Britni Walz
Stairw-A.I. to Heaven? with Britni Walz
You know her, you love her, it’s Britni Walz! As the Instructional Services and Educational Technology Director at CESA 4, Britni has been at the forefront of integrating AI into rural Wisconsin classrooms. Fresh from the ASU+GSV Summit—a premier gathering of educators, innovators, and tech leaders—she's here to share insights on how the summit's discussions and discoveries will influence her work back home. From AI literacy to equitable access, we'll delve into how cutting-edge ideas from the summit can be translated into meaningful change for rural educators and students. Essentially, Britni is here to tell us whether AI is something to be feared or something that can bring us to the educational stairw-A.I. to heaven.
BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Go to bustedpencils.com for swag, all of our episodes, and for information on partnering with us! For information on all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!
Assistant Instructors (AI) in Rural WI Schools, with Britni Walz
Class, we talk about AI a lot here. Is it good or bad? Well, it's technology, so it is neither and both depending on the user. But what if we could consider it as *more* than a tool, and far less than a replacement for a teacher? Britni Walz, Instructional Services and Technology Director for CESA4, like Dr. Tim, views proper AI as an assistant. Today, Britni joins us to discuss the exciting work CESA4 is doing to bring AI to rural school districts in Wisconsin. These schools seek ways to engage each of their students according to their needs and interest. As any educated educator knows, that's a monumental task. Well, what if we pair teachers with an assistant who can build individualized lesson plans for each child based on that student's needs and interests? That might just work!
As we discuss AI in classrooms more, we need to understand a few things. The first and most important is that AI is ultimately a tool, not a replacement for human engagement. AI grows more capable and nuanced each day, but it's still a tool. Rather than fearing that AI will replace teachers let's consider the second thing. Utilizing AI as an assistant has the potential to reinvigorate teachers facing creative burnout and to engage so many students who tune out of lessons that don't interest them!
BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Go to bustedpencils.com for swag, all of our episodes, and for information on partnering with us! For information on all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!