What is Co-Lab?

TL;DR 

Co-lab acknowledges the power, potential and pitfalls of AI and seeks to learn more through Exploration and Collaboration. Each month, Co-Lab leaders share an "AI Exploration" about an AI use-case in education. Colaborators complete a deep dive on this use case (e.g. AI for Lesson Design) and join a Zoom to discuss our essential question: "to what extent will this use of AI impact teaching and learning." 

About Us

Co-Lab began in 2024 when a group of educators from nine different independent schools identified a need for higher-quality professional development and greater interschool dialogue around generative AI topics, especially PD with a focus on pedagogy rather than things like policy, academic integrity, or specific tools. Pushing back on the “one and done”-style of PD, our goal is to create a community where educators approach their AI Literacy as an ongoing project that requires experimentation and conversation. We structure our work into monthly Exploration Cycles, each crafted with a different focus on a specific AI use case for pedagogical context. Furthermore, we developed a framework and a set of norms to facilitate synchronous conversations that are laser-focused on teaching and learning.

As our name suggests, collaboration is at the center of everything. The guidelines and frameworks for discussion for all of our Explorations is the product of a collaborative design process in which multiple experts from our leadership circle have worked together, across schools and disciplines, to identify topics and processes that are ripe for participant experimentation, along with a series of queries that allow participants to test the boundaries of those use cases and discuss them together. By way of example, in 2024-2025, our exploration topics cycles included Explorations like AI for Lesson Design led by Nate Green (Sidwell) and Nick Zufelt (Andover) and AI for Differentiation and Personalization led by Kelly Enright (Vail Mountain School) and Ryan Farrington (Tabor). 

Due to Co-Lab’s growth in 2024-2025—from our original nine members to several hundred active participants, Co-Lab received an Edward E. Ford Foundation Grant in the summer of 2025 to continue offering free AI PD to independent school educators.

Co-Lab Cycle:  Below is an example from our October cycle