Latest / Integrate This! Ed Tech Podcast / Student Voice in the AI Era | Alana Winnick on The Generative Age

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Student Voice in the AI Era | Alana Winnick on The Generative Age · Integrate This! Ed Tech Podcast

0:00
Welcome to Integrate This, your go -to EdTech
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podcast where curiosity meets classroom innovation.
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Join your hosts, David Berner and Jeremy Mikla,
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as we explore the rapidly evolving world of educational
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technology. From game -changing tools to insightful
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conversations with today's top EdTech voices,
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we're here to help educators stay informed, inspired,
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and ready to innovate. So tune in, level up,
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and let's integrate this. Hey, welcome to the
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integrate this ed tech podcast. I'm David burner
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join by my coast Jeremy Mickela and today we
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have a special guest with us Alana Winnick Alana
0:39
is an educational technology leader who serves
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as the educational technology director for Pocantico
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I think I messed it up. Are you but me? It's
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fine. Picanico everyone does can go hills CSD
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and a director with nice skate Alana is the author
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of the generative age Artificial Intelligence
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and the Future of Education and hosts the Generative
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Age podcast, exploring how generative AI is reshaping
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teaching, learning and leadership. Alana is also
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the Future of Education Technology Conference,
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also known as FETC 2026 keynote speaker, presenting
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the future of learning, empowering every student
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to thrive in Orlando, Florida, taking place January
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10th through the 14th. And I'll also be at that
1:28
conference as well. And so I thought this would
1:30
be a great opportunity for Alana to join us and
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talk about a variety of different things, but
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also the keynote and the other sessions that
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she'll be presenting at that conference. So Alana,
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we're excited to chat with you, and welcome to
1:44
the Integrate This Podcast. Thanks for having
1:45
me. I didn't know you were coming. You left that
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part out. That's exciting. Yeah, I'll be there.
1:50
I'm doing a session, one session. So. You're
1:53
only going to one session? No, I'll just, I'll
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be doing one session. Oh, gosh, you mean, what
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are you gonna do the rest of the time? Yeah,
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I think I'm coming to one of yours, so. Oh, which
2:02
one? It's one of the workshops, I can't recall,
2:05
but. And what session are you doing? It's actually
2:10
on VIDE coding for people who don't know how
2:12
to code. Oh, cool. That's cool. Like me, I do
2:15
not know how to code, so that's where it all
2:18
came from. Yeah, that's great. So to kind of
2:22
kick things off, are you, do you want to just
2:24
give the listeners a little bit of your origin
2:27
story, kind of the timeline of how you got to
2:30
where you're at today? I'll try to sum it up
2:33
as quick as possible. My background is in elementary
2:36
education. So three, well, then I went back for
2:39
early childhood and then I went back for educational
2:43
technology and then I went back for educational
2:44
leadership. So I have Many degrees and I think
2:49
that probably that is what led me like flash
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forward a bit We'll backtrack to where why I
2:55
feel so strongly the way I do about the educational
2:58
system because as Someone who like figured out
3:02
how to like play this game of education I became
3:06
a very good student and I have several 4 .0 GPAs
3:10
but what I've really experienced as a student
3:12
is that that doesn't necessarily equate to success
3:17
in life. So I really think, especially in a world
3:22
with AI, we need to rethink what school looks
3:25
like. And that's probably why I flash forward,
3:27
got to where I am today. But it's because of
3:30
my multiple degrees and feeling like, oh, this
3:33
is super easy. I figured it out. I just give
3:36
the teacher what they want, get the A, move on.
3:39
And I didn't really focus on my own learning
3:41
and growth. But then how did it? OK, so then
3:44
I was an elementary teacher, and then I was an
3:48
EdTech specialist for one district. And then
3:51
I got stolen by New York State and supported
3:53
48 districts. And then during the pandemic, I
3:55
got stolen by one of them, and I became their
3:58
EdTech director. But that title is a little confusing
4:01
because they also manage the whole IT side as
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well. So infrastructure, server switches, field
4:06
technicians. anything that plugs in a wall, professional
4:10
development, and then my favorite part of my
4:12
job, which is not my job at all, is working with
4:15
students. So like that's not necessarily within
4:18
my job title. any interaction with students.
4:20
But I think that by going into classrooms and
4:24
seeing how the technologies use and hearing the
4:26
student experience, it really helps me make better
4:30
decisions when I'm purchasing something, when
4:33
I'm implementing something. So I think that student
4:36
voice is incredibly important. And I lead three
4:41
clubs right now, Monday's TED Talk Club, Tuesday's
4:44
Innovation Club, and Wednesday's AI Club. So
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I definitely have built a lot of relationships
4:50
with students. Did I freeze? Oh, I thought I
4:54
froze. I've built a lot of relationships with
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students and I think that that's really maybe
5:01
how I got to where I am today because I think
5:03
a lot of leaders don't interact with students
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like pretty much ever. I think it makes me a
5:12
stronger leader. I think it makes me a stronger
5:15
decision maker. I think it helps me when I'm
5:19
making purchasing decisions or scopes and sequence
5:23
or a new initiative. And I think that most people
5:27
are not listening to students. And that's maybe
5:32
why I got to where I am today. Yeah. And so one
5:36
of the things, this gets emphasized a lot in
5:39
it's part of your keynote too. And I know we'll
5:41
talk about that a little bit later, but do you
5:44
feel like that has always been with you and is
5:48
a result of just because, you know, as you mentioned,
5:51
you started with like elementary education and
5:55
things like that is as you've progressed through
5:58
the different roles that you've had, have you
6:00
always kind of just had naturally students at
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the center and then. Applied different things
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to your work with them as you've gone through
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or how does that work for you? So I got my current
6:10
job Officially September 1st, 2020. I was working
6:15
with the district in a consulting capacity before
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that And the last place I was I worked for New
6:21
York State For eight years and I wasn't tied
6:24
to a district and I wasn't tied to students like
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I would go in and Like you know, that's so funny
6:31
because now I do a lot of consulting and most
6:34
people that go into consulting It's a whole new
6:37
world for them. That was actually most of my
6:40
career was spent Consulting with districts. So
6:43
it's very natural for me. But in those eight
6:45
years I would like when Google Drive first came
6:50
out or Chromebooks like I would go and work with
6:53
the innovators the teachers that were gonna pilot
6:55
the Chromebooks and pilot Google Drive and help
6:58
I would come and sprinkle some really innovative
7:00
things, work with their team, get them up and
7:03
running and leave. So I never really built strong
7:06
relationships with students. And I think once
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I was hired at this district, I was like, wow,
7:15
I missed this so much and I wanted to try to
7:18
engage as much as I could with students. So I
7:21
think I didn't realize how much I missed it until
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I came back and I knew that I had to, like, maximize
7:29
on the fact that my office is in a building with
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students and it was missing for me for eight
7:36
years. And I think that's really important to
7:41
kind of keep in focus and, you know, maybe it's
7:44
a little bit more difficult when you're consulting
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or, you know, like David and I, you know, both
7:49
have experience in the classroom, but are neither
7:52
of us in the classroom anymore. You know, our
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students are teachers. Right. But I mean, we're
7:58
in still the education field and you can't be
8:01
in education and not put students at the center.
8:05
You know, and so I think it then becomes a challenge
8:08
for those of us that don't have a classroom every
8:12
day to find ways to make sure that at least what
8:14
we're doing is still putting students at the
8:17
center of everything. It's their learning that
8:20
that matters the most. I mean, that's why we
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all have jobs, right? We have jobs because of
8:26
child students, right? I mean, they could be
8:28
18, but one thing that you said that made me
8:32
think of it is recently one of my, I'm gonna
8:36
call her a teacher, teachers was trying not to
8:40
use the word teacher and was saying like educator,
8:45
like an art educator, a second grade educator.
8:47
I'm just making up like PE educator. And we realized
8:52
that like We here are educators. They are actually
8:58
teachers. She thought that word was offensive,
9:00
and then we really analyzed it. And I think it's
9:03
like a badge of honor. Like, no, you're on the
9:05
front lines. Like, you are with the actual students.
9:08
You are a teacher. That is like a badge of honor.
9:11
So we kind of reframed that. But we're educators,
9:15
right? We educate people, but I feel like a classroom
9:19
teacher is the one with them in the classroom.
9:23
So she reframed her thought process around that.
9:26
But then what I always tell people to do, and
9:29
when I speak in front of leaders, is I give them
9:32
a challenge. And I say that, like, you can lead
9:36
a club. And I know it might become a union issue,
9:39
like, oh, we can't pay. Like, then don't get
9:42
paid. But I promise you, pick whatever you're
9:44
passionate about. It could be one of my teachers
9:48
does with crocheting. It could be crocheting.
9:51
Another one does hiking. It could be AI. It could
9:54
be robotics. Like, whatever it is that you are
9:56
passionate about, those kids are just as passionate
9:59
about it. And then you build these relationships
10:01
with them. And while you're sitting there doing
10:03
something you all love to do, they tell you things
10:06
that you would never learn from any observation,
10:11
walkthrough, meeting. Like, you find out what's
10:14
actually happening and what's not happening.
10:18
They tell you. And then you see the importance
10:21
with the relationship, you know? Like, how much
10:24
that can matter in what a student will take away
10:27
from it, you know? I think it was, was it 20,
10:31
23 that your book, The Generative Age, came out?
10:35
Yeah, so even a couple years... You know remove
10:39
from it's an initial release, but still I think
10:42
gains a lot of traction, you know, um, what do
10:44
you think about? You know the the material of
10:48
the book made it important for why you you You
10:52
know, what was the spark behind it that you know
10:54
kind of? Or what problem was it trying to solve?
10:57
You know what I mean? so I never wanted to be
11:03
a podcaster or an author or a speaker that was
11:06
never in my dreams to do any of it. And what
11:09
I always tell people is like, when an opportunity
11:12
presents itself, just say yes. Try it. What's
11:16
the worst? You don't like it? Okay, it's not
11:18
for you. Don't ever do it again, right? But you
11:21
don't know unless you try. So my podcast started
11:24
out as a web show because I sit on the board
11:27
of directors for Nice Gate, which is like, We're
11:29
actually an affiliate of ISTE. We're the New
11:31
York affiliate of, sorry, of FETC, not ISTE anymore.
11:34
We were ISTE, but not anymore, but FETC. So it's
11:37
like the New York state version of like an FETC.
11:42
And so I was like, AI came out. I'm like, we
11:48
need to do something about this, right? We can't
11:50
not acknowledge that this came out. So I was
11:53
like, we'll just do Webinar. I didn't think I
11:55
was the most qualified person to lead this because
11:57
what do I know about it, right? So this webinar
12:00
series started and we'd have a different guest
12:03
webinar that I was running. And then I'm like,
12:06
oh, if someone missed the webinar, then they
12:08
kind of are not going to go back and watch a
12:11
recording, right? So it evolved into a podcast.
12:14
And during that time, I had interviewed like
12:16
a couple of people and transitioned to an interview
12:19
style like this. They were like, you know, you
12:23
have a podcast now. So, you know, what's next?
12:24
A book. And I'm like, I'm not writing a book,
12:27
but it's funny you say that because I actually
12:29
do have this Google doc. And I was working on
12:32
something that was supposed to be, you know,
12:35
if you're like traveling, you see like quick
12:36
guides, like Italy or Greece or like little travel
12:39
books that you could have with you. Like I was
12:42
just like, what does a school leader need to
12:44
know about this? Like this quick, easy. What
12:47
do I need to know? And that's all it was supposed
12:50
to be. And then I got three publishing offers
12:53
in like 48 hours and I was freaking out. And
12:55
I was like, I don't even, I'm not writing a book.
12:59
That's not what this is. And then the publisher
13:02
I selected was like, no, this is a book. And
13:05
then I was really originally written for school
13:07
leaders. This is not for school leaders, this
13:09
is for everyone. And then they just kept pulling
13:12
it out of me. And I think... So when I was writing
13:17
it, I knew that it was rapidly changing so fast.
13:21
So I was so cognizant to make sure that I wasn't
13:26
using, like it was not gonna be outdated. I recently
13:30
reread it and I'm actually like, I'm really proud
13:34
of what that was in 2023. Like it's still good
13:37
right now. Like, do I know a lot more now? Would
13:41
I go back and maybe add things? I'm still very
13:44
proud of where it stands right now, like truthfully,
13:46
which is crazy because it was written that long
13:49
ago and it changed. But I think for me, it's
13:54
not about the AI. Like I said in the beginning
13:57
with my colleges and stuff, I've always believed
14:00
that education needed to change. And I think
14:02
for me, it's like, if we used to say, if your
14:06
question's Googleable, it's not a good question,
14:08
it's the same thing right now. If your assignment
14:10
is AIable, probably isn't a good assignment if
14:13
the child can just copy and paste it, right?
14:16
So I've always felt like we really need to rethink
14:19
assessment. I think a lot of kids don't perform
14:22
well on standardized assessments or state tests.
14:24
And I think we're doing a podcast right now.
14:27
That's how people can consume knowledge. Alternative
14:31
types of assessments and portfolios are something
14:35
I've always believed in. I think that the book,
14:39
yes, it's about AI. But really what it's about
14:43
is what I've always believed since I was a student
14:46
is that education needs to change and we need
14:48
to rethink teaching, learning, and assessment.
14:52
And I have a framework, rethink the what, the
14:54
why, and the how, what we're asking our students
14:56
to do, why we're asking them to do it, and how
14:58
we're assessing them. That's not about AI, but
15:02
AI is just this catalyst for the change that
15:05
I've always believed needed to happen. So it
15:08
is about AI, but it's also not. Right, you know,
15:12
but I think that's what makes it very applicable
15:16
today, is that its guiding principles aren't
15:20
so tech tool out front and forward, right, a
15:24
specific tool, because that stuff always changes.
15:27
And I almost kind of liken it to what you said
15:30
a little bit earlier about playing the game of
15:33
school and knowing how to play the game of school
15:36
in order to get the good grades, you know, to
15:39
get your teachers to notice you like you or write
15:41
you a good recommendation to go to a college,
15:44
you know. And I think if you were to focus on
15:48
just those things. Those aren't the things that
15:51
are setting people up for success in life. Well,
15:54
it does not prepare you for life. It doesn't.
15:56
And it's not preparing you, right? But that's,
15:59
I think, at the heart of why there needs to be
16:03
a change. And I like where you're going with
16:05
that, where obviously assessment is flawed, the
16:08
way that it's been done. Our instructional practices,
16:12
if they're not student -centered, which, you
16:15
know, I think back to my own teaching, I wish
16:17
I would have done more student -centered. But
16:21
also, every student is different. But then you
16:24
also have to take into account, like, every student's
16:26
different. You could have an ENL student in the
16:29
same room that you have a student that's dyslexic,
16:35
right? And every student has a different need.
16:38
But wouldn't that then, that opens the door then
16:40
for AI to come in, right? And not be a replacement
16:46
for anything that a teacher is doing in their
16:48
classroom, but more of a compliment, right? Yeah.
16:53
Exactly, right? Because the teacher can't meet
16:55
with every single student and give every single
16:57
student what they need at the same time. Is AI
17:01
going to do that? Do you think that's a misconception,
17:03
this AI is going to fix every student? I don't
17:06
think it's going to fix every student. What I
17:08
do think is that teachers don't have time to
17:12
meet with every student. every period of every
17:15
day. And if the student is, let's say, using
17:18
an AI space, we have school AI, the teacher can
17:21
look at the transcript and know like, oh, I need
17:24
to pull that kid tomorrow and work on them. And
17:27
it gives them a little bit more of an insight
17:29
onto where each student is to know which students
17:31
need, you know, maybe more challenging work,
17:35
which students need to be pulled. And I think
17:38
it just gives you more information if you use
17:41
it the right way. So and if you're looking at
17:45
Do you do you think that? teachers need more
17:50
guidance on how to actually make it more efficient
17:54
because there's a there's the promise of You
17:58
know, you know all these things will save you
17:59
a ton of time Which everybody looks at and goes
18:02
great. I need time right and it's supposed to
18:07
open up opportunities for relationships in with
18:10
students and maybe colleagues, right? The ability
18:13
to actually talk to others more. What do you
18:17
think is needed to create efficiency that actually
18:21
works so that you can have those things in place?
18:24
Because one of the things that I will typically
18:27
talk about when I've done trainings is that sometimes
18:31
if you don't approach these tools the right way,
18:34
you actually end up sinking way more time in
18:35
it than you ever intended to. So what is your
18:39
thoughts just on how to approach these efficiency
18:43
with efficiency so that we can maintain that
18:46
relationship aspect or increase it? Well, I think
18:51
that's a really loaded question because as you
18:54
guys know you work with teachers and some teachers
18:57
are Going to get it and other teachers need a
19:02
lot more support right or scared of it or resistant
19:05
or hesitant so I like to really incorporate as
19:13
much AI into professional development as I can
19:16
so they can experience it. Because if they are
19:19
not in the learner seat and understanding what's
19:22
possible and why we would ever want to do this,
19:26
I just don't think some of them are going to
19:28
ever get it. So I think they need to experience
19:32
it before they're open -minded to even try it.
19:35
And then I think for some of them, we just need
19:39
to make it for them and then go in their classroom
19:42
and do it with them and then show them, oh look,
19:47
this is what, like let's debrief this together.
19:49
So we think I could have a teacher that just
19:51
takes it and flies with it and owns it and then
19:55
we can have them showcase their work but some
19:57
of the teachers are just never going to get there
20:00
unless you, you know, chip away a little bit
20:04
and a little bit and a little bit. You know,
20:07
Alana, one of the things that I listen to you
20:10
talk about is how you constantly, in all of the
20:13
different roles that you've had and the different
20:15
hats that you've worn, have really sought ways
20:19
to find yourself an opportunity to be in front
20:22
of students, right? Because you value that idea
20:25
of listening to students and understanding where
20:29
they're coming from to help them get to where
20:31
they're going, right? Why is it so important,
20:36
do you think, as educators that we put ourselves
20:40
or give ourselves the opportunities for students
20:43
to innovate, to be at the center of their own
20:46
learning, and to really provide the spark of
20:50
their own voice into their learning process?
20:53
Well, first of all, students are the future,
20:56
right? We are one day gonna not be working anymore.
21:01
They're gonna be in the workforce. They're gonna
21:04
be controlling the world, right? Like it's pretty
21:06
cool because There's a statistic and I think
21:09
it's like three point four percent of the workforce
21:12
as teachers But we educate one hundred percent
21:14
of the population and I really just think that
21:17
that stood out to me because Like we are we can
21:21
make change like we can actually make change
21:23
in the world in the country despite empowering
21:27
students, right? And that's why it matters because
21:32
like you like think about yourself. If you felt
21:36
as empowered as you are right now, when you were
21:39
a student, imagine how much more you could have
21:43
accomplished. Imagine where you could have been
21:45
right now today if you had started this back
21:48
when you were in elementary school. I've always
21:51
thought that Kids come to school, they're naturally
21:57
curious. You know, pre -K, kindergarten, right?
22:03
And then they get into, and I'm not trying to
22:06
harp on elementary teachers because I've been
22:08
in many elementary buildings, and when you walk
22:10
through and you're being passed by a line of
22:14
kids that have all been taught, they call them
22:17
line basics in a couple of the schools that I've
22:19
been in, you know, where it's... To me, we're
22:23
making kids for assembly line workforces, right,
22:26
at that point, which is not the economy that
22:29
we have anymore. So what kind of a future are
22:32
we preparing for if we're beating that curiosity
22:36
out of them? And then to try to get that back
22:40
from them, even as they are maturing and they're
22:45
understanding. you know, more and more about
22:47
the world that they live in, but yet we're not
22:49
giving them kind of the opportunity to be able
22:52
to choose their own paths of learning and demonstrating
22:57
their knowledge and their skills as they go along.
23:00
No, we're not. They often do the same assessment
23:03
and it's usually a worksheet or an essay. So
23:09
how can we then turn over that control so that
23:12
students can have more of that that voice and
23:15
that innovation? So I think like you have to
23:19
allow for like student agency. It's more of a
23:22
problem project -based learning or inquiry -based
23:26
learning, like one style of school that does
23:30
this well is like, let's say Montessori. I think
23:32
they're very good about, they don't group students
23:35
by age. They're not all learning the same thing,
23:39
right? And or like a private school, right? I
23:41
think when you're stuck in a public school, that's
23:44
how you normally get your funding and you have
23:46
to do certain things. But there's models out
23:49
there that are working and we just don't do that
23:51
in public school. But I think if even if like
23:56
here's an example and it's just tweaking in a
23:59
seminar a little bit. In my eighth grade social
24:03
studies class in my district, they were studying
24:07
like I think like reconstruction. And they gave
24:10
the students, first of all, the option on what
24:13
their lens was. Do they think it was successful
24:16
or do they think it was a failure? So they're
24:18
all doing the same research, right? And then
24:21
they just get to choose their stance. But then
24:24
they also get to choose, do I want to make, and
24:27
we called it like a visual essay, like a children's
24:30
book. Do you want to make a video? And they got
24:32
to choose the end product as well. And it was
24:37
interesting because a lot of kids thought that
24:39
they were going to take the easy way out and
24:41
do a children's book. It was actually harder
24:43
because they had to explain it to essentially
24:46
a five -year -old. And that's one way to take
24:51
a topic that's reconstruction and do the research
24:56
and write the essay. You're still sort of doing
24:58
that. You're just giving them a little bit of
25:00
choice. So use that example to show that you
25:02
could just tweak. an assignment just a little
25:04
bit where they have their own opinion on the
25:06
topic, but then they also have their own choice
25:09
of how they're demonstrating their knowledge.
25:12
So I think, you know, to me, when I think of
25:15
like project -based learning or experiences where
25:18
you're offering students more choice, either
25:21
in the direction that the project is going to
25:23
take or the final product of what that happens
25:26
to be. And I think that can be pretty intimidating.
25:31
to give up some of that control from the teacher's
25:34
perspective because you still want to make sure
25:36
that the students are accountable to the standards
25:39
and objectives that you have for your class,
25:41
right? And here again is where I think there's
25:46
a window for AI to come into the picture to help
25:50
that teacher, right? How could a teacher utilize
25:54
generative AI to help them get over that barrier,
26:00
that perceived barrier that they have to giving
26:02
up some of the control. So I've built a whole
26:09
community in my district where we really empower
26:16
everyone to be leaders, students and teachers
26:19
to become leaders. And we really embrace failure.
26:22
So like first attempt and learning. But students
26:26
do lead things so we have pop -up events once
26:29
a month and it's usually tied to like Whatever
26:34
the month is like Women's History Month or This
26:38
month is computer was computer science week So
26:41
whatever like we're celebrating and then we tie
26:43
a technology component and we have one pop -up
26:46
event for the older students And then we have
26:48
one for the really really young students and
26:51
the older students are the ones that lead it
26:53
for the younger students and those students get
26:56
to learn all about like different technology
26:58
tools like Book Creator or Canva or something
27:01
like that and we found that they actually now
27:06
like kindergarten and first grade classrooms
27:09
are using Book Creator a lot. And it's because
27:12
the older students actually taught the younger
27:15
students and the teachers, right? I didn't teach
27:18
the teachers. The teachers learned from the students
27:21
using it. They're like, wow, this is really awesome.
27:24
Let's use it in the classroom. Another thing
27:26
was my students found VR headsets in the library
27:30
and they're like, wait, we have VR headsets,
27:32
why are we not using these VR headsets? And so
27:35
I was like, let's figure it out. So we gave them
27:38
directions. The directions were wrong. They figured
27:41
out, rewrote the directions, made Canva posters,
27:44
invited the teachers in, and taught the teachers
27:46
how to use VR headsets. So now, if you have one
27:49
of those kids in your class, they can just run
27:51
the whole experience for you. So they're working
27:53
with their French teacher on, they're going to...
27:57
go to a museum to look at a piece of art to then
28:00
write about it in French. They're working with
28:01
their social studies teacher. They're studying
28:04
Mexico, I think, and they're going to go take
28:10
a field trip to Mexico. So I think it's just
28:13
about providing opportunities for students to
28:17
be leaders and then allowing teachers to see
28:21
the students in a new light. And I think it might
28:23
take a few times to like For that to happen,
28:28
but you know, you're gonna get your your students
28:30
are really into it and you just have to invest
28:33
time in them and Then as the teachers learn that
28:36
the students actually have a lot to teach them
28:38
Then they're very open -minded to it, but it
28:41
does take you know, a little bit of time to build
28:43
that culture And one thing to to touch on is
28:49
that with when you're doing those projects where
28:53
you're making innovation possible. One of the
28:56
things is creating an area or an environment
29:02
where there's safety and trust. So can you talk
29:06
a little bit about what can what trust conditions
29:09
should be in place before schools start to scale
29:12
some of those things to allow for innovation.
29:15
You know a lot of times with that it'll come
29:18
where there's new tech that students might be
29:20
using and like you know you're in New York but
29:23
and I'm not sure what's there but like Minnesota
29:26
we have the Minnesota data privacy. We have very
29:30
strict data privacy laws as well. Yeah, so as
29:33
far as that, when you have teachers getting into
29:36
certain things, what kind of conditions do you
29:38
feel like have to be met to allow for some of
29:41
those things to take place? Well, the data privacy
29:45
thing is very important. So I am the data privacy
29:49
officer for my district as well. And if something
29:53
is, so we have an approved list and if something's
29:55
not on the approved list, then you will have
29:57
to ask before you would use it, right? So that's
29:59
just straight up, if it's not on the list, don't
30:03
use it unless, you know, you've talked to me
30:05
and I can try to get it on the approved list.
30:08
But the other condition would be, okay, it's
30:10
approved, it's safe, it's secure. We don't ever
30:15
want a teacher to feel like they're going to...
30:19
get in trouble for something failing. Like we
30:22
want to celebrate them trying, whether it was
30:25
successful or it was not. We're going to celebrate
30:27
that. Like the whole administration kind of has
30:31
to be on board with that because they need to
30:34
feel safe with their principal or the director
30:37
of student support services to know, and my superintendent,
30:41
of course, he's super supportive, but We want
30:45
them to try new things. And I think it's a really
30:48
great learning opportunity for the students.
30:50
And just, they're scared sometimes just to say,
30:52
I'm trying this for the first time. It might
30:54
not work out the way that we want it to, but
30:57
we're gonna try it. And if it doesn't, let's
30:59
see if we can figure it out together. And I think
31:02
that just creating an environment where we're
31:06
all learning together and we're all trying new
31:08
things and we're celebrating effort and success
31:13
and and embracing learning opportunities, right?
31:17
We don't call them failures or learning opportunities.
31:21
That's just the type of culture. You have to
31:24
spend a lot of time building culture. Have you
31:27
seen to where, has that helped reduce the anxiety
31:31
of some teachers? Because I think sometimes they
31:34
think, oh, I'm going to get observed and then
31:36
I'm going to get a bad observation. No, we're
31:41
so happy that you tried that. We're just so happy
31:44
you tried that for your students. Yeah, so just
31:47
like encouraging teachers to try something new,
31:52
even if it falls flat on its face, at least you're
31:56
still within the spirit of innovation, right?
31:58
It's still trying to allow students opportunities
32:02
despite failures that might come, right? Yeah,
32:07
yeah. I mean, we say fail equals first attempt
32:10
in learning. That's what it stands for, right?
32:13
As long as you learned from that, as long as
32:15
you said, like, oh, I would do it this way next
32:18
time, or I would recommend to the next user,
32:22
don't do that because of this. Like, you learned
32:24
something, right? Yeah, yeah. And then I want
32:29
to touch on one other piece of this, too, that
32:32
has more to do with inclusion. And are there
32:36
tools that you think are currently maybe you
32:40
currently have them in use or you've heard about
32:42
that maybe your own school doesn't use, but technology
32:46
tools or platforms that genuinely, genuinely
32:51
remove barriers for students. So a couple examples
32:54
would be like, um, multilingual family communication,
32:58
dyslexia support, things like that. Um, have
33:01
you, have you seen, cause one thing too, obviously
33:03
when you're, if we go back to what you were saying
33:05
about Every student being different and feel
33:08
free to tie AI into this if it makes sense But
33:10
the ability to remove some of those barriers,
33:13
what technology have you seen that does that
33:16
genuinely? I actually have an entire session
33:19
at FETC called breaking barriers No, sorry. It's
33:23
I do have there's two One is called building
33:27
bridges and I do have one that's called building
33:32
bridges and it's about It connecting with multilingual
33:37
learners and their families. So you have a very
33:39
large You know English has a new language. That's
33:42
we it's not necessarily the student population
33:45
It's more we do have them. We have a lot of them
33:49
then they graduate out of the program, right?
33:52
But their parents don't graduate out of the program.
33:54
So that is My focus is connecting with non English
33:59
speaking families whose children might not be
34:03
enrolled in the ENL program anymore because they
34:06
graduated out of it. So we actually have an entire
34:09
session on building bridges and that's with me,
34:12
my director of student support services, our
34:14
classroom teacher and our ENL educator and an
34:17
ENL student and how we do that. So I mean, we
34:21
have like a laundry list of ways to do that.
34:23
So we use parent square and that's how we do
34:26
two mass communication and two -way communication
34:28
so every family can receive the content in their
34:32
native language. We make sure we put everything
34:35
in there from registering for clubs to just you
34:41
know a newsletter or a post from the teacher.
34:46
Pretty much every ed tech tool like AI is a really
34:51
big one, right? The students can receive it in
34:53
their language. Or if we're talking about accessibility,
34:56
they can challenge themselves or get it simplified.
35:00
So AI really is helpful for both the learning
35:03
differences as well as the multilingual learners.
35:07
Other tools we use that have accessibility, I
35:10
mean, they're in everything. Like, we are Microsoft's,
35:12
we have Immersive Reader. In Canva and Book Creator,
35:17
there's translation tools and accessibility tools.
35:23
We have a Pocket Talk device where we have a
35:26
new student that just moved here from Pakistan
35:29
and speaks Urdu, and no one speaks Urdu, right?
35:33
We can't communicate with them. So there's a
35:35
little Pocket Talk that the child can walk around
35:37
with. it speak in Urdu and it translates in English.
35:41
And then you press another button and the next
35:43
person speaks in English and it translates. And
35:46
we do that when families come in as well. We
35:49
noticed that we weren't having a very large turnout
35:52
for like things like back to school night and
35:54
things like that. So we, again, Microsoft district,
35:57
we have live translation on the PowerPoints for
35:59
the families. So we've seen an increase of families
36:02
coming into the district because they weren't
36:04
coming because why would they come? They can't
36:06
even understand what we're saying, right? And
36:08
so we have audio enhancement, which are microphones
36:10
that the teachers wear around their neck. And
36:12
there's speakers in the ceiling. I just got a
36:15
delivery. I haven't even opened the box for this.
36:17
It's called a bridge. And this student can put
36:20
headphones in and everything that the teacher
36:22
saying in the microphone is translated in their
36:25
ear. So that's game changing, too. So I feel
36:30
like the accessibility, it just built in everywhere.
36:33
Another tool that. I know is great for, like
36:37
you mentioned, dyslexia is a Cami. That's a really
36:40
great tool for students with learning differences.
36:46
I don't know, there's a, I feel like they all
36:48
like, you could, I mean, some are better than
36:50
others, but it's pretty much in everything now.
36:55
And this is one area that I get really excited
36:58
about where as far as you know, the possibilities
37:01
that are coming. I still, I still feel that especially
37:04
when you, when I, when I think of like the multilingual,
37:06
the translation features and things like that,
37:09
that AI is definitely going to help accelerate
37:12
some of the possibilities of some of those live
37:14
translation things, like you were talking about
37:16
that one device and that, and I know. AirPods
37:19
could just translate in your ear. Yeah, and I've
37:22
done some experimenting with them and it's not
37:24
as live as I would like it to be. And then I
37:27
was reading just Google is also having updates
37:31
to their Google Translate app on their devices
37:35
as well. But I just see that as just a great
37:38
place to go and definitely, you know, making
37:42
that learning much more inclusive and accessible
37:44
is so important. Yeah. So we talk a little bit
37:48
about accessibility and inclusion part of it
37:51
here, right? But AI can, or even other technologies
37:55
can also be, I think there's some great tools
37:58
out there that can really help students. be able
38:02
to express themselves, whether it's through,
38:06
you know, some sort of a reflection that they're
38:08
doing audio, video, or even whether it's something
38:13
like maybe they can use to help them build skills
38:15
or to deepen their thinking. Have you seen any
38:19
success stories you think of how an emerging
38:22
technology is allowing students more of that
38:25
expression in what they're learning is? I think
38:30
that AI image generation has really been a game
38:36
changer in the creative space because students
38:41
sometimes have a very clear vision in their head
38:44
and it's very difficult for them to get that
38:47
vision out for someone else to be able to receive
38:50
it. And I think that if they prompt the right
38:53
way, they can bring their visions to life. Like,
38:57
we have little third graders that do TED Talks,
39:00
and there's, you know, a lot of writing that
39:03
goes in there. And the AI helps them as a tool
39:05
to make them become a better writer. The AI helps
39:09
them create images that help the audience visually
39:13
see what they're saying. The AI can help give
39:16
them feedback on their speaking to help for them
39:18
to become a better speaker. So AI just becomes
39:21
a tool. In that instance to help bring their
39:25
creativity in the next level, but I do think
39:28
that image generation I think it's amazing and
39:32
I think The next level of it will be once it's
39:36
good enough is like the video creation side of
39:39
it because You could take you could create essentially
39:44
like a movie of Your essay or report you can
39:49
turn it into a very engaging video without really
39:54
needing to know that much editing skills, right?
39:58
So it does it does it take away from some of
40:01
the originality or the or the creativity, you
40:04
know, I'm thinking about, you know, like, turn
40:07
your essay into a movie. That's great. You know,
40:10
but it was based. It depends. You're just saying
40:14
take this essay and turn into a movie. That's
40:17
not, so it's funny, because in AI club last week,
40:20
I have their third and fourth graders. So I told
40:23
them they're using Canva, because every week
40:26
we learn something new, that they were going
40:29
to make a holiday card for their family. And
40:32
we use all the Canva magic tools, like magic
40:36
media, creating an image. removing the background,
40:40
like the magic background remover. We learned
40:42
how that was AI. We learned about the magic expand.
40:46
If the picture didn't fill the whole screen,
40:47
they could stick all these little AI elements
40:50
in there. And then we had a conversation. Like,
40:54
if you just typed in Christmas or Snowman, like,
40:59
is that even your work? I mean, really. So the
41:03
prompt is your work. The output is not your work.
41:07
The prompt is your work, right? And then we add
41:10
a whole conversation like about is that is the
41:16
final product? Is that your intellectual property?
41:20
Is that your creative work? An artist spends
41:25
a very long time, whatever their medium is, working
41:27
on this piece of art. If you just typed in Christmas
41:32
card or Christmas, Is that your work? The answer
41:36
is no, it's not your work. But if you spent all
41:39
this time putting into the prompting and giving
41:42
the direction for the creative output and the
41:46
layering and all these other things, so we think
41:48
that the out, like I always say this, you cannot
41:51
assess the end product anymore. AI could do that
41:54
for you. You need to assess the learning process.
41:57
The student might need to write a reflection
41:59
of how they got to that end product. process
42:04
is more important than the end product. I think
42:08
that's perfectly said. I think if you're focusing
42:11
on it as being an expression of your thinking
42:14
or your creativity, why shouldn't you feel ownership
42:18
in that? in that product, right? But I agree
42:22
with you. I think it is that process that you
42:25
need to be looking at. And, you know, the product
42:28
is something to celebrate, right? You know, it's
42:31
an achievement and it needs to be recognized
42:33
as such. But really, where did all of the triumph
42:40
come from, right? It's from overcoming whatever
42:42
struggles that you were facing in that process,
42:45
right? That makes that end product feel so good.
42:48
And if AI can, I think, help get you to that
42:52
point, why can't we do that? Right, exactly.
42:58
Exactly. Go ahead. No, go ahead. No, I was just
43:02
going to add, like, it's interesting, too, just
43:04
in the sense of that's why I think, like, prompting
43:10
is so important because that is part of the process
43:14
now. And really, helping teachers understand
43:19
when they're using it or when students are using
43:20
it, the end product is going to be the result
43:24
of how good your initial prompt is and then also
43:27
iterating from that afterwards to get to where
43:31
you actually, to coax the AI into giving you
43:35
what you want as the end product. And I was going
43:38
to tell them too, like you don't ever have to
43:40
be satisfied. Like you get to say when it's done,
43:42
right? With whatever it creates. So I like what
43:46
you said there a lot just because it's, the prompting
43:50
is now part of something that you can be assessing
43:53
as well. For sure. Yeah. Like, but I also think
43:59
a reflection that goes along with it is great
44:01
too. Like asking them, how did you do that? How
44:05
do you think it helped you? What, like, tell
44:07
me about your learning process. Tell me about
44:09
how this product was made because like, I'll
44:13
oppose it to you. You're presenting on vibe coding.
44:16
Do you think that coding is necessary anymore?
44:19
It's the same question. I think that some coders
44:23
are needed because when the vibe coding doesn't
44:25
know how to do it, we need someone who actually
44:27
knows what they're doing to go in and fix it.
44:31
would does that mean we shouldn't teach coding
44:33
anymore? Like no, I don't think so because I
44:36
think coding teaches you like how to think and
44:39
problem solve and get stuck and unstuck and it's
44:42
like computational thing. It's like very important
44:44
to learn that way of thinking because you could
44:46
apply it to like anything else in your life.
44:49
So I do think that it's similar, right? Like
44:53
do you need to edit videos? Like maybe when the
44:57
students are our age, maybe they're not editing
45:00
videos the way that we're editing podcasts, audio,
45:03
or videos. They probably won't be, but that's
45:08
fine. They're just gonna be able to get to the
45:10
end product a little quicker as long as the creative
45:12
direction and design is coming from their human
45:15
brain. Yeah. And then, so, can we talk a little
45:21
bit just about a piece of that? Like, one of
45:24
the things that It has come up a lot recently
45:27
is the concept of AI literacy. And this would
45:30
be for both students and if like, if we're working
45:34
with educators, there are some foundational things
45:38
that they need to understand. We spoke with Amanda
45:43
Bakerstaff, AI for Education, and they've done
45:46
some great work with some of their frameworks
45:49
and AI literacy kind of being, you know, safe,
45:52
ethical and effective use is what they. talk
45:55
about, right, with that organization. And so
45:59
if you're looking at, like if you're to work
46:01
with a district, let's say that you have 90 minutes
46:04
for an AI literacy kickoff to help their teachers
46:08
wrap their heads around what is safe, ethical,
46:10
and effective use look like. If you have 90 minutes,
46:14
what do you think a teacher should be able to
46:17
walk away with? Just kind of baseline that every
46:20
teacher should be able to walk away with from
46:22
that 90 minute session. Um, how would you approach
46:26
that? I mean, what I hope that, I mean, 90 minutes
46:31
is a short amount of time, right? What I try
46:35
to instill in, in the users that I get to see
46:38
all the time. And I know that that's not 90 minutes.
46:42
I want them to understand how AI models are trained.
46:47
So they understand, like, so I, I tell every
46:49
AI user, this is, this is my rules. You have
46:52
two jobs. You are a detective and you're on the
46:56
lookout for bias and misinformation, which are
46:58
both incredibly important. And your second job
47:01
is to be a DJ and remix it with your own thoughts,
47:04
your own ideas, and your own voice. Those are
47:06
my two jobs. If you can walk out after that 90
47:09
minute session and understand those two rules,
47:12
I think I did a good job, right? Yes, there's
47:15
a lot to do with like good prompting and all
47:18
of that, but I think to use it ethically, you
47:21
need to understand that there is bias, there
47:24
is misinformation. Everything it tells you is
47:26
not true. You need to fact check it and you cannot
47:30
copy it word for word and you cannot trust it
47:32
word for word. And you need to, as my students
47:35
say, like mash it together and be a DJ and remix
47:38
it. So that would be my goal for a 90 -minute
47:41
session. I like that a lot because I haven't
47:44
heard that put that way yet, like the remixing
47:47
part, but that's a really good way to phrase
47:49
it because That's what you're doing. You get
47:51
the initial output, and then you're like, okay,
47:54
what do we need to mix around or change? What's
47:57
good, what's bad, all those things. A DJ would
47:59
take little bits of this beats from these songs
48:01
and this song, and then they make their own little
48:03
remix, and they mash up a bunch of different
48:06
songs, right? So we're just movies. That's synthesis.
48:10
That's a higher level of thinking skill, to be
48:13
able to do that. Yeah. And then the other thing
48:17
that bothers me is... I tell a teacher, would
48:20
you do it? Would you use it? And then why can't
48:23
a student do it? And then what bothers me even
48:26
more is when they tell that the teachers use
48:29
AI to help them grade to work. I'm like, can
48:32
you just stop? Because if you are gonna use AI
48:37
to grade the kids to work, then just teach the
48:39
kid how to use the AI to give themselves feedback
48:42
on it, because they're gonna need to know how
48:44
to do that. Have an AI, put the rubric in, put
48:47
the assignment in, put your work in, get the
48:49
feedback. That's what you're doing. You're just
48:51
wasting your time doing it. Just teach the student
48:55
how to do it. And I have elementary school students
48:57
that do that. So yeah, that just bothers me a
49:00
little. So on that one more question, then this
49:04
would have to do more with, this kind of fits
49:07
to that because it gets into like expectations
49:10
of use and. what's acceptable, what's not. That's
49:13
a really big question right now, especially for
49:15
districts in our region, because we have many
49:17
that are trying to start creating AI guidelines
49:21
for their districts. We have some that have.
49:24
But if you're talking to a leader at a school
49:28
that has not set up any clear expectations, what
49:33
is a great starting point for a superintendent
49:36
that wants to start that process, but wants to
49:40
have it be like, where you can allow for nuance
49:45
or in the way that a teacher approaches AI or
49:49
with their assessments or anything like that
49:51
and trying to set some guardrails in place, but
49:57
not like fear -based type of messaging like where,
50:02
you know, it's all about like the policies and
50:05
the rules and all this type of stuff. How can
50:08
you still set expectations as a leader? that
50:11
still encourages your staff to utilize these
50:15
tools in interesting ways. So I actually don't
50:18
have an AI policy or guidelines in my own district.
50:21
I don't personally believe that you really need
50:24
them. I definitely don't believe in a policy.
50:27
I think policies, if you are a district leader,
50:30
you know they're very, very difficult to get
50:32
approved by your Board of Education. And then
50:34
if you want to change them, it's nearly impossible.
50:36
So I would never, ever, ever make an AI policy.
50:40
ever um unless you know my superintendent or
50:43
my board forced me to do it and then of course
50:45
i would very gladly put a smile on my face and
50:47
do that but i do think there is a difference
50:50
between guidelines i think first of all your
50:54
what is your position right as a leader telling
50:57
your staff what is your position where do you
51:00
stand as a teacher to tell your students where
51:03
do you stand I think that there's such a gray
51:06
area. I really hate that stoplight, that red,
51:10
yellow, green. I just think, okay, green is yes,
51:13
you can use it, like how much? Okay, red is no,
51:16
we get the yellow, maybe? Like maybe you could,
51:19
what does that even mean? I don't know. So I
51:21
think there's just so much area for gray. I've
51:24
seen it done really well. I was working with
51:27
Washington State. government. They have AI guidelines,
51:32
and I think that theirs are pretty good. On the
51:34
top corner it says, like, HI for human intelligence
51:37
and an AI and a HI. So it starts with your human
51:40
brain, then AI, then ends with your human brain,
51:43
and then they have five steps, and I like that
51:46
better than the three. But I think for me, what
51:50
I did was I updated my responsible use agreement.
51:53
And we have a very big PBIS, Positive Behavior
51:57
-Based Intervention Services initiative in my
52:00
district, and we really focus on the positive.
52:03
So it took my risk and I changed it. This is
52:06
another word, acceptable. What's acceptable use
52:09
versus responsible use? The word responsible
52:12
use, I think, is much stronger than, this is
52:15
what's acceptable. So rename it to responsible,
52:18
right? But then when I went back, I rewrote it
52:20
through a positive lens. Like, what do we want
52:23
you to do? Not what do we not want you to do?
52:26
Because Richard Claudis said this, and it just
52:27
stuck in my head. If you pull up any of those
52:30
guidelines or policies, it's like a laundry list
52:32
of like, no, no, don't, don't, don't, don't.
52:35
instead of like what we want you to do. So when
52:37
I wrote it, I actually only added one thing into
52:41
my responsible use agreement, and it was to submit
52:44
work that's, the category was academic integrity.
52:50
So I added that in, academic integrity, handing
52:53
in like submitting work that's reflective of
52:56
your own thoughts, your own ideas, like crediting
52:57
sources and all the things of academic integrity
53:00
because really that's what AI use is, is just
53:04
It's the same thing, right? You're just copying
53:07
from Google, you're copying from a source online,
53:10
you're just copying from AI. It's just about
53:13
academic integrity, right? And then you get to
53:16
the root cause, like why did the student do that?
53:19
Oh, it's probably, and there's a lot of your
53:21
lists of reasons, like I'm sure that both of
53:24
you in one point in your student career cheated
53:26
on something. You don't have to answer if you
53:28
don't want to, but there's varying reasons. One,
53:31
you didn't understand and you just wanted to
53:33
get it done. Another reason might be you didn't
53:35
have time. Another reason might be that you just
53:37
want to get a good grade. We need to address
53:41
those reasons of why kids cheat. Then going back
53:44
to your real question. The way that I do it is
53:47
I think that it's on an assignment by assignment
53:50
basis. I think it becomes very confusing for
53:53
a kid that's in one class and this teacher says
53:56
this is okay, and they go directly across the
54:00
hall to a different class, and what was acceptable
54:02
across the hall is not acceptable here. And then
54:05
within this one class, what was acceptable today,
54:08
is different than what's acceptable tomorrow.
54:11
So just being very specific, assignment by assignment
54:15
guidelines, what is acceptable. That's why I
54:17
don't really think guidelines work because the
54:19
only guideline should be what's allowed today
54:23
in this class on this assignment. And if you
54:26
take an assignment, AI use might be acceptable
54:29
in the brainstorming process and very differently,
54:34
what's acceptable in the editing process. And
54:37
that's within the same assignment. Right? So
54:40
how could you possibly have guidelines that aren't
54:43
just assignment by assignment, day by day? Right?
54:48
So do you think a more categorical approach would
54:51
be preferred? There's a school here, Bloomington
54:57
Public Schools, that does more of a categorical
54:59
approach where they've got five core areas, like
55:03
one's writing, and then there would be, within
55:07
that, potential AI uses and then there might
55:11
be like they would put like a green check mark
55:13
or a red X for specific things in there. I mean
55:20
maybe I think it could but I think you need to
55:23
say okay for the brainstorming portion of this
55:25
writing assignment this is what is acceptable.
55:28
When you're in the revision part of this assignment
55:30
this is what is acceptable. Like you need to
55:33
tell them or they don't know and then they're
55:35
breaking a rule that they don't even know they're
55:36
breaking. Sure, and they had it's about transparency
55:40
at that point then right and just two -way transparency
55:43
Yeah, and one of the things I like about theirs
55:46
that they do is they put it directly on the assignments
55:48
So it's great. It's an icon that students see
55:52
so if they get in it's I mean, it's like oh this
55:55
is This is we know by the icon that color like
55:59
this is acceptable and this isn't by that Coding
56:03
essentially like where they they've indicated
56:05
that which I think is Yeah, I love that. That's
56:12
great. I just think you need to be transparent.
56:14
Otherwise they don't know. So Alana, like by
56:21
the time that this airs, which will be the first
56:25
week of January, right? You're going to be keynoting
56:30
at the FETC conference with the keynote. You
56:35
know, I'm not trying to make you nervous or anything,
56:37
right? The future of learning, empowering every
56:40
student to thrive. So can you maybe give people
56:44
a little bit of a foreshadow of what to expect
56:48
or in my case, because I'm not gonna be there
56:51
and I know David is. Yeah, I'm gonna have. Serious
56:57
FOMO going on right? So what am I gonna be missing
57:00
like? That should make me want to like get on
57:03
the next plane and fly down. I will say that
57:05
I have a lot of Tricks up my sleeve. I have some
57:10
surprises that I'm not gonna announce So I can't
57:14
you got to build that anticipation here. Yeah,
57:16
no, I you know, I First of all, this is surreal.
57:21
I can't even it's It's a really big conference,
57:25
right? It's really big. I'm still not prepared
57:29
yet. It's funny, my graphic designer just fell
57:32
off the face of the earth, and he was supposed
57:34
to design my slides, so I guess I'm gonna be
57:36
using AI and doing that myself on my two weeks
57:38
off. But I've mapped out the talk, and now I
57:43
just need to do my own graphic design and get
57:46
it done. I will get there by then. I have four
57:48
weeks, and it will be done. Literally, the title
57:55
really says it all, Empowering Every Student
57:58
to Thrive. And I think we talked a lot about
58:00
that on this call, like every single student
58:04
has a unique need, right? You have your multilingual
58:06
learner. You have your dyslexic student. Every
58:09
student has their own learning difference, right?
58:13
And how do we tap into each student? How do we...
58:19
Thinking of the theme, which is game changers,
58:22
like level up each student. How do we unlock
58:25
their full potential, right? Because in the work
58:27
that I do, it's really about getting to know
58:29
each student and really helping that student
58:31
level up and helping them unlock their full potential
58:34
so that when they're at our age, they're gonna
58:36
thrive, right? Because we don't. want when there
58:39
are each for them to come back and be like, guess
58:41
what I got on my SATs, right? Like that's not
58:44
what you want for your student. You want them
58:46
to tell you about all the great things that they
58:48
accomplished in their life and because you supported
58:52
them to get there. So I think it's just about
58:55
helping every student thrive, literally. And
58:59
that's great. Yeah. Before we get into the lightning
59:03
round questions, could you talk a little bit
59:05
too about what you have going on the rest of
59:07
the conference? Because you do have a number
59:08
of different sessions and workshops. And I'm
59:12
pretty sure I figured out which one I'll be at.
59:14
Which one? It's going to be the... Is it on Sunday
59:21
or Wednesday? It's the Generative Age AI Symposium,
59:27
I think. Oh, that one's canceled, just letting
59:30
you know. OK, it won't be at that one. It will
59:32
not be at that one. Oh, my whole schedule changed
59:35
since you probably looked at it because you saw
59:38
how many things I had. So I'm bringing a whole
59:41
team and different people are coming different
59:43
days and leaving different days. So I had to
59:45
rearrange the whole schedule based on everyone's
59:48
travel schedule. This is my working schedule.
59:53
That's how many sessions I'm involved in. This
59:55
is visual so you could see. I did also mark the
59:58
revolutionizing AI PD as well. Okay. Yeah. I
1:00:03
am doing one on, I mentioned building bridges,
1:00:09
connecting with multilingual learners and their
1:00:11
families. I'm doing one on Beyond the Band because
1:00:15
I have a very big digital wellness initiative.
1:00:17
I'm on my second year of that. One on AI in the
1:00:21
elementary classroom where I'll have actual elementary
1:00:23
students leading that one. So that's gonna be
1:00:25
super fun. I have one that's rethinking school
1:00:30
from students perspective. I have one called
1:00:33
writing reimagined and it's taking like persuasive
1:00:36
essays and turning them into TED Talks and taking
1:00:40
biographies and turning them into podcasts. And
1:00:42
when you ask students how they feel about writing,
1:00:44
they hate it. But when you reimagine what the
1:00:46
writing looks like, they actually love it and
1:00:48
they don't realize they're writing. So it's a
1:00:50
whole session on that. And then I have a couple
1:00:53
of tables on Sunday. And I have the AI PD workshop
1:00:57
on Wednesday, which you mentioned. And I have
1:01:00
one with Tim Needles on Sunday about STEAM power
1:01:04
and like the A in the arts and the STEAM. So
1:01:08
lots, lots going, I have a lot going on and I
1:01:11
have a really great team and the superintendent's
1:01:14
doing a session on our physical security because
1:01:16
you can't do innovative things unless you feel
1:01:19
safe and secure. So we do have a lot around that
1:01:22
so he'll be presenting that. I have a student
1:01:25
that I can't be in two places at once but one
1:01:28
is doing, she's dyslexic and she's talking about
1:01:31
what it's like to be a dyslexic student and how
1:01:34
you could support. Her so just lots going on
1:01:38
Awesome. Well, yeah, uh, I'll look forward to
1:01:42
hopefully making it to one of the sessions and
1:01:45
um In there and I will try to live vicariously
1:01:49
through what david tells me about it. I will
1:01:51
send videos and pictures Um, all right. Well
1:01:56
that kind of brings us to our lightning round
1:01:58
so we'll give you these uh quick hit questions
1:02:02
and you can give, you know, one word responses
1:02:05
if you want, or if you want to go a little bit
1:02:07
further with something, feel free to take it
1:02:09
away. But Jeremy, I think you're going to kick
1:02:11
us off with this, right? Yeah. So based on everything
1:02:15
that you've said and your super busy conference
1:02:18
schedule, what's one small joy that you're going
1:02:21
to try to seek out in the midst of all the chaos?
1:02:25
I mean, I think for me, when I go to conferences,
1:02:28
when I look back, like what makes me the happiest
1:02:30
is just connecting with other people. Like seeing
1:02:33
people that you haven't seen in so long, getting
1:02:35
so excited to see them, or connecting with someone
1:02:38
new. I think, right, we could do this all we
1:02:42
want virtually, but I think being at a conference,
1:02:45
the thing that's so amazing is being physically
1:02:47
with human beings. And that's my joy when I go
1:02:51
to conferences. Yeah. I usually liked seeing
1:02:55
Jeremy in person more than virtual. We live in
1:02:59
different parts of the states. How far are you
1:03:01
guys? About three hours or a few hours apart.
1:03:06
We were talking about this before we went live,
1:03:09
but this is the second question. What's at least
1:03:11
one famous person that lives near you? Because
1:03:13
you named a couple. Yeah, so there's a couple.
1:03:20
Hugh Jackman lives near me. Sarah Jessica Parker
1:03:23
lives near me. Not anymore, but Taylor Swift
1:03:27
lived near me. And if you're a Swiftie, you've
1:03:30
probably heard the song Cornelia Street. Cornelia
1:03:33
Street is right near me. So that's for all the
1:03:35
Swifties out there. Keenan Thompson. I don't
1:03:41
know. There's a lot. There's a lot of people.
1:03:43
I live in New York City, so it's like pretty
1:03:46
normal. That's cool. I can't think of one famous
1:03:51
person around me. Maybe David. Maybe that's the
1:03:53
closest on Okay, how about what's one tool or
1:03:58
app me it could be AI But doesn't necessarily
1:04:01
have to be that you can't live without in your
1:04:03
daily workflow I mean, I know that it's just
1:04:06
the obvious but it like it is AI like I Could
1:04:11
not live without chachi -pachi. That's like my
1:04:14
go -to. I just feel like I've trained it so well
1:04:18
that it knows me, it knows my voice, it knows
1:04:21
my workflows. I have different, like, custom
1:04:24
GPTs for different things. Like, I do so many
1:04:28
random things that it just, like, gets me. So
1:04:33
I really, I couldn't live without it, especially,
1:04:38
yeah, I couldn't, I couldn't live. I mean, now
1:04:40
that we've experienced it, I guess I could live
1:04:43
without it, right? We had life before it, but
1:04:45
it's just, yeah. I love it. It does. It completely
1:04:50
understands you in ways that are reassuring.
1:04:54
Not the scary kind of ways, but the reassuring
1:04:57
kind of ways. Yeah. I actually had a conversation
1:04:59
with my students. We ran her Ted talk that she's
1:05:02
working on through an AI and she said it was
1:05:05
mean to her. I said, what do you mean it was
1:05:08
mean to you? Was it actually mean or was just
1:05:10
information that you didn't want to hear because
1:05:13
it was constructive? A lot of times we talked
1:05:17
about AI is agreeable, right? And that's another
1:05:20
thing you need to teach in that 90 -minute session,
1:05:23
that it doesn't need to be agreeable. You can
1:05:26
tell it, I want to improve. Help give me the
1:05:30
difficult feedback to make it better. And some
1:05:32
people don't like to receive that, right? They
1:05:34
just like the agreeable AI that's feeding into
1:05:37
their ego. that constructive partner, that's
1:05:41
what's great. Like you don't have a constructive
1:05:43
partner with you all day, every day to bounce
1:05:46
any idea off of. And I think that for me, that's
1:05:50
why it's so important because I could say like,
1:05:52
is the tone OK in this? Because it might be a
1:05:55
sensitive email or am I missing anything? Is
1:05:57
there anything I'm forgetting? And I just think
1:06:00
using it to push back on you is what helps me.
1:06:04
Yeah, I would second that. It's very helpful.
1:06:09
All right, so this next one, you unfortunately
1:06:11
cannot choose the integrity of this EdTech podcast,
1:06:13
but what is a book, a podcast or a newsletter
1:06:17
that you're currently obsessed with right now?
1:06:20
So podcast, I'd say my favorite podcast is Hard
1:06:24
Fork if you haven't listened to it and you like
1:06:26
AI. It's one of my favorites. It's a New York
1:06:29
Times podcast. And it's about technology and
1:06:33
AI. And I really love it. It's once a week. And
1:06:36
I listen to every episode. I'm also really into
1:06:41
science and longevity. And I listen to a lot
1:06:48
of dorky science things. And as far as books,
1:06:53
I feel like I commute out of the city every day.
1:06:56
So I'm listening to a lot of audio, like podcasts
1:06:59
or audio books or things like that. And that's
1:07:01
where I get most of my non -fiction content.
1:07:03
So when I'm picking up an actual book, I prefer
1:07:06
to read a paper fiction thriller book, because
1:07:11
I just don't want to look at a device. I want
1:07:12
to put my devices away. I want to get immersed
1:07:15
into a completely different world. I love the
1:07:18
thriller books because they keep your mind like
1:07:20
thinking and Yeah. And it's weird because in
1:07:25
my world, I don't have paper anywhere except
1:07:28
for when I read books. Cool. And last one here
1:07:34
before we let you go. You know, if you're going
1:07:38
to be giving your big keynote here and just imagining
1:07:40
you, you need to visualize the space, the audience
1:07:44
and stuff. And then they cue the music. What's
1:07:46
the walk up song that you want them to play to
1:07:49
really get you in the audience just pumped, ready
1:07:52
to go? I don't know. I honestly don't know. If
1:07:56
they told me that, I would probably have to ask
1:07:58
AI for ideas, honestly. I don't know. I felt
1:08:01
it would probably have to be on theme, right?
1:08:04
It would have to be on theme for the conference
1:08:07
and for the talk. So it wouldn't be like necessarily
1:08:10
what I would want to like amp me up. It would
1:08:13
probably have to also set the tone for the audience
1:08:16
and for what's about to happen. But I was thinking
1:08:21
about like, the first words that are going to
1:08:24
come out of my mouth. What are those first words?
1:08:27
Because those words are important, right? So
1:08:29
it's kind of like the song. That is what is going
1:08:33
to hook people. So I think I would have to ask
1:08:36
AI for help. That's right. You get five different
1:08:41
options from AI and then select your song. Or
1:08:44
take all of them and ask for more. Yeah, exactly.
1:08:47
That's not the direction I was going for. Right.
1:08:50
You don't have to be satisfied with what it gives
1:08:52
you. Well, we really appreciate your time and
1:08:56
joining us for the podcast. Do you want to just
1:09:01
mention where they can kind of check out some
1:09:03
of your content and where they would reach you
1:09:08
or access your book, things like that? And then
1:09:12
also, is there anything else you have coming
1:09:14
up besides FETC that you want to highlight? I
1:09:17
mean that is the biggest thing for me but oh
1:09:19
something we didn't really talk about at all
1:09:21
was my organization Students for Innovation.
1:09:24
So what I do with my own students at my own district
1:09:27
is really great and we just want all students
1:09:30
everywhere to have that. So I have my innovation
1:09:34
club at my school and other schools can start
1:09:36
innovation clubs. at their schools as well and
1:09:39
have this community where we can support each
1:09:41
other. But even if you're not starting any type
1:09:44
of club or anything like that, we do have a student
1:09:48
-led virtual summit where students advocate their
1:09:52
student speakers for things that they believe
1:09:54
should be in the classroom. Our farthest student
1:09:56
was from India last year, talking about game
1:09:59
-based learning. I had a student in New Jersey
1:10:02
talk about financial literacy. Of course, we
1:10:04
had AI, coding, things like that. So we are going
1:10:09
to be hosting our next summit in April. So number
1:10:13
one, if you have any student speakers that you
1:10:16
know, we're looking for speakers and they could
1:10:17
just go to studentsforinnovation .org. and apply
1:10:20
to speak. And also, last year's summit is recorded.
1:10:23
You're welcome to watch it and sign up for this
1:10:26
year's. So that's just something else I do. And
1:10:29
then everything is linked on my website, alanawenick
1:10:34
.com. The Students for Innovation, my book, Degenerative
1:10:37
Age, my podcast, Degenerative Age, all of that
1:10:40
is linked under alanawenick .com. I'm on every
1:10:43
single social media platform, Pat Alanawenick.
1:10:46
I'd say I'm the most active on LinkedIn. in and
1:10:51
I'm starting to be more active on Instagram.
1:10:54
I'm trying to post more stories and stuff. So
1:10:57
LinkedIn and Instagram, I'd say are my top two.
1:11:00
And if you want to reach me, you can DM me on
1:11:02
those or just go to my website and fill out my
1:11:04
contact form. Awesome. And we'll be sure to include
1:11:06
all the links and everything in the show description
1:11:09
on YouTube and then on the podcast sites as well.
1:11:13
So. folks that are listening, you can access
1:11:15
Alana's work through the show notes. So, Alana,
1:11:19
thanks again for your time. Thank you. Thank
1:11:21
you. Thanks for having me. Thanks a lot. Thanks
1:11:25
for listening to Integrate This. Want to take
1:11:28
your learning further? Head over to our YouTube
1:11:30
channel for quick tutorials, deep dives, and
1:11:34
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1:11:37
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1:11:40
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1:11:47
exploring, keep innovating and keep integrating
1:11:51
this.