Cross-Institution Collaboration Develops Online Elementary Arabic II Program

During the summer and fall, Gisele El Khoury (Arabic Instructor at SLU) collaborated with Nevine Abraham (Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and Arabic Studies Coordinator) to design and develop a fully online semester of Elementary Arabic II. This cross-institution partnership aimed to expand access to high-quality Arabic language instruction while building an engaging, structured, and academically rigorous online course model.

The project combined curriculum development expertise with innovative digital pedagogy. Together, El Khoury and Abraham created a full-semester course designed to strengthen students’ reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills, while also deepening cultural awareness. The course maintains the rigor of in-person instruction while integrating interactive resources and accessible learning pathways that support diverse student needs.

A key highlight of the collaboration was its AI-enhanced course production model. To enrich student engagement and strengthen online delivery, the team used a range of AI-powered educational and creative tools such as Pictory for transforming original readings into digital storytelling videos, Fliki to generate narrated vocabulary and list-based instructional videos, Suno for music generation, and MagicSchool for song generation. These tools supported the development of dynamic multimedia content and contributed to an interactive online learning environment aligned with best practices in contemporary language teaching.

This collaboration represents an exciting step forward in innovative Arabic language education, demonstrating how cross-institution academic partnerships and thoughtfully integrated AI tools can strengthen student learning and broaden access to Arabic instruction.