Strategies Over Stuff: A Framework for Choosing AI Tools

What AI tools should I be using? Educators ask this every day, and it's the wrong question. This session offers a framework that flips the script: start with learning outcomes, then select tools that serve them. Using SAMR as a guide, explore what it actually looks like to move from substitution to redefinition in everyday practice and get clear on where redefinition really begins, since many educators believe they have reached modification or redefinition when they are still in augmentation or even substitution. The goal isn't just doing things better; it's students doing things we never dreamed possible. You will evaluate your current AI practices, identify where they fall on the SAMR spectrum and work through a planning protocol that connects your teaching context to each level. You will leave with a decision-making framework you can apply to any tool, subject or grade level, plus at least one modification-level idea and one redefinition possibility to develop. This session is for every educator who has felt that technology happens to them rather than something they control.