The No Hype, Just Help Series is a series designed to give educators practical, grounded knowledge about AI without the breathless headlines or the panic. Register for one workshop in the series or all of them.
This is the first in the series.
Mechanics of the Machine
Every educator is expected to have an opinion about AI. This session is about making sure that opinion is an informed one. You don't have to be excited about it, but understanding how it actually works positions you to make good decisions for yourself, your students, and your school.
In this interactive, jargon-free session, we'll pull back the curtain on the technology behind today's most talked-about AI tools. You'll leave with a clearer picture of what AI is and isn't, how large language models generate responses, and what these tools can and can't be trusted to do.
No prior experience with AI required. Just bring your curiosity.
This work is fully funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) under the U.S. Department of Education, through a recently awarded University of Washington grant (AmplifyGAIN), and is offered at no charge to educators.
CES is offering eight stand alone 75-minute workshops taking place synchronously online, for all educators, administrators, and school or district specialists. Each workshop combines direct instruction with structured peer dialogue and applied practice such as analyzing AI outputs, testing prompts, and evaluating instructional use cases. This is not product specific, and we are not hyping a specific product.