Blue Ridge Community and Technical College is pleased to highlight an important professional development initiative led by the college’s Information Technology Division Programs to help local educators better understand and effectively use artificial intelligence in today’s classrooms.

Recently, the college hosted a one-day professional development session entitled “Using AI as a Teaching Assistant.”

The session brought together local educators representing a range of roles, from classroom teachers to school administrators. The goal was simple but important: to help educators understand what artificial intelligence is, how it works, and how it can be used as a practical tool to support teaching and learning.

Leading the session was Adrian Kelly, Blue Ridge CTC IT faculty member and STEM educator.

Adrian worked directly with participants to move beyond the conversation about AI and provide educators with hands-on opportunities to actually explore and use AI tools.

Participants explored a variety of publicly available and education-focused technologies, including:

• ChatGPT
• Gemini
• MagicSchool.ai
• Canva
• Schoology

The emphasis was not simply on learning about the latest AI tools.

Instead, participants focused on an important question:

“What is the right tool for the right job?”

Educators explored how different tools can help them accomplish specific tasks and how effective prompting can improve the quality and usefulness of AI-generated results.

Participants left the session with several practical skills.

They gained the ability to:

• Identify AI tools that are appropriate for specific educational goals.
• Write more effective prompts.
• Understand, at a basic level, why and how artificial intelligence produces its results.
• Explore ways AI can serve as a teaching assistant and support educators in their daily work.

This type of professional development is particularly important as artificial intelligence continues to influence education, the workplace, and our communities.

The session also served another important purpose for Blue Ridge Community and Technical College.

It gave our STEM and Information Technology faculty an opportunity to listen directly to local educators. By working alongside teachers and administrators, our faculty gained valuable insight into what educators actually need and want when it comes to future AI and technology training. That conversation is essential. At Blue Ridge CTC, we want our professional development opportunities to be relevant, practical, and responsive to the needs of the communities we serve. We recognize that preparing educators to navigate emerging technologies is an important part of preparing students for the future.

Technology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital media, networking, and other emerging fields are changing the skills students will need to succeed.

That is why partnerships between higher education and our local school systems are so important. The “Using AI as a TeachingAssistant” session represents one step in our continuing commitment to technology education and professional development.

Blue Ridge Community and Technical College looks forward to offering similar professional development opportunities, as well as new training opportunities, in the future.

Our goal is to continue creating opportunities for educators to learn, explore, innovate, and prepare their students for an increasingly technology-driven world.

We thank the local educators who participated, and we especially thank Adrian Kelly and our Information Technology and STEM faculty for helping make this professional development opportunity possible.

At Blue Ridge CTC, we believe that when we equip educators with the right tools and knowledge, we help equip the next generation for the future.