Teaching with Machines: AI Fluency with Merissa Sadler-Holder

[00:00:00] Welcome to make EdTech 100. I am LindyHoc Educator, K 12 Ed Tech Advisor, and your host. This is a podcast where we keep it real about what actually works in classrooms. No hype, no overwhelm, just practical strategies, honest stories and tools that make a real difference for teachers and students. So come along with me on a journey to make EdTech 100. Lindy Hockenbary: Welcome everyone to make Ed Tech 100. I'm so excited for today's episode. I have a guest, the awesome Marissa Sadler holder. She is a French teacher extraordinaire, and the human brain behind teaching with machines. Welcome to Make Ed Tech 100 Marissa. Merissa Sadler-Holder: Thank you so much, Linnie. I'm glad to be here. Lindy Hockenbary: So the podcast, I named it Make Ed Tech 100 [00:01:00] because I that's, it's really open to interpretation of whatever you think that that means to you. So we can get to know you a little bit more. Tell us what does make Ed Tech 100 mean to you? Merissa Sadler-Holder: Oh gosh. I would say that in hearing that it's, it's like let's make ed tech work for us. Bring the combination of. Of the technology and our own wisdom come together to make it a hundred percent, make it really, Lindy Hockenbary: I love that. So, okay, so I have to ask you, so make it a hundred percent. Do you think that in K 12 education in particular, we have hit the a hundred percent mark when it comes to technology and using technology as an instructional tool? Merissa Sadler-Holder: Well, I think that ultimately that is a goal, but I also think there's always room for improvement. I feel like AI and the technology that we're seeing associated with it, it is constantly [00:02:00] changing and it's almost like that goalpost keeps on moving, but it is something that we're all striving for and. You know, just keep on going. I think what makes it a hundred is that our willingness to continue exploring and moving forward. Lindy Hockenbary: I love that. I love that. And you're so right. The, the goalpost keeps changing and I think that's why there's a lot of negativity in the media right now. I've noticed in the last. Month or two, and it could just be my social algorithms trying to rage bait me. I'm fully aware of that Lindy Hockenbary: so that could be, but it just seems like there's a lot of conversations in the media and stories popping up about schools taking away one-to-one devices or going back to computer labs or that kind of thing. And I think that. Mentality comes from a place of exactly what you said. The goalpost is moving and education tends to move quite [00:03:00] slow. Lindy Hockenbary: I don't think that's a surprise to anybody and it's really hard to keep up with that moving goalpost and then it in you end up blaming the technology 'cause you can't move fast enough to keep up with it. Merissa Sadler-Holder: Yeah. I think it's also based in fear. It's all unknown, Lindy Hockenbary: 100%. Merissa Sadler-Holder: mean? What we do know is, you know, black and white, what we've done in the past, but again, it's all about moving forward. I think also that like this idea of. We're just all trying to figure it out. And so I think we have to all be aware that this is what we're trying to figure out and there's not gonna be one way that is great or not. Merissa Sadler-Holder: You know, and I know we'll talk later about, a little bit about AI fluency, but this is also just technology fluency when and where it's appropriate to be using this technology. I, I don't think it's always okay to be using this technology. I think there's a time and place for it. And where we find that. [00:04:00] Balance is what is gonna be really important for us. So it, it shouldn't be two extremes, right? It needs to be somewhere Lindy Hockenbary: Yep. 100%. I say all the time that nothing is ever black or white. In other words, exactly what you said we're ne. There's never an extreme blackened or white end of anything. Everything is always in the middle. And like one of my sayings is find the gray, find the space in the middle. And if you find yourself shifting to an extreme, like let's pull all one-to-one devices out of a classroom, stop and just. Lindy Hockenbary: Take a step back and I know that's really hard when you're having challenges and frustrations and you're just in the midst of it. As a educator, it's really hard to do that because our emotions of frustration tend to take over. But if you can get those emotions down, take take a step back and be like, alright, is swinging to this other extreme, really the best.[00:05:00] Lindy Hockenbary: For all learners, for all teachers, for the community, for society in general, Merissa Sadler-Holder: Yeah, what is the the future gonna be? And that's always been a long-term, you know, struggle for teachers even before all this AI technology, right? Is how do we prepare for a future that we do not know for those students. And it really just comes back to, you know, being able to find the gray, That is the hardest part, is actually being able to find that gray for each person. And, Lindy Hockenbary: Yeah. Merissa Sadler-Holder: a society, and so, yeah, it's a, it's a struggle, but I think it's also a very human struggle. It has nothing to do with the technology. Lindy Hockenbary: Definitely a human struggle for sure. So your business name is teaching with machines. Merissa Sadler-Holder: Yeah. Lindy Hockenbary: I love that, by the way, because it truly is where we are at in terms of education from this point forward. Uh, to me the key word there is with, it's not, [00:06:00] machines are teaching, it's teaching with. Lindy Hockenbary: Machines, and that's really what we need to embrace, in my opinion, moving forward. So tell me , where did you come up with that? What does teaching machine with machines mean to you? Merissa Sadler-Holder: Well, it means just like what you were just saying, it's that idea that you are, your craft, your expertise, your teaching element, the thing that makes. The architecture, um, design of learning experiences, all of those things is kind of the, the verb, the doing the action in a sentence, right? And then there is that to it. Merissa Sadler-Holder: And that addition is how can this technology compliment these amazing things that we're already doing? that is really what I wanted to focus on. I, I, I is about. Leveraging the expertise that we already have and extending it beyond and seeing how this new technology can amplify what we're [00:07:00] doing. Lindy Hockenbary: I'm curious, why did you choose the word machine and not computer or device or technology? Merissa Sadler-Holder: Gosh, you know, I. I don't know. I think I, I'm gonna tell you something, Lindy, that is kind of like, when I was toying around with building this company was this idea of, , originally it was like teaching with the machine and it, it almost Lindy Hockenbary: Hmm. Merissa Sadler-Holder: this dystopian idea of, and Lindy Hockenbary: Hmm. Merissa Sadler-Holder: I, I couldn't get with it because I just, it it does, it sounds dystopian like the machine, right? I would say machine because I think. Because it, it, it, it really does make it, it's a machine. not a human. We all have to make sure that we understand that very clearly. It is a machine, it's, it's technology, but it's any kind of technology. Merissa Sadler-Holder: It doesn't need to be one specific one. It's emerging technologies. You know, it's those things that, again, that compliment the amazing things that we do, that human element that [00:08:00] we bring. Lindy Hockenbary: Yeah. One of the things I try to educate people on as I'm doing lots of AI literacy trainings with teachers is what does machine mean and how is that a bit different than a computer? And talking about rules-based computing is typically what we were working with as humans. In the past, especially in terms of softwares, right, and in rules-based computing, the device, the computer does exactly what the human programs it to do, and it if, if it hits a bug, it's done. Merissa Sadler-Holder: Mm-hmm. Lindy Hockenbary: stuck now with machine learning, which is a subset of artificial intelligence. The machine and there's the distinctive difference between the two terms. We went from device, computer to machine. The machine now learns from itself, and if it hits a roadblock, it uses all of its training data to adjust and. Lindy Hockenbary: Figure out how to keep moving [00:09:00] forward. It might not always figure out the right way. That's where we get hallucinations. Right. But you, it's predicting. Yep. But you, you don't get an error and a full on stop in the code or a bug Merissa Sadler-Holder: Mm-hmm. Lindy Hockenbary: like you do in, in rules-based computing. And I love how you said it's not just machines, it's technology because people, machine learning is in pretty much every. Lindy Hockenbary: Technology that we use now, there's some sort of element of it in there. Would you agree or disagree with that? Merissa Sadler-Holder: A hundred percent everything. And, and if you have any kind of social media, any kind of everywhere, you know, all of that. It's, I mean, even probably my coffee maker, you know what I mean? Like it's all of these things, you Lindy Hockenbary: Seriously? Yeah. It's in everything I. Again, try not to be rage baited by social media, but I posted a TikTok the other day about, what was it about? [00:10:00] Oh, I have a new course out that's all about teaching. It's like a teaching with machines, but math focus. So it's all about how do you integrate AI literacy. Lindy Hockenbary: Into math standards and core math content. So I made a little promo video that was talking about how AI's in magic, it's math, dah, dah, dah, dah. And I had a comment from an, I believe an educator on the on the TikTok video that said, there is absolutely no place for AI in any classroom ever, ever. And I haven't responded yet, because guess what? Lindy Hockenbary: My initial response was to be frustrated. And be like, what? What? No, I, so I step back, just like I was saying, I step back, I'm like, Lindy, find the gray and I am gonna respond and I'm gonna use it as an education opportunity to say. If that really is your stance. And by the way, there were, there's a lot of schools that right out of the gate after chat, GPT was released a little over three years ago now that created [00:11:00] AI policies that said no AI use for students. Lindy Hockenbary: And now they're realizing that that means that you literally can't use any technology period. Because like I said, every. Technology has an element of ai. Some of those elements are more advanced than others, and when, when we hear this, oh, there's no place for AI in the classroom, it typically comes from a point of talking about generative ai because that's the big pain point for educators. Lindy Hockenbary: And agentic AI is starting to become a pain point for educators as well, but it's typically the generative ai that's the huge pain point. And oh, the comment also said something about it's just a cheating tool. Right. It's just a cheating tool. There's no place for it. , But I'm gonna use it at point being, I'm rambling here, is I'm gonna use this as an, as an education opportunity to say, if that really is your stance, then your stance is no technology, period, because there's some level of ai, whether it's predictive, generative, [00:12:00] agentic, conversational in every digital tool. Merissa Sadler-Holder: Yep. Lindy Hockenbary: Out there that you use. Google Docs. Can't use a Google Doc, Microsoft Word. Can't use a Microsoft Word spell check. Merissa Sadler-Holder: like you Lindy Hockenbary: Can't use Google because Google has AI summaries right now. Lindy Hockenbary: You and I have a lot in common. We both do a lot of working with teachers and helping them. The things we're just talking about right now, helping educate them and figure out how do we use this technology, when do we use the technology? Lindy Hockenbary: So I'm super excited that we are doing a session together at the FETC conference coming up very, very soon in Orlando, Florida. And our session is, uh, we're, we're each kind of taking half of the session. If you know me, I love to talk about AI literacy. So my first half is gonna be focused on that element of teaching them a little bit more about how the technology works. Lindy Hockenbary: So when you understand how it works, you can use it better, you can evaluate it better. Then you're gonna take over the [00:13:00] second half of the session and talk about AI fluency. You already mentioned it earlier. That's a word that. You don't hear nearly as often in the AI and education space, I feel like, so I'm curious, will you please define what is AI fluency? Merissa Sadler-Holder: Yeah. So, you know, kind of harkening back to the fact that I was a, a language teacher, right? It, it's this idea of, knowing when to use it, how to use it, which tool to use it, , and. How to use it ethically. Right. That is the, the heart of that. And it was, I found that it's very similar to, what my students had to go through, right? Merissa Sadler-Holder: They had to try things, they had to test out, they had to learn the literacy part, right? They had to learn the language, the grammar, whatever. But the fluency part is where you really test out [00:14:00] the kind of comprehensive learning and. Just showcasing what you know. And so, um, because the only way we get better, whether it's a language or using a tool or whatever it is, is by practice. And being willing to take risks and being willing, or providing yourself the opportunity too, to have this moment of learning let it be messy and everything. So again, for me, literacy is knowing when to use it, how to use it, how to use it ethically, which tools to use. Those type of things for me is the fluency and as a, as a teacher. We need to be combining both the literacy piece and also the opportunity to build fluency. Because I think that even though we don't know what the future is gonna be, we know that this technology will be a part of that future and we wanna make sure our students have the opportunity to start building [00:15:00] those skills. Merissa Sadler-Holder: And I will also add in, building that, uh, discernment into it, right? That critical thinking piece when you're really sitting down and using these tools. we making sure that whatever has been given to us is true and factual, and how do we go back and make sure, Lindy Hockenbary: Do you think that as a teacher, do you have to be AI fluent yourself in order to pass on AI fluency to your students? Merissa Sadler-Holder: you know, I think what's so very No, I, I'm gonna just say that. No. However, I think what is really challenging about this moment in our history is that, um, we're all learning together. We're learning right alongside our students, , it goes kind of against everything that we've done as educators when they come into our classroom. Merissa Sadler-Holder: We are expected to be the person that knows everything about. You know your subject matter, right? Because we are [00:16:00] subject matter experts. However, think in this scenario, we don't know all the answers, but what I think it is, our duty as educators is to make sure that we create an environment where taking risks. part of doing an environment that allows them to take risks with boundaries and safety and as learning, allowing that learning and practice, and practice and practice right to become better. I think it's okay to have that conversation with your students and say, we're gonna see how this works. It may do really, really great things. Merissa Sadler-Holder: It may fail, but we're all gonna learn from that experience and always have a moment of reflection when we are using this technology. Lindy Hockenbary: I love that idea of building a safe space, a safe culture. How does policy play into that? There's a lot of conversations out there and discussions around policies and AI policies and tech policies, and how does it fit? What's your thoughts on that [00:17:00] and how, how can policy drive or not drive a safe space? Merissa Sadler-Holder: I think, I think, um, Lindy Hockenbary: Hmm. Merissa Sadler-Holder: like even when I'm working with schools, I, I, I tend to like look at the policy that they have currently in place and a lot of them don't have AI written into that policy. Generative ai, let's say. Right? Because the policy in general is, it's kind of, it's, it's okay. It's exactly what it should be. Merissa Sadler-Holder: When to use this technology, how to use it ethically, make sure that learning is still happening. That's, that's universal when it comes to technology, right? That policy is pretty strong. I don't think there is a need to have necessarily, AI written into it because we're talking about digital citizenship, we're talking about digital learning and digital understanding and how to use that technology. But I do think when it comes to AI, there could very well be guidelines to that. And those guidelines for me is that kind of little bit more [00:18:00] nuanced, specifically to the generative AI piece. Merissa Sadler-Holder: I think our policy has to have room for being able to be providing opportunities where these students are exploring it. And with that, you need to make sure the policy is open to having those explorations in a safe way. Merissa Sadler-Holder: And if it is so black and white, like we were talking about earlier. There isn't a place for that messy learning to happen in regards to this technology, and that's why I am very, like, when I work with, you know, schools, it's, it's like we need to make sure that that is built in there. Um, you can have a policy, but just make sure it's open allowing the students to basically be prepared for their future in some kind of form and fashion by actually allowing opportunities to strengthen those skills. Lindy Hockenbary: I love how you said safe to me, that's the key word, is safe and secure and compliant, which I feel like. All three of those are really [00:19:00] intermingled into one beautiful Venn diagram that us teachers love. Like we have to create that sa, that space to be able to explore. But we do as K 12 educators have. Lindy Hockenbary: Compliance standards, we have to meet ferpa, coppa, coppa, whatever you call it, right? We've gotta make sure we're keeping kids safe. Kids are a vulnerable population, they're not adults. We have to keep them safe. So checking those boxes in terms of policy tools that you choose, but then still making sure that those policies and tools create , that space to be able to. Lindy Hockenbary: Feel safe. Trying things and exploring, I think is key. Merissa Sadler-Holder: And that's, it's a good Lindy Hockenbary: So, Merissa Sadler-Holder: the students to see too, That, Lindy Hockenbary: yeah. Yeah. You're modeling, Merissa Sadler-Holder: They're all watching us. Lindy Hockenbary: they're watching, they watch everything. People, [00:20:00] yeah. So if you have a, a real negative. Mindset towards something, or you get frustrated by it yourself as an educator. They see that their brains are sponges, right? They take it in, they take everything in. It's time for a segment that we call tech check or Tech Rec. Lindy Hockenbary: And I came up with this before and I did not tell Marissa what. It was going to be. . So the idea is I'm gonna give you something you have to tell me. Do you think it's a, a tech check or a tech rack? Okay. And you have honest take. Merissa Sadler-Holder: gosh. Lindy Hockenbary: On a strategy, a trend, an idea, okay? And what I came up with, you kind of already like. Lindy Hockenbary: Sort of hinted at before, so I'm curious to see. Yeah, I'm, I'm curious to see. So here it is. All right. Are you ready? Tech check or Tech Rec using AI as a learning tool in elementary [00:21:00] classrooms. This is a big one. This is another one that I keep seeing pop up on my LinkedIn in particular. There's a lot of discussions going on about this right now. Lindy Hockenbary: This is not an easy, I gave her a really hard one people Merissa Sadler-Holder: it it, it's the gray, right? Lindy Hockenbary: one. Merissa Sadler-Holder: a gray and finding that gray, like you, you like to put it Lindy, it's that finding that gray. Is it appropriate all the time? I think what people don't realize, like you were saying earlier, is that it really isn't everything and I think. You don't need to put necessarily the technology into the hands of the students to start using it immediately to be teaching them how it works. literacy piece, it still needs to be a part of the conversation because eventually those students are going to be exposed to it and they have to already have a background to start building that discernment that we're talking about when we're using these technologies. So it's, it's tough. I think the conversation about ai, a hun generative [00:22:00] ai, a hundred percent needs to be happening and at every level. . Starting to build those skills, those literacy skills, again, in as far as learning goes and it being a part of learning, I think it's gonna be a really tough sale. And I'm gonna be completely blunt. I mean, the problem with ed tech in general is that it is a lot of promises and solutions that they're, they're trying to say to and, and, , institutions that, you know, these are, this technology will fix. Whatever, or fix everything. I don't know what it is. Right. And those technologies are leading with ai, some kind of AI component and this type of thing in front of the students. And I think we're just kind of, I think a lot of districts are kind of being like, okay, well this is the future. This is what we have to do and we have to sign off on everything. Merissa Sadler-Holder: But , it's not about signing off on everything. It's about intentionally integrating it. [00:23:00] And when we're talking about elementary specifically, it really needs to be intentionally integrating it, not just buying technology for the sake of buying technology for a solution that probably isn't a solution to the educational problem that we're having. I think that most of our problems, I was on another podcast and I said something about like this idea that technology is like a bandaid sometimes, and it, it's not actually fixing the root. Problem. And that root problem is within our own society. It's within our own educational system. And this technology will not be the saving grace of all. And so more we model that for our students and start getting them exposed to that idea, and again, building those critical thinking skills and discernment around this technology, I think is really important. So I think finding the gray. you said is really, really important because it is a balancing act. I would never just hand over [00:24:00] technology, but I will also say my niece in fifth grade, sixth grade, is using it. has it. She says, I love Chatt BT. so again, it's about making sure that these kids are at least getting that literacy piece in there. Lindy Hockenbary: A few things I wanna follow up there. You said that technology is not the magic bullet fix to our problems in education. 100%. And I also want to build on that and say that technology isn't also the problem. Merissa Sadler-Holder: Yes. Lindy Hockenbary: To every problem that we have in education. And that's the, the conversation that's being had right now in the media of, you know, let's take them away and let's go back to computer labs or no devices and no screen time. Lindy Hockenbary: That mentality is assuming that the technology is the problem. And another saying I always say is when you see something at the surface [00:25:00] level that seems like the problem, you need to dig deeper. The surface level thing that seems like the problem is almost never the actual problem. You need to dig and find the root. Merissa Sadler-Holder: that Lindy Hockenbary: You need to look for the root. Merissa Sadler-Holder: the Lindy Hockenbary: Yes. Merissa Sadler-Holder: and there's all this other stuff underneath, you know? Lindy Hockenbary: Yep. Yep. So I, I love that. Just as a general takeaway to the listeners, that it goes both ways. Technology is not the magic bullet fix, but technology isn't also causing every single problem that we have in in education right now. I wrote down some words, three words as you were sharing. I wrote down it depends. Lindy Hockenbary: Intentional and conversations, that was such a hard tech check or tech wreck because I would've answered it very, very, very similarly. I get asked the question a lot of when should devices be allowed in classrooms? And people want to know in exact [00:26:00] age cutoff, and they want me to say to them, oh. Lindy Hockenbary: Kids in preschool, kindergarten, first and second grade should not have devices in the classroom. And in reality I cannot say that because, and, and the reason I can't say that and the reason we can't say, oh no, AI should never be used as a learning tool in elementary classrooms, which conversation that's being had right now is that's assuming that every student is the same and every student has. Lindy Hockenbary: The same needs, and it's not assuming that there are students that are going to benefit from certain types of technologies at any age, and that technology is going to be an amazing support and help to them. So if we just make this blanket statement as a society and say. No devices for ages seven and under, you know, whatever. Lindy Hockenbary: Or no AI as a learning tool in grades K [00:27:00] through five that is going the opposite of trying to personalize learning, which is also a huge conversation in education right now. Lindy Hockenbary: You are a French teacher. I love that world language teacher, and I've heard you talk before about how you approached translate tools when they started to come out, like when Google Translate came out, for example, how you approached that. As a language teacher and how you didn't ban the technology, you didn't act like it didn't exist. Lindy Hockenbary: You embraced it in certain ways and you taught your kids and had conversations about when this technology is very useful, when it's not, when and how and why. We still need to maybe build foundational skills versus completely relying on the technology. And by the way, Google Translate is, has always been. Lindy Hockenbary: Very AI based. Merissa Sadler-Holder: it Lindy Hockenbary: Right. So, but [00:28:00] yeah, just to throw that out there, that I'm, I'm not saying that this is a, a typical different type of technology. It was just one form of AI that was out there. So I'm curious how that approach and that experience as a French teacher has informed how you're now handling. , More and more AI tools, more complex AI like generative ai, agent ai, et cetera. Lindy Hockenbary: That was a very long question. Merissa Sadler-Holder: no, and I, and I understand it, , because it is very relative and I, I think, I I, it's been years like what, years or some round number around that time since Google Translate came out. And there are still teachers who are fighting the good fight, even to this day. And so I think we're gonna be seeing this. Same thing with ai. We're gonna st still see this. What I noticed when I changed my [00:29:00] approach with using it, um, I, well, first and foremost, I will say that the language and language learning was always secondary to, um, kind of helping the students discover what it is to be a global citizen through language and how can I take that? And also support their 21st century skills. Right. so to me, those things were more important almost than the language. the language. Yes, it was important. That's what I was, you know, teaching them. But this idea of when they move out into the world, that's what, what they're gonna be taking with them for my class. And when this technology came out. It was really difficult because I spent a lot of time creating these digital where the kids can, you know, demonstrate their understanding and fun and kind of technology based ways. But then [00:30:00] AI came out and then suddenly I had, you know, , mollier rivaling pros from my students. Merissa Sadler-Holder: And I, tried to fight the fight and then I went to, um, a conference. So all of your listeners out there, I will definitely say your people. Go to conferences, have those conversations with other like-minded expertise, and just be opening to learning. Because I, when I went to that conference, somebody said, well, why don't you teach 'em, you know, how to use this tool in a way that actually supports their learning versus, you know, outright, outright finding it. Merissa Sadler-Holder: Because we're also in this situation where ai. AI and this Google Translate tool, there's no way to really tell unless you're right there with the student overlooking their shoulder if they actually used it or not. you in the heart of hard and expertise in knowing the child's abilities can say, this is not your work. [00:31:00] There really is. As a teacher, we are not protected. It's just our word against theirs. And we have seen over the course of years that. Sometimes our word is just simply not enough. And so, excuse me. So I think when I did this, I el, I opened up the thing and or I opened up the, the opportunity for the kids to start using it and not citing it as their own work, but rather saying, this is what I'm using it for. I could track it as a teacher on the backend. Why are they turning to this technology? When are they turning to it? What areas of weaknesses is causing them to feel like they need to go back? And I wouldn't have had that information before without actually tracking it. And so I just developed a super simplistic tracking system. Merissa Sadler-Holder: But what the of this like. I had no idea that this would be coming. But [00:32:00] what it ended up doing was kind of relieving that stress around wanting to use the technology secretly using the technology. The cheating aspect of the technology was gone because I did give him permission, but I said, you need to tell me. Merissa Sadler-Holder: You need to show me. You need to show me everything that you're using this for and why you're using it for, and you have to identify it. It wasn't a cheating thing. They didn't wanna use it because it was actually more work to show. How they were using it. And so it, it came to be like, look, you can use it, but you also need to know its limitations because Google translate, it has gotten much better. But Google translate at the very beginning, much like in the early stages of what we're seeing in generative ai, it was not great. was, it was, you know, the kids were putting it in there and the words were coming back and there's double meaning words and it wasn't working in context. And I had to say, you know, okay, you know what I taught you in class. How are you going to double check that this is correct? Because [00:33:00] now you're just using it, right? And so I was teaching them because I am also not going to fight a piece of technology that is readily available in their pocket. Instead, I'm gonna show 'em how to use it, when to use it, how to use it appropriately, and when to double check if it's correct and make sure that their own learning is being supported in this and. I know in the near future, if they're ever in a situation, they will be able to pull out that piece of technology and be able to use it with, you know, ethically and discernment, which is super important. Lindy Hockenbary: I love several things. You said there, and I was Googling, by the way, when Google Translate came out 2006. That means we're, we are about exactly 20 years into the release of Google Translate. And I love how you said , I didn't wanna fight. This technology that's readily available. Lindy Hockenbary: This podcast is all about making it [00:34:00] real and being honest and truthful, and the honesty of it is your, it's a, it's a losing battle, fighting these emerging technologies and acting like they don't exist. I, it really is. It's an absolute, it's a losing battle. If that, if that isn't enough to hit you in the fields as an educator and go, dang, why am I fighting a losing battle? Lindy Hockenbary: It also is completely ignoring the fact that we have to teach kids how to use these technologies appropriately, responsibly, ethically, we have to protect it. We talked about the importance of keeping kids safe. You are not keeping kids safe by acting like these technologies. Don't exist. And not having the conversations, you said that early and not having the conversations with them is huge, huge. Lindy Hockenbary: I also loved how you really explained [00:35:00] how you em embrace the technology. You had the conversations, but you also had them document the process. That's a huge thing that I talk about in terms of how to battle the quote unquote AI slop. That we're seeing from all aspects , and if you're not familiar episode one of the podcast focuses on it, go back and, and listen to that one if you're not familiar with AI slop. Lindy Hockenbary: But it's this idea of just copy and pasted slop from large language models type of thing. A really, really powerful way to. Go around that and still have powerful , meaningful assessments, is to have students document the process of learning and shift the focus more onto the process rather than just that final product, like an essay that's, that's spit out. Lindy Hockenbary: So that's great. Lindy Hockenbary: Alright, it's already that time. Lindy Hockenbary: I feel like this time has flown by. I could ask you so many more questions, but we better wrap up. [00:36:00] Remember, don't miss us at FATC. Marissa and I are doing a session on Tuesday at three o'clock. It's a workshop, so we have two full hours and it's very hands on. You're gonna be doing lots of activities, you're gonna be taking away lots of strategies and tools that you can use in your practice, in your classroom. Lindy Hockenbary: Marissa, tell us how can listeners connect with you? Merissa Sadler-Holder: You can find me on LinkedIn, of course, I do a lot of posting on LinkedIn. And then of course you can go to my website that is www.teachingwithmachines.com. On that website you can contact me. , Can, find any templates that I have. All of my templates are free for educators. I have also a newsletter. That goes out for educators as well. Lindy Hockenbary: Awesome. And we will put that link in the show notes as well. Make sure to connect with Marissa. So we end every [00:37:00] episode of Make Ed Tech 100 with a make ed tech moment. So what would be your moment to leave listeners with? Merissa Sadler-Holder: I want, um, I want the listeners to realize that. Um, their, wisdom and expertise, especially when it comes to education and the professionalism that you bring, is only enhanced with the a. It's only enhanced with technology and that it will never replace that important thing that you bring. always going to be a reflection of the extension of your expertise. Merissa Sadler-Holder: So. I think are architects of designing amazing learning experiences for our students, and that we are these architects, they can be [00:38:00] drafted, changed, and of adapted for our students. So we have it in ourselves. It just is a matter of being kind to ourselves and allowing ourselves to continue to grow and play. Kind of reflect that messy learning Lindy Hockenbary: I love that. Great way to end the episode. Thank you again, Marissa for the conversation, and thank you to our listeners for hanging out with us. Thanks for joining Make EdTech 100. I know educator time is valuable and I'm honored you choose to spend yours with me. For more EdTech strategies you can use tomorrow and ways to bring me to your school or event, head to LindyHoc.com. If this episode resonated, hit subscribe so you don't miss the next one. I'm LindyHoc. Go forth and make EdTech [00:39:00] 100.