Finding In-Roads: My District’s Practical Progress toward AI Adoption

Note: This piece was written by a member of Illinois’ education community, with assistance from artificial intelligence and editorial support from the LTC. The views expressed in this article do not reflect those of the Learning Technology Center, its team, or its partners.

***

Walk into any school today and you’ll hear the same questions echoing in staff rooms and strategy meetings: What does AI mean for education? How will AI impact our classrooms? Where do we even begin?

Even so, earning teacher buy-in is another open question. From my experience, getting educators on board with AI – or any new technology – requires intention, patience, and, most importantly, connection.

That all starts with an in-road.

Step into a current educator’s shoes for a moment (or take a look at your own). In addition to numerous other pressures and imperatives, teachers are being asked to both embrace AI in their teaching practice and address its growing importance in their curriculum.

That’s a big ask, one that some educators might push back against if they don’t feel prepared or don’t feel this technology shift is relevant to their work.

In-roads break through that apprehension and disengagement by meeting staff where they are and charting a course toward a shared goal. When it comes to adopting AI, in-roads are indispensable at every stage. They offer hesitant educators a helping hand and an understanding ear that allows you to move forward together while still keeping effective adoption at the forefront.

Making in-roads toward AI adoption can look different from school to school. But no matter how large or small your school is, relationships are key. You have to get to know your staff (just like instructional coaches do) and demonstrate that you’re committed to their success, not just pushing your own goal.

Having worked in my district for decades, I know a lot of staff already. I genuinely love to ‘collect’ people. If you’re not as tenured, try identifying someone in your district who befriends everyone. They will be a valuable ally that can leverage their existing rapport to strengthen your in-roads.

In those meetings, I’d open with a broad question like these, allowing their needs or concerns to guide the conversation:

• • • “Do you use your MacBook or iPad to teach?”
    • “Have you tried any GenAI yet?”
    • “Did you know your Macbook has fingerprint entry?”
    • “What’s something frustrating about the technology you use everyday?”

Helping staff with small things, like using MacBook gestures more efficiently or setting up fingerprint login, made tech PD approachable and fun. Those conversations became openings to talk about AI and made participants more willing to hear me out in the long run.

No matter what we talked about, I always keep these conversations VERY informal. The goal is always to start small and build from there. Following up individually is also key, even if I spoke with an  individual in a large group setting. These follow-up emails (automated using Gmail templates) routinely spark new meetings with that person or their team, often with an invitation to dive deeper on a topic.

Just like that, I’m in.

AI can be abstract. Another way to start or continue an in-road is by getting practical and showing educators how AI can save them effort or enhance their existing teaching goals.

Don’t overlook this potent strategy. From your teachers’ perspective, it can reframe the usefulness of AI in their teaching practice. One use can lead to two, then three, then a broadened willingness to adopt future AI-powered solutions. Along the way, you’ve scaffolded their understanding and expanded their capacity – starting from the ground up.

From that in-road, I returned to that group and demonstrated how Google Gemini could be utilized in many of the Google apps they already used to teach. Utilizing AI was no longer so inaccessible to them because they trusted me and trusted that my solutions could realistically meet their needs.

There’s more to creating and sustaining in-roads that support AI adoption. I’ll cover more outreach strategies in my IETC session, “Finding In-Roads: Supporting Staff with Instructional Technology.”

There, I’ll dig into how my team built flexible PD structures to meet staff where they are, with a focus on building relationships and providing practical solutions. I’ll also share how I used personalized tech support as an in-road and department-based outreach to roll out tools like Gemini and ChatGPT for iPad.

Before then, you can learn more on my personal website. Many of my resources were developed for teachers outside my district – perfect for those without formal AI support who want to get started with ethical, classroom-ready tools.