AI for Educators | Design Lab Podcast
The AI for Educators Design Lab Podcast is for educators, instructional designers, and learning leaders exploring how to design meaningful learning experiences when AI changes everything. Hosted by Next Path Design with Jennifer Maddrell, PhD, each episod
Episodes
1
Jan. 27, 2026
S1E0: AI for Educators Design Lab Podcast Trailer
In this trailer of the AI for Educators Design Lab podcast, Jennifer Maddrell, a learning experience designer with a PhD in Instructional Design and Technology, introduces the show's mission to help educators navigate the complexities of AI integration in teaching. Focusing on the balance between the exciting potential and significant concerns of AI, Jennifer aims to foster reflection rather than offering quick fixes. The first season will tackle pressing challenges such as academic integrity,
1
March 8, 2026
S1E1: Academic Integrity in the Age of AI
As an educator, what do you do when AI can now complete your prior assignments? In this episode, Jennifer Maddrell, PhD, shares how testing and redesigning her own assignment changed her approach to academic integrity in the age of AI. She frames it as a design challenge that educators have professional judgment to tackle. This episode explores five design questions to help educators explore academic integrity as a learning experience design challenge, not a policing problem: Is your assignmen
2
March 22, 2026
S1E2: Rethinking Learning Goals in the AI Era
If AI can now complete our assignments, does AI change our learning goals? In this episode of the AI for Educators Design Lab podcast, Jennifer Maddrell, PhD, explores how AI not only makes assignments more vulnerable but also prompts a review of traditional learning goals. AI isn't just changing what students can produce. It's also revealing that some of our legacy learning goals were written for a time when recall and reproduction were the dominant aims and indicators of learning. Using her o
3
April 12, 2026
S1E3: AI Literacy: Helping Learners Think Critically About AI
Are your students using AI without really understanding it? This episode of the AI for Educators Design Lab podcast, Jennifer Maddrell, PhD, makes the case that AI literacy needs to be a consistent design intention running through the full learning experience. A one-time tutorial, a first-week policy conversation, or an add-on module isn't enough. Students who use AI without understanding how it generates outputs, where it breaks down, or what ethical stakes are involved aren't developing critic
4
April 26, 2026
S1E4: Designing for Human Presence in AI-Integrated Learning
As AI is integrated into learning experiences, where is human presence essential? In this episode of the AI for Educators Design Lab podcast, Jennifer Maddrell, PhD, considers the interactions that make learning possible, and makes the case that in an AI-integrated environment, learning is shaped not just by how students interact with technology, but by the people who design, guide, and participate in those interactions. Drawing on decades of distance and online learning research, including the
5
May 10, 2026
S1E5: Designing for Data Privacy and Security in AI-Integrated Learning
Who's responsible for data privacy and security in AI-integrated learning? In Episode 5 of the AI for Educators Design Lab podcast, Jennifer Maddrell, PhD, argues that these issues aren't just IT and compliance concerns, or problems tech vendors should monitor and control. They're core design responsibilities for educators, learning experience designers, and educational leaders that shape everyday tool choices, workflows, and prompt decisions. This episode was recorded amid reports of a major C