Teacher Preparation Program

Advancing Writing Outcomes Through AI: Implications for Special Education Teacher Preparation

This brief explores how artificial intelligence can support writing instruction through prompt engineering, feedback systems, and increased access to supports. It highlights how AI can reduce barriers to writing while maintaining student ownership and independence. The brief also provides practical recommendations for integrating AI into teacher preparation programs.

AI Literacy in Teacher Preparation

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into daily life and educational settings, teacher preparation programs face a critical challenge: ensuring that pre-service educators are equipped to navigate, integrate, and critically assess AI in their practice. AI literacy refers to the ability to understand, utilize, and critically evaluate AI technologies, including their functionality, societal implications, and how to engage with them responsibly (Long & Magerko, 2020; Ng et al., 2021). However, many in the education field still approach AI with uncertainty, often viewing it as a potential threat to academic integrity. As Dr. Victor Lee noted, misconceptions about AI’s capabilities, such as assuming it is highly intelligent or inherently subversive, can limit meaningful integration. Without shared understandings, practical frameworks (e.g., AILit Framework, CODE.org), and intentional dialogue, there is a risk of reducing AI to a reactive concern rather than embracing it as a powerful tool for teaching, learning, and innovation.

Game-Based Learning for STEM Education

This brief highlights how game-based learning can transform STEM education for all students, including those with disabilities. Readers will gain insights into how game-based learning fosters student engagement, collaboration, and conceptual understanding, supported by real-world projects and research. It also explores how iterative design principles and AI-enhanced personalization can be integrated into teacher preparation. Dr. Marino’s approach illustrates how evidence-based game development and reflective practice can bridge the gap between research and classroom implementation.

CIDDList: Unlock the Fun! 5 Essential Elements for Awesome (and Free) Digital Escape Rooms

Summer is right around the corner, which means you finally have time for all those fun things you’ve been meaning to get around to! One of the popular choices recently has been escape rooms. For those who haven’t done one, it’s an immersive game where players work together to find clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in a themed setting, typically aiming to ‘escape’ or complete a mission within a time constraint. The excitement and collaborative problem-solving inherent in these games translate exceptionally well into education, especially through the accessible format of digital escape rooms. Digital escape rooms are an engaging way to encourage students to learn. They encourage critical thinking and collaboration among students. Plus, you don’t need special software to create them. Readily available free tools, such as Google Forms, work well with a little bit of thoughtful design. To help you craft these unique activities, this CIDDList outlines five essential elements for developing effective and enjoyable educational digital escape rooms for your students.

In-Service Educators’ Changes in Reasoning About Technology Integration

As educational technologies evolve rapidly, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), many in-service teachers face challenges in meaningfully integrating these tools into inclusive instructional design (Mosher et al., 2024). Without sufficient professional development, teachers risk using technology in ways that encourage passive rather than active learning. This misalignment can hinder student engagement, particularly for students with disabilities, and limit the effectiveness of technology in promoting critical thinking and meaningful learning outcomes. Jackson and Rosenblatt (2025) identified that when teachers are not grounded in pedagogical frameworks like Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Triple E, technology use may become superficial, inequitable, or even counterproductive.

Preparing Special Education Teachers to Teach Online

CIDDL’s latest recorded webinar series highlights preparing special education teachers to teach online. The preparation of educators for online and hybrid instruction has become an essential component of teacher education programs. While the rapid shift to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the need to prepare teachers for this environment. The continued integration of digital tools into K – 12 and higher education settings underscores its lasting relevance. Additionally, schools are turning to online learning to cope with extreme weather and teacher shortages. Effective online teaching requires more than familiarity with technology; it demands a pedagogical foundation that supports inclusive, accessible, and engaging instruction across diverse learning environments. As research and national standards emphasize, teacher candidates must be equipped not only to navigate digital platforms but also to design instruction that reflects the complexities of learners’ needs, the affordances of technology, and the evolving nature of educational spaces.

person sitting in front of laptop computer

Boost Your Finals Prep with Artificial Intelligence

Finals week can be overwhelming, but with the right tools, you can approach it with more confidence and clarity. AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini are offering free premium access to students, ChatGPT through May 2025 and Gemini all the way through finals in 2026, making this an ideal time to explore how AI can support your exams and projects. Whether you are new to AI or have only used the free versions, finals season is a great opportunity to start putting these powerful tools to work.

Creating Your Personal GPT

Personal GPTs enable an AI assistant tailored to your workflows, drafting emails, brainstorming ideas, and speaking in your unique voice. Upgrading to a paid ChatGPT plan gives you access to the Create GPT feature, allowing you to go from signup to a working Personal GPT in just a few simple steps. This guide will walk you through each step, ensuring you understand the process and can start customizing your own assistant immediately. This guide is for educators, AI beginners, and busy professionals who want a custom AI assistant without a technical background.
This guide is based on ChatGPT, but many other AI platforms, like Gemini (Google’s AI), have similar features.

Bridging the Digital Divide for All Pre-Service Educators

For many nontraditional pre-service students, the digital divide is not just about having access to technology; it’s about feeling confident in using it effectively. This gap often manifests as technology anxiety, limited digital literacy, and difficulty keeping pace with coursework. Everyone will be at different levels, but depending on students’ lives leading up to this new education, they may have never used tools like Google Workspace, Grammarly, or, especially recently, AI tools like ChatGPT. It isn’t that they can’t learn it; they just might not even know they exist or how useful they can be.

Dr James Basham and Dr Trey Vasquez at the CEC keynote presentation

2025 CEC Recap

What an excellent conference in Baltimore! The CIDDL team enjoyed interacting with and learning from everyone who came by our booth or sessions. We are excited to welcome many new voices into our CIDDL community.

Tag: Teacher Preparation Program