AI Microcredentials

CIS Ontario has partnered with Future Design School (FDS) to bring our members a new professional development opportunity.

AI Microcredentials Program:
Empowering Independent School Employees with Future-Ready Skills

The AI microcredentials program is a transformative professional development opportunity designed to equip those who work in education with cutting-edge skills and knowledge in artificial intelligence.

Educators:
As technology reshapes education, integrating AI into teaching practices is essential to prepare students for the future. This program offers you a deep dive into AI, its applications in education, and strategies to enhance learning outcomes.

Operations Staff (communications, admissions, finance and more...)
AI can transform your school operations work by streamlining processes, enhancing decision-making, and improving communication. By adopting AI, you can save time, minimize errors, and dedicate more attention to strategic priorities, resulting in a more efficient, responsive, and well-organized school environment.

Key Benefits of the Program:

Delivered through a series of dynamic and engaging 2-hour online sessions, this program empowers you to:

Explore AI Fundamentals:
Gain a clear understanding of key concepts such as machine learning, natural language processing, and data analytics, all within an educational context.
Leverage AI Tools:
Discover how AI can personalize learning, streamline administrative tasks, and provide data-driven insights to enhance teaching strategies.
Enhance Digital Literacy:
Build confidence in integrating AI seamlessly into both your classroom and administrative workflows.
Collaborate with Peers:
Connect with a community of forward-thinking educators to share best practices and explore innovative approaches to AI in education.

Embark on this exciting journey to lead the way in AI-enhanced education, creating a lasting impact on your students' learning experiences and your school's operations.

Each Microcredential Includes:

2 Hours of Interactive, Live Online Learning:
Led by Future Design School’s AI and education experts, these sessions provide engaging and practical insights.
Exclusive Resource Hub:
Access tools, templates, and cheat sheets designed to help you effectively integrate AI into your work.
Connections with CIS Ontario Member School Educators and Staff:
Network with peers across the province who are incorporating AI into their classrooms and work processes.

Session Dates and Time:

The four microcredential sessions are online from 3:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. on the following dates:

Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Monday, March 3, 2025

Program Cost:

The cost for all four sessions is $1280 per participant (equivalent to $320 per credential). Schools bringing three or more participants will pay $1200 per participant.

Please Note - The total cost of the program will be invoiced directly to each school prior to the first session.

🔥 Join us to Upskill in 2025!

Thank you to all members who registered. This professional learning is now SOLD OUT.

MICROCREDENTIAL I: Leveraging Prompt Engineering to Revolutionize Your Work

Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini are revolutionizing the way we work, learn, and create. This dynamic microcredential equips you with the knowledge and skills to harness their potential, boosting your productivity and unlocking exciting new possibilities. Empower yourself with LLMs to achieve new levels of efficiency, creativity, and success in your work.

Key Takeaways:

Know: What is an LLM and how does it work?
Understand: Learn how to train LLMs to extract more valuable information.
Do: Craft precise prompts that will streamline your work and amplify your impact.

Highlights:

Explore the unique potential of AI and learn essential principles for its effective use.
Engage in practical activities to customize LLMs, master prompt engineering, and apply these skills to real-world scenarios like research, ideation, building, and asking for feedback -- all within the context of your daily work in your school.
Discover the elements of a well-crafted prompt and apply a template to generate creative ideas.
Learn how to guide LLMs through a series of related questions to obtain coherent and focused information.
Use LLMs feedback capabilities to refine your work and ensure it meets your goals.

MICROCREDENTIAL II: Supercharge Your Productivity with LLM-Powered Tools

A wide range of productivity tools now leverage LLMs to help you write better, create faster, and research more efficiently. In this microcredential, you'll discover the best AI-powered tools available and learn how to integrate them into your workflow to boost your productivity.

Key Takeaways:

Know: Develop strategies and tools for maximizing the impact of AI on your productivity and efficiency.
Understand: That every AI tool has benefits and drawbacks, but most provide similar opportunities to train the models to be tailored to your needs.
Do: Learn how to choose the right tools for your specific needs and tasks through hands-on experience using various LLM-powered tools to enhance your daily work.

Highlights:

Explore a curated selection of AI-powered productivity tools.
Practice using the tools in real-world scenarios and tasks.
Learn from experts how to get the most out of LLM-powered tools.
Get your questions answered and discuss your specific use cases.

Prerequisite: Completion of MICROCREDENTIAL I

MICROCREDENTIAL III: Fine-Tuning Your AI Assistant: Harnessing the Power of Custom LLMs

Large Language Models (LLMs) are powerful tools, but their true potential emerges when customized for your specific needs. In this hands-on microcredential workshop, you’ll learn to fine-tune LLMs using your own data, transforming them into specialized AI assistants tailored to your unique tasks. By mastering the art of training LLMs for education, you can streamline workflows, enhance efficiency, and unlock their full potential to meet your goals.

Key Takeaways:

Know: The concepts of transfer learning, fine-tuning, and curriculum learning for customizing LLMs.
Understand: Strategies for evaluating and refining fine-tuned LLMs to achieve the best possible results.
Do: Gain hands-on experience training LLMs on your own documentation using tools like NotebookLM or Custom GPTs.

Highlights:

Learn how to craft effective prompts that guide the fine-tuning process and optimize performance.
Engage in practical exercises to fine-tune LLMs on your chosen datasets.
Dive deeper into crafting prompts specifically for fine-tuning, ensuring your LLM learns desired behaviors.
Learn how to assess the performance of your fine-tuned LLM and iteratively improve its capabilities.
Receive support and feedback from experienced facilitators throughout the program, all contextualized within education and personalized to your specific role.

Prerequisite: Completion of MICROCREDENTIAL I and II

MICROCREDENTIAL IV: Multiple Pathways

After completing MICROCREDENTIAL I to III, you can choose from the following options for Part IV.

PART IV OPTION A: Crafting AI Tutors for Personalized Learning

Building on the learning from Microcredentials I-III, this microcredential will guide you to harness the power of LLMs to create interactive tutors, writing coaches, and language learning partners. If you are an educator who is interested in leveraging AI to create personalized learning experiences this microcredential is for you.

Key Takeaways:

Know: Techniques for using LLMs to provide real-time feedback, adapt to student progress, and offer targeted support.
Understand: The principles of personalized learning and how LLMs can enhance student engagement and outcomes.
Do: Design and implement AI tutors that cater to diverse learning styles and needs.

Highlights:

Learn behavioural prompting techniques to train essential LLMs such as Gemini, ChatGPT or Co-Pilot.
Design and prototype AI tutors for various subjects and learning goals.
Explore successful implementations of AI tutors in educational settings.
Discuss the responsible use of AI in education and address potential biases.

PART IV OPTION B: Streamline Your Workflows with Powerful AI Tools

School operations —communications, admissions, finance, and more—work smarter, not harder, with the help of Large Language Models (LLMs). This microcredential provides the knowledge and skills needed to leverage AI for increased efficiency, improved data analysis, and enhanced communication. Discover how AI can save time, streamline tasks, and unlock valuable insights, enabling you to achieve greater impact with less effort.

Key Takeaways:

Know: How LLMs can be used to automate routine tasks like scheduling appointments, answering frequently asked questions, and generating reports.
Understand: Gain insights into how AI-powered content creation tools can help you generate engaging content for social media posts, websites, or school newsletters.
Do: Build custom chatbots using existing tools to provide 24/7 support to parents and answer their inquiries about admissions, financial aid, or school events.

Highlights:

Explore how AI tools like Gemini can analyze your existing documents and data (like admissions forms or financial spreadsheets) to identify trends, extract key information, and generate reports.
Build a simple chatbot using a user-friendly platform and explore the capabilities of AI content creation tools.
Discover how other schools are leveraging LLMs to streamline operations and enhance communication.
Discuss your specific needs and challenges, and get expert advice on how AI can help.

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