Drew University’s DrewTEACH recently hosted their third annual AI and Writing Symposium, welcoming nearly 170 teachers and educators to Drew’s campus. Drew University is one of the educational institutions that is supported through the Ministerial Education Fund Apportionment.
DrewTEACH brings together teachers who are interested in collaboration and connection through the Drew Writing Project (DWP) and Digital Literacies Collaborative (DLC), a professional network that empowers teachers to become confident writers. In turn, the teachers share their practice with their students.
Learning the Benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
“Each year the symposium has grown—not just in attendance, but in the depth of our conversations,” said Maureen O’Sullivan, assistant director of teacher education and co-director of DWP/DLC, as she welcomed attendees. “What began as curiosity about new tools has evolved into rich dialogue about authorship, ethics, and the future of literacy. Together we’ve built a community that’s willing to ask hard questions, share classroom realities, and imagine what’s possible.”
The symposium’s keynote address was delivered by Dr. Kristen Hawley Turner, professor and chair of education at Drew University, director of DrewTEACH, and co-author of the newly released Teaching Writing in the Age of AI. Turner, who has been researching how technology impacts writing for over two decades, invited participants to examine their own teaching philosophies through the lens of AI in her presentation, “(Re)Claiming Writer Agency.”
Turner encouraged attendees to consider agency and balance when incorporating generative AI in the classroom. “As teachers, we need to think about where the agency lies,” she said. “Are we giving AI the agency, or are we taking the agency as writers and teachers?”
In an interactive exercise, Turner asked attendees to use a generative AI tool to co-write their own philosophy of teaching writing. “It’s good to be uncomfortable when you’re writing,” she shared. “That’s where learning happens. AI can scaffold or shortcut learning. The difference lies not in the tool, but in the way we design learning.”
Implementing AI in Teaching Curriculum
Prompting attendees to think about the benefits and possibilities that could arise from integrating AI into teaching writing, she said, “We cannot think about AI and how it’s affecting our writers without engaging with it in some capacity. AI can help a writer to think harder. We have a lot of techno-skeptism—and that’s healthy. You’ve got to ask the questions about when, why, and how you bring the technologies in.”
The presentations were followed with breakout sessions led by Drew professors and instructional designers, Drew Writing Project Teacher Consultants, and K-12 administrators and educators. Session topics included rethinking the significance of reflection in the age of AI, AI in the writing classroom, AI literacy in the ELA classroom, using AI to strengthen student thinking, crafting confident writers in the age of AI, and much more.
The day concluded with a technical overview of AI by Associate Professor of Computer Science Alex Rudniy. Turner joined Rudniy for a panel discussion, fielding questions from the audience and recapping the learning from the day.
Drew University website, Madison, NJ
This story shows the power of the Ministerial Education Fund—one of seven apportionment funds of The United Methodist Church—to prepare and equip those answering God’s call to ministry. Your church’s support provides theological education, scholarships, and leadership development through our United Methodist seminaries and boards of ordained ministry. Together, we ensure that faithful, well-prepared leaders continue to guide the Church into the future.
When your church supports the Ministerial Education Fund, you invest in the next generation of United Methodist clergy and leaders
