The date is September 5th, 2023. A naive, ambitious Kendyll messages her EC&I 832 prof describing her excitement for her final project, asking if she could explore not only ONE of the recommended topics for the final project, but to fuse TWO of the options together. Both are so intriguing to her and she couldn’t simply pick just one. She asks for permission to create an “AI handbook” for her school, either for educators or for parents/students on the navigation of AI/digital literacy in the classroom.
“Any thoughts on this? Thanks!” she says, hoping her prof says yes. He agrees to it ecstatically. Everything is great in Kendyll’s world.
The date is November 13th, 2023. A tired Kendyll sits at her computer, absolutely overwhelmed with the surplus of information from her EC&I 832 course, now knowing full well that she simply would never be able to cover ALL the information she has learned in a simple handbook, let alone for one single demographic.
This course has been extremely informative, and the amount of resources and tools suggested have been overwhelming (yet certainly much appreciated). I’ve now come to learn I wouldn’t be able to keep my final project as broad as I had hoped. Instead, I am now focusing on creating an AI Handbook for students (only). Although I would have loved to made a handbook for digital literacy and AI for multiple parties, I simply don’t think it would be feasible. After returning to work after a mat leave (and missing a large amount of the initial impacts of AI in the classroom), I have learned there is a large gap in the educational piece for students to learn how to effectively use AI in school. So although I am still in some of the primary stages of actually developing the handbook, being able to comb through the vast amount of resources has been the task at hand as of late! Stay tuned for future progress reports. I can’t wait to see where “future Kendyll” is at!
Mrs. Herauf's Blog 
Hi Kendyll! I totally get the ambition and humility of dreaming up these projects and then getting down to what is actually doable within the timeframe. I also whole-heartedly understand the transition back to work after mat leave (I started back 2 weeks ago) and the fact that I haven’t taught since AI was a vastly used tool. Hopefully you can aim your project for the students you are currently teaching so that you can incorporate it somehow within the school year so this project becomes practical for you and your students. I look forward to seeing your project updates and your final product!
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Kendyll, let’s begin with… KUDOS! What a task to take on! I too am worried about the wall I may hit when returning to work Mid-January from my maternity leave. I have been off for over a year already and have been absent from the impacts AI have created already. I can’t wait to see your final product! Sounds like it will be very useful! Does your school already have regulations/guidelines in place for AI use?
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This is exciting! I can’t wait to see your finished project. I love the idea of a handbook for students. How many pages or sections do you see this handbook becoming?
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