Building AI Literacy in Teacher Education
Dr. Taylor Wenzel and Dr. Michelle Kelley
About the Authors
Dr. Michelle Kelley and Dr. Taylar Wenzel are faculty members in the University of Central Florida School of Teacher Education. Dr. Kelley is a Professor of Reading and Reading Education Program Facilitator whose work focuses on metacognition, reading assessment and instruction, and AI fluency. Dr. Wenzel is a Senior Lecturer with experience as an elementary teacher and instructional coach. Her scholarship focuses on teacher preparation, evidence-based instructional practices, AI literacy, and thoughtful generative AI integration. Together, they examine professional partnership inquiry, faculty learning, assignment redesign, and responsible AI use in teacher education.
The problem highlighted in this brief
Generative artificial intelligence has rapidly entered higher education and K-12 settings, yet teacher candidates and faculty may have limited guidance for using AI professionally, ethically, and instructionally. Dr. Michelle Kelley and Dr. Taylar Wenzel identified gaps in AI literacy and in how teacher education programs prepare candidates for a dual role: using AI for their own professional practice while also learning how to guide K-12 students in responsible AI use. Their work addresses this challenge through professional inquiry, assignment redesign, transparent expectations for AI use, and discipline-specific approaches to AI literacy.
Why does this topic matter to teacher preparation?
Teacher candidates need opportunities to develop AI literacy before entering classrooms where AI increasingly shapes teaching and learning. Preparation programs should help candidates evaluate AI critically, protect student data, communicate transparently about AI use, and connect technology integration to clear learning objectives. Dr. Kelley and Dr. Wenzel emphasize purposeful, ethical practice so future educators can use AI as a professional thought partner while maintaining human judgment, relationships, and discipline-specific expertise.
About This Brief
This brief examines how teacher educators can build AI literacy through intentional, transparent, and discipline-specific practices. Dr. Kelley and Dr. Wenzel describe their professional partnership inquiry, use of the Digital Education Council AI Literacy Framework, redesign of an action research assignment, and use of a stoplight model to clarify appropriate AI use. They also discuss data privacy, simulated practice opportunities, curriculum mapping, metacognition, and AI as a thought partner. The brief concludes with implications for special education, related services, and broader teacher preparation programs.
Research and Practice Context
Developing AI Literacy Through Professional Partnership Inquiry
Dr. Kelley and Dr. Wenzel began exploring AI literacy through individual experimentation before developing a collaborative professional partnership. Their inquiry drew on the Digital Education Council AI Literacy Framework to examine AI competencies across faculty and student roles. They then reviewed course objectives, recurring student challenges, and expectations for transparent AI use. Their work progressed from individual exploration to collaborative inquiry, assignment redesign, an AI pilot within an action research project, and an expanded faculty special interest group. This progression illustrates how teacher educators can approach AI integration as an iterative professional learning process rather than a one-time technology initiative.
The following key insights reflect Dr. Kelley and Dr. Wenzel’s discussion of AI literacy, responsible AI integration, professional partnership inquiry, and teacher preparation. The interview focused on five questions addressing their inquiry process, assignment redesign, ethical use, preparation of future educators, and future directions.
Conversation with Drs. Michelle Kelley and Taylar Wenzel
Q1: What issues are you trying to address through your work on AI literacy and teacher education?
Dr. Kelley and Dr. Wenzel became interested in understanding AI fluency and AI literacy as generative AI became increasingly relevant in higher education and K-12 settings. They emphasized the dual role of pre-service and in-service teachers, who may use AI for their own professional growth while also preparing to use it with students. Their early work focused on examining how AI could fit meaningfully within their courses, including redesigning assignments so AI could serve as a thought partner.
Dr. Kelley: “We realized that there were some gaps just in general about AI literacy, even our own personal gaps.”
Q2: How did professional partnership inquiry and the Digital Education Council AI Literacy Framework shape your approach?
The Digital Education Council AI Literacy Framework provided shared dimensions and competency levels for faculty and students, which Dr. Kelley and Dr. Wenzel used to guide their professional inquiry. Their work progressed through four phases: individual inquiry and exploration, development of a professional partnership, an AI pilot embedded within an existing action research case study project, and expansion into a faculty special interest group. Their collaboration also supported resource sharing, presentations, publications, and continued faculty learning around AI integration.
Dr. Kelley: “We really use that framework as we began our professional inquiry process, so we really had several phases.”
Q3: How did assignment redesign and the stoplight model support responsible AI use?
The stoplight model helped Dr. Kelley and Dr. Wenzel communicate clear expectations for when and how students could use AI within coursework. They revisited learning objectives before identifying parts of the action research process where AI support could be appropriate. Their redesign focused on historically challenging tasks, including developing research questions and synthesizing literature. Students retained choice over AI use, while instructors emphasized transparency and citation when students incorporated AI into their work.
Dr. Wenzel: “The stoplight model gave us a concrete way to open conversations about AI use and to start to build AI literacy among our students.”
Q4: How can teacher preparation programs better prepare future educators to use AI responsibly and effectively?
Dr. Wenzel emphasized data privacy, district partnerships, and low-risk opportunities for teacher candidates to practice using AI. She described AI-generated case studies as one way candidates can explore unfamiliar special education scenarios and rehearse communication with families before entering real-world interactions. These experiences can help future educators strengthen professional decision-making while learning to use AI in ways that protect student information and support effective practice.
Dr. Wenzel: “We spend a lot of time talking about data privacy use and really helping students to think carefully about that.”
Q5: What future directions do you see for research, professional learning, and teacher preparation?
Current work includes curriculum mapping with the Digital Education Council framework to identify gaps, redundancy, and opportunities for a more intentional progression of AI literacy across courses. Dr. Kelley also identified metacognition as a future area of inquiry for understanding how learners interact with AI as a thought partner. Dr. Wenzel emphasized discipline-specific AI literacy, noting that AI use should reflect differences in certification area, grade level, and professional role.
Dr. Kelley and Dr. Wenzel’s work positions AI literacy as a developmental professional competency rather than a stand-alone technology skill. Teacher preparation programs can support responsible integration by aligning AI use with learning objectives, communicating expectations transparently, protecting student privacy, providing structured practice opportunities, and revisiting AI literacy across the curriculum. Their professional partnership model also demonstrates how faculty collaboration can support sustained learning as AI technologies and educational expectations continue to evolve.
Dr. Kelley: “We’re looking at the use of AI in a more deeply rooted way versus just using AI for question answering, but using it truly as a thought partner.”
Resources and References
Kelley and Wenzel identified publications and professional learning resources related to AI literacy, responsible AI integration, and teacher preparation.
Advancing Artificial Intelligence Literacy in Teacher Education Through Professional Partnership Inquiry
Kelley and Wenzel (2025) describe their professional partnership inquiry and progression from individual AI exploration to faculty collaboration, assignment redesign, and expanded professional learning.
https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060659
Using the Stoplight Framework to Promote AI Literacy in Teacher Preparation
Kelley and Wenzel (2026) present the stoplight framework as an approach for promoting transparency and communicating expectations for AI use within teacher preparation coursework. The chapter appears in Teaching and Learning Online: Embracing Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom.
Green Light for AI: Navigating Transparency in Teacher Preparation
This conference paper explores transparency in AI use within teacher preparation and provides another resource for faculty considering how to communicate expectations around generative AI.
https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/225940/
Generative AI Peer Tutoring to Support Peer-Reviewed Source Identification and Evaluation
This 2026 chapter examines how generative AI peer tutoring can support students in identifying and evaluating peer-reviewed sources, offering a practical application of AI literacy in academic work.
https://doi.org/10.59668/2340.26762
Using an AI Simulated Conversation Cycle to Improve Teacher Candidates’ Communication Skills and Enhance Their Learning
Kelley and Wenzel examine AI-supported simulated conversations as a way for teacher candidates to practice professional communication in a structured, low-risk environment.
Kelley, M., & Wenzel, T. (2025). Advancing artificial intelligence literacy in teacher education through professional partnership inquiry. Education Sciences, 15(6), 659. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060659
Kelley, M., & Wenzel, T. (2026). Using the stoplight framework to promote AI literacy in teacher preparation. In E. Jones, B. Crawford, & M. Clay (Eds.), Teaching and learning online: Embracing artificial intelligence in the classroom. Emerald Publishing.
Suggested Citation
Martinez, K., Kelley, M., Wenzel, T., & the CIDDL Team. (2026). Building AI Literacy in Teacher Education. The Center for Innovation, Design, and Digital Learning.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.