Campfire Session — Teacher Adoption Strategies

Panel discussion about best practices for successfully rolling out Flint's AI activities to faculty.

Lulu Gao, Head of Teacher Experience at Flint | LinkedIn

With a panel of school administrators from across the US and HK, this discussion on how to increase teacher adoption covered topics like:

Introducing Flint to faculty
Addressing the concerned, uninterested, and excited among them
Maintaining teacher engagement and use of Flint
Advice for admin currently rolling Flint out

Slides from the presentation can be found here.

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Welcome and introductions • 00:00

Lulu Gao introduces the session.
A panel of eight school admins is introduced for discussion.

Q1: How did you roll Flint out to your school? What did the initial introduction look like? • 02:28

Different schools share their strategies for introducing Flint. Key approaches include small pilot groups and departmental presentations.
Collaborative sessions for teachers are emphasized. Teachers are encouraged to experiment with AI during lunch periods.
The importance of creating safe spaces is emphasized. Emotional safety is highlighted as crucial for technology adoption.
Concerns about AI in classrooms are addressed through clear communication.
The need for teachers to establish classroom policies is mentioned. Grassroots support for early adopters is encouraged to foster technology use.
Adoption at Brophy Prep : Seven to eight hundred students were added in the first week. Students independently created activities using Flint. One student developed an AP essay feedback activity and template that gained popularity.
Data analysis revealed unexpected student engagement. Students utilized Flint to improve their work ethically.

Q1.2: If my school isn't at the point where we have early adopters, any advice for how to get people on board? • 19:12

Addressing teacher pain points through teacher-facing Flint activities is suggested, with the example of a successful report card comments generation activity from Alex at Kinkaid.
Getting the OK from colleges for teachers to use AI for writing recommendation letters alleviated some teachers' concerns.
Individualized coaching to facilitate AI adoption is discussed. Breakthrough moments for teachers are emphasized as crucial.
Concerns from teachers about not having time to integrate AI were explained by Cora. Their initial resistance transformed into active usage of the technology after she secretly made activities for them to try out in class.
Looking at long-term projects and how AI can be used as a part of the project is suggested by Allison.

Q2: Within a school, teachers can have varying initial sentiments about using AI. How did you go about addressing the concerned, uninterested, and excited? • 26:43

The importance of having people who are the spearheads in their department talk to those hesitant teachers is emphasized.
Creating spaces (ex: letting people self-place themselves during a PD) for varying levels of comfortability and awareness of AI is shared by Mica. Give people spaces for their voices to be heard, but let them know they can't ignore AI.
A faculty member at Harker withdrew from a pilot due to intellectual property concerns. The importance of validating these concerns and emphasizing that they should work on them together is discussed.
The need for a proactive approach to academic integrity is emphasized. Discussions focus on the importance of addressing human behavior rather than solely blaming technology. The difference between traditional cheating and AI-related issues is explored. Academic dishonesty is framed as a longstanding problem, not solely an AI issue.
Concerns about primary teachers' engagement with Flint were expressed by Cora. Cora noted the initial resistance but also explained that positive changes were observed later.

Q3: What have you done to maintain teacher engagement and use of the platform? • 39:45

Persistence and intentional professional development were emphasized as key factors.
The ease of use of Flint was highlighted as a significant advantage. Comparisons were made to previous educational technologies that were more challenging to adopt.
Bill Campbell pitches in to share how he often reminds teachers of the benefits of Flint over ChatGPT. Sohan elaborates on how we at Flint feel about all the new AI tools being launched.

Q4: Any advice for admin currently looking to roll Flint out to teachers? • 45:25

Advice is shared on starting small with Flint. Focus is suggested on engaging parents, students, and teachers.
A discussion occurs regarding the importance of defining guiding principles for AI. Emphasis is placed on creating a supportive and collaborative environment.
Examples of using Flint for teacher support are provided. A specific activity is mentioned that assists teachers without pushing back. Future directions for Flint's development to focus on teacher-facing tools are discussed.
Lulu shares an anecdote about using Flint for feedback she heard from Tai Hart at The Westminster Schools. The integration of personal sayings into the platform is highlighted as a unique feature.

Conclusion and additional resources • 55:24

Resources for professional development are offered to participants.