Helping K-12 teachers harness AI for learning
Artificial intelligence is already reshaping how we teach, learn and lead. To help educators navigate this shift, Creighton University’s College of Professional and Continuing Education has launched a one-hour, noncredit course: An Educator’s Guide to AI. Designed for K-12 teachers, the self-paced course offers practical examples of AI-powered tools and strategies to enhance the classroom experience.
It's an accessible and actionable resource that introduces educators to the benefits, challenges and ethical considerations of artificial intelligence in education.
Course designer Robbie Jensen, director of strategic program design and development at Creighton, has more than 15 years of experience in educational technology. A former classroom teacher and member of Apple’s Worldwide Education Team, Jensen built this course with teachers’ time and priorities in mind.
How did you identify the need for this course?
“Every school is experiencing quite possibly the quickest adoption curve of a new technology than they have ever faced. Educators can’t wait this one out; they need to understand AI and its impact on learning. Recognizing both the urgency of AI adoption and the needs of today’s classrooms, we created a course that offers educators hands-on, practical tools to prepare students for a rapidly changing world.”
What sets An Educator’s Guide to AI apart from other courses in AI for teachers?
“My goal has always had the teacher’s time at heart. Not wanting to be “one-more-thing" for teachers to have to do, I built a tool that educators could latch on to and practice skills as they learn them. Learners can bookmark helpful sites they discover during the course and watch short videos to deepen understanding and learn from evidence-based research. This course doesn’t focus on the technical ‘how-to’ of AI but instead provides resources and practical insights into how AI shapes learning in the classroom.”
What is your take-away for educators who complete the course?
“My hope is that an educator takes this course and finds a way to automate their classroom with AI and doesn’t hesitate to have their students use AI.”
Ethics is a core component of the curriculum. How do you guide educators in the ethical dimensions when using AI in their classrooms?
“As a Jesuit, Catholic university, it’s imperative that we examine the ethical dimensions of emerging tools and resources. It was important to me to include ethical decision-making in this course. Together, we’ll explore personal biases and consider how those same biases can influence the way AI interprets and generates its output.”
How do you envision the future of AI in education evolving?
“The future of AI in education will shift the way we all teach. As AI grows, so will this course. Future iterations of An Educator's Guide to AI will dive deeper into changes in teaching and assessment practices. No longer will we be teaching facts—AI knows those. Instead, we’ll need to focus on helping students apply knowledge and think critically. Ensuring we keep a human in the loop of our AI use will remain essential.”
At Creighton, we’re preparing students to lead in an AI-driven world. Additional upcoming courses include Change Management with AI, to explore how organizations can embrace new workflows and processes powered by AI. Another proposed course is the Ethics of AI, which will allow students to gain the tools to navigate the opportunities and challenges of AI responsibly. It will be a course designed to benefit not only future leaders, but the communities they’ll serve.
