Teaching in an AI World ft. David L. Jackson | My EdTech Life Ep. 341

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 0:11

Hello, everybody, and welcome to another great episode of My EdTech Life. Thank you so much for joining us on this wonderful day. And wherever it is you are from around the world, thank you as always for all of your support. We appreciate all the likes, the shares, the follows. Thank you so much for just engaging in our content. And I want to give a big shout out to our sponsors, EduAide, Yellowdig, and Book Creator. Thank you as always for believing in our mission and allowing us to bring these amazing conversations into our education space so our educators can continue to grow and learn, not only professionally, but personally as well. That's what we care about. Just great content for you to sprinkle to what you are already doing great. And today I'm really excited to welcome a returning guest who was here on October 12th of 2023. I would love to welcome to the show Mr. David L. Jackson. David, how are you doing this afternoon?

David L. Jackson: 1:07

And good, and good. It is NFL Sunday, but I am happy and excited to be here with you today.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 1:13

Hey, well, I'm excited that you get to spend a little bit of time with me. And I'm really excited also to continue to learn from you because we're going to be talking about a great event that you are here to promote. And it's something that I think is truly needed. And it kind of flips the script on some of the usual tech heavy conferences that are out there. So I'm really excited for you to share about that. But before we do, if you can, for our guests that may be getting to know you for the first time today, can you give us a little brief introduction and what your context is within the education space?

David L. Jackson: 1:51

For sure, for sure I can. What's going on, everyone? I'm again excited to be a returning guest. My name is David L. Jackson, born and raised in the inner city of Miami Day County, Florida. That's a 305. I have the opportunity to work for such an amazing organization, Digital Primise Global, primarily on the Powerful Learning team, helping to administer the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program, which is going to be the host of this conference, Elevating Innovation. And the work I get to do day in and day out really stands in that line of aiding to shape the future of learning and expanding opportunity for every learner through the successful implementation and integration of technology across systems. And we're talking about from district officials all the way down to all the way down to the teachers in the classroom, combining research, practice, and technology in the process of getting to this place where we say our students are having an experience in powerful learning in their classroom spaces.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 2:51

Excellent. And you know, I think that's something that is great. And you've described something so much, uh, or actually something that really caught my ear in the description of the work that you and the rest of the digital promise team is doing is really that you are not only just trying to work and focus with teachers and students, but like you said, you know, working with district officials, talking from all the way up from superintendents to curriculum specialists, obviously teachers, and all the way down to students as well. And I think that's something that is fantastic because, you know, as you know, many times, you know, there are many apps, you know, that really just focus solely on the teacher and they kind of, you know, just hey, here we go and and forget about the superintendents, forget about curriculum leaders. And I think that this is great. But also, this conference that is coming up November 4th, which I highly recommend that you all sign up for, and that link will be shared in the show notes as well. But it is the Elevating Innovation Thinking in an AI World conference on November 4th, 2025. Now, David, I want to ask you a little bit about this conference because, like I mentioned before, a lot of conferences out there seem to be very tech heavy, tech heavy, I should say, and really just are promoting a lot of tech tools. So I want to ask you, what how does this conference actually differentiate itself from those types of conferences where teachers are just gonna go and learn about a tool? And here you're saying this is gonna be a little bit more research-based instruction and practice. So tell us a little bit about that.

David L. Jackson: 4:27

Yeah, for sure, for sure. And I definitely, I definitely know what you mean, being in those conference spaces, looking to looking to get some of the why behind behind why this is the best case scenario in terms of how you use a tool, but really just paying attention to more of a of a demonstration. What makes elevating innovation different from a couple of virtual conferences or conferences in general, we're talking about a conference that will meet the moment for education right now. I think what we're seeing is everybody can agree we are in a very critical time where our responsibility is to take hold and get control of how we administer not only powerful learning experiences, but how we think about tech integration in the classroom space. Elevated innovation is an opportunity to take that research, to take this concept of pedagogy, good teaching practices, and pair with the idea of how to use the tool. So we'll see some beautiful things in elevated innovation that are a bit more focused on this human aspect of administration, the human side of bringing these emerging technologies to life. What do I need to do as an educator? What should I be doing as a school leader? What should I be doing as a district official to ensure I'm taking the steps necessary to bring something that works for the need of the individuals that I serve day in and day out? And in this case, we're we're talking about the students here. So, you know, elevated innovation will be that and more.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 5:57

Oh, I love that. And you know what? I think something that you hit on that really resonates with me just because I I saw it this past week, you know, in our school district where uh we're talking more research-based instructional approaches in a lot of our content. And really it was phenomenal to really not even talk about the tech. Yeah, you know, it was really kind of bringing back the pedagogy front and centered, that human aspect of good practice before you bring in that technology. And I think that's great that nowadays it just seems like it's always the tool first, then the pedagogy, but it's it's a good time to kind of slow down to move forward. And one of the things, like I mentioned, that that you hit is strategy for everybody in every role. A lot of conferences like we talk about that are really just tech heavy, focus on the teacher and the student, but they really don't give a why or how it works to for curriculum or maybe even to superintendents to say, hey, this is why our application or why this program works or will be great for enhancing instruction. So I think that this is great that a lot of teachers and anybody in any role can come here and get a lot of those approaches. So that's very exciting. And one other thing that you hit on is also just that human aspect. And I know that in in a lot of LinkedIn posts and you and I and are kind of uh very similar on that platform and kind of follow the same circle. And the conversation is always that, you know, it's the the human aspect. How can we humanize again, you know, in or bring that human touch again into this world of uh artificial intelligence, uh, you know, and educational technology.

David L. Jackson: 7:47

Yeah.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 7:47

So I want to ask you, because like you mentioned, you are out there, you are working with various school districts, leaders, teachers, you're seeing what's going on in the classrooms. There are two factions that we hear about and that I hear about often is those that fear that critical thinking will be lost. And then there are those that say, hey, this is gonna improve critical thinking. I want to ask you in your experience, not necessarily where you stand, but maybe how might we be able to reconcile those two sides to better enhance learning, not only for our teachers and district leaders, but obviously for our students.

David L. Jackson: 8:29

Yeah, for sure. And and we we hear that that argument a lot. I just I just presented at an expo on Saturday, and in that expo, uh I was talking about a tool that we have called Alex. And in that, I was also talking about how we utilize the the technology integration matrix. And I paused the conversation and I just asked participants, in all honesty, what are some things you think about when you hear the term emerging technology? And in that, you hear some of the same, the same things that pop up, right? I'm afraid students aren't want to be critical thinkers. I'm afraid teachers will not be critical thinkers. I'm afraid that we're gonna continue to push this microwave style uh of education. I'm afraid that it's gonna take my it's gonna take my information. Like you hear so many different things, and I think often those fears, those fears lead to this really, these really large clouds. If I know anything about the concept of fear, there's always some truth in the reason why we fear these things. Some things that we might have experienced at some point in the past, some things that we might have seen with our own two eyes that create this sense of fear. And and in this case, that fear is I fear students will not be critical thinkers. But I would like to argue that if we go back to the basics, if we go back to just here's that human-centered piece, if we go back to standard structure, if we go back to how you use the tech tool, if we go back to clearly assessing the moment, what is the need here, what is the purpose of me using this, what is the problem I attempt I am attempting to solve, and then how does this tool, app, resource, emerging tech, how does it, how does this thing help me solve this problem? There's some groundwork that absolutely has to be present. And the reason why we often hear critical thinking is going to be lost is because we're skipping over steps and we're going directly to use, we're going directly to implementation, we're going directly to the app, to the GBT, to the resource without clearly doing the things that we were taught how to do when we came into the education space, standard good teaching and learning practices, right? And if we can get back to the basics, teaching those early skills and then adding the tech to it, I think we can reconcile. I think we can acknowledge the fear is real, and I think we can acknowledge the other side where people say this will enhance critical vegan. But in order to do that, let's just dissolve both sides. Let's meet right here in the middle and say, I think we can all agree we have to get back to the basics and then add the tech after. Once the basics are assessed and we got it, now we can move forward. Excellent.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 11:17

Yeah, no, I agree with you. That is a very great point. And I think like it just seems like we moved way too fast from 22 to 25. That I think here right now, at this point, there seems to be more of that thought process of, hey, it's okay to slow down a little bit in order to move forward. Because again, like you were mentioning since 22, and with so many applications that have come out, it's usually like, what's the next thing? And what's the next thing? And for teachers, it's like, well, now I want to use this, and now I want to use this. And it's almost like that fear of missing out because somebody on Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on is using this. And I get it, you know, there's influencers that are saying, hey, use this and do this. And so teachers say, Okay, that this is gonna work for me. But one thing that I've learned and is that what might work for one teacher may not work for your students. True. And that's okay, you know. But if you go back to, like you said, what good practices and good pedagogy is, and then build up to, you know, using a particular app, then that can definitely help enhance some of the learning rather than just I don't want to take and I don't want to say this and it's it because it might feel like teachers are just doing this. Not every teacher does this, but just you're just offloading the work to the application without really knowing if this is good pedagogy or practice because you just need to either get a grade or want to make sure you're engaging students. But one thing that I've heard also from other guests is that engagement does not always equal learning because the student can be engaged in that app, but it doesn't mean that they're retaining or learning or getting exactly what it is and the support that they need. You still need a great teacher to be able to see and shape the learning for the students. One other thing that I wanted to add was that oftentimes now we want to be so quick to innovate and think outside the box. And the other day I made a comment in one of our meetings. I said, you know, I know that we're all trying to think outside the box, but have we tried thinking inside the box and to see what we already have that might be able to solve or to get to the roots of the problem before we just try and put another band-aid on there. So I think from what I'm hearing and understanding and seeing this conference, I feel like this is a great kind of a little, a little pause and a step back to get those research-based approaches, those vetted um approaches, and be able to say, okay, I have a nice starting point here of something that has been used and has been effective, and see how I might sprinkle that on to what I am already doing. Great. And just kind of bringing back that human piece first before the application. And I think that's something that's important. So that's great. So I'm really excited about that too, as well. So I want to ask you, uh, David, in your experience, because and I know that this kind of ties into that conference because we're talking about best practices, but I want to ask you as far as what you have seen in your experience too as well, the use of artificial intelligence within the school districts and within students and and uh teachers, have you noticed that there has been uh it has it closed the gap on equity and access, accessibility and learning? Or do you find that maybe in your experience that still exists and we haven't really seen that gap closing as much as we thought or think it is?

David L. Jackson: 15:03

Yeah. That's a beautiful question, man. I I think there there are two pieces that that I want to that I want to throw into the into the pot here. The the first part is any emerging technology that that isn't clearly understood, clearly vetted, um and in the process of vetting, understand the context in which is it will be implemented in. Any of those have the potential to be disruptives. Any of those have the potential to increase these gaps that we've historically been trying to close. So they all have they all have that potential to to do that. And so I I want to make sure I I also I offer that thought because there's often um whenever we have these conversations, right, there there is there is a hand in the sky that is always gonna highlight it's causing problems and the and here and we just need to get rid of it. But I do think what what we're seeing, especially in in districts that have uh sought out the responsibility to get ahead of the curve and get in front of the ball and address artificial intelligence as something that will be here for the long term, something that is not going anywhere, something that is being implemented across the job market, something that is being implemented everywhere. We see the most successful districts say, you know what, I have to get in front of this, and I don't have to get in front of this alone. I have organizations such as Digital Promise who are seeking to clearly define that line in the sand to help continue to close the gaps, but to ensure that we do it in an equitable way. And the way you do it in an equitable way is understanding the context in which you're implementing the artificial intelligence tool strategy or structure into. Here, there's a there's a strong need for AI literacy. And we see that the districts that win, the districts who, the districts who are thriving and districts who are closing those gaps, they have clearly recentered the knowledge and skills necessary first to enable humans to then directly facilitate processes with artificial intelligence. And there's a framework that we like to use here. And the first part of the framework is understand. After understand, you have use. And after use, we have evaluating. We talked about the concept of evaluating, is just assessing the process, right? What did you get out of this? What did you see? What did you learn? And how do we make this better to best support, to best support our young learners? And so in in short, I'm gonna say, of course, right? Of course you see districts who who are making strides, who are making really big jumps, right, in both proficiency and math and reading and things of that nature. Of course you see it, but then you also see the repercussions uh of not clearly vetting it and understanding exactly what you're doing and or ensuring that we are preparing teachers to lead that charge, preparing, preparing lead school leaders to lead that charge, preparing district officials to ensure that they understand what exactly is going on in in the space.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 18:08

Excellent. Now, you mentioned AI literacy, and I know that that has been talked about, you know, significantly, and it just seems like every post that I see, it's it seems and it looks a little different. And I understand that, you know, because it it all depends on on the adapting it to who your audience is, who you're working with, and so on. But I want to ask you, you know, and if you with through your experience, you mentioned AI literacy, can you tell me what AI literacy means to you? Uh that way, for maybe my audience that's listening that, or maybe maybe hearing it for the first time, or maybe just want to hear just something different. What can you define AI literacy and how that might be seen in a district?

David L. Jackson: 18:54

Yeah, for sure. So I'm gonna define it. The first part of it was defining it, defining it for myself. And I think that we we talk about AI literacy to me, it means understanding the basic knowledge and skills necessary for me as an individual to move to this space of implementation, the basic knowledge and skills necessary for me to even seek to bring an AI tool or emergency technology uh concept into practice. The same way we think about reading, there's a science to how we read. There's a science to understanding language, right? I think AI literacy operates the exact same way, understanding the smaller components before we actually get to this space of use, what is it, right? What is my basic foundation? What is my baseline of knowledge here of what AI can do and how AI should be used? And after I have a very clear understanding of the AI, then I move into interacting. Teachers need playtime. People need playtime. Anybody that is seeking to implement artificial intelligence or understand the concept of AI literacy, you need to play with it. You need to take a deep dive with it before you again go to this space of implementation, figuring out how do I use this tool as a problem solver and not a disruptor, right? As not something that is stinking for me, something that uh something that is disrupting the way in which I live my life. And the last part is just going back to recentering that human judgment aspect of it, right? Did this work? How do I know that it worked? What went well and what didn't go well? What things am I taking from this? Going back to the drawing board, and then once you have those general skills, right, the same way that reading works, I can continue to level up my uses, right? I can continue to move to the next level and how I'm using AI. And so there are some things that absolutely need to be foundational prior, right, prior to prior to even demonstrating or giving it to students in the classroom space.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 21:53

Oh, I love that. That is great. And, you know, I I would imagine, I mean, for with this answer, I think for anybody, even up at the central office level, you know, even principals, I mean, imagine I wake up as a as a principal and I'm like, okay, what do I do first? Now I'm wondering how am I going to prepare my staff? And I think that you really, with the way that you define this and the approach that you take, I think it is a great approach, especially for leaders that are out there listening, that are working, you know, and are principals, whether they're curriculum leaders, that it's a great way to start. And like you said, I think that fundamental pieces that that play, understanding it, understanding how this works, understanding what it the the capabilities, and obviously some of the the not so or the I guess the I don't want to say downside, but just what it can and can't do, you know, what it can do great, what it may not do great, and be able to understand that before putting it in a student's hands. I think that's something that is fantastic because then as a teacher, you're in the know-how, you know how you might be able to integrate this already with your lesson at the end. And I just want to quote Dr. Monica Burns, who always says it's task before apps. So what exactly is your objective and what is it that you're trying to do, your learning goal? And then how might app A, B, and C, or whichever one of those three that you want to choose, might be able to enhance that learning and maybe even redefine it, modify it, and take it to that next level. And I think that's something that's great. And oftentimes I think the the the biggest barrier is often that point that you mentioned, which is that play barrier, you know, professional development, PLCs. One of the things about PLCs is that I always say it stands for please learn compliance because it there really isn't any kind of practice that's happening or planning because some may be too short. Another one is that, hey, that's where I need to give my list of add-ons or follow-ups as an administrator. So it's about finding that time and doing it in such a way where the teachers can ask, experiment, use. And like you mentioned, I love that framework, uh, which is that evaluate piece as well. Now, by evaluating this, now I can see does this have value in my classroom yet? And I'm saying yet because maybe at that time they say, well, maybe not yet, but I can see how I may implement it either later on in a different module, in a different unit, and so on. So I think that's fantastic. That's it's great advice. Now, I know student agency really matters too as well. So I want to ask you, how do you see AI supporting or threatening student voice and choice? Through so through your experience that you've um, you know, gone around and seen many schools work with this, you know, what is it that you've seen? I mean, I know personally some of the applications that I've used with students are not necessarily, let's say, complete generative AI in that sense, but you know, that it allows for that creation and you know, uh presentation building and things of that sort where I've seen that it does amplify voice, but maybe there might be some teachers that might say, well, you know what, maybe this this might not work out and it might harm voice and choice. What are your thoughts on that?

David L. Jackson: 25:25

Yeah. I always always looked at the the classroom as an opportunity to to engage in in a really crucial relationship between teacher and student in order, in order for a teacher to be successful, then they have to know who their students are. What I love about emerging technologies or artificial intelligence is it provides an extended opportunity to acknowledge the variability of each of those students in the class, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all demonstrate your level of mastery or demonstrate your level of learning through simply submitting through none way. We're seeing emerging technologies, tech tools, apps and resources, or artificial intelligence provide different pathway opportunities that best suit who the learner is at their core. And so if you have a student that's interested in just designing a piece that represents something that they could not get out of their mind, they could not stop thinking about, you can provide that opportunity. Or if you have a student that much rather record their voice, so you have a student that much rather uh, or a student who may struggle to write and who may need speech to text. And so you have so many different tools to get to the core of who the student is, things that we didn't have before. And I know as a former classroom teacher that we get as creative as we can be to meet the need of the students. Good teachers are always going to find a way to make it happen. We now live in a time where we continue that the human relationship aspect where I learn as much as I can about my students. I pay as much attention as I can to the young learners that I serve day in and day out. I know them inside and out. I know them better than I know myself. And because I know that, and I've taken time to play and learn these different resources and learn about these things that are out there that are vetted and proven to work, I can bring these into my classroom, right? And I want to just add another piece: tech tools, resources, artificial intelligence that I understand, that I know how to use into the classroom to accommodate those students. And I think in the process of this relationship, in order for a student to feel this sense of agency, there has to be a motivating factor. Curiosity has to be present. There are conditions that absolutely need to take place in the environment of the classroom before a student can say, I got this, or I'm gonna pick, right? You still set that up as an educator. And if you can do that, then 1,000%, I think the artificial intelligence, tech tools, emergency technologies, I think these things have the opportunity to meet students exactly where they are to further to further their their education and journeys and processes by giving them giving them access to trolls and books.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 28:18

No, I love that. And you know, I think for me is student ownership has always been something huge, you know, and you know, as opposed to sometimes maybe in a classroom, it could be just, you know, teacher tech driven. And it's really the tools that the teacher just, hey, get on this computer, get on this program, do that. But I think when the student becomes that creator of their learning and shows mastery in a way that is, you know, to them personal, near and dear, or it taps into one of their things that they love to do the most, whether it's uh the creativity of recording themselves, student voice, uh, you know, a graphic, things of those sorts. Yes. I've always been a huge proponent of that. And I think, like you said, it does come back to that human piece of knowing your students. And it's okay to present multiple ways that they can share the information that you've given them to show you if they are mastering. And again, talking a little bit about process and looking at that process to get to that final product. Yes, yes, you know, and so I think that's that's something that's fantastic and that I love. And um, you know, and and as the technology continues to evolve and and continue to move forward, I think that I'm seeing that some applications are moving in that way of trying to really help the students also become those creators. But at the end of the day, I think uh, like you said, a very solid teacher with great pedagogy will still be able to do that with whatever tool that might be available, but allowing the student to give uh and showcase their learning and giving them that student ownership, I think that that's fantastic. And I'm I'm all here for it. And that's something that I still don't want to lose. And I know a lot of people may feel that this might get lost when I have to do 30 minutes per day for this particular app that turns more into compliance rather than actually enhancing learning. So learning to differentiate those two is definitely huge. The student ownership or just tech-driven teaching. Uh yeah, definitely something to find that balanced approach in your classrooms. So, uh, David, as as we talk a little bit more of this conference, and and I want to talk about maybe the the superintendent kind of role or ed tech leader or curriculum leader, CTO. You know, they all have questions. They they're all trying to figure this out and navigating this space. So I want to ask you, you know, as as one of those leaders, as far as a superintendent, CTO, curriculum instruction, uh curriculum and instruction officer that is interested in joining this conference and being there, what would their return on an on investment be by being there? What might be some things, maybe two things that they can definitely take away that will be make it worth their time and maybe give them a little bit of peace of mind of either where to start or say, hey, you're on the right track.

David L. Jackson: 31:24

Yeah. It innovation starts with a spark. You you you need a you need an idea, right? And and also in the process of innovation, you also need to see what's working well in other places. Not so you can take it exact before exactly what what other individuals are doing in other districts or what other superintendents are doing. But I think it's important to have a news. I think it's important to have something that creates that spark for you. And the thing about elevating innovation when we say that there's something for everyone, superintendents who are still trying to rack their heads around where to go in terms of policy or where to go and sorry about that, where to go in terms of in terms of implementation of emerging technologies of artificial intelligence, this is a one-stop shot for them. Return on investment here is learning about turnkey materials, seeing things that are happening, best practice, best case scenarios, honest testimonies from individuals who were leading this charge, early adopters andor individuals who have failed and figured out ways to backtrack, reassess, and then here's that piece again, get right back in front of it. Right? We're finding that the most successful people in this world right now, as it directly relates to artificial intelligence, are the individuals that are seeking to get in front of it, seeking to run with it and seeking not to outrun it, but seeking to stay as inflamed as fully possible, seeking to stay as connected as fully possible to ensure that they are making the best decisions for the individuals around them. So for somebody who is leading this charge for somebody who is overseeing overseeing the entire district, that individual would be able to gain all of those things by coming to Elevator Innovation. And the thing about it is they don't even have to come live. We know how busy schedules are so the conference will also just be available to anybody that would like to attend. It will also just be available online to rewatch sessions. You'll get resource and material as well in this space. So it won't be you you won't sit in an hour session and then not have access to the things that the presenter or workshop director has shared. You'll have those and we can take them back home, flip them, dip them, twist them, do whatever you need to do to make them make sense for who you are as a superintendent and the unique needs of your school district.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 34:56

I love it. And that's great. And you know I'm really excited about that and like you I'm glad that you shared that because I know for a lot of superintendents, you know, I and it just all depends on where we are in what season in that sense because as we know we've seen how this has pushed forward and it's pushed forward so fast and finally now amongst the plethora of things that they have to worry about now they know that they have a great resource in this conference and they can definitely find something that they can use again to take back and what I love that you said is that they can use they can mash up they can twist they can flip whatever way seems right for them and for their district but at least they have something there that they can start off with. David as we kind of start wrapping up I I just have a final uh couple of ex questions left here but I know that on the the um elevating innovation conference page there there's something very bold here that is stated and it says join us to move from surviving the AI shift to shaping it. So now that's a very bold claim there. So I want to ask you you know as as this is kind of that motto of let's let's kind of help shape what this looks like how does shaping this how how does this work or look in your eyes as far as doing that not just surviving it but shaping it. Give us a little bit of of your insight on that.

David L. Jackson: 36:25

Yeah yeah and I and I I I like I like the bold tagline and I I can't take credit for it as much as I would want to but um but yeah that that comes from a lot of what we're we're hearing and seeing in in the field. Like people are overwhelmed because it seems that once they get a hang of one resource or one tech tool, one artificial intelligence uh idea 10,000 more are being poured on top of them. And then I think there's also this piece where you're also watching some of your colleagues or some people around you early adopters really thrive in that space but then you feel that you haven't really grasped it yet. And then you may turn on the news and you might see some negative articles or negative news reports or things that are just honestly happening in the world that we live in. You see those things and it just feels like I have one more thing that I have to figure out on top of all of the other things as a teacher, on top of all of the other things as a principal, on top of all of the other things as a superintendent now I got to figure out this artificial intelligence day that continues to just move. And so people feel like they are just surviving, living to fight another day because it is just so overwhelming. And so we when we talk about what it looks like to shape it what it what it truly means is is regaining our control or or taking back power as it relates to the the narrative of artificial intelligence and we do that by simply being prepared. We do that by having as much knowledge as we can in terms of what it is and how we use it. I want to share I share a a personal piece about myself I played sports my entire life when I became a classroom teacher I went in with the exact same mentality this was a competition for me and I'm not talking about a competition because I wanted a pay raise or because I wanted I wanted to receive a high rating I knew that my wins all came from the wins of my student. So to see a student get accepted in the college to see a student I taught reading to see a student directly increase their proficiency level to see students make it to the next level that was me. And so I went into the classroom every single day and I swung the bat as hard as I could and in the process of doing that I knew that I had a personal responsibility to ensure that I stayed ahead of the curve because I'm only as good as I allow myself to be. And so there's this responsibility I think that educators should have like there's this responsibility that leaders have that superintendents have this it's a responsibility to be as good as you can be because you know that somebody is depending on you. And in this situation we're talking about the young learners that we serve day in and day out they are depending on us to win. We win by figuring out how we can shape the future of artificial intelligence use, how we can regain control and get a hold of this emerging technology thing. We win by continuously seeking knowledge we win by continuing to play, practice, fail, and bring those things back to our classroom space because we see it the jobs that our students are going to get in the future in order for them to be future ready at any level of the game it will require some knowledge or some competencies that directly relate to their ability to efficiently use technology to be successful in that process as an educator or anybody in the educational ecosystem, what's required of us is to figure out how we shape this tunnel that our students are are going to are going to walk through. So that that's what I think this the the title means like that's that's how I think we reshape the the the future of artificial intelligence in education or the use of emerging technologies in in education.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 40:25

Wow that is very well said Sarah that is wonderful you hit on so many great things there and I'm really excited about that. And so just to kind of you know circle I mean not circle but just last question here before we go into our little speed round questions but I want to ask you you know looking out within the next three to five years I I I I want your honesty you don't have to sugarcoat anything but looking out looking out in the next three to five years what are some of the things that excite you about what is happening in innovation and what AI can do for learning and what might be something that might still kind of keep you up at night?

David L. Jackson: 41:03

Yeah I'll st I'll start with what what still keeps me up at night and then I and I I'll end I'll end on something that that's a bit more positive. But I think what keeps me up at night is is some of the the the lack of restriction that that are available in some of the uses of these GBT models or these large language large language models. I was in I had a conversation on Saturday and in this the session that I did and we were talking about some of the bad things that have happened to students. Some of the bad things that happen to students across the United States because of not only how they're using how they're using the these large language models but how they're so clever and creative to get around some of the restrictions that that are that are put into place and these are things uh where the GBT is replacing humans that should be in a child's life to ensure that they remain safe. And so what keeps me up at night is is knowing that as these things rapidly evolve as more and more products come out, the the dark side of it is kids are going to be cured they're gonna find ways to bypass security but they're also going through things and internally I think students are in a very lonely time right now because once again some of the human aspect of going and talking to somebody, social emotional learning ensuring that students know that they're supported I think some of those things might be missing sometimes and when technology has been there for you thus far, it's only natural that you turn to the tech tool for those levels of advice and resource. So it keeps me up at night to to know that those things are happening and and to also know that that might not be the biggest conversation that individuals are having right now. What what I'm excited about however is the opportunity to continue to differentiate instruction. I come from a time as a family classroom teacher where once again like my classes were so mixed where I had students who were reading way below grade level in the ninth grade and reading at a first grade level and I had students who were in that same class who were reading well into their senior level ready to move into colleges. So I I'm extremely excited about the opportunity to differentiate instruction for different learners as well as diversifying what that process looks like primarily for English language learners, individuals who who were here or who deserve a fighting chance at being a contributing member to society. I truly believe that the tech tools and resources that are here gives us an opportunity so everybody has a chance to win whether you're from a low socioeconomic background whether you are not from this country you're not native here. I'm excited for the opportunity that the tech will give individuals a fighting chance to win right here at home and go on and do great things.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 44:07

Excellent David thank you so much it's been an honor to have you back here my friend it's been to a little bit over a couple of days over two years that you've been on here but it's great to see you again I'm thankful for the work that you're doing. Thank you so much for coming and sharing about Elevating Innovation Conference and that will all be linked there in the show notes and also with your contact information too if any of our audience members wish to learn more from David and the work that he's doing you can definitely reach out to him connect with him on LinkedIn as well. And David is there anywhere else that they might be able to connect with you as well?

David L. Jackson: 44:41

No I think that's good. LinkedIn personal phone number email I'm available to chat anytime.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 44:47

Perfect well thank you so much David but before we end we always end the show with the last three questions and they're probably going to be the same three questions that you had here three years ago or two years ago when you were on and so let's go ahead and get started with the first one. The first one is we all know that every superhero has a pain point.

David L. Jackson: 45:04

So for example Superman kryptonite was his pain point or the one thing that weakened him so I want to ask you David in the current state of education what would you say is your current edu kryptonite my current edu kryptonite just might be uh trying to keep track of of as many emerging technology tools and resources as I can for sure that is that is definitely my kryptonite it keeps me up at night I'm I'm waking up early in the morning to check out check out new articles trying to stay as as efficient as I can but it's just it's too many that are rolling out so that's definitely my kryptonite there you go great answer.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 45:45

All right question number two if you could have a billboard with anything on it what would it be and why?

David L. Jackson: 45:52

My billboard I I think at this moment in my life my billboard uh it it might say get in the game and and it'll be get in the game for for this moment in in education because I I think no a lot of a lot of folk are we're we're on a sideline we're spectators we're watching these things roll out in front of us and we're listening to people say influencers in this generation tell us this is the tool that you have to use this is the thing that you have to do and and I I want to get in the game. I want to encourage people to do your own research. I want to encourage people to create structured time private time protected time to just play so that you can uh make your way to really big wins and so get in the game knowledge there's so much knowledge out there you don't need to listen to an influence or maybe as a guide but you you don't you don't need that excellent oh that is a wonderful billboard and definitely encouraging for many so last question David is if you can trade places with anyone for a single day who would that be and why but this was this was a hard question for me for me last time. It's just there's so many so many people that that I would trade places with. I think in this moment I would maybe trade places with with our um with our chief powerful learning officer and he he's uh he's also the vice president of difficult promise at this moment and I I would trade places with him primarily because I I would just like to see I would like to see the board ruin I would like to hear so some of these some of the high level conversations I would like to just see all right because he gets early access and and he he is the he's the point guy he's kind of guiding and steering the ship and so I I would love to just trade places with him for a day to to simply see what it feels like to steer the ship but also get some of that intel and information about how the ship should be should be steered.

Dr. Fonz Mendoza: 47:44

Excellent well that is great. Well David thank you so much for joining me today and especially here on this wonderful Sunday uh it was a pleasure and an honor to continue to learn from you sir it is wonderful and the work that you continue to do. So for all my audience members please if you can get on LinkedIn if you are on LinkedIn make sure that you follow Mr. David L. Jackson because he's doing some great things and also please make sure that you make plans to attend the Elevating Innovation Conference thinking in an AI world. All of that the links and all the info will be in the show notes and you will probably see some clips showing up on my LinkedIn space as well with the links to please make sure that you do that. It is going to be a great resource and again it's not going to be something that is going to be a tech heavy conference it's best practices. It is what Digital Promise and their team have seen and are out there like kind of planning scene creating amazing frameworks that can be used and like David said can be flipped can be smashed can be do whatever which way to fit your district but it's all research based through experience guys. So again you can never be too late in the game and like David said right now it you need we need to get into the game to make sure that we are helping shape the future of AI in education. So thank you David for all of your work and for audience members as always please make sure you visit our website at myedtech.life where you can you can check out this amazing episode and the other 341 wonderful episodes where I promise you you will find some knowledge nuggets that you can take and sprinkle onto what you are already doing great. And again big shout out to our sponsors Eduate Yellowdig and uh book creator we appreciate you believing in our mission to bring these great conversations into our space and until next time my friends don't forget stay techie