While students enjoyed a three-day weekend, IUSD staff attended the District’s Professional Learning (PL) Summit on Teaching and Learning on March 3. Organized by the Education Services Department, more than 2,200 teachers, staff and administrators were able to choose between more than 240 breakout sessions developed and presented by more than 150 IUSD educators across three IUSD high school venues.
This year’s PL Summit built on IUSD’s collaboration with staff, administrators and our community to share ideas and strategies around Artificial Intelligence (AI) considerations and shared challenges to help ensure AI integration aligns with the District’s educational objectives. This year, all teachers attended a required session focused on building a common understanding of AI Literacy, awareness and best practices for safe and ethical exploration with AI tools in IUSD.
Educators then selected breakout sessions that centered around the practical application of AI in instruction, ranging from personalized AI-driven instruction, college and career readiness, Special Education, STEM, literacy, fine arts, student engagement, diverse teaching methodologies and social-emotional learning, ensuring comprehensive professional development.
“No other district in the nation does or is able to offer this level of professional learning conference to all of their teaching staff, using their own personnel,” said Christopher Krebs, IUSD Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction. “We believe it is a testament to our IUSD culture of empowering leadership, continuous improvement and our commitment to modeling intellectual risk-taking that we are able to secure so many of our own teacher leaders to lead this day.”
The day started with four education experts delivering keynote speeches at each respective venue.
Dr. John Spencer, founder of Spencer Education, spoke with Elementary and Special Education teachers, Elementary Science Specialists and Administrators. His presentation explored how educators might adapt to and navigate the new terrain of an AI world, while also keeping human connection at the center.
Corey Layne Crouch, Chief Program Officer for AI for Education, presented to Early Childhood, PK, First-Grade, Early Learning Special Education Educators and Administrators. She presented on the transformative role generative AI is taking in education and predictions of how it will impact the workforce in the future.
Dr. Sabba Quidwai, Founder of Designing Schools, presented to English Language Arts, History-Social Science, Arts, Dance, World Languages Secondary teachers, Librarians, Administrators and more. Her presentation encouraged educators to flex AI to empower others with the skills, mindsets and agency to design their future.
Amanda Bickerstaff, co-founder of AI for Education, presented to secondary Science, Physical Education, Math, Health teachers, Administrators and more. This session envisioned the classroom of tomorrow, where AI can support personalized learning, immersive experiences and global collaboration.
Thank you to all of our dedicated teachers and staff who are lifelong learners and embrace continuous improvement so that they can empower students and prepare them for challenging college, careers and post-secondary goals. It was an enriching and successful learning opportunity.