VietTESOL International Convention 2026

This hands-on workshop gives English educators and curriculum administrators a practical framework for crafting institutional AI policy that moves beyond prohibition toward design. Drawing on recent research from MIT Media Lab, Microsoft, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Collegiate Learning Assessment, the session establishes that the cognitive skills AI erodes, including critical thinking, independent writing, oral argumentation, and analytical reading, are the very skills English education exists to develop. It also notes that a decade of smartphone-driven decline had already weakened these faculties before generative AI entered classrooms. Using the analogy of strength training and muscle atrophy, participants examine why protecting cognitive struggle is not a pedagogical preference but a neurological necessity. Through four structured micro-tasks (sorting student behaviors, diagnosing a weak institutional policy, assessing the feasibility of AI-resistant assessments, and committing to a first action), participants work in small groups to apply eight alternative assessment models, such as Oxford-style oral defenses and process portfolios. During this collaborative phase, attendees evaluate how these specific models can be adapted for their unique regional contexts and student populations to ensure academic integrity remains intact. Participants leave with four printed reference handouts covering the evidentiary case for change, ten policy drafting commitments with a self-check tool, all eight assessment models with implementation notes, and a personal action commitment card. The workshop is designed for educators from ministries and universities who need to brief leadership or redesign assessment practices in response to AI, and who want a framework grounded in evidence rather than anxiety.