New course ‘AI for Educators’ for teachers to developed at Creighton

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Teachers across the metro are making a crucial decision of whether or not to embrace AI.

Creighton is looking to help with this, offering a one hour course designed to help teachers use AI ethically and efficiently, and to equip their students with crucial skills.

At Mercy High School, English teacher Bob Myer, asks his students about their thoughts on the use of AI in the classroom.

“A number of students look at AI and say, ‘If I use that for certain things, that’s cheating.’ So, the girls that I teach, a lot of times, don’t want to use AI,” said Myer.

But Bob understands AI can also be used as a tool.

His student’s concerns are not out of the ordinary for what Robbie Jensen, a Creighton Course Designer and former educator, hears from teachers when it comes to AI in schools.

To ease those concerns and open the door for AI as an ethical tool, he’s created a one-hour course for teachers.

He says it can ultimately help your children become more informed in their AI use.

“We know we’re in this time right now with AI, where there’s no choice about using AI. AI is everywhere, and it can be unnerving as an educator to use AI,” explained Jensen.

The course focuses on three things: how to use AI ethically, how it can be used as an efficiency tool, and how to teach students to use it.

“We’re never looking at AI as that teacher’s replacement. We want to make sure there’s a human in that scenario who’s helping use AI in an appropriate way,” said Jensen.

While Myer hasn’t decided if he will use it for his classroom yet, he does see it as something that could be beneficial in helping himself and his students feel more confident in their use of AI going forward.

“I think it could be. It sounds a lot like what we already do. We talk about why students would want to use it as opposed to not,” Myer said.

The course is available for teachers now, with a registration fee of $50.

Jensen urged parents to look into using it as well, especially, he says, when considering the inevitability of AI in college and the workplace, so that you have a role in setting your children up for success.

Jensen also explained that while the course is less than an hour, you can access it again for more content and resources.