By Anna Haney-Withrow
On September 11, nearly 200 educators, leaders, and community partners from across Southwest Florida gathered for a regional AI in Education Symposium convened by the Southwest Florida Regional Education Leaders Alliance, which includes the presidents of Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida SouthWestern State College, and the surrounding five school districts.
The goal was to begin a regional conversation about how we prepare students to become AI-fluent while preserving the fundamental learning experiences they will need to thrive beyond school. Much of the day centered on four facilitated conversations: AI literacy, pedagogical integration, workplace readiness, and AI ethics. Each began with a short framing talk, followed by small-group discussions about how these questions are already showing up across our institutions.
As FALCON prepares to consider this regional conversation on October 14, here are some of the insights and questions that emerged.
AI Literacy
Leandro Nunes de Castro, Director, Dendritic: A Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and Data Science Institute, Florida Gulf Coast University
Dr. de Castro presented an overview of several existing definitions of AI literacy and emphasized an important distinction: being a digital native does not mean a student will develop AI literacy without intentional guidance.
He distilled several definitions into a basic framework centered on three ideas: understand, evaluate, and use. He then described how this framework might look at different stages of the educational continuum and invited participants to consider what developmentally appropriate AI literacy could look like across K-16.
In the discussion groups, participants emphasized that AI literacy needs to extend well beyond familiarity with tools or prompting techniques. They also noted wide variation across the region in policies, experience, and access to AI, raising questions about how those differences might affect collaboration. At the same time, participants saw value in developing a common language and potentially a shared framework.
In their synthesis of the day, Carrie Meyers and Jim Reynolds from Florida State University suggested that one of the strongest signals was not simply a demand for greater exposure to AI tools, but for shared expectations, guidance, and the capacity to use AI responsibly. They also identified an opportunity to continue building knowledge among participants at different levels of AI readiness.
Pedagogical Integration
Rebecca Harris, Asst. VP, Collegewide Curriculum, Academic Enhancement and Support, Florida Southwestern State College
Dr. Harris encouraged participants to reflect on their own early educational memories and identify the experiences that had been most important to their learning. She then turned to a historical view of education, examining how schooling developed across periods including ancient Greece, the medieval university, and the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras.
Her central question was what practices we might want to preserve or recenter at a time when AI can easily produce many of the traditional products of learning. She also explored how AI might function differently within each of these educational models.
During the discussion groups, participants wrestled with how to determine whether AI is strengthening the learning process or simply creating a mechanism for bypassing it. They also raised concerns about the workload involved in redesigning assessments and the challenge of making those changes scalable.
Meyers and Reynolds noted that this moment may offer an opportunity not only to respond to AI, but also to reconsider aspects of education itself and to engage more deeply with emerging research on AI and learning.
Workplace Readiness
Anna Haney-Withrow, Director, Institute of Innovative and Emerging Technologies, Florida Southwestern State College
AI and the Future of Work Resources request
I presented a short talk on workplace readiness in which I reminded educators that we have always been preparing students for jobs that do not yet exist. What is different about this moment is the pace of change, the shifting nature of early-career experiences, and the uncertainty many employers still feel about what AI will mean for their industries and workplaces.
In the absence of certainty, I suggested that we focus on the capabilities we know will continue to help students succeed, including presence, problem-solving, and learning agency. We do not need to perfectly predict the future in order to prepare students for it.
Participants were eager to discuss the many competencies beyond AI fluency that will help prepare students for workplaces changed by AI. These included communication, adaptability, source analysis, critical thinking, professional judgment, presence, teamwork, self-advocacy, and authentic experience.
Some participants also expressed concern that cognitive offloading through AI during school could leave students less prepared for the demands of the workplace.
As a potential next step, Meyers and Reynolds encouraged the Alliance to consider defining what a graduate in the age of AI should know and be able to do, while also engaging local employers in that conversation.
AI Ethics
Chrissan Ruehle, Assistant Professor, AI & Management, Lutgert College of Business, Florida Gulf Coast University
Using a driving metaphor, Dr. Ruehle suggested that we think of AI ethics as the steering wheel rather than the brakes. She explored how ethical questions can look different depending on whether they are considered at the individual, institutional, or societal level.
At the institutional level, she highlighted the extent to which practice is already moving ahead of policy and encouraged participants to consider where that tension is appearing in their own contexts.
Breakout participants quickly identified examples from their own contexts where ethics needed to play a central role. Questions included the use of AI in grading and other forms of evaluation, as well as how institutions should provide alternative experiences for students who do not wish to use AI.
Meyers and Reynolds identified the inclusion of ethics in any future regional guidance or framework as an important consideration. They also encouraged the Alliance to think about which additional stakeholders should be brought into future conversations.
Continuing the Conversation
The symposium also included a keynote from Meyers and Reynolds and two panel discussions that added additional perspectives to the day. Across the conversations, the benefits of a coordinated regional approach became apparent. Participants identified opportunities for greater alignment around AI literacy, learning, workplace preparation, ethics, and the expectations we hold for graduates in an AI-shaped world.
At our October 14 FALCON meeting, I will be joined by Meyers and Reynolds, as well as the symposium coordinator Dr. Bill Reynolds from Florida Gulf Coast University. We’ll discuss what others in higher education might take away from our experience and how to address some of the challenges that our discussions brought forward.