A Microcredential Takes Educators From AI Anxiety To Agency

IDEAS

A microcredential takes educators from AI anxiety to agency

By Elizabeth Radday, Matt Mervis, Jennifer Preuss and Ryan Carey

Categories: Learning designs, Technology

February 2026

Many school districts face common challenges in navigating AI use, including disagreement about the appropriate role for AI, lack of clear policies, widely varying skillsets among educators, and inconsistency within and across schools. To address these challenges, EdAdvance, one of the six non-profit Regional Educational Service Centers in Connecticut, created an AI in K-12 Education microcredential course. Through a partnership with Southern Connecticut State University’s Office of Workforce and Lifelong Learning, participants who complete the six-week course earn a Credly microcredential badge. Over 600 educators from 15 states and three countries have taken the microcredential course to date. With the knowledge they build in the course, they are building scalable and sustainable systems of AI adoption and use that honor teacher agency and active learning.

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AI in K-12 Education microcredential modules and activities

Module 1: Foundations

What is AI?

Machine learning

Ethical navigator

AI quests from Google Gemini

Module 2: AI Risks

Hallucinations

Deep fakes

The environment

AI companions

Bias

Academic integrity

Module 3: Prompting Pros

Prompting 101

Three types of prompts (clerk, colleague, coach)

Zero shot, single shot, multishot prompting

Using vision in prompting

NotebookLM

Prompting with unstructured data

Differentiation of texts

Gems and custom GPTs

Module 4: Shifting Assessments

Creating durable assessments and activities

Auditing assignment and assessments

The AI assessment scale (from Leon Furze)

Deep research and the future of assessment

Module 5: Multimedia

Creating images

Creating audio

Creating video

Voice in and voice out

Gamma multimedia presentations

Napkin AI

Module 6: Future Focus

Adaptive leadership

AI literacy

AI policy

Student-facing AI

Frontier models versus wrappers

Elizabeth Radday

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Dr. Liz Radday is the Director of Research and Innovation at EdAdvance. She is the co-host of ChatEDU, recently rated as the #1 podcast on AI in Education by Forbes magazine. She works throughout CT and the United States with schools on using artificial intelligence through keynotes, collaborative planning and instruction. Dr. Radday recently published her first book, Learning They'll Love: Engage Students, Meet Standards, and Spark Creativity with Personal Interest Projects.

Matt Mervis

+ posts

Matt Mervis is co-host of the ChatEDU podcast and Director of AI Strategy at EdAdvance, Matt works with schools, higher education, workforce organizations, and corporate partners to support the responsible adoption of generative AI. Matt brings experience as a teacher, district technology director, professional development leader, and product developer, and is a frequent national speaker to diverse audiences on AI and the future of education and work.

Jennifer Preuss

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Jennifer Preuss is the Director of Assessment, Accountability, and Performance for Bloomfield Public Schools in Connecticut. She is responsible for districtwide data systems, assessment strategy, and supporting schools through MTSS and improvement planning. Jennifer is currently pursuing her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at Sacred Heart University, where her research focuses on educator well-being and leadership systems that support sustainable improvement.

Ryan Carey

+ posts

Ryan Carey is a high school business education teacher and advisor for our school's chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). I hold a Master's degree in instructional technology. I spent more than fifteen years as a professional in the business world prior to becoming a teacher.