The viral launch of new generative AI (GAI) systems, such as ChatGPT and Text-to-Image (TTL) generators, sparked questions about how they can be effectively incorporated into writing education. However, it is still unclear how teachers, parents, and students perceive and suspect GAI systems in elementary school settings. We conducted a workshop with twelve families (parent-child dyads) with children ages 8-12 and interviewed sixteen teachers in order to understand each stakeholder’s perspectives and opinions on GAI systems for learning and teaching writing. We found that the GAI systems could be beneficial in generating adaptable teaching materials for teachers, enhancing ideation, and providing students with personalized, timely feedback. However, there are concerns over authorship, students’ agency in learning, and uncertainty concerning bias and misinformation. In this article, we discuss design strategies to mitigate these constraints by implementing an adults-oversight system, balancing AI-role allocation, and facilitating customization to enhance students’ agency over writing projects.

This work-in-progress paper describes a pilot of an immersive learning experience called Synapse VR in a biopsychology course on campus at Southern New Hampshire University with undergraduate students conducted in early 2020 by faculty and staff. Theories of cooperative learning and positive interdependence informed the team's coordination of the VR app's assessment framework and classroom delivery model to ensure learning design components promoting self-regulation and co-regulation of learning were accentuated. Synapse VR's first classroom pilot generated a set of suggested learning experience design practices for educators seeking to implement immersive learning experiences in college classrooms.