Learning As We Go: Professional Learning for the Messy AI Experimentation Phase
Learning As We Go: Professional Learning for the Messy AI Experimentation Phase
We’re asking educators to learn AI in real time while the technology itself keeps changing. This blog explores why traditional “best practice” PD is failing in this moment — and why experimentation, peer learning, reflection, and shared curiosity may be the real infrastructure educators need to navigate AI in education together.
Reflections from AIxED 2026: Educators’ Process of Learning AI
Reflections from AIxED 2026: Educators’ Process of Learning AI
At the AIxEd Conference 2026 in Boston, sideby educators explored how teachers and higher ed leaders are building AI fluency through experimentation, peer learning, and deeper learning practices. Discover insights on AI in education, educator agency, and transformational professional learning.
From Curiosity to Capability at AIxED 2026
From Curiosity to Capability with AI
This blog recaps Mike Mendelson’s AIxEd[Connect] session at Northeastern University on what it really means to go “all in” on AI. From education to software development, the session explored practical AI adoption, hands-on learning, and how professionals can move from curiosity to real AI capability.
ASU+GSV 2026 with the USC EdTech Accelerator
sideby at ASU+GSV 2026
sideby joined ASU+GSV 2026 with the USC EdTech Accelerator to explore the future of AI in education, peer-driven learning, and educator-centered innovation. Learn how conversations with founders, educators, and system leaders are shaping transformational professional learning.
The sideby team at SXSW EDU 2026
sideby at SXSW EDU 2026
The sideby team shared about their work through the Launch Competition, connected with sideby community members and potential partners, mentored and got mentored, and had a leadership team learning session together in person for the first time ever.
Human-Powered AI for Social Good: Learning with HundrED’s Youth Ambassadors
Human-Powered AI for Social Good: Learning with HundrED’s Youth Ambassadors
sideby partnered with HundrED’s Global Youth Ambassadors to lead a dynamic workshop on human-centered AI in education. Co-facilitated by Erica Crane, EdD, and Marta Pinto, PhD, the session explored how young changemakers can use AI tools to support community mapping, project planning, outreach, and social impact strategy—without losing their voice or purpose. Grounded in practical frameworks and youth leadership, this workshop highlights how AI can enhance (not replace) human agency in social good initiatives.
How Transformational Professional Learning Drives Deeper Student Learning
How Transformational Professional Learning Drives Deeper Student Learning
When educators grow, students thrive. This blog explores how transformational professional development—rooted in reflection, collaboration, and sustained practice—leads to deeper student learning. Drawing on research and real-world tools like sideby and the Small Wins Dashboard, we highlight how empowering teachers transforms classrooms, supports student agency, and cultivates the metacognitive skills students need for lifelong success.
The Impacts of Transformational Learning for Educators
Transformational Professional Development: What It Is and Why It Matters
Schools invest thousands in professional development, but the real return comes from how it’s done. This post explores why one-off trainings fall short and how transformational PD creates lasting growth, boosts morale, and strengthens school culture. See how tools like sideby and the Small Wins Dashboard bring this vision to life.
Why Educators Deserve Transformational Professional Learning
Educators deserve transformational, not transactional, learning.
True professional growth reshapes identity, not just practice.
sideby’s 1:1 peer learning model fosters agency, relevance, and reflection.
Transformational PD leads to better teacher retention, engagement, and student outcomes.
AI is not the Segway
I get it. I’m a critical consumer here even though I am advocating for mass consumption of ai in education. mass critical consumption. Mass aware and thoughtful consumption. Mass study Joy buolamwini’s ted talk, join the algorithmic justice league, Learn from this article about the magnitude of bias, and apply Unesco’s ai competency framework etc etc etc. mass led by us for us consumption in education. because it’s not the segway. (and if you don’t know what the segway, is, perfect.) i’m talking to folks in education, at schools and universities as an insider and outsider, and sometimes it sounds like people are talking about the segway when they’re talking about AI in education.
Valuing Teachers For More Than Just The Climb
It was like staying in a school, actually teaching and working in a school for years (more than two years if you want to really get down to it), is somehow an indication of your worth in the field of education. Meaning your worth is inversely connected to your years looking at students in the eyes every day.