In this episode of the Integrate This EdTech Podcast, hosts Dave Berner and Jeremy Mikla sit down with Tara Nattrass, Chief Innovation Strategist at Lenovo and former innovation strategy leader at ISTE and ASCD. Tara shares her journey from elementary classroom teacher to education thought leader and makes a compelling case that the AI in education conversation needs to shift — away from tools and efficiency, and toward what learning is actually supposed to look like. The conversation covers competency-based learning, opportunity gaps, why teacher burnout must be addressed before student engagement can improve, how industry partnerships can reshape curriculum thinking, and the Lenovo AI Innovator Studio and Challenge. A thoughtful, big-picture episode for educators who want to think beyond the chatbot.

Connect with Tara: Tara Nattrass | LinkedIn

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VZY5JtERUic

In this episode of Integrate This!, we sit down with Sabba Quidwai for a thoughtful conversation about what schools are getting right — and wrong — about AI. Sabba shares how her own journey from classroom teacher to innovation leader has shaped the way she thinks about technology, agency, and the future of learning.

We dig into why schools need a compelling story for AI before they ever start with tools, why educators should stop thinking of AI as just a generator and start seeing it as a teammate, and how systems can use AI to scale strong instructional practices instead of just chasing the latest app.

Sabba also talks about coding as a new literacy, why voice may become one of the most important interfaces for learning, and how schools can better prepare students for a world where human and machine collaboration is becoming the norm.

This episode is full of big-picture thinking, practical insight, and a strong reminder that the future of AI in education has to stay deeply human.

Links:

• Designing Schools Podcast: https://designingschools.org/podcast/
• Designing Schools Website: https://designingschools.org/
• Sabba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabba-quidwai/

In this episode of the Integrate This EdTech Podcast, hosts David Berner and Jeremy Mikla sit down with Vera Cubero, Emerging Technologies Consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Vera shares her journey from middle school teacher to one of the lead architects of North Carolina's statewide AI guidelines — one of the first four states in the nation to publish them. The conversation covers building multi-stakeholder AI policy, training teachers on AI tools, the importance of living documents over rigid policy, AI literacy for students and families, concerns about deepfakes and companion chatbots, and what's coming next.

Connect with Vera:

Cubero Consulting: https://hen-rhombus-rerj.squarespace.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veracubero/

NCDPI AI Guidelines: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U-AwwwBg7glJ4ZDlcKVzARuFRPWwUWzqRN2rOgT9zlA/edit?tab=t.0