AI-driven technology is equipping teachers and leaders with learning design tools they can use to build experiences uniquely suited to every student’s wonder, curiosity, and learning needs. This shift is similar to how music listening has moved from a focus on whole albums to personalized playlists, according to education leaders Rob Dickson and Dyane Smokorowski.
Leveraging generative AI to reimagine and personalize learning experiences was a throughline of Dickson and Smokorowski’s keynote address, “Making Learning Human in an AI World,” at Learning Forward’s 2025 Annual Conference held in Boston, attended by more than 2,400 education leaders. Dickson and Smokorowski urged audience members to leverage professional learning initiatives in order to ensure all educators become AI fluent because, they said, being AI literate is not enough.
“You are no longer the teacher, you are the learning experience designer in 2025,” Smokorowski said. She added that being a learning experience designer is like being a DJ who remixes and tailors music to an audience’s tastes.
The speakers, both educators in the Wichita Public School system in Kansas, referenced the music industry throughout their keynote address to punctuate parallel opportunities in teaching and learning brought on by the rapid advancement of generative AI in education. Pointing to the shift away from popular albums, Dickson asked, “If we don’t consume music this way anymore, why do we still teach this way?” He added, “We need to move from albums to playlists.”
Working with AI as a thought parter, for example, teachers can design learning experiences “that give students FOMO” about missing school rather than fear of going to school, Smokorowski said.
AI will have a major influence on our future economy and in future learning, Smokorowski said. Students are entering an era in which technology is developing at a pace “way beyond” how fast it evolved in the past. “It’s crucial to prepare students for AI’s impact and not look at it from a lens of a meteor coming in and you’re a dinosaur looking at it,” she said.
As another indicator of the rapidly changing digital learning landscape, Smokorowski showcased how Google search technology options have advanced in just one year. Last year, she pointed out, an AI overview feature started appearing at the top of the search screen. By April 2025, Google search began offering a “show more” button and by June 2025, AI Mode had appeared, allowing for deeper exploration.
Smokorowski shared an example of how she recently personalized instruction for her students by instructing a Google tool to write a one-act play with one narrator and three actors, and “make it a comedy set for children in Wichita, Kansas, for a 7th grade audience.”
The result was impressive, she said. “As an educator, I am thinking, ‘Brilliant!’ As an ELA teacher, I am thinking, ‘Holy buckets, it’s a writing tool. My students can ask any question that they want and go deeper.’ It requires me to be the lead DJ in the room.”
Learning Forward announces new AI symposium
On February 19 at noon, Eastern, Learning Forward will build on Dickson and Smokorowski’s keynote to offer “AI Essentials for Professional Learning Leaders: Action in Motion—Designing the Future of Learning with AI.” The virtual session brings together Dickson, Smokorowski, and Learning Forward’s Machel Mills-Miles, vice president, Standards Implementation and Outreach. The interactive session invites leaders into a space where AI becomes a tool for imagination, responsiveness, and authentic problem-solving. Participants will explore how AI can help leaders rapidly remix ideas, build multimodal learning assets, spark collaboration, and uncover insights from complex data. Learn more.
Learning Forward’s 2025 leadership AI poll
During the 2025 Learning Forward Annual Conference, President and CEO Frederick Brown reported the results of the organization’s informal poll about AI in professional learning. Results show that most of the 500 education leaders participating in the poll (75%) use AI to design or implement professional learning, and about half (52%) say they would like more professional learning about AI than they have received heretofore. Education leaders say they use AI in their professional lives for editing written communication (80%); analyzing/summarizing data (68%); designing learning experiences for educators (68%); searching for/learning information (68%); and other administrative tasks (66%). More than half (61%) say AI is having a positive impact on the quality of professional learning in which they participate. The poll was not a representative sample of educators but a snapshot of conference attendees who chose to participate.
