AmpED to 11

Amplify and Elevate Innovation
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Education
  • Updated Biweekly

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. Oct 12

    Teaching student teachers to extend their thinking with AI feedback with John Schembari

    Brett Roer came in ready to talk about what an AI moratorium breaks. Rebecca Bultsma wanted to talk about what the rush toward AI already broke. He had just left a New York City middle school, two weeks into the year, trying to live inside a pause that showed up after the summer work was done. The curriculum is on screens. The approved tools are off. Students can still open an unvetted tool at home. Brett wants a way to teach this without getting students in trouble for the assignment. Rebecca will not let that scramble settle the question. Schools have stacked vendors, screens, and spending, and she thinks a pause might be how you find out which of it was ever for students. A moratorium, she argues, is only as useful as the year a school spends inside it. Brett wants the answer. She holds the question open on purpose. John Schembari, a school improvement consultant who advises student teachers at Brooklyn College, steps into that argument. Fire is his comparison for AI. He does not want teachers to become the AI police. He does think they have to teach the difference between AI that extends a student's thinking and AI that replaces it. Brett says that line pushed him in a way he was not hoping to be pushed. Do not stop there. Brett still has the Briarcliff story: students who once called AI rules a rollercoaster, and who now say there isn't one. A few of them add the line a policy memo never includes. They are not sure they need the AI their teachers just allowed. Then the guest takes the host chair, and the questions belong to Brett and Rebecca. In this episode, you'll hear: A pause, as it felt in one school two weeks into the yearWhere Brett and Rebecca refuse to landAn equity question that is not about accessStudents who got clear rules and still hesitatedThe stretch where the hosts have to answer Subscribe to AmpED to 11, and stay through the chair switch. That is the part worth the rest of the episode.

    Teaching student teachers to extend their thinking with AI feedback with John Schembari

  2. Sep 28

    Why not all screen time is equal with Dewayne McClary

    How can state education leaders create consistent standards without limiting local innovation? Brett Roer and Rebecca Bultsma welcome Dewayne McClary, Deputy State Superintendent at the Virginia Department of Education, to explore the policies, partnerships and practical decisions shaping the future of learning across the commonwealth. Dewayne traces his path from teaching at the rural South Carolina middle school he once attended to leadership roles in Arlington Public Schools, DC Public Schools and Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools. He explains his approach of “creating floors and not ceilings”: setting a strong statewide standard while giving school divisions room to go further. In this episode, you’ll learn: How flexible seat-time policies can support competency-based learningWhy micro-credentials should connect directly to what students need beyond the classroomWhat Dewayne means by designing systems at the marginWhy auditing screen time can be more useful than debating itWhat AI cannot replace in education, explained through Dewayne’s muffin, icing and cupcake analogyHow an AI-powered transportation tool changed his thinking about student trackingWho belongs in Dewayne’s “Ocean’s 11” network of trusted education leadersWhat happens when Dewayne takes the host chair and questions Brett and Rebecca Tune in for a candid conversation about innovation, AI, accountability and building education systems that give every learner a strong foundation without placing a ceiling on what is possible. Subscribe to AmpED to 11 and share the episode with an education leader in your network.

    Why not all screen time is equal with Dewayne McClary

  3. Sep 14

    The three horizons of education, according to Babak Mostaghimi

    When a superintendent told Babak Mostaghimi, “I think we’re Blockbuster Video, and Netflix is coming,” it became a warning, and an invitation, to rethink education before the future arrived. In this episode, Babak joins Brett Roer and Rebecca Bultsma to explore why improving the existing school system is no longer enough. He breaks down LearnerStudio’s three horizons of education, from the industrial factory model to a future designed around human flourishing, agency, and lifelong learning. They also unpack the growing tech clash in education: nostalgic humanists who want to remove technology altogether, techno-nihilists who want to automate everything, and the human-centered middle way between them. From screen time and AI literacy to creativity, collaboration, data sovereignty, and the skills students need for an uncertain future, the conversation asks a bigger question: Are we using AI to deepen humanity, or replace it? Midway through, Babak takes over as host and puts Brett and Rebecca in the hot seat. What you’ll learn: The three horizons of education, and why reform can only go so farWhy changing the architecture matters more than adding new content or toolsHow the “swim, snorkel, scuba” framework explains different levels of AI literacyWhy blanket screen bans and unrestricted technology use both miss the pointHow schools can design for agency, lifelong learning, and human flourishingWhy the right questions may be more useful than one standardized AI policy Tune in for a wide-ranging conversation about redesigning education for the world students are already entering.

    The three horizons of education, according to Babak Mostaghimi

  4. Aug 31

    Curiosity, big feelings, and what kids need from adults with Dr. Donna Housman

    What does a baby's face tell us about children and screens? More than any statistic on AI use. Dr. Donna Housman, clinical psychologist and founder of Housman Learning, has spent over 35 years studying what children need to grow, learn, and thrive. Her answer starts long before any device enters the room. Emotional intelligence isn't downloadable. It has to be built first, or AI risks becoming a substitute for a child's own thinking. Brett Roer and Rebecca Bultsma sit down with Dr. Housman to explore why kids are turning to AI as a companion, how to tell curiosity from big feelings, and why funding the adults around a child is prevention, not repair. In this episode: Why EQ has to develop before AI enters a child's lifeWhat's driving children toward AI as a companion instead of a personHow to tell curiosity and big feelings apart, and what each one needsWhat the Still Face Experiment reveals about screens and connectionWho's responsible for protecting a three-year-old in an AI world Subscribe for more, and share this episode with someone shaping the next generation.

    Curiosity, big feelings, and what kids need from adults with Dr. Donna Housman

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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
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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
    47
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ©2024-2025 Amplify and Elevate Innovation
  • Show Website
    AmpED to 11

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