethical tool usage—focusing on design best practices, image generation, and critical accessibility standards for neurodivergent and colorblind audiences—treating AI as an auxiliary aid rather than a substitute for student thought and their own design choices. So here the same ongoing and regular inter personal approach as used with writing is employed when looking at students slidedecks.
Ultimately, navigating the AI era demands a pedagogical pivot toward personalised, and interpersonal instruction. By incorporating iterative draft reviews (of papers and slidedecks), continuous direct feedback, and one-on-one dialogue, instructors can foster authentic engagement, critical thinking, and student accountability before their final live presentations. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to uphold educational integrity while thoughtfully integrating AI into contemporary learning environments.
BIO
Rab Paterson (RSA/CTEFLA, BA, MA, CoETail, MS, MEd, FRAS, FRSA) is currently a Lecturer at Rikkyo University’s Center for Foreign Language Education and Research. He's a Fellow of The British Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), a Fellow of The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), formerly a member of the Board of Directors of the RSA’s Japan Fellows Network, a member of the Japan Association for Language Teaching’s Technical Advisory Committee, and one of the founding leaders of the Google Educator Group (GEG West Tokyo), the first GEG in Japan. He's a Michelle Steele Best Of JALT, Apple Distinguished Educator, and Google Innovator award winner and has an RSA/UCLES CTEFLA from University College Cork, a BA (Hons.) in Pacific Asian History and an MA in Pacific Asian Studies from the University of London’s SOAS; a Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy and an MS in Multidisciplinary Studies from SUNY (Buffalo); and an MEd in Practitioner Research from University College London’s Institute of Education. He has written over 40 papers ranging from peer-reviewed academic journal papers, conference proceedings, academic book chapters, newsletter articles, and has delivered over 250 presentations and workshops at many international academic conferences worldwide, including Keynote, Plenary, and Featured Speaker sessions, two TEDx presentations, and has presented for Apple and Google. Rab also lives in a semi self-built, eco-friendly, sustainable lifestyle log-house of his own design in the foothills of the Japan Alps with his family.