Early Education in the Age of AI

Jodie Clarke - The Empowered Educator
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Education
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to the 'Early Education in the Age of AI' podcast. Join me (Jodie from The Empowered Educator Website) each week, as I break down early education topics and strategies into simple steps that empower educators, teachers and leaders to confidently embrace, adapt and master the use of ethical AI strategies to support early learning.In every show you'll get new prompts, tips and realistic examples to try from a certified AI ChatGPT expert AND early childhood professional with over 30 years experience, that you can use to make your planning, documentation and day to day practice easier with AI as an educational assistant by your side. I can't wait to inspire you with the possibilities!

  1. 4d ago

    More Play, Less Stuff : Open-Ended Play With What You Already Have

    Before you buy another play resource or turn the recycling box into an adult-led craft project, look at what children are already trying to do. In this episode, Jodie shows how ordinary boxes, cardboard and familiar containers can support more meaningful open-ended play, with an optional way to use AI when you need help seeing new possibilities. You’ll hear how to: ✅ Choose materials for what children can do with them rather than deciding the finished activity first ✅ Keep setup and storage realistic for family day care, centres, preschool and OSHC ✅ Notice when children take the play somewhere completely different from your plan ✅ Use a simple AI prompt to widen your options without inventing learning outcomes ✅ Make space for different ways children can join the same play Resources Mentioned: 📩 Get the FREE weekly Play Post Newsletter HERE 💻 Open the Epsiode 57 Resource Page HERE 💬 Let’s Connect! If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator... 💻 Not sure how AI can support you in your role? Discover what’s possible with the interactive guide... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI 📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies 📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. #aiforeducators #earlylearning #aiineducation #aiempowerededucators #edtech #aiforteachers #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #ECEC #eylf #earlychildhoodeducation

    More Play, Less Stuff : Open-Ended Play With What You Already Have

  2. Aug 27

    What 30 Years in ECEC Taught Me About Child Observations

    🟢 A painted handprint can look ordinary. But when a child who usually avoids paint on their skin chooses to make one, wash their hands and then return to make another, the real story is not the handprint. It is the change that an educator who knows that child can recognise. In this episode, Jodie shares five small moments from more than 30 years experience across long day care, community preschool, family day care, occasional care, in-home care and OSHC. Together, they show what experienced observation looks like and why AI can help with writing the words only after an educator has understood the significance of the moment. You’ll Hear How To: ✅ Recognise a meaningful change behind an ordinary activity ✅ Read noise, pace, movement and group dynamics as part of the observation ✅ Decide when stepping back gives a child room to make their next move ✅ Use family conversations to understand new play without jumping to conclusions ✅ Keep observation rosters from becoming the reason an observation exists ✅ Place AI later in the workflow, after presence, context and the educator's decision ✅ Check AI-assisted wording with the 3-Question Quality Check ✅ Jodie also shares three private sentence starters to help you notice the ‘behind the scenes’ knowledge you already hold about a child. 🖐️ Open the Episode 56 Resource Page Here For more practical conversations about where AI can help and where educator knowledge comes first, follow Early Education in the Age of AI and visit The Empowered Educator online. 💬 Let’s Connect! If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator... 💻 Not sure how AI can support you in your role? Discover what’s possible with the interactive guide... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI 📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies 📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. #aiforeducators #earlylearning #aiineducation #aiempowerededucators #edtech #aiforteachers #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #ECEC #eylf #earlychildhoodeducation

    What 30 Years in ECEC Taught Me About Child Observations

  3. Aug 21

    When an Activity Doesn’t Engage - How AI Can Help

    🟢 You’ve prepared the natural materials, arranged the invitation to play and pictured the learning that might follow. Then the children walked straight past it. Ever experienced that moment? That table no one is engaging with is not a verdict on your planning. It’s useful information, especially when you pause long enough to notice what the children chose instead. In this episode, I share a practical way to reflect on an activity, play invitation or part of the environment that didn't engage children as you expected. I’ll walk you through a fictional preschool example, my own story about handmade paint stampers from a TAFE prac day, and AI prompts you can copy that help you consider possibilities and reflect on practise without needing to invent explanations about children. 🟢 You’ll Find Out How To: ✨ Separate what you planned from what you actually observed ✨ Notice when a conclusion such as “they were bored” has slipped into the evidence ✨ Ask what the children chose instead before replacing an activity ✨ Give an AI tool enough context without including identifying information about a child ✨ Request possible interpretations, evidence to watch for and one small test ✨ Check whether an AI suggestion fits the children, room and practical conditions ✨ Avoid confident child explanations, extra adult direction and unnecessary shopping lists ✨ Apply the 3-Question Quality Check to any AI-assisted reflection 🟢 Resources Mentioned 🔗 AI Empowered Educators Membership Info Page : https://www.theempowerededucatoronline.com/ai-membership-gold-registration/ 🔗 Episode 55 resource page and copyable reflection prompts: https://theempowerededucatoronline.com/2026/08/when-children-ignore-an-activity.html/ 🔗 Episode 53, Stop Asking AI for 10 Activity Ideas - Do This Instead: https://theempowerededucatoronline.com/2026/08/better-ai-prompts-early-childhood-activity-ideas.html/ 🔗 Episode 54, Make Your Own Printables With AI: 4 Free Resource Ideas: https://theempowerededucatoronline.com/2026/08/make-printables-with-ai-educators.html/ 💬 Let’s Connect! If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator... 💻 Not sure how AI can support you in your role? Discover what’s possible with the interactive guide... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI 📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies 📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. #aiforeducators #earlylearning #aiineducation #aiempowerededucators #edtech #aiforteachers #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #ECEC #eylf #earlychildhoodeducation

    When an Activity Doesn’t Engage - How AI Can Help

  4. Aug 14

    Make Your Own Printables With AI : 4 Easy Ideas

    🟣 Have you ever downloaded a 27-page printable pack when you only needed five little cards? In this episode of Early Education in the Age of AI, I explain how to use free AI tools to make small, practical resources that match a real need you have noticed in your educational setting. You'll hear a step by step walkthrough of four complete examples: A visual arrival routine for a child who loves green tree frogs,Recycling matching cards for a mixed-age family day care groupBlock-area shelf labels in English and home languagesAn original felt-board story set featuring 'Willa Worm'. You'll Find Out: ✅ The six essentials that help an AI tool understand the job ✅ How to use ChatGPT or Gemini for ideas and image pieces ✅ Why Canva is often the better place to add words, labels and translations. Clarify what the updated Regulation 168 and the 2026 device rules mean for images of children, why the interest belongs to the child but the television character belongs to someone else, and the four complete prompts I used to make the examples on the resource page. 🟣 Visit the episode resource page HERE for all four copy-ready prompts, visual examples, the interactive Willa Worm felt-board story, Sally's printable arrival story, beginner tool links, current child-image and device guidance. 🔗 Links mentioned: Images in ChatGPTChatGPT Free Tier FAQCreate and edit images with Gemini AppsCanva FreeCanva Education eligibilityCanva Templates for EducatorsStaffroom Session A: Digital Technologies, Policy into Practice 💬 Let’s Connect! If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator... 💻 Not sure how AI can support you in your role? Discover what’s possible with the interactive guide... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI 📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies 📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. #aiforeducators #earlylearning #aiineducation #aiempowerededucators #edtech #aiforteachers #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #ECEC #eylf #earlychildhoodeducation

    Make Your Own Printables With AI : 4 Easy Ideas

  5. Aug 3

    Stop Asking AI for Activity Ideas & Do This Instead

    🟢 “Give me 10 activity ideas for toddlers” feels like a sensible shortcut. Then the AI hands back the same boring list of ideas you could have come up with yourself in a few minutes, with no real connection to your children, your room or why you are planning the experience. That sort of prompt, when given to an AI tool, is the reason so many educators try AI once and decide it is overrated! In Episode 53 of Early Education in the Age of AI, I explain why the problem is usually not a lack of AI creativity. It's instructions with no background information, no observed learning notes and no clear job for the AI assistant to complete for you. If AI is giving you lists of activity ideas you could have found yourself on a 2014 Pinterest board, then this episode gives you a fix to try. Visit the episode resource page here 🟢Find Out How To : Recognise the three gaps that appear inside the generic activity-ideas prompt most educators are usingUse the four-part EASE framework step by step to make effective prompting easier;Turn one observation into a more useful forward planning conversation;Ask AI to extend an interest, deepen your thinking or work within real barriers you're facing;Include ratios, materials, space, time, mess and budget in the prompt instructionsCheck quickly whether the answer is accurate, sounds like you and fits this child or group;Keep personal and sensitive information out of public or unapproved AI tools;Save useful prompts to reuse over and over again with a simple copy and paste. The episode includes a complete before-and-after example walkthrough using all the strategies shared so you can visualise it in action. I also share a simple ECEC-friendly sentence to add to a prompt when the week is difficult that tells the AI what to drop from your program if the day isn't going as planned! **This episode provides general professional learning. Always use your own common sense and follow your service's approved process, educational philosophy and applicable privacy requirements. 💬 Let’s Connect! If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator... 💻 Not sure how AI can support you in your role? Discover what’s possible with the interactive guide... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI 📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies 📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. #aiforeducators #earlylearning #aiineducation #aiempowerededucators #edtech #aiforteachers #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #ECEC #eylf #earlychildhoodeducation

    Stop Asking AI for Activity Ideas & Do This Instead

  6. Jul 24

    The 5-Minute AI Readiness Test for Your ECE Team

    🟢 Ask five people on your team whether AI can help write a learning story. Would you hear one shared approach, or five different versions of the rules? In this episode of Early Education in the Age of AI, Jodie gives you a practical five-minute activity for finding the gaps before they become everyday habits. It is not a pass/fail test for educators. It is a quick check of whether your service has made its expectations clear enough to use. You will learn how to: ✨ Identify which AI-assisted tasks your service has actually approved; ✨ Explain why removing a child’s name may not fully de-identify the information; ✨ Make the checking and approval step visible; ✨ Respond when AI output is inaccurate, biased or inappropriate; ✨ Clarify who approves tools and where educators can find that decision; ✨ Sort answers as aligned, partly aligned, or contradictory and unclear; ✨ Choose one shared rule instead of trying to write an entire AI policy in one meeting; ✨ Adapt the activity for long day care, preschool, family day care and OSHC/OOSH. Jodie also explains why one confident AI champion does not make a whole service AI ready, and why “I don’t know” can be one of the most useful answers a leader receives. 🔴 This episode provides general professional learning and is not legal advice. Check your service requirements, approved-provider directions and applicable state or territory guidance. 💬 Let’s Connect! If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator... 💻 Not sure how AI can support you in your role? Discover what’s possible with the interactive guide... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI 📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies 📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. #aiforeducators #earlylearning #aiineducation #aiempowerededucators #edtech #aiforteachers #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #ECEC #eylf #earlychildhoodeducation

    The 5-Minute AI Readiness Test for Your ECE Team

  7. Jul 10

    The AI Resistant Educator Your Service Needs

    🟣 There's an educator on almost every team like Deb. Twenty-six years in the sector, a decade in the same toddler room, and the first time AI use came up at a staff meeting, she crossed her arms and said, "Over my dead body." Six months later, her director told Jodie that Deb was the best thing that ever happened to their AI policy. This episode is about what happens when you stop trying to convince your most cautious educator and start asking them to help write the rules instead. ✅ In this episode, you'll learn to: Recognise why resistance to AI is usually protective, not ignorantReframe a skeptical team member's caution as a role instead of an obstacleApply the three-question test to any AI-assisted documentation: is it accurate, does it sound like the educator who knows this child, could you swap in another child's name and have it still fitBuild the never-share rule into your own AI conversations with your teamUnderstand why the strongest guardrails often come from the most cautious person in the roomGive a skeptical educator a real job in your policy creation, not a token oneStart the five-minute conversation that could shape your service's best safety ruleHear direct reassurance for every educator who still feels like Deb Resources mentioned: 🔗 Episode 51 Resource Page & Article 🔗 AI Readiness Consultation, a one-off session to map where your service's AI use stands and the priorities to work on next 🔗 The Empowered Educator's AI Empowered Educators membership (training library, AI chat assistants and done for you style AI SmartForms) 🟣 Find your own 'Deb' this week. Have a five-minute chat, not to convince them of anything, just to ask what worries them most and what they'd want you to protect. Then listen. #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #earlychildhoodeducation #eylf #eyfs #educationalleadership #childcareleadership #ecetraining #aiforteachers 💬 Let’s Connect! If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator... 💻 Not sure how AI can support you in your role? Discover what’s possible with the interactive guide... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI 📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies 📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. #aiforeducators #earlylearning #aiineducation #aiempowerededucators #edtech #aiforteachers #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #ECEC #eylf #earlychildhoodeducation

    The AI Resistant Educator Your Service Needs

  8. Jul 3

    Why “Use AI Where Helpful” Isn’t Enough

    🟢 There's a good chance that somewhere in your service's policies right now, there's a sentence that sounds a bit like this: "Staff may use digital tools, including AI, where it supports their work." It sounds reasonable. But since the child safety reforms tightened the rules on digital technology and online environments, that one reasonable-sounding sentence might be exactly what catches your service out at your next assessment and rating. In this episode, I unpack what's actually changed since September 2025, why a values-based policy line won't hold up under Regulation 168(2), and the one simple, half-hour action that starts closing the gap on your own terms. 🟢 In this episode, you'll learn to: ✨ Understand what changed under Regulation 168(2) and why "having a nice belief about technology" is no longer enough ✨ Tell the difference between a value and a procedure in your own policy wording ✨ Apply the three-question test to any policy line ✨ Spot the AI already hiding inside apps you use every day, even when nobody called it "AI" ✨ Ask any provider the three questions that sort the safe features from the not-yet-safe ones ✨ Turn a vague policy into a shared, dated conversation your whole team can stand behind ✨ Start with one sentence instead of a whole-policy rewrite ✨ Build trust through clarity, not just compliance 🟢 Resources & Support Mentioned In this Episode 🔗 The AI Empowered Educators Membership 🔗 Episode 50 Resource Page #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #earlychildhoodeducation #digitaltechnologypolicy #childsafety #ecetraining #aiforteachers 💬 Let’s Connect! If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator... 💻 Not sure how AI can support you in your role? Discover what’s possible with the interactive guide... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI 📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies 📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. #aiforeducators #earlylearning #aiineducation #aiempowerededucators #edtech #aiforteachers #earlyeducationintheageofai #empowerededucator #ECEC #eylf #earlychildhoodeducation

    Why “Use AI Where Helpful” Isn’t Enough
See All (57)

About

Welcome to the 'Early Education in the Age of AI' podcast. Join me (Jodie from The Empowered Educator Website) each week, as I break down early education topics and strategies into simple steps that empower educators, teachers and leaders to confidently embrace, adapt and master the use of ethical AI strategies to support early learning.In every show you'll get new prompts, tips and realistic examples to try from a certified AI ChatGPT expert AND early childhood professional with over 30 years experience, that you can use to make your planning, documentation and day to day practice easier with AI as an educational assistant by your side. I can't wait to inspire you with the possibilities!

Information

  • Creator
    Jodie Clarke - The Empowered Educator
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    57
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Empowered Educator All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    Early Education in the Age of AI