Embedding AI Literacy in Professional Learning
A professional learning session doesn’t need to be focused on AI to include tips on how teachers can navigate the technology.
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Do you have a professional learning plan to boost AI literacy in your school this year? If it’s not a part of your strategic plan yet, or it’s been placed on the horizon to revisit later, there are still moves you can make throughout the school year to bring AI literacy strategies to your colleagues.
As a classroom teacher, I was always looking for ways to make cross-curricular connections, like choosing a read-aloud to introduce a literacy skill that also connected to a topic from a social studies unit, or creating math word problems that included characters from a class read-aloud.
These strategies are similar to one that I’ve embraced as I lead professional learning for educators. I want to make the most of our time together, so I look for opportunities to thread together multiple strategies or softly introduce a new tip or trick to the group in the midst of our larger goal for a workshop or webinar.
AI literacy is important for everyone who interacts with digital spaces, especially educators who want to prepare their students for a future (and a present) where AI is part of their lives. So many of the educators I work with have shared stories of getting misinformation from a chatbot when they asked for a lesson idea or encountering AI-generated images in their feed. In order for teachers to navigate online spaces effectively with students in their own content area, they need to build both the confidence and the capacity to understand the impact that AI may have in these digital moments.
Embedding AI Literacy
Even if formal AI literacy sessions are not on your calendar for this school year, here are five ways you can quickly embed AI literacy into your next professional learning session. The goal is for all of these to take place as a “think aloud,” or even a simple 60-second mention. Participants can follow up later, or request a more formal coaching session if they’re curious and want to learn more.
Share your brainstorming document: Use an AI chatbot (like Gemini or ChatGPT) to help brainstorm something related to the session you’re leading. For example, you might paste a rough outline for a faculty meeting into a chatbot and ask for help reorganizing the session so the flow is better.
During your meeting, you can mention that you got some help from a chatbot to hopefully make the session flow better, and share a quick screenshot of your prompt and output. You might find that after the session a few colleagues ask you, “How did you do that?”—opening the door to a conversation on using AI responsibly and ethically.
Cite an AI-generated image in your presentation deck: Use AI to generate an image to add to your presentation. Then, include a citation using a resource like the MLA Handbook citation guide to help format it. You can point out how you cited the image to model this best practice for using AI.
If your school or district has access to a tool that allows you to create AI images, you can reference that tool, too. I work with a few schools that use Gemini with their teachers, so I stick with this tool when creating images.
Model a strategy they can use right away: Choose a moment when you could model using an AI tool in your session, like using a chatbot to quickly reformat text. Then, demonstrate an AI feature they might not know about, like voice-to-text.
Use AI-powered brain breaks: Instead of using a typical brain break in your next professional learning session, use one that leverages an AI-powered tool. Google Arts & Culture has lots to choose from, like Food Mood and Say What You See. These are great options to provide a brain break during your session and demonstrate what’s possible with AI to your group at the same time.
When leading workshops for teachers, I find that these tools can feel lighter and less intimidating than opening up a chatbot or talking about a topic like vibe coding.
Share review materials you made with AI: Use AI to make an outline or review a handout for your session. Upload your notes, a summary, or even a slide deck with a chatbot and ask it to create a supplemental resource you can share with your colleagues. Take a moment to be transparent with participants that you got help from AI to make the session handout.
If your group shows interest in learning more about this topic, invite them to a “lunch and learn” or share a quick video tutorial so they can try out this strategy with a school-approved tool.
If you are still working on your plans for AI literacy professional development this school year, try to find moments in your existing professional learning schedule when you can embed tips and strategies for your colleagues to explore.