AmpED to 11

Amplify and Elevate Innovation

Elevating AI in Education Welcome to AmpED to 11, the podcast where AI, education, and technology collide to reshape the future of learning. Hosted by EdTech experts Brett Roer and Rebecca Bultsma, AmpED to 11 brings you the latest insights, trends, and strategies in AI-powered education. We believe that education should never settle for "good enough." Each episode is packed with cutting-edge news, expert interviews, and actionable insights that will keep you ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving world of EdTech. Whether you're an educator, administrator, or EdTech professional, AmpED to 11 equips you with the tools to integrate AI into education and drive innovation. What You Can Expect: AI in Education: Stay up-to-date with the latest AI tools and trends that are transforming classrooms and educational technology. Expert Interviews: Brett leads in-depth conversations with top educators, innovators, and policymakers to explore how AI is shaping the future of learning. Tech Updates: Rebecca delivers the latest news and updates in AI and education, providing insights into new developments and practical applications for educators. Actionable Tips: Get real-world strategies and tools that you can immediately apply in your classroom or EdTech business to enhance learning outcomes. Why Listen? In each episode of AmpED to 11, you’ll: Learn how AI is revolutionizing education and how you can stay ahead. Gain practical insights from leaders in education and technology. Discover AI-powered tools and strategies to implement in your classroom or EdTech business. Meet the Hosts: Brett Roer is an EdTech visionary who excels at uncovering powerful stories in education and building connections with innovators. He’s committed to bridging the gap between technology and educators to enhance learning. Rebecca Bultsma is an educator and tech strategist with a talent for breaking down complex ideas into actionable insights. She helps educators integrate the latest technology and AI into their teaching, improving engagement and outcomes. Who Should Listen? AmpED to 11 is perfect for: Educators and administrators looking to integrate AI into their teaching. EdTech professionals seeking the latest industry trends and tools. Tech enthusiasts interested in the role of AI in the future of education. Join Brett and Rebecca as they turn the dial on education and AI, bringing you inspiring conversations and actionable advice to drive innovation in the classroom. Stay informed, stay inspired, and stay ahead of the curve with AmpED to 11.

  1. Aug 3

    Relationships, rigor, and where AI actually belongs in class with Mike Taubman

    What if the best way to teach students about AI is to hand them the keys and let them learn to drive? Mike Taubman has spent two decades at North Star Academy Washington Park High School in Newark, New Jersey, where he now serves as teacher, program director, and AI innovation lead at Uncommon Schools. He joined North Star in 2005 as a founding English teacher, and a sabbatical years later spent auditing Jal Mehta's "deeper learning" class at Harvard reshaped how he thinks about mastery, creativity, and identity in the classroom. That thinking became Summit, the purpose and career exploration course he built for juniors and seniors, and this past spring it grew into an AI literacy pilot with his colleague Scott Kern that landed on the front page of The New York Times and on The Daily podcast. In this conversation, Mike walks through the framework he built with students: AI as a car, something humans made, something we drive, something that comes with rules of the road. He shares how his students wrote their own AI Declaration of Independence, why he caps AI use at 20 percent of a class period, and why the relationship with a student always comes before the tool. What you'll learn: The AI as a car framework: why treating AI as something humans built and drive, not a force to simply accept, changes how students engage with it. The AI Declaration of Independence: how Mike's students defined their own principles for what AI should and shouldn't do. The 20/80 rule: why AI should never be more than a fifth of a class period, and what fills the rest of the time. Relationship before rubric: why knowing a student's name by Friday matters more than any AI feedback tool. A $20 experiment: Mike's simple suggestion for any educator wondering where to start this summer. Brett and Rebecca sit with Mike to talk through what it looks like to stay in the driver's seat instead of becoming a passenger to this technology. Tune in, subscribe, and share if you're ready to turn up the volume on what's possible in education.

    Relationships, rigor, and where AI actually belongs in class with Mike Taubman

  2. Jul 20

    Coaching, Time, and the Limits of General-Purpose AI with Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

    AI can help school leaders save time. But saved time is only valuable if leaders know where to spend it. This week on AmpED to 11, Brett is joined by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, founder and dean of the Leverage Leadership Institute and author of Leverage Leadership 3.0. Paul has spent twenty-five years studying the habits, systems, and leadership moves that help schools improve, and his answer keeps returning to the same place: the moments when leaders are directly helping teachers get better. In this episode, Paul brings a grounded perspective to one of the biggest questions in education right now. If AI can reduce the administrative burden on school leaders, how do we make sure those recovered hours go toward coaching, observation, feedback, and the kind of instructional leadership that actually changes outcomes? The conversation explores what makes teacher development different from evaluation, why excellent practice needs to be seen before it can be replicated, and why AI tools trained on the average of everything may not be enough for schools trying to become exceptional. It is a thoughtful, practical episode for anyone thinking seriously about AI, leadership, and school improvement. Rebecca is away this week, so there is no AI Tip or News segment. Listen to the full episode to hear how AI could help leaders refocus on the work that changes schools.

    Coaching, Time, and the Limits of General-Purpose AI with Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

  3. Jul 6

    What the Canvas Breach Revealed About Student Data Privacy with David Bowman

    Rebecca hosts solo this week for a timely conversation with David Bowman, cybersecurity director for one of Utah’s largest K-12 districts, a member of the State of Utah Cyber Commission, and chair of the Statewide K-12 Cybersecurity Council. David brings a clear, practical view of what student data privacy really means inside schools, beginning with a classroom exercise where he showed students just how much information about them could be gathered, connected, and exposed. From there, the episode moves into the recent Canvas breach, the third-party analytics tools quietly embedded in EdTech platforms, and the difficult questions district leaders need to ask before trusting vendors with student information. At the heart of the conversation is David’s argument that the greatest threat to student data is not always the outside hacker. Often, it is the company already inside the district’s ecosystem, collecting more information than schools or families realise. Rebecca and David discuss how districts can create stronger privacy expectations, build data protection into procurement, communicate more clearly with parents, and hold vendors accountable when their practices do not match the responsibility of serving children. David also explains why privacy cannot sit separately from teaching, leadership, or purchasing decisions, and why schools need the confidence to “vote with your data” as well as with their budgets. Tune in for a grounded, accessible conversation about cybersecurity, student privacy, vendor accountability, and the leadership choices that shape trust in K-12 education.

    What the Canvas Breach Revealed About Student Data Privacy with David Bowman

  4. Jun 15

    How to Adopt AI Without Losing What Makes Education Human with Amy Dujon

    What are today's superintendents actually facing, and why AI alone won't fix it. Brett Roer sits down with Amy Dujon, VP of Education Brands at ARC Network, who sees patterns across hundreds of districts. With 27 years in education, from classroom teacher to principal to district leadership, Amy brings a rare vantage point on the unprecedented challenges school leaders are navigating right now. Key Topics: The simultaneous, interconnected crises superintendents are holding (mental health, teacher retention, chronic absenteeism, AI adoption)Why leaders aren't lacking ideas about AI, they're lacking time, policy cover, and bandwidthThe critical shift: using AI to reduce operational friction so humans have more space for connectionWhat must stay human: relationship building, mental wellness, and the connections only educators can provideHow district leaders can adopt AI thoughtfully without replacing the heart of education If you lead a school, district, or education organization, this conversation reframes the AI debate and offers a clearer path forward. Subscribe for weekly episodes exploring how education leaders solve real problems.

    How to Adopt AI Without Losing What Makes Education Human with Amy Dujon

  5. Jun 1

    29 Schools, 29 Positions on AI: Bill Bass on Managing the Impossible Divide

    What does it mean to prepare students for a world where the tools keep changing? Bill Bass has been wrestling with that question for over two decades. As Innovation Coordinator for Parkway School District, serving 18,000 students across 29 communities, and former president of ISTE, he's seen every wave of edtech come and go. And he's still here, still asking the hard questions. In this episode of AmpED to 11, Bill joins Brett and Rebecca to talk about the very real tension schools are navigating right now: parents who want AI kept out of classrooms, and students who will step into a world where it's everywhere. He pushes back on the idea that removing technology protects kids, challenges the myth that any of this is neutral, and makes the case for letting students make mistakes with AI while the stakes are still low. He also gets honest about what edtech gets wrong about schools, how he manages innovation across 29 communities with 29 different opinions, and why digital literacy isn't a destination, it's a moving target. This is one of the most grounded, clear-eyed conversations we've had on the show. If you work in education or care about where it's heading, this one's for you. Subscribe to AmpED to 11 for conversations that move education forward.

    29 Schools, 29 Positions on AI: Bill Bass on Managing the Impossible Divide

  6. May 18

    Inside the AI Rollercoaster With Briarcliff Manor Schools

    A student called his school's AI policy "consistently inconsistent", different every period, different every classroom. That phrase is the reason this episode exists. Brett Roer travels to Briarcliff Manor, NY for a live in-person crossover with Dr. James Kaishian, Superintendent of Briarcliff Manor Schools and host of Superkast. Around the table: English teacher Karen McCarthy, Computer Science teacher Chris Lo, and seniors Ava Wu and Noah Rinke. One conversation. Two shows. One very honest hour. Brett runs the AI rollercoaster with the students, period by period, rule by rule, then the Spider-Man finger-pointing exercise with everyone in the room. Students point at teachers. Teachers point at the superintendent. The superintendent points in a circle. Nobody points at themselves. That diffusion is the gap. Karen questions whether she's the right person to lead on this. Chris gave up on AI-generated questions because verifying them took longer than writing his own. Ava asks the question the whole policy debate keeps missing. Brett's argument: stop downloading template policies. Get two pizzas, sit with your own community, and record the conversation. The wisdom is already in the room. This episode airs simultaneously on AmpED to 11 and Superkast. Find Dr. Kaishian's show on Spotify and everywhere you listen.

    Inside the AI Rollercoaster With Briarcliff Manor Schools

  7. May 4

    Walking and Talking: The Workflow Hack That Turned Neighborhood Walks Into Books with Rachelle Dene Poth

    What does it look like when an educator refuses to stop growing? For Rachelle Dené Poth, it meant going to law school while teaching full-time, not to escape the classroom, but to understand it more deeply. Today she's a Spanish and STEAM teacher, practicing attorney, author of 10 books, and an AI grant coach guiding 12 schools across the country through one of education's most transformative moments. In this episode of AmpED to 11, Brett and Rebecca sit down with Rachelle to unpack what sustainable, high-impact teaching actually looks like in practice. Rachelle's story challenges the idea that doing more means burning out. Instead, she's built systems, voice-to-text workflows, AI-assisted writing routines, and intentional boundaries, that let her scale her impact without sacrificing her wellbeing. Together they dig into: How law school made Rachelle a sharper, more empathetic classroom teacherThe productivity systems she swears by that actually hold up under pressureWhy student voice has to be at the table when schools build AI policyHer unconventional writing workflow that turns neighbourhood walks into book chaptersHow she supports schools navigating digital citizenship, digital wellness, and ethical AI Whether you're a teacher trying to find your footing in an AI-accelerated world, a leader designing policy for your school, or someone who just needs a reminder that unconventional paths often lead somewhere extraordinary, this conversation is for you. Subscribe to AmpED to 11 for honest, energising conversations about education, technology, and the humans making it all work.

    Walking and Talking: The Workflow Hack That Turned Neighborhood Walks Into Books with Rachelle Dene Poth

  8. Apr 20

    Building Their Own AI: How School Districts Are Going Beyond Vendors with Daniel Friedman and Dr. Patrick Fogarty

    What if school districts stopped buying AI tools and started building them? In this episode, we talk with Daniel Friedman (Director of Technology, Hicksville Public Schools) and Dr. Patrick Fogarty (Assistant Superintendent, Hewlett Woodmere Public Schools & Founder of NYSAIC) about how educators are moving beyond vendor-dependent solutions to create their own local AI infrastructure. They discuss: Building local LLMs for data privacy and student researchCreating custom Regents exam generators through practitioner collaborationHow real AI innovation happens in group chats at 2 AM, not in procurement meetingsThe shift from "What tool should we buy?" to "What can we build ourselves?"Why the New York State Artificial Intelligence Consortium matters for equity and accessSolving hyper-specific district problems through grassroots innovation Daniel and Patrick met 15 years ago during iPad rollouts and have remained colleagues through every technology transition since. Their work proves that the future of AI in education won't be shaped by EdTech companies, it will be shaped by practitioners solving real problems together. Subscribe for more conversations about technology, education, and what's actually possible when educators lead the way.

    Building Their Own AI: How School Districts Are Going Beyond Vendors with Daniel Friedman and Dr. Patrick Fogarty
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Elevating AI in Education Welcome to AmpED to 11, the podcast where AI, education, and technology collide to reshape the future of learning. Hosted by EdTech experts Brett Roer and Rebecca Bultsma, AmpED to 11 brings you the latest insights, trends, and strategies in AI-powered education. We believe that education should never settle for "good enough." Each episode is packed with cutting-edge news, expert interviews, and actionable insights that will keep you ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving world of EdTech. Whether you're an educator, administrator, or EdTech professional, AmpED to 11 equips you with the tools to integrate AI into education and drive innovation. What You Can Expect: AI in Education: Stay up-to-date with the latest AI tools and trends that are transforming classrooms and educational technology. Expert Interviews: Brett leads in-depth conversations with top educators, innovators, and policymakers to explore how AI is shaping the future of learning. Tech Updates: Rebecca delivers the latest news and updates in AI and education, providing insights into new developments and practical applications for educators. Actionable Tips: Get real-world strategies and tools that you can immediately apply in your classroom or EdTech business to enhance learning outcomes. Why Listen? In each episode of AmpED to 11, you’ll: Learn how AI is revolutionizing education and how you can stay ahead. Gain practical insights from leaders in education and technology. Discover AI-powered tools and strategies to implement in your classroom or EdTech business. Meet the Hosts: Brett Roer is an EdTech visionary who excels at uncovering powerful stories in education and building connections with innovators. He’s committed to bridging the gap between technology and educators to enhance learning. Rebecca Bultsma is an educator and tech strategist with a talent for breaking down complex ideas into actionable insights. She helps educators integrate the latest technology and AI into their teaching, improving engagement and outcomes. Who Should Listen? AmpED to 11 is perfect for: Educators and administrators looking to integrate AI into their teaching. EdTech professionals seeking the latest industry trends and tools. Tech enthusiasts interested in the role of AI in the future of education. Join Brett and Rebecca as they turn the dial on education and AI, bringing you inspiring conversations and actionable advice to drive innovation in the classroom. Stay informed, stay inspired, and stay ahead of the curve with AmpED to 11.

Information

  • Creator
    Amplify and Elevate Innovation
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    43
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ©2024-2025 Amplify and Elevate Innovation
  • Show Website
    AmpED to 11

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