AI in Education Certificate Program
Engage with experts and colleagues to understand the foundations of AI in Education to impact teaching and learning in the K-12 classroom.
Start Date:
September 24, 2025
Earn:
Certificate and Continuing Education Units
Modality:
Weekly online course
Total Cost:
$2,500 – $2,700
10% Early bird discount until August 09, 2025
Overview
No matter what they teach, every educator has asked themselves the same question in the last year or two: how does generative AI impact my class? Teachers must address the tension created by this new digital technology, determining when its use supports learning authentically and when it undermines necessary skill building for their students, and providing students with essential AI literacy. The UCI School of Education’s Teacher Academy and UCI Digital Learning Lab have created a three-course certificate program to support educators to understand the research and practical application of AI for teaching and learning. Educators will understand the fundamentals of AI in education to support access for all learners and have the opportunity to develop practical applications for their classrooms and schools in collaboration with colleagues.
Courses for AI in Education Certificate Program
Foundations of AI for Education
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Teach the fundamentals of AI to K-12 students
- Articulate their position on AI-enhanced education to stakeholders
- Demonstrate how they will educate students to use AI ethically
- Use research-based best practices in deciding if, when, and how to incorporate generative AI into their classroom
- Network with other educators to continue to grow in their understanding and practical application of AI-enhanced education
AI-Enhanced learning
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Discuss the impact AI is making in classrooms and explore how AI is being used in classrooms in their subject matter
- Evaluate AI tools using a self-created rubric
- Develop a unit that incorporates AI use by students for their classroom
- Apply research-based pedagogy to their classroom AI use by teaching students to think first, prompt iteratively, use their agency to refine AI-output, corroborate AI output, and reflect on their AI use
- Create materials to support students’ understanding of AI’s risks and limitations
- Network with other educators to continue to grow in their understanding and practical application of AI-enhanced education
AI-Enhanced Teaching
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand and evaluate available AI tools that support teaching
- Use AI to enhance their curriculum and create instructional resources that support, rather than offload, student learning and skill building
- Differentiate materials to meet student needs efficiently and effectively
- Assess student learning with the use of AI tools
- Build an AI tool to use in the classroom
- Network with other educators to continue to grow in their understanding and practical application of AI-enhanced education
Course 1:
Foundations of AI for Education
Cost: $900
Meeting dates: September 24 to December 6, 2025
Synchronous Meeting Time: Wednesday, 4:00 to 5:30 PT
Units: 3 Quarter units from UCI Division of Continuing Education
Course 2:
AI-Enhanced Learning
Cost: $900
Meeting dates: January 4 to March 14, 2026
Synchronous Meeting Time: Wednesday, 4:00 to 5:30 PT
Units: 3 Quarter units from UCI Division of Continuing Education
Course 3:
AI-Enhanced Teaching
Cost: $900
Meeting dates: March 15 to May 29, 2026
Synchronous Meeting Time: Wednesday, 4:00 to 5:30 PT
Units: 3 Quarter units from UCI Division of Continuing Education
Enroll now for all three courses $2,500 total cost
Synchronous Meeting Time: 4:00-5:30 PT
Synchronous Meeting dates: September 24, 2025 – May 29, 2026
Units: 9 Quarter units from UCI Division of Continuing Education
Register in groups of 5 or more and get a 10% discount using the code: 5plus
*Group discount cannot be stacked with the early bird discount.
Why this program is for K-12 Educators
- Practical and actionable focus
- Research-based curriculum that integrates evolving best practices
- Course co-created with practicing K-12 teachers
- Focus on ethics and equity to support all students as learners
- Personalized and differentiated learning
- Hands-on AI tool exploration and creation
- Development of authentic projects, such as lessons, rubrics, and AI tools
Who should attend
- K-12 teachers and administrators
- Instructional technology specialists for K-12
- After-school providers who create student programs
Instructors
Dana Saito Stehberger, Ed.D.
Director of Curriculum & Instruction, Digital Learning Lab
Dana Saito-Stehberger researches how teachers are integrating AI into their classrooms and how to support them in that process. More than 200,000 learners have enrolled in Coursera courses that she has designed. Dana has taught elementary and secondary school in Costa Rica, Germany, Utah, and California.
Joaquin Alvarado, M.S.
Instructional Coach & Science Teacher
Joaquin Alvarado is an instructional coach and high school science teacher with extensive experience integrating educational technology to enhance student learning. He is passionate about empowering educators to use AI tools to create more engaging, personalized, and effective instruction.
Meagan Lupinacci, M.S.
Instructional Designer & Teacher
Meagan Lupinacci is a mission-driven educator with over five years of K–8 teaching experience in public, private, and expanded learning environments. She is passionate about personalized instruction, educational technology, incorporating the arts, and collaborating with teachers to support student growth and engagement.
Tamara Tate, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Digital Learning Lab
Tamara Tate leads the Lab’s work on generative AI and writing and is the PI of a NSF-funded grant to do so. Her research focuses on technology-supported learning, school-based digital literacy interventions, and analysis of digital writing.
Mark Warschauer, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Education, UC Irvine
As Director of UCI’s Digital Learning Lab, Mark has led professional development programs for digital and AI-based learning reaching thousands of teachers throughout the world. He was formerly a Spanish Bilingual Math and ESL teacher in San Francisco Unified School District.
Christina Cantrill, M.Ed.
Director of Community Partnerships, National Writing Project
Christina Cantrill leads strategic initiatives to connect the NWP’s network of writing project sites and educators with key partners and opportunities. With a background in Connected Learning, Christina co-leads a Digital Discourse research-practice partnership grant, represents NWP on a variety of national digital literacy committees, and meets weekly with teachers to explore the implications of AI on the teaching of writing.
Digital Learning Lab
Founded by Mark Warschauer, Distinguished Professor of Education at UCI, the Digital Learning Lab develops and researches the use of digital tools to improve teaching and learning for diverse students. Because generative AI represents a powerful tool for transforming how people teach and learn, the Lab is carrying out research and development to ensure that the disruptive power of generative AI is harnessed for beneficial ends. We view AI literacy as a vital component of digital literacy, encompassing understanding, accessing, prompting, corroborating, and incorporating AI-generated texts — and we view these new forms of AI literacy as a key element of instruction. With funding from the National Science Foundation, UCI Beall Applied Innovation, and the Learning Agency, we are iteratively developing an instructional AI platform, PapyrusAI, and researching its use in K-12 and college classrooms. Working hand in hand with teachers, students, and the community, the Lab builds and supports human-centered, research-based technology for learning.
National Writing Project
Through its mission, the National Writing Project (NWP) focuses the knowledge, expertise, and leadership of our nation’s educators on sustained efforts to help youth become successful writers and learners. NWP supports a network of local Writing Project sites, located on over 150 university and college campuses, to provide high-quality professional development in schools, universities, libraries, museums, and after-school programs. Through its many successful programs and partnerships, the organization reaches 6 million Pre-K through college-age students in over 2,000 school districts annually and prepares 2,500 new teacher-leaders each year. NWP envisions a future where every person is an accomplished writer, engaged learner, and active participant in a digital, interconnected world. Learn more at https://www.nwp.org/
Email Us
For more information or questions, email us at teacheracademy@uci.edu