As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in higher education, gerontology educators face new opportunities and ethical challenges when integrating AI tools into teaching, mentorship, and professional practice. Rapid advances in AI, alongside evolving aging research and policy, require educators to adapt their pedagogical approaches. Organizers for the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education's 14th Annual Teaching Institute sought to address this need by providing instructor-focused professional development on emerging issues of AI in gerontology education, with an emphasis on ethical, inclusive, and discipline-specific applications. In this paper, we describe the rationale, structure, and content of the 14th Annual Teaching Institute and examine its impact on instructor confidence and perceived competence with utilizing AI professionally. A mixed methods evaluation of the workshop included pre- and post-surveys, confidence ratings, and qualitative feedback from attendees (N = 21). Quantitative results demonstrated statistically significant increases in confidence and perceived competence using AI across multiple professional domains. Qualitative findings highlighted the value of peer learning, hands-on activities, and contextualized discussions of AI in gerontology education. Findings suggest that structured, interactive professional development can enhance instructors' capacity to engage critically and responsibly with AI while reinforcing core gerontology competencies.
As global aging accelerates, culturally competent gerontology education, particularly instruction that cultivates cultural awareness - has become increasingly critical. However, current pedagogical approaches face notable limitations. While effective, study abroad programs remain inaccessible to most students. Conversely, classroom-based global aging content frequently relies on country-level data and macro-level theories, resulting in abstracted and decontextualized learning. To bridge this gap, we propose an instructor-driven narrative pedagogical approach as a feasible and sustainable alternative. Grounded in Narrative Gerontology and Critical Gerontology, this method encourages instructors to integrate their own international fieldwork experiences into their teaching, bringing authentic, lived stories directly into the classroom. Drawing on site visits to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, we offer a conceptual exploration alongside illustrative examples of how to develop instructor-led narratives that illuminate sociocultural variations in global aging. We also provide brief instructor guides to serve as templates for applying these narratives in the classroom and for structuring future narrative development during international fieldwork. Instructor narratives offer a unique opportunity to enrich student learning by connecting global theories with local, lived experiences, thereby increasing student engagement and enhancing cultural relevance. Ultimately, this approach presents an accessible, high-impact strategy for integrating global gerontology narratives into higher education curricula.
