AI Exchange: Empowering Educators for Tomorrow

Check in for the AI Exchange: Empowering Educators for Tomorrow. Grab breakfast, spark conversations with other educators, and ease into the conference environment before sessions begin.

Creating is one of the most human things we do—a way of expressing ourselves, making sense of ideas, and connecting with one another. Our creating, and what we learn from it, are deepened when supported by others, whether as guides, collaborators, audiences, or critics. Generative AI is radically reshaping what we can create and how, inviting timely questions about the social dimension of creating. In this session, we'll explore these questions through examples from my research and teaching—from kids creating interactive media in community with Scratch, to students using AI in self-directed projects, to a new course on vibe coding—accompanied by hands-on activities.

Take a few minutes to move to the next session, stretch your legs, and reset before the program continues.

AI is being used in law, research, and industry, and each of these fields has had to make decisions about how to adopt it responsibly, where to apply it, and what risks to watch closely. This panel brings together perspectives from different fields to share what they’ve learned about working with AI in real-world contexts.

Panelists will discuss practical considerations such as privacy, fairness, regulation, bias, and decision-making, highlighting both successes and challenges that have emerged along the way. These insights will help surface important questions about how AI is being integrated and governed in different settings.

The conversation will then connect these lessons to K-12 education, exploring what educators and system leaders can take from other sectors as they think about responsible and meaningful AI adoption in schools.

Lunch will be provided and enjoy time to relax and connect with other participants.

Take a few minutes to return to the Engineer Building, stretch your legs, and reset before the our final session.

As a dynamic component of the Al Exchange: Empowering Educators for Tomorrow conference, the SynergAI Hackathon is an intensive, two-hour design sprint. This event will unite educators, students, teachers, and researchers to collaboratively ideate and prototype the future of K-12 education. The core mission is to showcase how AI can serve as a powerful tool to personalize education, enhance critical thinking, and elevate the overall learning experience, rather than disrupting or replacing the essential human elements of teaching.

Grab a refreshment, stretch, and recharge. Engage in informal conversation, reflect, or connect with other participants.

This session will examine research on how AI is affecting individuals and the economy and identify gaps in how we think about preparing the next generation to succeed, which requires rethinking the skills we teach students in school.  Evidence from both economic data, and education research will point the way forward.

Following the closing keynote, the team will share a few final reflections and next steps to bring the event to a close.