Our Mission

Co-Lab believes that teachers need hands-on exploration with AI tools in order to leverage AI for pedagogically-sound teaching and learning. We provide high-quality guided explorations to facilitate educators’ experimentations with AI and create a space for participants from different schools to collaborate as they interrogate the power, the potential, and the pitfalls of AI use in the classroom. Timely and applicable, this style of professional development centers on classroom teaching and empowers educators to move from literacy to agency in their approaches to generative AI. Our group is also committed to cultivating a network and a greater sense of solidarity among its members as we take our findings back to our respective schools.

Guidelines & Best Practices

Remember: we call this a “LAB” for a reason.

We empower teachers to prioritize hands-on exploration with frontier models as essential to our AI Literacy. Many schools are looking to outside experts or purchasing AI tools as replacements for faculty AI Literacy. Co-Lab believes the key is to empower educators to develop their own sense of how these tools work so as to have greater agency when making judgment calls about if, when, and how AI helps vs. hinders learning. To that end, our Explorations highlight education-specific AI use-cases, and our discussions focus on the impact on teaching and learning.

Own your engagement.
- Community, not Webinar: This is not the kind of PD where you show up to merely absorb information or insights presented by others.
- Time: Your commitment to independent preparation will make or break your experience. Please do not attend the Collaboration Calls without having first completed the Exploration.
- Leadership: Every member of Co-Lab’s leadership circle is a full-time educator. Co-Lab continues to work because of the enthusiasm and commitment of returning participants who are willing to step-up and assist in an array of leadership tasks, from acting as a leader during breakout room discussions, to designing and facilitating Explorations.

Center classroom teachers and their work: stay on topic and help others to do the same!
- We welcome participants with roles outside of the classroom (Academic Tech, Administration, Curriculum Directors, DEI Directors, etc.), but we agree to keep our focus on the work of classroom teachers.
- When other enticing (and valuable) topics arise as we discuss AI’s applications for teaching and learning, resist the rabbit hole and bookmark those conversations for later.

Stay CO-LABorative during discussions!
- Share airtime. There are many smart people in the Zoom
  - Organize your thoughts before speaking; make use of the chat to share info that may be beyond the scope or the time available for a topic
- Embrace complexity. AI is a complex topic and there will be conflicting experiences and opinions. Value those diverse perspectives.
  - Speak from your own perspective; avoid generalizing others’ experiences. Listen to understand rather than merely to respond.
  - The reason we meet to discuss after every Exploration is to determine when and how we should and should not use AI in our practice. Participants are encouraged to share their perspective on this topic; there is not one right answer.
- Step in to help everyone uphold these guidelines. Be willing to remind others to honor the practices in this document (e.g., stay on topic, share airtime, value perspectives).
- Follow up: Connect with others who are eager to discuss related topics outside of the Collaboration Calls. We encourage participants to share resources, continue the conversation, and work together on new lessons or projects.

Membership Structure

Time Commitment

Co-Lab requires 2-3 hours per Cycle; participants must 1) attend or watch the Introduction Call (25 minutes) 2) complete the Exploration (45 minutes), and 3) participate in the Collaboration Call (1 hour). We designed Co-Lab so educators can check in and out month-to-month as they have interest and capacity.

Ideal Participant

The ideal Co-Lab participant is a talented educator who has an interest in exploring AI to evaluate how it will impact teaching and learning. Participants must be willing to give a couple of hours a month to engaging with the exploration and reflecting about what to bring back to our Collaboration Call at the end of the month. We seek educators who enjoy collaborating with colleagues across schools to help the education industry as it tries to adapt to a new normal in which AI use becomes ubiquitous in schools.

Leadership Structure

After one (or two) Cycle(s) participants can step up to lead Co-Lab. If interested, participants can sign-up to become a Breakout Room Ranger (BRR). After one (or two) Cycle(s) as a BRR, participants can serve as an Exploration Facilitator or Exploration Designer to lead a Cycle.

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