SWWC IT² 2026

AI Literacy does not have to be taught in a separate unit or be an added burden to teachers. AI Literacy should not only be taught by a specialist, such as a STEM or computer teacher. In this session, teachers from any grade level or content area will explore simple, practical ways to embed AI Literacy into lessons and units they already teach. Participants will consider how small instructional moves can help teachers and students apply human judgement to AI while using tools safely, ethically and effectively. Teachers will leave with adaptable strategies they can use right away in their classrooms.

Target audience identified by presenter: All Conference Attendees

Don't Start With the App. Too often, technology integration starts with a tool: What can we do with this app? This session flips that approach. Instead, educators will start by identifying the cognitive action they want from students—retrieving, predicting, explaining, comparing, organizing, discussing, or applying—and then choose technology that strengthens that thinking. Using practical classroom examples and activities from the Spark-Wire-Fire framework (https://crushschool.com/spark-wire-fire-framework), participants will see how the same tool can either produce digital busywork or create a more engaging, memorable, and meaningful learning experience depending on how the task is designed. We will examine common technology-based assignments, identify what students are actually being asked to think about, and redesign them around stronger learning processes. Participants will leave with a simple planning framework they can use with any app or platform: learning goal → cognitive action → activity → technology. The result is technology integration driven by learning, not by the latest tool.

Target audience identified by presenter: Technology Leadership;Technology Integration

Build your confidence and capacity with artificial intelligence through Google and ISTE’s AI literacy training for educators. This interactive session will introduce participants to the program’s educator-centered approach, including practical ways AI can support student learning, address common problems of practice, and reduce administrative workload. Participants will explore the structure and resources of the training, begin engaging with course content, and consider how tools such as Gemini can support their professional practice. Leave with resources, practical next steps, and a pathway toward earning Google AI literacy micro-credentials.

Target audience identified by presenter: Technology Integration;Technology Leadership

Tech-Rich Doesn't Always Mean Learning-Rich. Putting an assignment on a screen does not automatically make it better instruction. In this interactive session, participants will experience the difference between technology that simply digitizes traditional classroom work and technology that actually improves how students think, engage, remember, and apply learning. Using the new AI-powered Snorkl digital canvas (snorkl.app) alongside classroom-tested activities from my Spark-Wire-Fire framework (https://crushschool.com/spark-wire-fire-framework), we will take traditional instructional tasks and redesign them using principles from cognitive science and active learning. Participants will see how small changes—such as adding prediction, retrieval, explanation, comparison, and application—can turn passive digital tasks into meaningful learning experiences. Rather than focusing on the latest app or tool, this session gives educators a practical way to evaluate technology by asking a more important question: How is this technology actually making students think about and process the concepts they are learning? Participants will leave with adaptable strategies they can use across subjects, grade levels, and technology platforms.

Target audience identified by presenter: Technology Integration;Technology Leadership

Generative AI is moving quickly, and many rural and small districts are trying to make important decisions without the same staffing, time, or capacity as larger systems. This session shares how the A.I.D.E. Team at SWWC created a regional AI guidance website, aligned with the Minnesota Department of Education’s AI Guiding Principles, to help schools get started in a practical and approachable way. Participants will see how regional support can help districts move from big-picture AI principles to local guidance that actually fits their context. The session will focus on starting the right conversations, building a team that reflects the district, promoting AI literacy, thinking through policy, and creating a roadmap for responsible implementation. This includes considering voices from administration, teaching staff, technology, support staff, students, families, and the broader community. Instead of handing districts a one-size-fits-all plan, this session will show how shared resources can help schools create guidance that reflects their own values, needs, and capacity.

Target audience identified by presenter: All Conference Attendees