Arts and Design educators are navigating a rapidly shifting creative landscape, one where AI tools are changing how students ideate, create, and present work. This workshop was designed to meet educators where they were: curious but uncertain, interested but not yet confident. The goal was to give them a hands-on experience with AI tools in a structured, pedagogically grounded environment, so they could leave ready to integrate AI into their own classroom practice.
Workshop design and storyboarding
Designed the full workshop arc - from icebreaker to ethics discussion -- using design thinking principles and a collaborative Miro board as the central learning environment.
Interactive Miro board build
Built a scaffolded, multi-stage Miro board with sticky note activities, voting polls, image zones, and a co-creation canvas, designed to work for both facilitator and participants simultaneously.
Tool playground curation
Selected and pre-loaded four AI tools - DALL·E, Adobe Firefly, Canva AI, and ChatGPT - with ready-made prompts so participants could experiment immediately without setup friction
Live facilitation via Zoom
Facilitated the full session live, managing participant pacing, real-time feedback, screen sharing, and a structured Q&A including discussion of AI ethics and academic integrity.
Post-workshop resources
Shared a follow-up package including AI tools list, lesson planning templates, and the full Miro board for participants to continue exploring independently.
Workshop Recording
Empowering Creativity with AI ·· 2025
This is the full recording of the live online professional development workshop facilitated for Arts and Design educators at Sirius College.
The session covers:
▪ What AI is and how creative educators understand it differently
▪ Hands-on experimentation with DALL·E, Adobe Firefly, Canva AI, and ChatGPT
▪ Co-creation techniques combining AI-generated and hand-drawn work
▪ Ethical considerations around AI authorship and student work
▪ Practical lesson planning frameworks for AI-integrated classroom projects
Participant reflections captured during the session showed a measurable shift — from cautious curiosity to genuine confidence — in using AI tools within creative teaching practice.
📎 Resources shared after this workshop included an AI tools guide, lesson planning templates, and full access to the Miro collaboration board.
This workshop confirmed something I've believed for a long time, that the best professional learning is experiential, not instructional. Educators don't need to be told about AI; they need to feel what it's like to use it in a safe, structured environment and then make their own meaning from that experience. The shift I witnessed in participant attitudes over 38 minutes, from cautious curiosity to genuine confidence, is the outcome I design toward every time.