Thirteen students participated in AI Play, held June 15-19 in Lindner Hall on 榴莲app官方网站入 campus, where they learned about artificial intelligence while improving their AI literacy.

“The camp provides a way for students to get interested in this technology in an unplugged way,鈥� said Alexis Goslen, an assistant professor or computer science. 鈥淲e used a lot of 鈥榰nplugged鈥� activities that do not involve computers like 鈥楪uess Whose Face,鈥� a game where the students act as the facial recognition system and we introduce the concepts by connecting it to unlocking your phone.鈥�

Students participated in several hands-on learning activities that introduced concepts about pathfinding, perception and machine learning, speech recognition and more.

鈥淲e did an activity about facial recognition and that was really cool to see how AI uses facial recognition in our everyday devices and how a few viewpoints can map out entire facial features,鈥� said Trisha Anna, a seventh grader at Durham Academy in Durham, North Carolina.

The camp focused every day on a 鈥渂ig idea鈥� of an artificial intelligence concept. Students learned about concepts and worked in groups to apply the concept before ending with a group discussion on ethics.

鈥淭he ethics discussions were my favorite part of camp,鈥� Goslen said. 鈥淭he students seemed excited to talk about different scenarios using AI and they had really interesting perspectives. The discussions showed how the camp was challenging their thinking and I loved seeing students鈥� engagement in that.鈥�

The activities throughout the week gave students the opportunity to problem solve, learn the basics of artificial intelligence, coding and ethics.

鈥淚 wanted to attend AI Play because I really wanted to learn AI and how to use it without doing anything bad and I also thought it would be a fun experience to try something new and meet new friends,鈥� said Caitlyn Stephens, a seventh grader at Blessed Sacrament School in Burlington, North Carolina.

Throughout the week, Goslen noticed the students’ learning and growing.

鈥淲e held a workshop where students got to see the Elon robot dog and the campers were amazed by it,鈥� Goslen said. 鈥淭hey had so many questions and their questions were often based on material we had covered in the camp. It was nice to hear their questions because it demonstrated the knowledge they gained from the camp.鈥�

As technology and artificial intelligence grow more prevalent in everyday life, it is important for education about these technologies to be introduced earlier, Goslen said.

Goslen said she hopes the camp sparked students’ interest in technology, computer science and engineering and remember the concepts when they interact with technology and choose how to use it.

The campers agreed.

鈥淪ome of the new skills I learned at the camp were the proper way to use AI and how it has such a big impact on our everyday lives,鈥� Anna said. 鈥淲ith AI changing so rapidly it is important for all middle schoolers to have somewhat of a grasp on it.”

For more information about AI Play and information about future camps, contact Alexis Goslen, assistant professor of computer science, at agoslen2@elon.edu.

With a theme of “Breaking Through the Ordinary,” the 2025 Provost’s Report emphasizes the role of聽innovation聽in聽teaching today’s students and creating learning opportunities that lead to human transformation. Elon’s nearly 500 full-time faculty members exemplify an institutional commitment to the聽teacher-scholar-mentor model聽that defines the university’s nationally acclaimed approach to higher education.

Signature features in the report include an in-depth look at the way 榴莲app官方网站入:

• Approaches聽the use of artificial intelligence聽and leads national conversations of its ethical applications
• Works to establish a聽School of Engineering and Computing聽that emphasizes the skills,聽knowledge and global awareness students need to thrive in their careers
• Serves families of children with dyslexia through a new聽private elementary school聽like those supported through philanthropy at聽Vanderbilt, Mercer, and Florida Southern.

The report also includes shorter profiles drawn from each of 榴莲app官方网站入’s six schools/college that represent the innovative spirit faculty and staff bring to the community every day.

“As I reflect on these accomplishments, and on the important work that continues across the university, I am inspired by the talent, dedication, and shared purpose of 榴莲app官方网站入’s faculty members, staff members, and students,” said Rebecca Kohn, 榴莲app官方网站入’s provost and vice president of academic affairs. “Together, we are strengthening the academic life of the university and creating pathways that will sustain Elon’s ability to provide a valuable and transformative education for generations into the future.”

His chapter appears in “The Elgar Companion to Freedom of Speech and Expression,” edited by Ashutosh Bhagwat and Alan K. Chen and published by Edward Elgar Publishing.

Armijo’s chapter, “Online Must-Carry in Comparative Perspective,” draws on an international freedom of expression course he taught in The Hague through 榴莲app官方网站入 School of Law’s global study partnership with Stetson University College of Law. In it, he examines how different countries balance the rights of online platforms to moderate content with growing recognition of those platforms as primary forums for public discourse.

Using recent efforts by Texas and Florida to limit social media companies’ ability to remove content or users, Armijo explores how those laws align with or diverge from international human rights laws protecting the right to receive information. He also compares other countries鈥� efforts to balance the expressive rights of platforms and their users

The volume examines contemporary debates surrounding free speech, including online expression, higher education, the press and related rights. The editors solicited contributions from leading free speech scholars in the United States and around the world, including Armijo.

At Elon Law, Armijo’s scholarship and teaching cover broad areas of the law, including the First Amendment, constitutional law, torts, administrative law, media and internet law, online disinformation, and international freedom of expression. He is also a Fellow at the Yale Law School Information Society Project and the UNC-Chapel Hill Center for Information, Technology and Public Life, and a Faculty Fellow with the George Washington University Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics.

The Centre for Belonging in Education is a U.K.-based group of researchers and practitioners that advocates for policies and practices to support belonging across educational spaces. The Centre seeks to co-create practical resources, build robust evidence and develop policy recommendations in both the U.K. and the U.S.

Much of Small’s existing scholarship is focused on belonging and mattering in and out of classrooms. In his three year role as founding fellow, Small will deepen this work and examine how educators can facilitate spaces for all students to belong.

The discussion took place during 鈥淚mmigration Matters: A Conversation on Policy and Law,鈥� held June 11 at the in downtown Greensboro. The event was moderated by Omar H. Ali, professor of history and former dean of the Lloyd International Honors College at UNC Greensboro. Reynolds joined fellow panelists Heather Scavone, former associate counsel with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Abdul Omer, immigration staff attorney at the Center for New North Carolinians; and Kathy Hinshaw, chair of the Latino Community Coalition of Guilford.

Reynolds focused her remarks on recent federal guidance affecting the naturalization process, particularly the “good moral character” requirement for immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship. She explained that while the requirement has long been part of the naturalization process, new guidance encourages immigration officers to take a more 鈥渉olistic鈥� approach when evaluating applicants.

“It’s already a murky situation to explain to students and try to educate people on what is 鈥榞ood moral character鈥� because of this lack of a finite definition,” Reynolds said.

Historically, factors such as criminal history, community involvement, family responsibilities, employment history and tax compliance have been subject to assessment. She questioned how federal officials would interpret new guidance and potentially increase scrutiny across a broader range of factors, such as minor traffic violations.

Reynolds directs Elon Law’s Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, which provides legal services to refugees and asylum seekers in North Carolina. The clinic聽assists clients in applying for political asylum, permanent residency, citizenship, and employment authorization, as well as reunifying families separated by war and conflict, while giving Elon Law students hands-on experience representing clients under attorney supervision.

The camp, AI Play, is led by the university鈥檚 computer science department, teaches middle school students about artificial intelligence through hands-on learning and digital game design.

Alexis Goslen, assistant professor of computer science and director of the camp, said it is important to introduce kids to the basics of AI because they are exposed to it in their everyday lives.

“The cool thing is to get them to understand how those technologies are working,鈥� Goslen told WXII. “Then they could maybe decide what they want to do with it and make informed decisions about it.”

How the course works

The capstone experience spans two courses. In the winter term, GAM 4100, cross-disciplinary teams form and move through pre-production 鈥� developing concepts, building early prototypes and laying out a project plan. In GAM 4200 during the spring semester, those same teams advance through the full production pipeline: pre-alpha, alpha, pre-beta, beta, gold master and release.

Throughout both semesters, teams follow the Scrum framework 鈥� holding sprints, daily standups and milestone reviews like a professional studio would. Students take on defined roles in the development process, including programmer, level designer, environment designer, and narrative designer, and are accountable for delivering at each stage.

“I think the ultimate skills gained from the capstone experience are working under constraints and collaboration,” said Pratheep Paranthaman, associate professor of computer science and coordinator of the game design minor. “We don’t always know what technical complexities we’ll run into, or what might slow the development process. But that’s where the real learning happens 鈥� solving the unknown, working through an ambiguous development landscape.”

The games

鈥� Angry Sea Studios

鈥淵our Friend, Sam鈥� is a mystery adventure and puzzle game, where players return as the childhood friend of a boy who vanished a decade ago. Collecting clues, solving puzzles, and fighting off corrupted creatures, players work to piece together what happened. The game launched on April 29.

For Aidan Spoerndle ’27, who served as a gameplay programmer on the project, seeing it go live was the payoff for months of sustained work.

“It feels really exciting to have a project that I tirelessly worked months creating actually be published for everyone to play,” Spoerndle said.

Keeping the technical scope in check, he said, was what made it achievable.

“There’s no such thing as a small game,鈥� Spoerndle said. 鈥淭he reason we were able to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time was that we kept the technical aspects enclosed in a smaller scope and allowed our narrative and art elements to exist in a larger scope.”

Carter Puckett ’26, also a gameplay programmer on the team, says the minor’s coursework prepared the team for what production actually demands.

“The minor helped me understand the full process of making a game 鈥� game design principles that make games fun, playable, and achievable,鈥� Puckett said “In game development, you will always run into things that you are unfamiliar with or don’t know how to do. 鈥淜nowing how to do research and use online resources is essential to improving your skills.”

鈥� InDecision Studio

鈥淥nslaught鈥� is an action-adventure game set in Betham, a decaying western mining town suspended above a sea of clouds. Players take on fighting toward Sanctuary, climbing and battling through vertical environments in third-person combat while managing resources against escalating enemies. It was released on May 14.

Owen Crider ’26, who served as a level designer, says the production process that never quite ran smoothly 鈥� and a team that worked through it anyway.

“We encountered a lot of bugs, and even though it seemed like every week there was something new to deal with, we always sorted it out,” Crider said. “I also learned how important it is to always be talking to your team.”

Beyond the technical work, Crider said, the program offered something harder to quantify.

“The game design program for me is really a community,鈥� Crider said. 鈥淚’ve built lots of friendships with people who are funny and helpful. Since everyone knows the problems and how tough it is to make a game, everyone is encouraging of one another.”

Noah Gartenberg ’27 says game development also comes with intense demands.

鈥淭here are so many different parts and finding ways to conserve energy and momentum becomes extremely important despite any and all setbacks,” Gartenberg said. “You need to rely on and trust whoever you are working with, because that is the only way to make any sizable game in any decent amount of time without burnout.”

鈥淏ack In my Day,鈥� is a strategy-puzzle game built around an unusual mechanic: time only moves when the player moves. Players guide a grandma home from work through levels that mix puzzle logic and projectile-based encounters. The game was

released on May 5.

What students take away

Several students pointed to the game design minor’s coursework 鈥� and its faculty 鈥� as what made the capstone possible.

“All of the knowledge and expertise from Dr. Paranthaman and Professor Hollingsworth helped me think through various problems in ways I never would have without the courses,” Spoerndle said.

Puckett encourages other students to add game design as a minor.

“Every class in the game design minor was the class I most looked forward to that day,鈥� Puckett said. 鈥淚 hope that if any 榴莲app官方网站入 student has any interest in making games, they try out the game design minor because it is a great opportunity.”

Noah Gartenberg says the class left him ready for more.

“In the minor, we learned various aspects of working in modern game engines, and we learned the fundamentals of game design, in addition to how to work with others who may not come from the same disciplines as we do,鈥� Gartenberg said.聽 鈥淢any of the classes left me with a whetted appetite for more game development, more creativity, more discussion with like-minded individuals. The program succeeds at teaching how to make games 鈥� in spades.”

That breadth of games is intentional, and the program’s aim is never purely technical.

“Our goal is to make not only game developers, but also project managers 鈥� people with leadership skills in decision-making and problem solving,鈥� Paranthaman said. 鈥淭he central core of what we do is student learning, community, and creative ownership: giving students the space to build something real, together, and see it through to the end.”

Looking ahead, Paranthaman says the program will continue to grow its library of published titles and deepen the studio simulation experience 鈥� building transferable skills in project management, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and problem solving that students can carry into adjacent industries, from software development and UX design to film production and beyond.

“Publishing twelve games on Steam is a milestone worth noting,” Paranthaman said. “But what it really represents is twelve teams of students who learned that they could start something hard and finish it. That’s the skill we’re building.”

All 12 games published by Elon game design minor students are free to play on Steam.

Cayden Tirak 鈥�28 and Myka Thomas 鈥�27 are the second and third 榴莲app官方网站入 students to receive the award, following Jules Levanti 鈥�25 in 2024. Tirak is also the youngest 榴莲app官方网站入 student to receive the award.

鈥淚t is really exciting to have won this grant, and the funding will be able to help me take this research project further,鈥� said Tirak, who is an astrophysics major and Honors Fellow studying 鈥済reen pea galaxies鈥� and the black holes at their center. 鈥淏eing able to say I won a research grant for my undergraduate project is a huge privilege and will help me in the future pursue my dreams of doing research as a career.鈥�

Tirak, who is from Lincolnton, North Carolina,聽is mentored by Chris Richardson, associate professor of astrophysics. Richardson says this achievement reflects her ambition.

鈥淚 am beyond thrilled for Cayden to earn this very competitive award, as it not only rewards the hard work she put into crafting the proposal, but will also enable her to create new opportunities to grow as a researcher,鈥� Richardson said.

Thomas, an astrophysics major and minor from Annapolis, Maryland, is using the James Webb Telescope鈥檚 OutThere survey to identify and group galaxies to build a catalog of these galaxy groups and study how they evolve.

鈥淚t feels incredible. Receiving this award opens up so many doors,聽from attending conferences to connecting with others in the field, and it’s validating to see how much work I’ve been putting in paying off,鈥� Thomas said.

Zack Hutchens, assistant professor of astrophysics and physics, says earning this award is a 鈥渟erious scientific achievement鈥� for Thomas.

鈥淲riting a proposal of this nature requires the student to carefully identify an open research question, design a feasible yet ambitious timeline and persuasively present the scientific case for answering it,鈥� said Hutchens. 鈥淭he award also speaks to the novelty of the work Myka is leading with JWST-OutThere. OutThere is one of the largest survey programs on the Webb telescope, and I am quite proud to bring it to Elon for students like Myka to engage in.鈥�

The 12 Undergraduate Research Scholarship awardees receive $8,000 to spend on research. N.C. Space Grant is a state-wide network of North Carolina higher-education institutions, industries, government entities, educational programs and nonprofit partners with NASA-related interests. The organization works to promote, develop and support space-related STEM research, education and public outreach.

鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to assist these undergraduate students as they begin their research,鈥� said Sandy Canfield, assistant director of NC Space Grant. 鈥淚ncreasingly, we are seeing students integrate AI and machine learning into their聽work, which echoes emerging NASA and industry priorities.鈥�

榴莲app官方网站入 and the School of Communications will welcome its fifth Emerging Journalists Program Immersion cohort to campus on Monday, June 15, to kick off 12 days of hands-on journalism instruction. The 18 high school students will arrive to Elon from eight states.

鈥淎t a moment when trust, information and news literacy feel more important than ever, it鈥檚 encouraging to spend time with students who care deeply about reporting and serving their communities,鈥� said Kelly Furnas, EJP curriculum coordinator and associate teaching professor of journalism. 鈥淓very year, this program leaves me optimistic about the future of journalism.鈥�

The university is funding the program, allowing another group of students to develop and enhance their skills in reporting, writing, multimedia storytelling, leadership and media management. Beyond instruction, the students will collaborate as members of a working newsroom, producing professional web content, a newspaper and a television news broadcast, as well as tracking audience engagement metrics.

The Immersion experience also features several off-campus activities. The students鈥� schedule includes media tours of WUNC News and WTVD-TV in Durham. They will meet with state Rep. Jay Jeffers at the North Carolina State Capitol, visit the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, and enjoy a Winston-Salem Dash baseball game.

鈥淥ne of the most encouraging parts of leading the Emerging Journalists Program is getting to work with students who care deeply about thoughtful and ethical storytelling,鈥� said Colin Donohue, EJP program director and an assistant professor of journalism. 鈥淚t鈥檚 rewarding to watch them grow as journalists and collaborators, and their enthusiasm reminds me why this work matters.鈥�

Students will earn four hours of college credit for completing the Immersion experience and be paired with an 榴莲app官方网站入 student mentor, who will offer guidance and assistance as students work on their own projects back home and prepare their college applications.

The program, established in 2021, is designed to educate high school students who are interested in pursuing careers in journalism and the media industry. This year, 192 high schoolers from across the country applied to the program 鈥� a record number 鈥� and all were invited to participate in the聽virtual Exposure experience聽in the spring.

鈥淭he students who apply to EJP are already asking thoughtful questions about journalism and impact,鈥� Furnas said. 鈥淥ur goal is to give them the foundational tools, mentorship and newsroom experience to start answering those questions in their own work.鈥�

The report, , published on June 9, spotlights Elon for meeting the standards set by literacy experts for coverage of the most effective methods of reading instruction. Specifically, this means the program is preparing aspiring teachers in all five components of scientifically based reading instruction, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary, and avoids many instructional practices that research has shown to be ineffective or counterproductive for teaching children to read.

A child鈥檚 ability to read proficiently in the early grades shapes everything that comes next in school and in life, yet according to , four in ten fourth graders in North Carolina cannot read at a basic level. Teacher preparation is one of the most direct levers available to change that, but only if it is aligned to the research-based instructional methods that have been proven to help most students become successful readers.

Elon’s program in the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education is part of a growing group of teacher preparation programs nationwide, helping transform how future teachers are trained to teach reading.

鈥淓very child deserves a teacher who has been well prepared to teach reading, and every teacher deserves the opportunity to enter the classroom ready to help students succeed,鈥� said NCTQ President Heather Peske. 鈥淎cross the country, many teacher preparation programs still do not fully align with the science of reading, but 榴莲app官方网站入 is demonstrating what strong preparation can look like.鈥�

NCTQ鈥檚 methodology is informed by a panel of reading experts, teacher preparation faculty, reading advocates, and measurement experts. To evaluate the quality of preparation being provided, a team of experts at NCTQ analyzed syllabi, including lecture schedules and topics, background reading materials, class assessments, assignments, and opportunities to practice instruction in required literacy courses for elementary teacher candidates at 榴莲app官方网站入.聽

To earn an 鈥淎,鈥� programs needed to demonstrate that coursework for future elementary teachers includes all five core components of scientifically based reading instruction and avoid teaching more than three instructional methods that are unsupported by the research on effective reading instruction. To earn an A+, programs needed to exceed those targets and not teach any instructional practices that are unsupported by research.

See NCTQ鈥檚 report, , for more information about 榴莲app官方网站入鈥檚 coverage of the science of reading and to see how 榴莲app官方网站入 compares to other programs in North Carolina or across the country.

榴莲app官方网站入 NCTQ

The National Council on Teacher Quality: NCTQ is a nonpartisan research and policy organization on a mission to ensure every child has access to an effective teacher and every teacher has the opportunity to be effective. We believe a strong, diverse teacher workforce is critical for providing all students with equitable educational opportunities. Fore more information about NCTQ, visit .