2026 AI Educator Summer Institute

Artificial Intelligence can be used in so many different ways in schools to improve teaching, learning, creativity, productivity, support, and more for educators and students. Explore dozens of uses for generative AI including brainstorming, creating educational content, altering content, processing information, supporting all learners, grading and feedback, student engagement and much more. 

Participants will develop a proficiency with a variety of educational AI tools such as Google Gemini, NotebookLM,  as well as exposure to other tools such as Brisk, Snorkl, and others, and will understand the benefits and uses of each.Participants will explore practical ways to use AI tools for brainstorming, creating educational content, altering content, processing information, supporting all learners, assessment, grading, feedback, student engagement and more.

*This is a cohort session. All participants who attend the morning session are invited to attend an accompanying afternoon expansion pack session each afternoon this week to apply your morning learning to the Special Education classroom.*

Special educators carry an extraordinary load. Differentiated instruction, IEP documentation, progress monitoring, parent communication, and the daily work of meeting every student exactly where they are. AI tools cannot replace the human expertise at the heart of that work. But they can extend it.

This session builds a practical, critical framework for using AI in inclusive classrooms and special education contexts. We explore what AI does well, including generating differentiated materials, audio versions of text, scaffolded activities, and adapted assessments. We also examine where it fails. From hallucination to awareness of bias and privacy risks that matter, especially when working with vulnerable students.

Participants work hands-on with Google Gemini and NotebookLM to adapt reading levels, generate modified materials, and explore AI-assisted documentation. Data privacy, FERPA, and keeping human judgment at the center of every decision are woven throughout, not added at the end.

*This is a cohort session. All participants who attend the morning session are invited to attend an accompanying afternoon expansion pack session each afternoon this week to apply your morning learning to the Special Education classroom.*

The 3-hour afternoon workshop gives participants dedicated creation time to apply the morning's framework to real materials from their own classrooms. It is structured as a creation studio rather than a continuation of the lecture.

Hour 1 (1:00–2:00) — Identify and Design: Participants select one real instructional challenge. A lesson that needs differentiation, a text that needs to be adapted for a lower reading level, an assessment that needs scaffolding, or a documentation task they want to streamline. Small groups form around shared challenges. Special educators learn as much from each other as from any presenter. Introduction to the creation workflow: original material → AI prompt → draft → critical review → revision.

Break (2:00–2:15)

Hour 2 (2:15–3:15) — Create: Hands-on creation using Gemini and NotebookLM. Facilitator circulates with targeted coaching. Structured peer feedback in pairs: Does this serve the student? What did the AI miss that a human expert would catch? What needs to be fixed before this goes near a classroom?

Hour 3 (3:15–4:00) — Share, Critique, and Plan: Small group shares. Not just "look what I made" but "here's what the AI got wrong and how I fixed it." Whole-group reflection on AI as a tool for inclusive practice versus a shortcut that bypasses expertise. Individual action planning to identify one specific thing I will try with students in fall 2026.

Participants leave with a real, usable adapted resource and a realistic, critical framework for continuing independently.

*This is a cohort session. All participants who attend the morning session are invited to attend an accompanying afternoon expansion pack session each afternoon this week to apply your morning learning to the Special Education classroom.*

The 3-hour afternoon workshop gives participants dedicated creation time to apply the morning's framework to real materials from their own classrooms. It is structured as a creation studio rather than a continuation of the lecture.

Hour 1 (1:00–2:00) — Identify and Design: Participants select one real instructional challenge. A lesson that needs differentiation, a text that needs to be adapted for a lower reading level, an assessment that needs scaffolding, or a documentation task they want to streamline. Small groups form around shared challenges. Special educators learn as much from each other as from any presenter. Introduction to the creation workflow: original material → AI prompt → draft → critical review → revision.

Break (2:00–2:15)

Hour 2 (2:15–3:15) — Create: Hands-on creation using Gemini and NotebookLM. Facilitator circulates with targeted coaching. Structured peer feedback in pairs: Does this serve the student? What did the AI miss that a human expert would catch? What needs to be fixed before this goes near a classroom?

Hour 3 (3:15–4:00) — Share, Critique, and Plan: Small group shares. Not just "look what I made" but "here's what the AI got wrong and how I fixed it." Whole-group reflection on AI as a tool for inclusive practice versus a shortcut that bypasses expertise. Individual action planning to identify one specific thing I will try with students in fall 2026.

Participants leave with a real, usable adapted resource and a realistic, critical framework for continuing independently.

*This is a cohort session. All participants who attend the morning session are invited to attend an accompanying afternoon expansion pack session each afternoon this week to apply your morning learning to the Special Education classroom.*

The 3-hour afternoon workshop gives participants dedicated creation time to apply the morning's framework to real materials from their own classrooms. It is structured as a creation studio rather than a continuation of the lecture.

Hour 1 (1:00–2:00) — Identify and Design: Participants select one real instructional challenge. A lesson that needs differentiation, a text that needs to be adapted for a lower reading level, an assessment that needs scaffolding, or a documentation task they want to streamline. Small groups form around shared challenges. Special educators learn as much from each other as from any presenter. Introduction to the creation workflow: original material → AI prompt → draft → critical review → revision.

Break (2:00–2:15)

Hour 2 (2:15–3:15) — Create: Hands-on creation using Gemini and NotebookLM. Facilitator circulates with targeted coaching. Structured peer feedback in pairs: Does this serve the student? What did the AI miss that a human expert would catch? What needs to be fixed before this goes near a classroom?

Hour 3 (3:15–4:00) — Share, Critique, and Plan: Small group shares. Not just "look what I made" but "here's what the AI got wrong and how I fixed it." Whole-group reflection on AI as a tool for inclusive practice versus a shortcut that bypasses expertise. Individual action planning to identify one specific thing I will try with students in fall 2026.

Participants leave with a real, usable adapted resource and a realistic, critical framework for continuing independently.

*This is a cohort session. All participants who attend the morning session are invited to attend an accompanying afternoon expansion pack session each afternoon this week to apply your morning learning to the Special Education classroom.*

The 3-hour afternoon workshop gives participants dedicated creation time to apply the morning's framework to real materials from their own classrooms. It is structured as a creation studio rather than a continuation of the lecture.

Hour 1 (1:00–2:00) — Identify and Design: Participants select one real instructional challenge. A lesson that needs differentiation, a text that needs to be adapted for a lower reading level, an assessment that needs scaffolding, or a documentation task they want to streamline. Small groups form around shared challenges. Special educators learn as much from each other as from any presenter. Introduction to the creation workflow: original material → AI prompt → draft → critical review → revision.

Break (2:00–2:15)

Hour 2 (2:15–3:15) — Create: Hands-on creation using Gemini and NotebookLM. Facilitator circulates with targeted coaching. Structured peer feedback in pairs: Does this serve the student? What did the AI miss that a human expert would catch? What needs to be fixed before this goes near a classroom?

Hour 3 (3:15–4:00) — Share, Critique, and Plan: Small group shares. Not just "look what I made" but "here's what the AI got wrong and how I fixed it." Whole-group reflection on AI as a tool for inclusive practice versus a shortcut that bypasses expertise. Individual action planning to identify one specific thing I will try with students in fall 2026.

Participants leave with a real, usable adapted resource and a realistic, critical framework for continuing independently.

*This is a cohort session. All participants who attend the morning session are invited to attend an accompanying afternoon expansion pack session each afternoon this week to apply your morning learning to the Special Education classroom.*

The 3-hour afternoon workshop gives participants dedicated creation time to apply the morning's framework to real materials from their own classrooms. It is structured as a creation studio rather than a continuation of the lecture.

Hour 1 (1:00–2:00) — Identify and Design: Participants select one real instructional challenge. A lesson that needs differentiation, a text that needs to be adapted for a lower reading level, an assessment that needs scaffolding, or a documentation task they want to streamline. Small groups form around shared challenges. Special educators learn as much from each other as from any presenter. Introduction to the creation workflow: original material → AI prompt → draft → critical review → revision.

Break (2:00–2:15)

Hour 2 (2:15–3:15) — Create: Hands-on creation using Gemini and NotebookLM. Facilitator circulates with targeted coaching. Structured peer feedback in pairs: Does this serve the student? What did the AI miss that a human expert would catch? What needs to be fixed before this goes near a classroom?

Hour 3 (3:15–4:00) — Share, Critique, and Plan: Small group shares. Not just "look what I made" but "here's what the AI got wrong and how I fixed it." Whole-group reflection on AI as a tool for inclusive practice versus a shortcut that bypasses expertise. Individual action planning to identify one specific thing I will try with students in fall 2026.

Participants leave with a real, usable adapted resource and a realistic, critical framework for continuing independently.

*This is a cohort session. All participants who attend the morning session are invited to attend an accompanying afternoon expansion pack session each afternoon this week to apply your morning learning to the Special Education classroom.*

The 3-hour afternoon workshop gives participants dedicated creation time to apply the morning's framework to real materials from their own classrooms. It is structured as a creation studio rather than a continuation of the lecture.

Hour 1 (1:00–2:00) — Identify and Design: Participants select one real instructional challenge. A lesson that needs differentiation, a text that needs to be adapted for a lower reading level, an assessment that needs scaffolding, or a documentation task they want to streamline. Small groups form around shared challenges. Special educators learn as much from each other as from any presenter. Introduction to the creation workflow: original material → AI prompt → draft → critical review → revision.

Break (2:00–2:15)

Hour 2 (2:15–3:15) — Create: Hands-on creation using Gemini and NotebookLM. Facilitator circulates with targeted coaching. Structured peer feedback in pairs: Does this serve the student? What did the AI miss that a human expert would catch? What needs to be fixed before this goes near a classroom?

Hour 3 (3:15–4:00) — Share, Critique, and Plan: Small group shares. Not just "look what I made" but "here's what the AI got wrong and how I fixed it." Whole-group reflection on AI as a tool for inclusive practice versus a shortcut that bypasses expertise. Individual action planning to identify one specific thing I will try with students in fall 2026.

Participants leave with a real, usable adapted resource and a realistic, critical framework for continuing independently.

AI is not just a shortcut or a search box—it can function like a tireless teaching assistant, thought partner, editor, tutor, and brainstorming companion. This session will introduce practical ways educators can adopt an “AI First” mindset: asking where AI can save time, deepen learning, personalize support, or improve the quality of your work and save time on manual tasks. Designed for non-experts, the session will focus on real examples rather than technical theory, showing how AI can help draft materials, refine assignments, generate feedback, support student inquiry, and strengthen day-to-day productivity. Participants will leave with a deeper appreciation of what AI can do, how to use it responsibly, and how to begin building AI into their teaching practice with curiosity, judgment, and confidence.

Apply an “AI First” mindset by recognizing moments when AI can save time, improve quality, or expand instructional possibilities. Identify practical classroom and workflow uses for AI as a teaching assistant, planning partner, tutor, editor, and productivity tool. Craft more effective AI prompts to generate stronger lesson ideas, feedback, rubrics, examples, explanations, and student supports. Leverage AI’s multimedia capabilities, including text, images, audio, documents, and data, to support instruction, communication, and daily productivity. Understand the major AI model options and recognize which tools are best suited for different teaching and productivity tasks.

This session explores practical AI applications for educators, from foundational concepts to real-world classroom use cases. Presenters will introduce core AI ideas, discuss responsible adoption strategies, and examine how AI is reshaping teaching, learning, and academic integrity. Through real-world examples and live demonstrations, attendees will see how AI tools can enhance productivity. The session will also highlight approaches to AI enablement, including ambassador programs and cross-functional best practices. Participants will leave with actionable ideas and a clearer understanding of how to begin using AI effectively and thoughtfully in educational settings.

After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:
1. Explain core AI concepts and their relevance to teaching and learning.
2. Identify practical ways AI can support instruction, productivity, and classroom engagement.
3. Apply strategies for integrating AI into education and use by educators.