About this episode

In this episode, Dan Thomas discusses AI literacy and student engagement with educator Matt Miller, emphasizing the importance of thoughtful instructional design.

What does student engagement actually mean? And when AI can generate lessons, feedback, images, and activities in seconds, how do we make sure students are still doing the thinking? In this episode, I sit down with Matt Miller , educator, speaker, author, and founder of Ditch That Textbook , to talk about practical instructional design, AI literacy, and why new technology should never become the goal of the lesson. Matt shares how Ditch That Textbook began in his high school Spanish classroom, where he realized that following the textbook was not helping students actually communicate. That realization led him to experiment with more conversational, creative, tactile, and technology-supported learning. We also dig into Matt’s new book, AI Literacy in Any Class , and how teachers can build AI literacy through small, intentional moments inside their existing curriculum—not through another isolated initiative or standalone course. Why engagement is more than students being quiet, busy, or entertained How to evaluate whether a worksheet, tool, or activity actually produces worthwhile thinking Why teachers should not force AI into lessons that already work How AI can serve as a…

Topics covered

• AI literacy
• student engagement
• instructional design
• technology in education
• creative learning
• critical thinking

Keywords

• AI literacy
• student engagement
• instructional design
• technology
• creative learning
• critical thinking
• Ditch That Textbook

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