Upper Peninsula Teaching & Learning Conference - 2026

As artificial intelligence becomes an integral part of the higher education landscape, the focus often shifts to student usage. However, for faculty, the most significant potential of Generative AI lies in its ability to reduce administrative overhead and accelerate course design. This hands-on workshop introduces participants to Gemini Gems, customizable AI Personas within the Google Workspace ecosystem that act as private, subject-matter experts.
Unlike standard chatbots, "Gems" allow faculty to anchor AI responses in their own professional materials, such as syllabi, lecture notes, or research papers. In this session, we will demystify the process of "programming" an AI without code. Using the "OER Content Creator" as our primary case study, we will demonstrate how faculty can transform dense academic texts into student-friendly study guides, summaries, and retrieval-practice questions in seconds.
Special attention will be paid to data privacy and institutional security. We will explore "student-data-free" workflows, ensuring that faculty can leverage AI power while maintaining strict boundaries around student IP and FERPA-sensitive information.
What to Expect: Participants should bring a laptop and a digital sample of their own teaching materials (e.g., a PDF article or lecture notes). Through a live demonstration of Gemini’s "Magic Wand" feature, attendees will see how a rough idea is transformed into a sophisticated system prompt. By the end of this 50-minute session, every participant will have designed and saved the first draft of their own custom Gem, ready for immediate use in their teaching or research workflow.