Building to Learn & Learning to Build
Building to Learn, Learning to Build
In the age of AI, learning is no longer just about consuming information—it’s about building artifacts that demonstrate understanding, creativity, and applied skill. This session explores how educators can adopt a builder mindset using AI tools, and how that same approach enables students to take on larger, more meaningful challenges.
The conversation will focus on learning by building—where projects, prototypes, and AI-assisted outputs become central to the learning process—and building to learn, where the act of creation deepens understanding. Participants will see how AI can support this shift by accelerating ideation, enabling experimentation, and helping learners create portfolio-ready artifacts that reflect their learning journey.
This session is designed for educators, builders, and students who are interested in hands-on, applied learning models and who want to move beyond theory into practice.
Interactive Session Format
This will be a highly interactive session. Vishal will demo selected AI-powered building workflows in real time and invite participants to follow along during a guided building activity. Attendees will collaboratively create and share their work in a common canvas or shared Google Doc, turning the session into an active, participatory learning experience rather than a passive talk.
Participants are encouraged to come ready to build, experiment, and share.
Session Speaker
Vishal Sachdev : Vishal Sachdev | LinkedIn
Clinical Associate Professor of Business Administration
Academic Director, MS in Business Analytics
Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Vishal Sachdev also directs the Illinois MakerLab, where his work sits at the intersection of technology, education, and social computing. His scholarly and applied work explores how AI, 3D printing, peer learning, gamification, and decentralized systems can reshape collaboration, learning, and innovation.
Through his GitHub-published projects—including AI-enhanced educational tools—and his experience teaching courses in information systems, analytics, and blockchain, Vishal brings a practitioner’s perspective on building learning artifacts. Drawing on this cross-disciplinary background, he explores how building with AI becomes a powerful vector for learning—and how learning itself improves when we build.