3rd Annual Melbo Lecture: Reimagining Education with AI

Led by Maria G. Ott, the Irving R. Melbo Chair, the third annual Melbo Irving R. and Virginia A. Melbo Chair Lecture revolved around the theme of “Navigating the Future: Mastering AI as a Leadership Tool”. Distinguished guest speaker, Santa Ana Unified School District Superintendent Jerry Almendarez, shared how his district incorporates AI for operational efficiency, enhanced decision-making, and reimagining teaching and learning. Following his presentation, Almendarez was joined by Stephen J. Aguilar, associate professor of education, and Anthony B. Maddox, professor of clinical education and engineering, for a panel discussion moderated by Dean Pedro A. Noguera.

Almendarez captivated the audience with real-world examples of AI use in Santa Ana USD. When COVID-19 hit, he had recently become superintendent of Santa Ana USD and saw an opportunity to use AI to reimagine education. Today, the district’s AI value proposition focuses on operational efficiency, enhanced decision making, and improved learning and teaching experiences. Almendarez shared several examples of how AI is used in Santa Ana USD. One example involved a film teacher who used AI to design a rubric for a 1-minute documentary for his 12th grade students. In another case, AI tools transcribed and analyzed 60 hours of audio from student listening sessions, and identified five key topics students discussed. To ensure accessible communication, Almendarez’s English-language videos are transcribed into nine languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese and Mandarin. To watch Almendarez’s presentation, please click here.

Dean Noguera moderated a panel with Almendarez, Aguilar and Maddox, posing thought-provoking questions. He asked whether the rise of AI might stifle human creativity or confine it to a select few, as others become conditioned to prioritize efficiency. Almendarez responded by explaining his journey from using AI as a glorified Google to a true thought partner, emphasizing our duty to push back on innovation, ensuring it enhances critical thinking rather than just ease. Aguilar added that when we use tools meant to assist us, we should deeply consider what might be lost and implement safeguards to preserve valuable experiences. Maddox expanded this view, predicting that AI is deepening our understanding of natural, social and behavioral sciences, and likely the new ‘artificial sciences’ created by humans. He left the audience with a question “how will we start to use these new sciences for the benefit of our students?”

Ott closed the lecture with a quote from Irving R. Melbo: “no social or educational revolution proceeds at an even pace or affects equally all segments of the society like the inexorable tides which pounded our California coastline. There is ebb and flow, there are currants and cross currants, there are little swirls and eddies and still pools that remain as the tide moves out. But soon, the restless surge of the sea mounts a new assault on the land, sometimes gently, sometimes in fury. So it is with the patterns of a social revolution on the established institutions there is impact and resistance, resistance and impact, and ultimately there is change.” 

To view a recording of the Melbo lecture, please click here. To view photos from the Melbo lecture, please click here.