CIDDL Office Hour: Welcome Back! Start the Semester with CIDDL Updates
Authors: Teddy Kim; info@ciddl.org
On August 19, 2025, CIDDL hosted an Office Hours session that brought together faculty, researchers, and practitioners to discuss one of the most pressing topics in education today: how to responsibly integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into teacher preparation and special education. Led by CIDDL PI Dr. James Basham, the conversation highlighted both big-picture frameworks and low-lift classroom practices, making AI integration approachable for educators at all levels.
Highlighting the CIDDL Blog Series on AI
The core of the session centered on a new three-part blog series authored by Dr. Basham, spotlighting critical considerations for embedding AI into education:
- Part One: Overview
This piece addressed the national urgency, reflected in policy conversations at the White House and beyond, regarding the need to build AI literacy. For special education in particular, the call is not just for classroom awareness but for creating a strong evidence base to understand how AI impacts student learning and access. - Part Two: Preparing Special Education Personnel for an AI Future
The second blog focused on what departments and faculty committees can do. Topics included weaving AI literacy across curricula, strengthening ethics and privacy in practice, and cultivating human–AI collaboration models. Case studies and examples from departments are being sought to illustrate how these efforts are implemented in practice. - Part Three: Practical AI Integration for Special Education Teacher Preparation The most recent entry offered low-lift, hands-on strategies for individual faculty members. Examples included embedding AI reflections into weekly journals, designing small assignments that compare human- and AI-generated lesson plans, and experimenting with in-class activities such as “human versus AI lesson planning.” The message was clear: start small, share successes and failures, and keep the field moving forward.
New Resources and Validation Efforts
Dr. Basham also highlighted CIDDL’s growing set of resources, many of which were developed in collaboration with research assistants. Current efforts include validating frameworks to measure AI’s impact on student learning and teacher decision-making, as well as launching a series on “Rethinking Agency in the Age of AI” (Episode 1, Episode 2). These resources aim to help researchers, teacher educators, and practitioners build knowledge and capacity in a rapidly changing environment.
More Discussion: Cheating, Reflection, and Authentic Assessment
After the formal recording ended, the conversation opened up into a more candid dialogue. Dr. Matthew Marino shared a clever technique a teacher had used: embedding “Hidden Text” in essay prompts that were revealed when students submitted AI-generated work. Dr. Basham also highlighted an article on the topic in the academic field. This sparked a lively discussion about the ethics and practicality of detecting AI use.
Dr. Basham and Dr. Marino emphasized that detection tools are often unreliable. Instead, they suggested reframing assignments to encourage productive use of AI rather than punishing misuse. Ideas included:
- Having students submit their prompts and AI outputs, along with a video reflection, encourages them to evaluate the tool’s role in their learning critically.
- Treating assignments like a “bug report” challenge, where students who find ways to game the task can report back after submission, earning bonus points and helping faculty improve future designs.
- Recognizing that students’ ability to use AI effectively may represent a valuable employability skill raises questions about what authentic assessment should look like in an AI-rich world.
The discussion naturally extended into larger issues: balancing availability with integrity in online assessments, the limitations of lockdown browsers, and even imagining future schools where AI could handle most traditional learning tasks. Participants agreed that while AI presents challenges, it also offers opportunities to reevaluate the purpose of education and how it should prepare learners for real-world problem-solving.
Looking Ahead
The Office Hours closed with an invitation for participants to continue shaping future conversations by sharing their own classroom experiences, challenges, and questions. The sense of community was clear: CIDDL’s Office Hours are not just about resources or strategies, but about connecting educators who are grappling with the same big questions.
As Dr. Basham and Dr. Marino noted, the real value lies in collaboration, curiosity, and openness to experiment. This Office Hour set that tone for the semester ahead.
Join the conversation in our community!
CIDDL is committed to providing high-quality resources to support the increasing knowledge, adoption, and use of a range of educational technologies that can be used for educators, related services, or leadership preparation programs. For more resources, including videos and blogs, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The most important part of our CIDDL community is YOU. Join our community and share the innovative ways you are using technology, ask a question about technology integration, or participate in our bi-weekly live AI Community Chats. We look forward to seeing you in our community!