Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly emerged as a critical tool across diverse industries, streamlining tasks and enhancing productivity. Yet, despite its growing ubiquity, many educators remain uncertain about AI’s role in the classroom, fearing complexity and potential risks. This upcoming NCPN Pre-Conference session offers a roadmap for integrating AI into teaching and learning environments, illustrating how educators can move beyond hesitation to embrace AI as an instructional ally.

By framing AI as a supportive assistant rather than a threat, we will explore strategies that empower educators to incorporate AI-driven tools into their instructional practices. These include practical demonstrations, student-centered learning opportunities, and custom assessments aligned with future career pathways. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of guiding students in using AI ethically and critically, ensuring they develop the analytical skills needed for an AI-driven workforce. Ultimately, educators who attend this session will gain hands-on strategies, learn best practices, and discover how to leverage AI for more personalized, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences.

The Significance of Generative AI in Education

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping multiple sectors and is increasingly viewed as an essential workforce skill. Generative AI tools are particularly influential. For instance, legal professionals use Casetext’s CoCounsel for research and document review, allowing attorneys to focus on complex problem-solving (Casetext, 2023). Similarly, call centers employ AI to manage routine inquiries, boosting both efficiency and customer satisfaction (HubSpot, 2024). In healthcare, AI diagnostics aid early disease detection, improving patient outcomes (World Economic Forum, 2024).

Many instructors feel overwhelmed or skeptical about the relevance of AI in their classrooms. Research shows that educators’ resistance to generative AI (GenAI) is often linked to concerns about complexity, institutional support, and unclear benefits (Kalmus & Nikiforova, 2024). Perceptions of limited usefulness and difficulty hinder AI’s acceptance, reflecting broader concerns about integrating innovative tools into pedagogical practice (Ghimire & Edwards, 2024). Such hesitations risk creating a divide between the AI-driven workforce and the readiness of students who enter it.

By embracing AI as a supportive resource, educators can empower students to navigate future workplaces confidently. This involves demonstrating how to use AI for brainstorming, iterative writing, research, and personalized study strategies, while also teaching critical evaluation of AI outputs. This dual focus ensures AI integration enhances educational experiences while instilling ethical decision-making and analytical skills in students.

Methods and Implementation: AI as a Classroom Ally

Viewing AI as a “teacher’s assistant” can alleviate intimidation. Our workshops foster a relaxed, hands-on atmosphere. Educators explore AI in writing songs, generating short videos, and applying AI-driven tools to everyday tasks. This playful approach humanizes AI, allowing teachers to understand its potential without feeling overwhelmed. By the end, many recognize AI as an ally that enriches both instruction and learning.

Empowering Students Through Iterative Writing

AI tools such as ChatGPT can provide real-time feedback on draft writing. Students might ask the AI for clarity checks, grammar suggestions, or structural improvements. Instructors can then focus on higher-order skills, like argumentation and creativity, while observing student progress over time. This iterative process encourages self-assessment and critical thinking, enhancing the quality of student output and overall engagement.

Educators can employ AI tools not only to enhance classroom activities but also to refine their own scholarly work. For instance, while the authors of this blog utilized ChatGPT to assist with outlining this paper, identifying potential resources, and seeking feedback for refinement, all final decisions regarding content, message, and phrasing were determined independently. This document therefore reflects a human perspective, ensuring that the final voice, insights, and intentions remain authentic to the author’s personal understanding and goals. Such an approach illustrates how AI can serve as a supportive resource—amplifying creativity, efficiency, and accuracy—without superseding the educator’s own professional judgment and voice.

Linking Assessments to Career Goals

Educators can also use AI to create more meaningful assessments. For example, an instructor might prompt AI to generate quizzes linking cell biology concepts to healthcare professions. Aligning questions with Bloom’s Taxonomy ensures that assessments address various cognitive levels, from basic recall to in-depth analysis. This relevancy helps students connect course material with their professional aspirations.

Integrating AI with LMS Systems

AI can streamline administrative tasks by generating content in formats directly importable into learning management systems (LMS). For instance, educators can request both multiple-choice questions and associated code (e.g., XML, QTI, GIFT, or CSV) for seamless integration into systems like Canvas or Blackboard. This efficiency frees educators to interpret assessment results and tailor instruction to students’ needs.

To maximize success, educators can adopt the RICE Framework when prompting AI: define the Role, provide clear Instructions, give Context, specify Constraints, and include Examples (Geeky Gadgets, 2024). By articulating these elements, the output becomes more relevant and instantly useful.

Conclusion and Call to Action

Attendees at NCPN Connect 2025 have a unique opportunity to dive deeper into the practical integration of AI into teaching and learning. On February 26 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas, we will host a three-hour, hands-on workshop that empowers educators, CTE professionals, workforce developers, and industry leaders to confidently incorporate AI-driven strategies into their classrooms. In alignment with the conference’s emphasis on apprenticeships and career pathways, this session offers tangible methods to make instruction more creative, engaging, and student-centered—preparing today’s learners for the demands of tomorrow’s workforce. You will discover how AI elevates classroom activities—from iterative writing feedback to personalized, career-connected assessments. Explore tools that streamline your workload, enabling you to invest more time in guiding students’ intellectual growth. With strategies like the RICE Framework, you will learn to design effective AI prompts and integrate them seamlessly into your curriculum.

This is not a lecture, but an interactive workshop where you will practice, experiment, and collaborate. By the end of this session, you will have tangible, practical methods for transforming your teaching practice with AI. Join us and turn hesitation into inspiration as you become an AI-savvy educator prepared to lead students into a future where AI skills are indispensable.

References

Casetext. (2023). Casetext’s CoCounsel: The first AI legal assistant is powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4. PR Newswire. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/casetexts-cocounsel-the-first-ai-legal-assistant-is-powered-by-openais-gpt-4-the-first-large-language-model-to-pass-bar-exam-301771962.html

Geeky Gadgets. (2024). Harnessing the power of the RICE framework for perfect ChatGPT prompts. https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/harnessing-the-power-of-the-rice-framework-for-perfect-chatgpt-prompts/

Ghimire, A., & Edwards, J. (2024). Generative AI adoption in classroom in context of technology acceptance model (TAM) and the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) [Preprint]. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.15360

HubSpot. (2024). How AI is transforming call centers. https://blog.hubspot.com/service/artificial-intelligence-call-center

Kalmus, J.-E., & Nikiforova, A. (2024). To accept or not to accept? An IRT-TOE framework to understand educators’ resistance to generative AI in higher education [Preprint]. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.20130

World Economic Forum. (2024). How AI diagnostic tools are improving health outcomes. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/09/ai-diagnostics-health-outcomes/