Merlyn Mind

This episode of Supervised Learning is for our Merlyn teachers out there. Whether you are getting a Merlyn unit for the first time, or you've had one and need some support and community, this episode has you covered. Learn tips, secrets, and stories for integrating Merlyn into the classroom.

Dana McJunkin-Smith is a 4th-grade teacher and Teacher Tech at Avalon Elementary in the Val Verde Unified School District. Dana received her Bachelor’s, Master’s, and teaching credentials at the University of La Verne. She is in her 15th year of teaching, the last year and a half of those years using Merlyn in her classroom. As a Teacher Tech, Dana has been an avid supporter in helping teachers facilitate learning by integrating technology into lesson design and empowering scholars to engage in selecting and using Ed Tech Tools to maximize learning. 

Dana McJunkin-Smith

Teacher (4th Grade), Avalon Elementary, Val Verde Unified School District

Wendy Pearson is the Teacher Training and Learning Programs Manager at Merlyn Mind.  She has over sixteen years experience as an educator and an instructional coach in brick and mortar and virtual educational settings. She coached and developed the pedagogical skills of pre-service teachers for six years as a mentor teacher for Brigham Young University.  Additionally, she spent eleven years developing and teaching virtual education programs as a High School English teacher, special education instructional facilitator, and high school instructional coach at Utah Virtual Academy for in-service educators in special and general educational contexts.

Wendy Pearson

Teacher Training and Learning Programs Manager, Merlyn Mind

Jess is a former Strategy Analyst at Merlyn Mind. Recently, she was an 8th-grade math teacher in Chelsea, Massachusetts during the pandemic, where she gained an interest in utilizing edtech to close student learning gaps. She holds her master's degree in education and bachelor's in economics from Harvard University. 

Jessica Williams

Strategy Analyst and Project Manager

Brian Fish has been a teacher for 14 years. He started his teaching journey in alternative education and moved into a comprehensive high school. He has taught ELA to freshmen all the way to seniors. Mr. Fish currently teaches AP Literature to seniors as well as the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum. He is passionate about what he does and believes that ed tech is the best way to prepare our students for jobs that may not even exist yet. Brian holds his master's in education from Brandman University. 

Brian Fish

Teacher (12th Grade), Rancho Verde High School, Val Verde Unified School District

This episode of Supervised Learning is for our Merlyn teachers out there. Whether you are getting a Merlyn unit for the first time, or you've had one and need some support and community, this episode has you covered. Jess and Wendy from Merlyn Mind sit down with Ms. Dana McJunkin-Smith and Mr. Brian Fish, classroom teachers in Val Verde, California to learn all their tips, secrets, and stories for integrating Merlyn into their classroom. Their main key to success? Engage your students in your Merlyn learning journey from day one. They will be your greatest supporters and you will give them 21st-century skills, leadership, and genuine inquiry opportunities. Sound daunting? Listen to the episode for practical steps on how they were able to maximize Merlyn and student potential. Dana and Brian will tell you: You'll know you're a Merlyn teacher when you are finally able to be a guide on the side with your students, rather than tethered to your computer as the sage on the stage.


Mastering Merlyn: Tips and stories from teachers maximizing their AI assistant

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Technology

About

Conversations with leaders in Artificial Intelligence, technology, and education.

Supervised Learning

Phil Harding was the first technologist to bring the internet to the schools in Val Verde, California in 1992. Ever since, he's been on a quest to put the latest technology into the hands of his teachers and students: email, file fetching, Google classroom, iPads, and today, the AI digital assistant for teachers. He went to Google and Alexa at first, but ran into roadblocks along the way. He almost gave up, until he met Merlyn Mind. Harding sits down with host, Levi Belnap and two other district and state California administrators, David Culberhouse and Geoff Belleau to talk about the considerations, challenges, and broader economic impacts of setting up an AI assistant for the classroom.

David Culberhouse has served twenty-seven years in the education profession as an elementary and secondary teacher, program specialist, elementary administrator, principal, and Senior Director of Elementary Education of a large urban district. At the County level, he has also served in the following capacities; Professional Learning Network (PLN) facilitator for the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE), Improvement Science facilitator for the California Improvement Collective, cohort facilitator for the National Institute of School Leadership (NISL), and facilitator for the San Bernardino County Assistant Superintendents Network. As well as speaking in a variety of arenas on the future of education and learning, he has authored three eBooks: The Changing Face of Modern Leadership, Scaling Creativity and Innovation, and Surviving and Thriving in VUCA World: In Consideration of Education in the Exponential Age. 

David Culberhouse

LCAP Program Manager, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools

Geoff Belleau has over 25 years of experience as a high school, middle-school, and elementary-school educator.  Before joining the Department of Education, he was a county office administrator, serving as program manager for instructional technology.  In this role, he coordinated instructional technology projects along with district IT administrators and worked with schools and districts on technology integration and professional development.  He has presented at several state and national education technology conferences and is a member of the Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership (TICAL) cadre.  As a semi active blogger he has also published several articles to help educators and administrators implement technology in the schools.

Geoff Belleau

Education Administrator, California Department of Education

Phil Harding is an educator with 30 years of experience and holds two MA degrees in Educational Technology and Public Policy and a CITE CCTO. In his current position, he manages a large group of technology integration experts and facilitates the district’s Future Ready Plan. He currently serves on the CUE Board of Directors and is CEO of Batcavephil Comics and Nostalgia LLC. He has an obsession with artificial intelligence which he believes will lead our nation into a transformative age during what he calls the Great Disruption.

Phil Harding

Technology Integration Specialist, Val Verde Unified School District

Phil Harding was the first technologist to bring the internet to the schools in Val Verde, California in 1992. Ever since, he's been on a quest to put the latest technology into the hands of his teachers and students: email, file fetching, Google classroom, iPads, and today, the AI digital assistant for teachers. He went to Google and Alexa at first, but ran into roadblocks along the way. He almost gave up, until he met Merlyn Mind. Harding sits down with host, Levi Belnap and two other district and state California administrators and experts, David Culberhouse and Geoff Belleau to talk about the considerations, challenges, and broader economic impacts of setting up an AI assistant for the classroom.


What Is AI in the Classroom and What Do Education Administrators Need To Consider?

What is AI in the Classroom and What Do Education Administrators Need To Consider?

In a rural North Carolina school district, two instructional technologists felt like they were building the plane as they flew it through the pandemic. Then, they were approached with piloting Merlyn, the first-of-its-kind AI assistant for teachers. They were hesitant: “I didn’t want to be the pilot for it [Merlyn], because we were already building a plane and now you guys just landed another heavy piece of equipment.”Today, they report even their most skeptical teachers can’t teach without it: “She said, ‘You are not leaving this room until you get this fixed.’” From keeping students on task to organizing Google Drives, teachers have found Merlyn to be a true teaching support, rather than another app with bells and whistles.How did their relationship with Merlyn and innovation change from “kicking and screaming” to believing? And what can other instructional technologists learn? Listen to our host, Levi Belnap, unpack their journey.

Donna Nichols is the Instructional Technology Facilitator at Caldwell County Schools, and she is celebrating her 17th year in education in the district. Donna was born and raised in Caldwell County, and enjoys helping teachers build better lessons and use technology effectively in the classroom. 

Donna Nichols

Instructional Technology Facilitator, Caldwell County Schools

Randy Seldomridge is the Instructional Technology/Media Coordinator for Caldwell County Schools.  This is his third year in this role and his twenty-sixth year with the school system.  Randy enjoys hiking, reading, trips to the beach, and couch surfing.  

Randy Seldomridge

Instructional Technology Coordinator, Caldwell County Schools

Levi Belnap

Chief Strategy Officer  and Head of Special Projects, Merlyn Mind

Donna Nichols and Randy Seldomridge from Caldwell County School District in North Carolina discuss their full circle journey with embracing Merlyn, an AI digital assistant for teachers. Nichols and Seldomridge discuss their roles as instructional technologists, the challenges they faced during the pandemic, and how they became champions of innovation in the classroom despite initial fears.


Kicking and Screaming to Believing: Two Instructional Technologists’ Journey Bringing AI to Their Classrooms

Two instructional technologists recount their journey embracing innovation with EdTech startup Merlyn Mind

Teachers are amazing, but they're not superhuman ... Michael B. Horn is a speaker and the author of several books, including the award-winning "Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns." "We've spent the last century-plus adding new responsibilities to a teacher's job," he says. "Every few years, we identify a new social ill ... and we say, 'Schoolteacher, that's now your job.' That's hard for a teacher. Turns out teachers are not super-human. They're people. Asking them to do all these things is a struggle. It can lead to burnout. That's a source of seeking to do things in different ways. To make their lives simpler and manageable."&nbsp;Listen as Michael and host Levi Belnap discuss innovation in education.

Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Special Projects, Merlyn Mind

Michael Horn speaks and writes about the future of education and works with a portfolio of education organizations to improve the life of each and every student.

Michael B. Horn

Speaker, Author

Teachers are amazing, but they're not superhuman ... Michael B. Horn is a speaker and the author of several books, including the award-winning "Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns." "We've spent the last century-plus adding new responsibilities to a teacher's job," he says. "Every few years, we identify a new social ill ... and we say, 'Schoolteacher, that's now your job.' That's hard for a teacher. Turns out teachers are not super-human. They're people. Asking them to do all these things is a struggle. It can lead to burnout. That's a source of seeking to do things in different ways. To make their lives simpler and manageable." Listen as Michael and host Levi Belnap discuss innovation in education.


The Opportunity at the Intersection of Innovation, Education, and Artificial Intelligence, a Conversation With Michael Horn

Dr. Peppler and Dr. Schindler from the University California, Irvine discuss the surprising findings that after just seven weeks of using Merlyn, an AI digital assistant in the classroom, there is a significant impact on decreasing stress, saving time, and improving instruction in the classroom.

Dr. Emily Schindler

Assistant Director of Creativity Labs at University of California, Irvine

Dr. Kylie Peppler

Professor of Informatics & Education at University of California, Irvine 

Chief Strategy Officer

Independent research by the University of California, Irvine academic researchers finds Merlyn, the AI digital assistant for teachers, helps teachers by decreasing stress, saving time, and improving instruction in the classroom.


Academic Research From the University of California, Irvine Finds an AI Digital Assistant Helps Teachers Decrease Stress and Save Time

Academic research on Merlyn the digital assistant for teachers finds it effective at helping teachers decrease stress, save time, and improve instruction for students.

How can we translate the thrilling advances at the forefront of the science of artificial intelligence into solutions that can make the world better today? In this episode, we explore the past, present, and future of AI and how translating AI into solutions to help people be more productive as they do work that is uniquely human is the future. Satya shares childhood stories about his obsession with science fiction and technology and how that led to his passion and career as a technologist. We get a front-row view to the exciting times at IBM as Watson beat Jeopardy! and the world saw the potential of AI. We also learn from the failures and difficult lessons learned in Satya's career that led to the foundational insights and inspiration for starting Merlyn Mind and building a digital assistant to help teachers.

Satya Nitta

Co-founder and CEO at Merlyn Mind

Chief Strategy Officer at Merlyn Mind

How can we translate the thrilling advances at the forefront of the science of artificial intelligence into solutions that can make the world better today? In this episode, we explore the past, present, and future of AI and how translating AI into solutions to help people be more productive as they do work that is uniquely human is the future. Satya shares childhood stories about his obsession with science fiction and technology and how that led to his passion and career as a technologist. We get a front-row view to the exciting times at IBM as Watson beat Jeopardy! and the world saw the potential of AI. We also learn from the failures and difficult lessons learned in Satya's career that led to the foundational insights and inspiration for starting Merlyn Mind and building a digital assistant to help teachers.


Episode #1: Translating AI To Make a Better World by Helping Teachers (The Merlyn Mind Story)

What is Merlyn Mind and how is it translating AI to help teachers? Co-founder & CEO, Satya Nitta, shares the story of Merlyn Mind, his vision for AI, and the exciting opportunity for AI and people to work better together in this episode of Supervised Learning.

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