Speaker
Description
What happens when twenty-two EFL teachers with merely no coding background are challenged to build their own AI-powered learning platforms? This session showcases AI and Design Thinking for Innovative ELT Materials Design, a seven-week online workshop co-organized by Thailand TESOL Association and RELO Thailand, in which Thai teachers transformed authentic classroom pain points into live, gamified web applications through vibe-coding: directing generative AI in natural language, with no programming required. We first walk through the workshop model, in which human-centered Design Thinking anchored every project in a real learner need; gamification and Universal Design for Learning shaped engagement and accessibility; and structured prompting with GenAI tools, e.g. Claude and ChatGPT, carried prototypes to deployed platforms featuring real-time databases, AI speech evaluation, and multimodal content. The participant-built artifacts include, for instance, a 3D grammar survival game, a scenario-based clinical English simulation for medical technology students, and a Thai-Japanese pronunciation game developed with a partner school in Japan. Evaluation results show high participant satisfaction and a 73 percent rise in self-reported design confidence. Attendees will leave with a transferable, pain-point-driven workflow and ready-to-use prompting strategies for facilitating AI materials design in their own teaching contexts and teacher communities.
Author Bio
Payungsak Kaenchan (EdD, Boston University; MSc, University of Oxford) is a faculty member of the English Program, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Mahidol University, and a Thailand TESOL Committee Member. His expertise spans TESOL, teacher education, distance learning, media localization, and the integration of EdTech and AI in language teaching.
Anuchaya Montakantiwong (PhD, University of Oxford) is a faculty member in the English Program, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Mahidol University, and a Thailand TESOL Committee Member. She is co-author of Global TESOL for the 21st Century: Teaching English in a Changing World. Her expertise covers language teacher cognition, Global Englishes, teacher identity and pedagogical practices.
Wipada Sutthiroj (PhD, Chulalongkorn University) is a lecturer at Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep and a Thailand TESOL Committee Member, where she leads public relations. With prior teaching experience at leading Thai schools and a background in educational publishing, she contributes expertise in ELT pedagogy and applied linguistics across diverse Thai learning contexts.