SIDLIT 2026

During our inaugural year in partnership with the Center on Rural Innovation’s Artificial Intelligence Consortium (CORI-AI Consortium), Emporia State University (ESU) engaged in a collaborative, community-centered initiative to advance AI literacy and institutional capacity within a rural context. As part of the “Higher Ed AI Consortiums in Rural America” project, supported by Microsoft and LinkedIn, ESU partnered with Emporia Main Street and the Emporia Public Library to design and implement a scalable and sustainable framework for AI education delivery. What transpired from this partnership was the development of a flexible “template app” that supports the delivery of repeatable workshops across diverse audiences. Grounded in a train-the-trainer framework and a growing community of practice, the model enables facilitators to maintain consistency while adapting content to local needs. The resulting model offers implications for broader adoption, contributing to workforce readiness and regional economic development in increasingly AI-integrated landscapes. This presentation shares both the process and the outcomes of this first year, highlighting lessons learned at the intersection of community engagement and the push for equitable AI understanding, usage, and exploration.