PD Basics

Professional Development Training

AI Basics

AI Core Concepts and Basic Tool

Every educator needs a clear understanding of artificial intelligence, regardless of whether they use it in their classroom or not. Even skeptical teachers must understand how AI functions, including its capabilities and its limitations. Addressing issues of academic integrity, student assessment, and lesson planning require basic AI literacy. 

Course Curriculum

The Mountainside training program covers the core concepts of modern AI technology: 

• Essential Vocabulary: An overview of key terms, distinguishing between Large Language Models (LLMs), Generative AI, Foundation Models, etc.

• The History of AI: A review of the technological progression from expert systems to predictive AI and generative AI.

• Operational Mechanics: An explanation of the basic processes AI uses to generate responses.

• Prompt Engineering: Strategies for structuring effective questions to get high-quality results from AI tools.

• Hallucinations and RAG: An analysis of why AI generates false information and how Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) minimizes these occurrences.

• Agentic AI: Methods for configuring AI to handle repetitive tasks on your behalf.  

• Vibe Coding: The process of developing functional computer programs by describing the desired software requirements in plain English. 

Even teachers who are skeptical about using AI need a clear understanding of what AI is and how it works.  To effectively address issues of academic integrity, student assessment, and lesson planning teachers need to understand the basic operations.