Maikel Right, Associate Director of Instructional Technology/Faculty Fellow Honors College, Florida International University

Maikel Right is currently the Associate Director of Instructional Learning Technology with FIU Online. With degrees from the University of Florida and Florida International University in the fields of cultural anthropology, healthcare, and business; his main research interests and publications are in cardiovascular molecular biology, aging, social media, anthropology, and online pedagogy. Within FIU’s honors college Maikel teaches the fully-online course Digital Fairytale; merging social movements, disruptive technologies, and business trends with a dash of neuropsychology. He is also an instructor for the hybrid course Power of Play, in which students examine the importance of play throughout their lifetime and partner with local elementary schools to design games for K-5 students. Maikel currently serves on the University’s Academic Integrity and Student Conduct committees, the online experience consultant for FIU’s Honors College, the Upper-Division Curriculum co-chair, the CDO for a digital consulting company based in Miami, and he is on the board of VirtueCo, a non-profit organization that provides art programs and resources for underserved youth throughout South Florida, the Caribbean, and throughout Latin America.

The Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology (COLTT) Conference is excited to announce Maikel Right, Director of Instructional Technology at the Florida International University as the keynote speaker for COLTT 2026 (August 5–6, 2026, University of Colorado Boulder).

Right brings a rare combination of experience as both an educational technology leader and an active educator. At FIU, he leads innovation initiatives focused on emerging technologies, instructional design, digital literacy, and artificial intelligence while continuing to teach and work directly with faculty and students. His team explores practical applications of AI in higher education, from instructional design workflows and custom GPT development to large-scale student engagement strategies.

As colleges and universities continue to navigate rapid technological change, Right has become a leading voice advocating for a balanced approach—one that embraces innovation without losing sight of the human connections that make learning meaningful.

Maikel believes higher education is asking the wrong question. Many conversations about AI focus on disruption, efficiency, and replacement, but Right argues that “Generative AI didn’t break higher education, it exposed challenges that were already there.”

Long before AI became mainstream, institutions were wrestling with issues of student disengagement, oversized classes, unclear learning design, and increasing pressure to do more with less. Rather than viewing AI as the problem, Right sees it as a catalyst forcing educators to reconsider what learning experiences truly matter.

Right argues that the future of education depends less on teaching students how to use AI and more on helping them understand themselves, build authentic relationships, develop critical thinking skills, and engage meaningfully with their communities.

His message is both cautionary and hopeful.

While acknowledging legitimate concerns surrounding AI, academic integrity, digital literacy, and student development, Right believes educators have an unprecedented opportunity to redesign learning around the uniquely human qualities that machines cannot replicate.

"The question isn't whether AI can do something. The question is whether AI should do it."

This question will be at the center of conversations throughout COLTT 2026. Whether you are a faculty member, instructional designer, educational technologist, administrator, or campus leader, join us at COLTT 2026. You will explore practical strategies, share emerging practices, and engage with colleagues who are thoughtfully examining the future of teaching while keeping people at the center of learning. 

Click here to read the recent article in CU Connections.