Set aside the fears of rampant cheating and robot uprisings—heading into the 2023-24 school year, many educators are deploying AI for more ordinary purposes. Providing a safer space for teachers to participate in PD is one way AI-powered video is being used by administrators at Spokane Public Schools in Washington.
“Watching others and watching themselves—those are the two most powerful ways teachers learn more about themselves and their practices,” says Nicholas Lundberg, Spokane’s Title I and special programs coordinator.
The AI coaching platform Spokane uses allows teachers to record themselves and then, like an instructional coach, guides them through reflection questions as they watch the video. Teachers can instruct the AI to focus on specific practices, such as differentiation. The teacher’s typed responses to questions are collected to produce a journal to which teachers can refer back.
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“It’s the safest place possible for a classroom teacher—a self-contained reflection on a practice of their choosing,” Lundberg explains. “Our hope is that we start to see teachers becoming more comfortable sharing video with colleagues.”
The end product produced by the platform and the sharing process is a plan that a teacher can use to hold themselves accountable for improving a specific practice. This AI coaching should be particularly effective with early-career teachers looking for user-friendly training and during curriculum adoptions such as Spokane’s current focus on foundational literacy, Lundberg adds.
It also allows instructional coaches to reach more teachers. “Teachers looking for short, simple, meaty professional development,” he concludes. “For teachers who have been resistant, it has been an open door to start conversations.”
‘Beam me up’ with AI
OK, let’s admit that some readers may find this next use of AI a little bit “scary.” Maria Armstrong, executive director of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, is in regular contact with superintendents across the country. She confirms that some administrators are using artificial intelligence for productivity, such as by streamlining districtwide communications.
But Armstrong may also have gotten a glimpse of a possible future at a recent Latinx Edtech Summit, where she witnessed a holographic teacher for the first time. And, aside from the obvious teacher-shortage solution, why would a district want to “hire” a hologram? “They speak multiple languages,” Armstrong says.
“There’s a wide gap in how people are using AI,” she continues. “We’re homing in on what could get us closer to personalized support, from familial support to learning support.”
