Hi, I'm Julie, my passion is human learning
I fell in love with learning when I was a child growing up in Las Vegas
![headshot8x10[47684282].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/0362e4_6f4d91ee994d4ff18a79e4add12a188f~mv2.png/v1/crop/x_135,y_0,w_1462,h_2165/fill/w_233,h_345,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/headshot8x10%5B47684282%5D.png)
Julie Schell, EDD
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The University of Texas at Austin
Assistant Vice Provost of Academic Technology, Director of the Office of Academic Technology ​
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Assistant Professor of Practice
Department of Design
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy
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Harvard University
Research Affiliate, Mazur Group
Recent Press
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Anthropic launches higher education advisory board and AI Fluency courses
Anthropic, August 2025
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Anthropic’s Higher Ed AI Board Signals Shift From Tools To Guardrails
Forbes, August 2025
Texas Standard, NPR, August 2025
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Colleges and Universities Offer Faculty Development for AI Use in the Classroom
Ed Tech Magazine, March 2025
About.
Design X Learning
Dr. Julie Schell is the Assistant Vice Provost of Academic Technology and the Director of the Office of Academic Technology at The University of Texas at Austin. She oversees the University's technology-enhanced learning ecosystem and works to advance teaching and learning through the strategic use of academic technology. She has led the rollout of the responsible AI initiatives for teaching and learning at UT, including UT Sage, which she founded. UT Sage is a first-of-its-kind generative AI tutor based on responsible AI and learning science principles. In 2024, she was named as a top 30 ed-tech influencer to follow by Ed Tech Magazine. She is a member of Anthropic's Higher Education Advisory Board
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Dr. Schell is also an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Departments of Design and Educational Leadership and Policy, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on learning experience design. In her current studios, Dr. Schell and her students are partnering with generative AI to prototype speculative objects and environments designed to improve teaching and learning in education settings.
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A scholar-practitioner, Dr. Schell's work focuses on how people learn and how to help them learn best. She is fascinated by how people learn complex topics, such as technology, science, and design, and has spent her career exploring evidence-based teaching practices. ​
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​Established Keynote Speaker and Facilitator (see Recent Talks below)
Dr. Schell has facilitated over 300 interactive talks, workshops, trainings, and keynote speeches on various topics related to gen AI in education, design thinking, interactive teaching, learning science, and technology-enhanced education. She has led engagements worldwide, including in Aruba, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, Germany, and the United States. She has also facilitated workshops for universities in Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and South Africa.
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Facilitation Style and Approach
Recent Talks and Workshops
"This was the most engaging workshop I've experienced in my 20-year career in teaching."
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​Dr. Schell's workshops are engaging, interactive, and hands-on because that is how people learn best. Each experience blends active learning methods such as reflection, application, and social learning, and design methods, including ideation and prototyping. Examples of her recent engagements in each area are noted below.
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Schell, Julie. (2025, May 6). How is UT Austin meeting the need for responsible AI in education? Good Systems and Office of Academic Technology Responsible AI in Education Convening, Austin, Texas.
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Schell, Julie. (2025, June). AI Literacy: A Broad Perspective. Alamo Colleges, San Antonio, Texas.
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Schell, Julie. (2025, May 20). AI Forward – AI Responsible: How to implement generative AI
in the higher education workplace. UT System, Austin, Texas.
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Schell, Julie. (2024, December 11). Tool or Takeover? Generative AI in Higher Education. UT Austin, College of Liberal Arts, Austin. Texas.
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Schell, Julie. (2024, May 2). AI and higher education: Navigating shifting landscapes [Panelist] National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. Webinar.
Schell, Julie. (2024, March 20). Mitigating implicit bias in course evaluations [Panelist]. Blue Explorance, Live Webinar.
Schell, Julie. (2024, March 22). Beyond text: Synthetic multimedia in art and design education [Traditional Presentation]. AI Interest Group: UT Austin Libraries, Austin, Texas.
Schell, Julie. (2024, March 8). AI Forward-AI Responsible: How to implement generative AI in the classroom [Keynote]. Oakland Community College, Assessment Day 2024, Austin, Texas.
Schell, Julie. (2024, March 7). AI Forward-AI Responsible: How to implement generative AI in the classroom [Traditional Presentation]. UT System Innovative Teaching and Learning in the Era of Generative AI, Austin, Texas.
Schell, Julie, Greenberg, Sherri, Kincannon, Susan. (2024, March 4). Gen AI in class: Women-led perspectives [Workshop]. SXSWedu 2024, Austin, Texas.
Schell, Julie and Glass, Tamie (2023, December 4-6). Think before you design think [Design Studio Workshop]. Waco ISD and Atlanta Public Schools, Austin, Texas.
Schell, Julie. (2023, November 30). Teaching in the age of generative AI [Keynote]. Our Lady of the Lake University, Fall Webinar.
Select Publications
Building responsible AI chatbot platforms in higher education: an evidence-based framework from design to implementation. (Schell, Ford, and Markman). Frontiers, 2025.
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Designing For Academic Resilience in Hands-On Courses in Times of Crisis: Two Models for Supporting Hands-On Online Learning Drawn From the COVID-19 Pandemic. American Behavioral Scientist, 2023
Adapting Peer Instruction for online learning. In C. E. Overson, C. M. Hakala, L. L. Kordonowy, & V. A. Benassi (Eds.), In their own words: What scholars and teachers want you to know about why and how to apply the science of learning in your academic setting (pp. 171-184). Society for the Teaching of Psychology. 2023
An Evidence-Based Design Thinking Pedagogy, Journal of Design and Creative Technologies, 2020
Design Thinking Has a Pedagogy Problem...And a Way Forward, Journal of Design and Creative Technologies, 2019
Headshot
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