AI for Educators: Professional Training & Curriculum
Evidence-Based Professional Development for Faculty & Staff
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This workshop introduces educators to AI tools reshaping classrooms and research. Participants will gain hands-on strategies to integrate AI ethically and effectively into their teaching and scholarship. You’ll leave confident in applying AI to enhance learning, streamline research, and strengthen your professional impact.
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This workshop focuses on how educators can use AI ethically to support research and research writing. Participants will explore tools like Consensus, Perplexity, and citation managers through guided demonstrations. You’ll leave with clear strategies to accelerate research, improve academic writing in English, and align your projects with career goals.
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This workshop introduces participants to the AI tools most educators are using today to support teaching and learning. You’ll explore how these tools can be applied in different contexts—from K-12 to higher education—and learn to make informed decisions about when and how to use them. The focus is on practical strategies you can apply immediately to enhance teaching, student engagement, and learning outcomes.
Your faculty are already encountering AI in classrooms, research, and administrative work. Give them the frameworks to engage strategically, ethically, and effectively—before policy questions become crises.
This professional development series builds institutional capacity for responsible AI integration while reducing faculty anxiety and workload, without undermining faculty expertise or academic integrity.
What Your Institution Gains
The AI for Educators Workshop Series
AI Tools in Education & Research
Faculty gain hands-on experience with AI tools reshaping teaching and scholarship. Through live demonstrations and guided practice, participants learn evaluation criteria, ethical integration strategies, and discipline-specific applications—from course design to research acceleration.
Outcomes: Immediate tool implementation, evaluation frameworks, institutional ethics guidelines
Using AI for Research & Writing in English
Particularly valuable for international faculty navigating publication. Demonstrates how AI can accelerate research and strengthen academic writing while maintaining scholarly integrity. Explores tools like Consensus, Perplexity, and advanced citation managers through actual research scenarios.
Outcomes: Reduced publication timelines, enhanced research productivity, clear ethical boundaries
Popular AI Tools Used by Educators
Survey of current AI landscape in K-12 and higher education. Faculty explore practical applications, learn informed tool selection, and understand when, how, and critically when NOT to use specific technologies.
Outcomes: Shared institutional literacy, classroom-ready strategies, future-proofing criteria
Flexible Implementation
Individual workshops or complete series
Department-specific or university-wide rollout
New faculty orientation integration
Professional development week intensive
Multi-week series with reflection/practice time
Custom combination based on institutional priorities
Why This Works
Designed by a linguist and curriculum specialist who understands how adults acquire professional competencies. Not a tech vendor pitch—this is educator-to-educator guidance grounded in pedagogical principles, tested with international faculty cohorts, and aligned with institutional values around integrity and student-centered teaching.
For Administration:
Proactive institutional positioning on AI (leadership vs. reaction)
Risk mitigation around academic integrity
Faculty recruitment/retention tool
Evidence of strategic institutional vision
For Departments:
Shared vocabulary for AI policy development
Consistent approaches to student AI use across courses
Documented professional development for promotion/tenure
Reduced time spent on individual trial-and-error
For Faculty:
Practical skills to streamline course preparation
Research acceleration through ethical AI use
Confidence navigating rapidly evolving technology
Community of practice around shared challenges
For Students:
Faculty equipped with current technological literacy
Clear, reasonable policies around AI in coursework
Learning experiences preparing them for AI-integrated careers
Modeling of responsible, critical technology use
💡 Individual Educators: Browse our self-paced courses for independent professional development you can complete on your own schedule.
Client Reviews
“The most useful course in recent memory. Thank you!”
— Senior Lecturer and participant in Popular AI Tools for Educators
“The teaching and presentation of materials is top-notch.”
— Senior Lecturer and participant in Popular AI Tools for Educators
“We love seeing how you’re integrating critical thinking and hands-on exploration of AI tools into your training. Empowering scholars to understand both the strengths and limitations of these technologies is such an important skill. Excited to see the impact of this series!”
— UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education
Meet Your Instructor
Meet Dr. Marinka Swift
I've spent 15+ years helping international educators navigate the exact challenges you're facing right now - from publishing in English to presenting research confidently to integrating AI tools without losing your authentic teaching voice.
Through my work designing professional English curriculum for UC Davis's Bolashak Scholars Program and training educators across diverse international contexts, I've learned what actually works for busy faculty juggling teaching, research, and professional development in a second (or third, fourth, fifth!) language.
My approach is grounded in real experience: I'm a language learner myself (C2-level Italian, intermediate Spanish), I've taught everyone from high schoolers to university faculty, and my research on language and belonging directly informs the practical strategies I teach.
These courses distill everything I've learned into actionable frameworks you can implement immediately - whether you're preparing for your next conference presentation, drafting a research paper, or building your professional network in English.