Hey, did you hear the one about the engineer, the educator, and the AI strategist? Yes, it could very well be the opening line of a bad joke, but the conversation held this past spring about AI in schools across Vermont and New Hampshire was serious business. This past April, as we began emerging from winter’s grip, I had the distinct opportunity to partner with Dartmouth College engineering professor Rafe Steinhauer  alongside Dartmouth undergraduate Emily Salzhauer, and AI Strategist Ben Szuhaj from kungfu.ai., as we hosted the AI and Schools in VT/NH Community Learning Day at Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering for dozens of educators from area schools.

Our goal wasn’t to hand down rigid mandates or tell schools what the “right” AI policies should be, nor to preach the perils or prospects of AI in schools. Instead, we gathered to discuss what, exactly, AI is, and some of the implications it has on teaching and learning. Through open dialogue and the sharing of diverse perspectives, we took some initial steps to connect local school communities to learn from one another and meet this massive technological shift head-on.

Coming soon! Another collaborative professional learning opportunity for educators and students, this time in-person at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering, November 18 from 3:30 – 5:30 . (No cost. More information at end of post.)

Grounding Technology in Empathy

We began the day not by talking about algorithms, but by talking about humans. Using an “EmpAIthy Map” icebreaker, participants shared their personal apprehensions, excitement, and daily encounters with AI in schools. What soon became apparent was the divergence of opinions, attitudes, and approaches occurring within different school districts: while some voiced cautious enthusiasm about AI’s potential to accelerate student learning, others expressed concern about the potential harm to mental health, cognitive capabilities, and the environment. In the absence of coordinated district-wide approaches, individual teachers and students are left to forge their own paths. While this bottom-up experimentation can, at times, create brilliant pockets of learning, it also has the potential to exacerbate inequities and cause widespread confusion.

To bridge this gap, Ben led a session on Minimum-Viable AI Literacy, tracing the timeline of AI from the historic 1956 Dartmouth Workshop straight through to modern large language models and autonomous agents. The takeaway was clear: while AI has been “about to change everything” multiple times before, today’s unprecedented combination of access to huge amounts of data, the exponential growth of computational power, and mainstream accessibility means schools cannot afford a passive, “wait-and-see” approach.

What soon became apparent was the divergence of opinions, attitudes, and approaches occurring within different school districts: while some voiced cautious enthusiasm about AI’s potential to accelerate student learning, others expressed concern about the potential harm to mental health, cognitive capabilities, and the environment.

Shifting Focus: From Plagiarism to Pedagogy

In my session on the implications of AI for teaching and learning, we shifted the focus away from defensive policing to the need for proactive planning around deeper learning. When AI first burst into the mainstream, the immediate reaction in many schools was fear of cheating. But as we discussed at Thayer, the real conversation belongs in the realm of curriculum and pedagogy.

How do we design learning experiences that are AI-resilient? How can teachers and students leverage these technologies not to offload cognitive engagement, but rather to enhance it? Perhaps now, more than ever, deeper learning needs to be woven into the fabric of curriculum and pedagogy to ensure that every student is prepared for a future with this ubiquitous and rapidly changing technology.

During our afternoon breakout sessions, participants dove deeper into three distinct areas of practice:

• AI in Society and the Future of Work: Examining how the regional economy and professional expectations are shifting for our future graduates, facilitated by Ben.
• Going Deeper into Pedagogy: Exploring responsible classroom experimentation, rethinking assessment structures, and centering student experience, facilitated by me.
• School- and District-Level Planning & Culture: Facilitated by Rafe, this group tackled the structural challenges of leadership, data privacy, and strategic alignment with local community values.

Perhaps now, more than ever, deeper learning needs to be woven into the fabric of curriculum and pedagogy to ensure that every student is prepared for a future with this ubiquitous and rapidly changing technology.

Co-Creating the Future: A Process-First Stance

The absolute highlight of the day was seeing the collaboration between local K-12 educators from different schools and school districts across Vermont and New Hampshire. As one participating educator beautifully noted after the event:

Participating in this program gave our team the support, framework and confidence to step forward with a problem that we saw, and work to find possible solutions… It really felt like a breath of fresh air.

What’s Next?

We’re excited to build on the sense of both excitement and urgency as we dive deeper into this topic to better understand its implications on education in our school communities. School districts have varying perspectives, opinions, and plans around AI in their schools, and should not have to “go it alone.” To continue this work, UVEI and our partners at Dartmouth will co-host and facilitate a Networked Professional Learning Community (NPLC), a free professional learning opportunity for educators and students alike starting on November 18, in person at Dartmouth from 3:30 – 5:30. Rural states like Vermont and New Hampshire have a rich, thriving history of local democratic practices. By pairing that democratic spirit with the iterative, human-centered principles of design thinking, our schools have a unique opportunity to lead rather than merely react by co-creating educational spaces that protect human values while preparing students for a mid-21st-century world. If you’d like to learn more or be a part of this collaborative work, please reach out: anorwood@uvei.edu.