AI for Professional Learning
The use of AI tools in education has been increasing steadily over the last 3 years. There are sites, plug-ins, chatbots, and report writers, and so much more. Some have very helpful use cases and others feel more like fun tricks that are cool to show, but may not have a daily use yet. Both have value in our field. Playing is a great way to learn new skills in a low stakes scenario.
Kansas SPED Copilot (Available at www.bysoneducation.com/spedcopilot) has practical uses that help answer tricky questions about the special education process at any time of day. It also has a great way to play, or role-play, which is great for professional development.
With thoughtful prompts, you can role-play different scenarios to help your decision-making and communication during high-stress, fast-moving situations.
Example: Supporting an upset parent
Start using the following prompt.
“Pretend to be a parent who is upset about some aspect of their child's IEP. Role play with me to a solution.”
From here, you can type your respons,e and the copilot will respond as a parent. If you are empathetic, supportive, and appropriate, it will respond calmly and agreeably. If you are defensive or rude, it will escalate. This gives you a slow-speed scenario where you can hone your language, tone, and communication skills.
Other helpful prompts to try:
“Pretend to be a 3rd grade teacher who catches me, the special education teacher, in the hallway. They are clearly upset about a situation with Johnny. Role play with me to get to an appropriate solution.”
“Pretend to be a 6th grade student acting out in my class. Role play with me to practice classroom management strategies that will help get the student back on task.”
Each time you use the prompt, the scenario will change slightly which gives you real-time practice with different details that may affect your response, or theirs. You can also tweak the prompt to fit your circumstances a little better.
Try it out!
You can get access to Kansas SPED Copilot free for one month by using BYSON3APRIL at check out.
If you find a favorite role-play prompt, share it below.