What is the Educator CIRCLS summer series?

This summer, join our CIRCLS community of educators to share and learn in a series of relationship-building and information sessions to learn more about emerging technologies (e.g., Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, AR/VR). For those interested in continuing this work, we are inviting teachers or administrators to join an in-person fall CIRCLS 2-day event as an Educator CIRCLS Practitioner Fellow to share your perspectives with researchers who are developing new learning technologies.

Attending the Educator CIRCLS summer series does not guarantee attendance for the fall CIRCLS 2-day event. We will cover information about what the event is and how to apply in our first session. However, we invite all educators to attend the sessions to participate and share their experiences with researchers and other educators about emerging technologies and AI in the classroom.

I’m interested! What else do I need to know?

The discussion series of sessions and webinars will focus on information and discussion on emerging technologies in the classroom (such as AI and generative AI systems). These sessions will occur throughout July and early August. There are six sessions total. You do not need to attend them all.

The informational series will be devoted to virtual relationship-building opportunities for educators to learn about the November 2-3 convening, ask questions, meet Educator CIRCLS members and some of the researchers, and learn how to apply. Please note, if you are applying to attend the convening, attending some of the sessions will be required. We understand that not everyone’s schedules are the same, so the required sessions will have a recorded option.

The fall event, known as the CIRCLS’23 convening, will occur this November 2nd-3rd in Alexandria, Virginia. The theme is Shaping Emerging Technologies to Empower Learning Communities, with more information to come soon. In preparation, we are offering two online session types this summer for educators.

Can I count attending these sessions towards my school’s professional learning?

After attending each session, you will be able to receive a certificate for attending each 1-hour session you attend for credit.

How much time will this take?

All webinars in this summer series occur in 1-hour sessions.

The sessions in the first series are optional for your own learning. If you are interested in applying to attend the CIRCLS’23 convening as an Educator CIRCLS Practitioner Fellow, you will be asked to attend two required informational 1-hour webinars in the second series of session types.

Even if you are not interested in attending the CIRCLS’23 convening, you are still invited to attend these sessions throughout the summer and use them for professional learning credit.

What happens after the November convening?

If you attend the CIRCLS’23 convening, there will be opportunities to reflect your experiences in a blog post. An honorarium will be provided to blog authors.

In addition, there will be opportunities to stay involved with our programs focused on Artificial Intelligence, emerging technologies, collaborative learning, and other topics related to STEM. If you are interested in staying involved, we will share additional ways for you to do so. If you have interest but don’t have time to join us this summer, you can read blog posts written by and / or for educators at Educator CIRCLS and explore the resources there.

How do I register?

Session information, including registration information, is available on the Educator CIRCLS 2023 Activities page. Register for each of the sections that you are interested in attending.

I still have some questions. Who do I contact?

You can contact us at circls-contact@digitalpromise.org. Please indicate that you are asking about Educator CIRCLS and direct your message to Judi Fusco (CIRCLS Co-Principal Investigator) or Sana Karim.