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Exploring AI in Career & Technical Education (CTE)

Agenda

Building Relational Capacity

KWLA—Assess Prior Knowledge

AI—An Introduction and Overview

The Evolution of Technology in Education

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Norms for Guiding Our “WORK” Together

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Outcomes:

Describe core AI principles.
Explore the evolution of technology and AI in Career and Technical Education (CTE).
Explain the implications of AI in Career and Technical Education (CTE).

Guiding Question:

How can AI strengthen CTE instruction and better prepare students for today’s evolving workforce?

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Building Relational Capacity and Community

Sole Mate Share
Report out

Handout pg. 1

Content area

What is your superpower?

How are you currently using AI, personally or for work?

Name

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Go to an LLM

ChatGPT.com

Copilot.com

Gemini.google.com

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AI prompt (AI+)

Write a short, Dr. Seuss–inspired poem that combines the names, content area, and superpowers of everyone at your table into one shared story about collaboration and learning. Use 8–12 lines.

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AI prompt (AI+) - Same Chat Thread

Create an image to serve as a cover for this poem.

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Debrief: Think-Ink – Relational Capacity

Think-Ink (AIx):

Why is it important to:

Know and use student names
Build relational capacity and community in the higher education classroom?

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Debrief: Think-Ink-Share – Relational Capacity

AI Prompt (AI+):

Act as an instructional designer and describe why learning student names and relational capacity and community building, according to Dr. Joe Cuseo, are critical to the success of students in higher education. Provide 2 examples of how I can build this into my (add your content area) program.

Share and Discuss with your elbow partner.

Report out

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KWLA-Assess Prior Knowledge (AIx)

K—What do you already know about AI?	W—What do you want to know about AI?	L—What new learning do you have?	A—How will you apply this information?
Where have you seen AI in your life or classroom? What words or ideas do you associate with AI?	What questions do you have? What concerns you or excites you? How do you hope it can help in your work?	Add at the completion of the workshop.	Add at the completion of the workshop.

Handout pgs. 2-3

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KWLA-Assess Prior Knowledge (AIx)

K—What do you already know about AI?	W—What do you want to know about AI?	L—What new learning do you have?	A—How will you apply this information?
Where have you seen AI in your life or classroom? What words or ideas do you associate with AI?	What questions do you have? What concerns you or excites you? How do you hope it can help in your work?	Add at the completion of the workshop.	Add at the completion of the workshop.

Handout pgs. 2-3

As table groups, create a chart paper that collects ideas from the first two columns.

Post your chart paper on a wall nearby.

Select a reporter that will share your table’s collective thinking.

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AI: A Powerful Resource

Thought Partner

Brainstorming
Content creation
Visual designs
Editing and rewriting
Research and context
Consistency and recall

Support, NOT Supplant teaching and/or learning!

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An Active Brain is a Learning Brain (AI+)

Prompt:

What does neuroscience reveal about an active brain and its correlation to learning? Help me explain this to an 8^th grader in less than 200 words.

Active Brain Scan vs. In-Active Brain Scan

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An Active Brain is a Learning Brain (AI+)

AI can’t replace interactive and engaging instruction.
AI can’t replace critical thinking and problem-solving.
AI can’t replace personal communication and collaboration.

However:

AI can support enhanced instruction and student engagement.
AI can help improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Active Brain Scan vs. In-Active Brain Scan

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Adapting to a Transforming Landscape

AI will not replace you. Someone using AI will.
AI is good at tasks, not careers.
A content expert is required when using AI.
Measure content mastery that goes beyond written assessment

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The Evolution of Technology, Workforce, and CTE

Workforce	Education
Then (50 years ago—1970’s to 1980’s): Manufacturing relied on manual labor and mechanical tools; workers followed step-by-step instructions with little automation.	Then (50 years ago—1970’s to 1980’s): Education meant sitting in rows, listening to a lecture, taking notes, and memorizing facts for a test. Chalkboard was the primary tool.

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The Impact of the Evolution of Technology on the Workforce (AI+)

Prompt 1:

Act as a research assistant helping a community college faculty understand how technology affects jobs. Research how technological changes in the 20th century caused some jobs to disappear or shrink, but also created new jobs we didn’t expect. Create a table with the name of the job, the job that was impacted, and the new jobs that were created as a result.

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The Impact of the Evolution of Technology on the Workforce (AI+)

Prompt 2:

Research which core skills people still need across many careers, even when technology automates or replaces specific tasks or job titles. Create a table with the name of the human skill, why technology has not fully replaced it, example ways it shows up in different careers, and how modern tools (including AI) can support—but not replace—that skill.

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Comparison of Workforce and Education Adoption of Change (AI+)

Prompt 3:

Now compare how much the classroom in higher education changed during the 20th century. Did jobs change more, or did the way we design and run our college classrooms change more? Be blatantly honest!

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19th Century Tech Fears vs. Outcomes

Industry Affected	The Fear of Jobs Eliminated	Jobs as Result of New Tech	Why This Is Important
Railroads (1830s–1890s)	Teamsters Canal boatmen Stage lines	Engineers, Conductors Dispatchers, Telegraphers, Clerks Station Agents, Accountants	Shows how disruptive tech can birth entire industries and management systems that didn’t exist before.
Telegraph (1840s onward)	Couriers Long-distance mail jobs	Telegraph Operators (many women) Railroad Safety Roles Finance, News Wire Analysts	Highlights how communication tech doesn’t just shrink work. It spawns new technical and information sectors.
Typewriter & Clerical Work (1870s–1890s)	Hand-copyists Hand-scribes	Typists/Stenographers Secretaries Bookkeepers	Demonstrates how efficiency tools expand demand and democratize access to better-paying jobs.
Photography (1839 onward)	Portrait painters Miniaturists	Photographers Retoucher Chemists, Cameras, Plate Supplies	Shows that tech democratizes art, creating new markets and professions instead of killing creativity.
Electric Power (1880s–1890s)	Gas-lighting Candle trades	Electricians Linemen Power-plant Operators Electrical Engineers	Classic example of infrastructure change creating safer, better-paid technical professions and higher quality of life.

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The Future of Work with GenAI

Jobs Predicted to Be Affected Most by Gen AI		Future Role with AI
Customer Service Rep		AI Support Specialist
Copywriter / Content Marketer		Content Curator
Paralegal		Legal AI Researcher
Translator		Cultural Advisor
Market Research Analyst		AI Insights Reviewer
Data Entry Clerk		Data Quality Checker
Bookkeeping Clerk		Financial AI Monitor
Technical Writer		AI Documentation Editor
Recruiter / Sourcer		Talent Strategist
News Copy Editor		Fact-Check Coordinator
Junior Software Developer		AI Code Reviewer
Medical Coder		Health Data Reviewer
Financial Research Associate		AI Investment Analyst
Admin Assistant		AI Workflow Manager
Customer Success QA		Experience Designer

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The Evolution of Technology, Workforce, and CTE

In the CTE lab, teaching often mirrors the modern workforce.

Students are actively engaged in hands-on practice—welding, coding, running health simulations, or working with industry-grade equipment.
Instruction leans into active equipment and scenario-based learning, collaboration, and technology integration, giving students opportunities to solve problems in real-world contexts.

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The Evolution of Technology, Workforce, and CTE

In the CTE classroom, however, things can look much more traditional.

Lessons often begin with lecture or demonstration while students passively watch.
Assessments rely heavily on written tests.
The structure follows the same rigid schedules and grading systems seen across education.

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The Evolution of Technology, Workforce, and CTE

The lab environment pushes closer to what students will experience on the job site or in their future career, while the classroom often still reflects the same teaching and learning patterns from 50 years ago.

Debrief and Discuss:

How does this compare with your classroom?
What challenges are associated with integrating student-centered, engaging instruction in the classroom?

Handout pgs. 4-5

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History of AI-Booms and Winters: Jigsaw (AI+)

We will use guiding questions to prompt AI to help explore your assigned time period.

Summarize and reflect on your findings.
Be prepared to teach your content to your peers.

Guiding Questions:

What were the major breakthroughs in this period (the “AI booms”)?
What was the hype vs. the reality?
What caused progress to slow down or stop (the “AI winter”)?
What is one modern CTE connection (health, IT, advanced manufacturing, or another field)?

Handout pg. 6

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History of AI-Booms and Winters:

Expert Groups (AI+)

Number off at your table: 1🡪4

Group 1: Early Optimist (1950-1960s)
Group 2: Exert Systems Boom and first AI winter (1970-1980s)
Group 3: Second AI winter and rise of machine learning (1990-2000s)
Group 4: Deep learning and generative AI (2010-today)

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Jigsaw: Expert and Learner Groups

Teach your section to your group
Other members take notes and list any clarifying questions.
Discuss and without AI create (AIx):

A 15-word GIST to summarize your findings.
Identify anything that AI may not have gotten 100% correct.
Describe how AI helped your research.

Handout pgs. 7-8

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What’s a GPT

Generative: We already had AI that could create (like deepfakes and images), but it lacked reasoning.

Pre-trained: We already had AI that learned from massive datasets (like Wikipedia), but it lacked context.

Transformer: This 2017 invention gave AI the ability to pay attention to the entire idea at once, turning a "parrot" into a "thinker."

While older AI processed text word-by-word and often lost the plot, Transformers use 'Attention' to connect every word simultaneously, capturing the full context instantly.

Feature	Old Way (RNN)	Transformer Way (AI Today)
Movement	Linear (One word at a time)	Parallel (All words at once)
Connection	Chain-link (Weak over distance)	Web-like (Strong across distance)
Memory	Fades as the sentence grows	Constant across the entire context

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Here are speaker notes crafted for your presentation. They are designed to be punchy, authoritative, and narrative-driven to keep your audience engaged.

Speaker Notes: The Evolution of Generative AI

Slide Title: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence (Visual: The 4-step timeline we created)

�

[Introduction: The Hidden History] "A lot of people think Generative AI started in November 2022 when ChatGPT was released. But the truth is, the 'Creative Era' of AI actually started about eight years earlier—it just started with images, not words."

[Step 1: The Visual Era (GANs)] "If you look at the Generative AI stage on this timeline (point to the 3rd icon), this technology was already alive and well around 2014.

Back then, we had something called GANs (Generative Adversarial Networks).

It could create hyper-realistic human faces of people who didn't exist.

It gave us 'Deepfakes' and AI art filters.

The Catch: It was visual only. It didn't speak. It was like a silent artist—brilliant at painting, but it couldn't understand a sentence or write an email. It was a niche tool for artists and researchers."

[Step 2: The Shift to Language (The "World-Shaking" Moment)] "Then, the evolution moved to the final stage: Large Language Models (LLMs).

Engineers discovered that the same deep learning structure used for images could be adapted for language—if you made the models massive enough.

We moved from an AI that could paint a cat, to an AI that could explain the biology of a cat, write a poem about it, and code a website for it."

[The "Earthquake" Moment] "This is why the world felt like it shook in late 2022.

When Generative AI was just images, it was a novelty. You looked at it and said, 'Cool picture.'

But when it moved to LLMs (Text), it became utility.

Suddenly, the AI wasn't just making art; it was passing the Bar exam, writing Python code, and drafting business strategies.

The Takeaway: Generative AI taught computers how to dream (images), but LLMs taught them how to reason and communicate (text). That is the shift that changed everything."

�

[Optional: A Simple Analogy if the room looks confused] "Think of it this way:

Generative AI (Images) was like inventing a camera that could take pictures of dreams. Amazing, but you can't talk to a camera.

LLMs were like giving that camera a human brain and a voice. Now, it doesn't just show you the dream; it explains what it means."

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Continue Exploring: Why AI in the CTE Classroom

Increases efficiency and effectiveness of teaching
Enhances learning
Supports workforce development
Impacts labor market
Improves productivity
Considered the new work/career-ready skill

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Teaching and Learning

Syllabi and course development
Lesson planning

Differentiated instruction
High impact strategies
Career and work ready skills integration

Assessment

Formative
Summative

Alignment from content to instructional strategies, to assessment, to desired outcomes

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Ready for Work

Remember: AI won't replace you, someone using AI will…
Workforce Implications

30+% of adults use generative AI in the workplace (2024)
75% of knowledge workers use AI in daily tasks
66% of employers prefer candidates with AI skills
Increased proficiency in the workplace

12+% more tasks completed
Tasks completed 25+% faster
40% increase in work quality

Dell’Acqua, F. et. al., 2023.

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AI Detection

Myths and Realities

Difficulty in detecting plagiarism due to the inherent design of LLMs.
AI Detectors

Are not reliable
Are biased (“AI-Detectors Biased Against Non-Native English Writers” – Stanford University)
False positives by detectors lead to incorrect academic dishonesty
Students using Grammarly will also be flagged as using AI
Tools, such as Undetectable.ai, are ways around AI detectors.

Teach AI literacy to build responsible and ethical use of AI.

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Why AI Adoption Should Not Be An Optional Career Skill:

See – Think – Wonder

Compare and contrast the two sides of the image:

What differences do you notice in the tools, equipment and the user's approach?
What predictions can you make about probable outcomes?

Elbow partner share and report out

Handout pg. 11

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Why AI Adoption Should Not Be An Optional Career Skill:

AI!

Which image represents ignoring or restricting AI vs. teaching students to use it effectively.
Which image best prepares students for real world careers and why?

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TrAIT Framework: Transparency in AI and Teaching

Transparency: Clearly communicate when, how, and why AI is being used in instruction.

Ethical Use: Model integrity and fairness in AI applications; address concerns like bias, plagiarism, and hallucinations.

Pedagogical Alignment: Use AI in ways that support rather than replace human learning and critical thinking.

Student Empowerment: Teach students to evaluate AI output, ask better questions, and co-create knowledge with AI tools.

Ongoing Reflection: Regularly assess the impact of AI use in the classroom and adjust practices based on student needs and evolving technologies.

Handout pg. 12

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AI Guidance for Students

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New Learnings or takeaways (L column)

Things you will Apply

(A column)

Question or Wondering that remains (W column)

3-2-1 Reflection: Reflect and Add to the KWLA

Table discussion
Report out

Handout pg. 3

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Instructional Strategies used During this Session

Below are the instructional strategies we used during today’s session. Choose one and ask AI how you could use this strategy in one of your specific topics you teach.

Strategy	Strategy	Strategy
Norms and Expectations	Name Tents	KWLA
Guiding Question	Collaborative Conversations (Table Talk)	Jigsaw (Home/Expert Groups)
Sole Mates	Think-Ink	GIST Statement
Pair-Share (Elbow Partner Share)	Report Out (Whole-Group Share)	See–Think–Wonder
Venn Diagram	3-2-1 Reflection	Community Building

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