Episodes

  • EP 20| How To Use AI to Make Children's Learning Visible
    Mar 14 2025
    🟣🟢 What’s This Episode About?In episode 20 of the 'Early Education in the Age of AI', show, Jodie from the Empowered Educator Online discusses how to make the shift from decoration to meaningful visual documentation in early learning environments.She highlights the challenges educators face in creating child-centered displays and explores how AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude can assist in making children's learning journeys visible. Jodie also delves into the purposes of displays, including teaching, celebrating, and documenting learning, and provides practical strategies for using AI to support these activities.You'll hear reflective questions, ethical considerations to keep in mind, and actionable steps you can take to incorproate AI into your planning and documentation processes, aiming to create more efficient, authentic, and child-centered learning environments.What You’ll Learn✅ The three core purposes of display in early learning environments: to teach, celebrate, and document✅ The philosophical shift from decoration to documentation and why it matters✅ How AI can help educators create meaningful documentation more efficiently✅ Practical AI prompting techniques for different documentation types✅ How to keep children's voices at the centre of any AI-supported documentation✅ Ideas to expand documentation beyond wall displays to outdoor spaces and digital formats✅ Time-saving documentation strategies for busy educatorsHighlights🟢 Alistair Bryce-Clegg's powerful perspective on child-centred display practices🟢 Specific AI prompt templates you can copy and use for different documentation approaches🟢 Strategies for creating learning walls that evolve with children's interests🟢 Helpful approaches for balancing physical and digital documentationAI Prompts To Try From This Episode✨ Learning Story Generator"I want to write a learning story about [child's name/age] who [brief description of what they were doing]. They showed [skills/dispositions you observed]. Their own words were [insert any quotes]. Help me write a learning story in first person that maintains my voice as an educator, highlights the significance of this learning, and connects to [relevant framework]."✨ Visual Documentation Caption Creator"I've taken photos of [describe what the photos show]. Help me create 3-5 short, meaningful captions that highlight the learning occurring, pose thoughtful questions, and make connections to [relevant framework or theory]."✨ Child-Led Display Text Prompt"I want to create text for a display that incorporates children's voices about [learning experience]. Help me draft questions I can ask children to gather their perspectives, and suggest ways to incorporate their exact words into the display."Your Action StepsTry creating one AI-supported learning story this weekReview your current displays - do they tell the story of the children who learn in your space?Experiment with one new documentation approach from the episode🚩Episode Highlights 00:00 Introduction to AI in Early Education02:11 The Shift from Decoration to Documentation05:04 Core Purposes of Display in Early Learning10:15 Challenges and Solutions in Meaningful Documentation18:48 AI Strategies for Effective Documentation25:05 Practical AI Documentation Techniques32:44 Ethical Considerations and Child-Centered Documentation45:16 Future Possibilities and Final Thoughts55:19 Actionable Next Steps and Conclusion💬 Let’s Connect!🌟 If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator!🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies!📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration💻 Discover What’s Possible with AI in Early Learning... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🟣 Get the simple steps to follow and friendly AI tools you need HERE to cut your planning time in half and ditch the paperwork overwhelm in 2025! 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. 🚀#AIforEducators #SustainabilityInECE #EarlyLearning #PlayBasedLearning #AIinEducation #Aiempowerededucators
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    1 hr
  • EP 19| Use AI To Create Social Stories, Visual Schedules and Communication Boards
    Feb 28 2025
    🟣🟢 What’s This Episode About?In this episode of "Early Education in the Age of AI," Jodie explores how educators can use AI tools to speed up and simplify the creation of essential visual support resources including communication boards, visual schedules, and social stories. Hear practical ways to use AI as your personal special needs and inclusion assistant while maintaining your educator voice and knowledge of children's individual needs and learning goals.🟣🟢 What You'll Find OutHow AI can help you create professional visual supports in a fraction of the timeStep-by-step processes for creating communication boards, visual schedules, and social storiesEffective AI prompts you can copy and use immediatelyHow to maintain your professional judgment while using AI as a collaborative partnerWays to connect your visual supports to educational frameworksDesign tips for turning AI-generated content into engaging visual resourcesEthical considerations when using AI to create resources for children🟣🟢 Visual Supports DiscussedCommunication Boards: Visual tools that help children express their needs, wants, and ideasVisual Schedules: Sequential representations of activities or routines that help children understand their daySocial Stories: Personalised narratives that help children understand and prepare for social situations🟣🟢 AI Assistant Tools MentionedClaude by Anthropic: Great for detailed descriptions and developmentally appropriate languageChatGPT: Useful for structured formats like visual schedules or communication boardsSpecialised early childhood AI assistants (for Empowered Educator members): Penny Planning, Dottie Documentation, and Ellie EYLF🟣🟢 Try These Prompts With Your AI Assistant💬 Communication Board Prompt: "I'm an early childhood educator creating a communication board for three to four year olds to use during meal times. Please suggest 20 to 25 words or phrases that would be most useful, organized into logical categories. The children in my group have diverse cultural backgrounds, so please ensure the vocabulary is inclusive of different food preferences."Why it's excellent: Includes specific age group, context, number of items needed, and consideration for diversity💬 Visual Schedule Prompt: "I need to create a personalised visual schedule for a three year old who struggles with waiting for preferred activities. They particularly enjoy art experiences, but become upset when art isn't immediately available. Please help me create a schedule format that emphasises when art opportunities will occur throughout the day and include strategies for managing waiting times."Why it's excellent: Highly personalised, addresses a specific challenge, requests concrete strategies, and focuses on a common early childhood transition issue💬 Social Story Prompt: "I need to create a social story for a four year old who becomes upset when [situation]. Please help me draft a simple social story using first person language that explains why we have [activity], what happens during this transition, and strategies the child can use to manage their feelings about ending their play."Why it's excellent: Specifies the format (first person language), asks for explanations and strategies, and is structured to help children understand both the "why" and "how" of managing emotions during transitions📍🟢 Canva Designs & Templates For EducatorsReclaim Your Time & Simplify Your Planning Cycle Documentation with Done-for-You Editable Templates💬 Let’s Connect!🌟 If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator!🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies!📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration💻 Discover What’s Possible with AI in Early Learning... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🟣 Get the simple steps to follow and friendly AI tools you need HERE to cut your planning time in half and ditch the paperwork overwhelm in 2025! 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. 🚀#AIforEducators #SustainabilityInECE #EarlyLearning #PlayBasedLearning #AIinEducation #Aiempowerededucators
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    58 mins
  • EP 18| - Embedding Sustainability into Play-Based Learning with AI
    Feb 21 2025
    🟢🟣 In this episode of Early Education in the Age of AI, we’re exploring how you can effectively integrate sustainability into your play-based learning environment - without adding more work to your already full plate! Whether you work in family daycare, early learning centers, preschools, OSHC, or even at home with young children, this episode is packed with realistic, engaging, and developmentally appropriate sustainability ideas.But that’s not all - I’m also sharing AI-powered strategies to help you brainstorm creative activity ideas, create sustainability plans, document eco-friendly practices, and even communicate with families in less time. AI chat assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and my own trained Academy AI Assistants can be helpful tools to reduce your workload while embedding sustainable habits into your program.If you’re ready to make sustainability a natural, meaningful, and exciting part of early learning…without the overwhelm - this episode is for you!🟢🟣What You’ll Find Out in This Episode:✅ Why sustainability in early childhood matters (and how it connects to the EYLF & NQS)✅ Beyond the recycling bin! How to truly embed sustainability into children’s daily play and routines✅ Setting up an eco-friendly learning environment (no matter your space!)✅ Fun & easy play-based sustainability activities using loose parts, nature, and upcycled materials✅ How to empower children as active participants in sustainable practices (so they take ownership!)✅ Simple AI prompts you can copy and use today to get instant sustainability inspiration from an AI Assistant✅ AI-powered strategies for:Generating eco-friendly activity ideas instantlyWriting learning stories that document sustainabilityCreating parent communication templates (newsletters, updates, event invites)Finding grants & funding for sustainability projects🟢🟣 AI Prompts You Can Try from This Episode:💡 "Give me 5 simple ways to introduce sustainability into a small family daycare setting."💡 "Suggest nature-based, play-based outdoor activities for 3-5-year-olds using only recycled materials."💡 "Write a learning story about children engaging in a nature-based art experience using loose parts, linked to EYLF outcomes."💡 "Draft a friendly parent newsletter explaining our new sustainability initiatives and how families can get involved."Why Listen?🎙️ If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed about embedding sustainability in your setting, this episode is here to simplify the process for you. AI isn’t about replacing your expertise - it’s here to support and boost your creativity while saving you time.So, grab a cuppa ☕, take a breath, and let’s explore how to make sustainability an easier, more engaging part of your program and learning environments!📌 Resources Mentioned in This Episode:📖 Read more play-based sustainability ideas on my blog: The Empowered Educator🛠️ Join the AI Empowered Educators Membership & access my trained AI assistants💬 Let’s Connect!🌟 If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator!🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies!📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration💻 Discover What’s Possible with AI in Early Learning... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🟣 Get the simple steps to follow and friendly AI tools you need HERE to cut your planning time in half and ditch the paperwork overwhelm in 2025! 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. 🚀#AIforEducators #SustainabilityInECE #EarlyLearning #PlayBasedLearning #AIinEducation #Aiempowerededucators
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    51 mins
  • EP 17| Using AI to Plan, Document, and Extend Learning Through Invitations & Provocations
    Feb 14 2025
    🎙 Episode 17 Show Notes:Using AI to Plan, Document, and Extend Learning Through Invitations & Provocations🟢 Struggling to come up with engaging play invitations? 🟢 Wondering how to set up provocations that actually spark curiosity? 🟢 Not sure what the difference between these 2 approaches are or how to use them effectively to support play based learning? There’s often confusion around these terms, even among experienced educators. They tend to get used interchangeably, but they’re actually quite different approaches, and when you understand that difference, you can start setting up play experiences more intentionally.In this episode, I’m sharing with you how AI chat assistants (like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and my exclusive Empowered Ed AI Assistants) can help early childhood professionals and parents:✅ Understand the difference between Invitations to Play & Provocations (and why it matters!)✅ Use AI to generate play ideas based on available materials & children’s interests✅ Simplify and organise learning journey documentation while keeping your authentic educator voice & expertise front and centre✅ Extend children’s learning by using AI to suggest more personalised follow-up activities & reflective prompts🎧 Listen in to learn:🔹 Why children sometimes ignore our carefully set-up play invitations (and how to reframe it!)🔹 The main difference between Invitations to Play & Provocations (so you can plan more effectively)🔹 Simple AI prompts to copy and use with an AI Assistant to give you engaging, open-ended play ideas tailored to your setting🔹 How AI can support your learning documentation & analysis - without taking over your voice 🔹 The one AI-powered forward planning strategy that will save you hours each week💡 If you've ever wished you had more time to create meaningful play-based experiences while keeping up with documentation - this episode is for you!🔎 Ready to Take the Next Step & See What Else You Can Do With AI?Join the AI-Empowered Educators Membership and get:✅ Access to Exclusive AI assistants trained for ECE professionals, ready to help 24/7✅ Step-by-step video training with lots of examples on using AI for planning, documentation & play-based learning✅ A supportive community of educators also learning about and experimenting with AI in early education across a wide variety of roles👉 CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT ELSE IS INSIDE 🚩 Please subscribe so you never miss an episode full of practical AI strategies and timesaver tips for educators!#EarlyEducation #PlayBasedLearning #AIforEducators #AIEmpoweredEducator #ChildLedLearning💬 Let’s Connect!🌟 If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator!🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies!📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration💻 Discover What’s Possible with AI in Early Learning... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🟣 Get the simple steps to follow and friendly AI tools you need HERE to cut your planning time in half and ditch the paperwork overwhelm in 2025! 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. 🚀#AIforEducators #SustainabilityInECE #EarlyLearning #PlayBasedLearning #AIinEducation #Aiempowerededucators
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • EP 16| Using AI to Write Your Summative Assessments
    Nov 14 2024

    🟢🎧 Show Notes


    Tired of spending hours staring at blank pages while writing summative assessments? In this episode you’ll discover how AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude can speed up and simplify your assessment writing process without compromising the personal touch that makes your documentation meaningful.

    I’m breaking down exactly how to use AI as your assessment writing assistant, making this often-dreaded task smoother and more efficient while still maintaining your professional expertise and voice as the early childhood professional.


    🌟 Why Early Childhood Educators Can't Miss This Episode:


    • Learn how to cut your assessment writing time in half while maintaining quality and personalisation
    • Get step-by-step prompts you can swipe to use immediately with AI tools
    • Get practical strategies for organising scattered observations and documentation effortlessly
    • Learn how to maintain your authentic voice while letting AI handle the heavy lifting of structure and formatting
    • Master the art of creating family-friendly language that clearly communicates children's progress
    • Understand how to align your assessments with learning frameworks more easily
    • Gain confidence in using AI as a collaborative partner
    • Listen to my tips for transforming generic AI responses into personalised, meaningful assessments


    Perfect for both AI beginners and those already experimenting with these tools, this episode provides realistic, actionable strategies you can use immediately to make your assessment writing process less overwhelming.


    Whether you're writing end-of-year assessments or looking to improve your documentation process, this episode provides the practical guidance you need to make AI work for you in your unique early childhood role.

    💬 Let’s Connect!


    🌟 If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator!


    🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI


    📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies!


    📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration


    💻 Discover What’s Possible with AI in Early Learning... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page


    🟣 Get the simple steps to follow and friendly AI tools you need HERE to cut your planning time in half and ditch the paperwork overwhelm in 2025!


    🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. 🚀


    #AIforEducators #SustainabilityInECE #EarlyLearning #PlayBasedLearning #AIinEducation #Aiempowerededucators

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    47 mins
  • EP 15| Rethinking Behaviour Management - A New Approach With AI Support
    Oct 24 2024

    🎙️🎧 Are you looking for some new perspectives on guiding children's behaviour - especially those more challenging moments?


    In this episode, I explain how chatting with AI Assistants can support early childhood educators in learning about, understanding and using more connection-based approaches to behaviour guidance.


    You'll find out:

    🟢💡 How to use AI tools to workshop challenging situations

    🟢💡 Practical strategies for moving from behaviour control to connection

    🟢💡 Step-by-step guidance for implementing a new behaviour guidance approach

    🟢💡 Ways to maintain your authentic teaching voice while making the most of AI support - Perfect for educators who want to expand their behaviour guidance skills and methods but aren't sure where to start.


    Join me to discover how AI can be your after-hours professional development partner in rethinking behaviour management.


    After listening to this episode pop into my FREE AI Allies & Inspiration community HERE to get answers to any questions you have!


    ⏰ Essential Listen & Learn Moments


    00:32 Traditional vs. Connection-Based Behaviour Management

    02:11 Understanding the Connection-Based Approach

    03:40 Practical Ways AI Can Support Your Behaviour Guidance Approach

    06:11 Choosing the Right AI Tools

    07:41 Creating a Prompt Notebook

    13:40 Case Study: Transition Times

    21:11 AI Prompts To Support Behaviour Guidance

    25:54 The TST Method for Reviewing AI Responses

    28:23 Practical Tips for Using AI Suggestions

    34:15 Practising and Personalising AI Suggestions

    35:35 Troubleshooting Tips

    41:25 Join the free AI Allies Community


    💬 Let’s Connect!


    🌟 If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator!


    🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI


    📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies!


    📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration


    💻 Discover What’s Possible with AI in Early Learning... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page


    🟣 Get the simple steps to follow and friendly AI tools you need HERE to cut your planning time in half and ditch the paperwork overwhelm in 2025!


    🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. 🚀


    #AIforEducators #SustainabilityInECE #EarlyLearning #PlayBasedLearning #AIinEducation #Aiempowerededucators

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    43 mins
  • EP 14| Using AI To Create More Personalised PD For Educators
    Sep 20 2024
    How To Use AI To Support Professional Development for Educators🎧🎙️ How Will This Episode Help You In Your Early Education Role?In this episode, I share some of the opportunities and possibilities available to early childhood education professionals now with AI-powered, personalised professional development options. I discuss some common challenges in traditional one-size-fits-all workshops and reveal strategies and prompts that will help you create personalised, engaging, and effective learning pathways using AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity - helpful whether you work on your own or within a team. You’ll hear practical examples and tips highlighting how educators and leaders can now use AI in different ways for skill development, identifying useful resources, supporting continuous improvement, ensuring higher job satisfaction and leading to better educational outcomes for children.✨ Highlights From This Episode:🟢 Explore the concept of AI as a personalised learning pathway creator🟢 Discover how AI can act as your virtual coach or mentor for ongoing professional development🟢 Learn why you should use AI tools instead of Google to help you find information and answers more quickly🟢 Find out how AI can support assessment and progress tracking in early childhood education🟢 Uncover ways AI can help with challenging tasks like writing summative assessments🟢 Get practical tips on how to start using AI tools for your own growth as an early ed professional🚨✨ Resources Mentioned In This EpisodeGet 2 weeks free and your planning cycle completed in minutes by AI when you join us inside the AI Timesaver Tools For ECE Professionals membership - CLICK THIS LINK TO FIND OUT MORE & CLAIM YOUR FIRST 2 WEEKS FREE!🎧 Why you’ll want to listen:We all know how challenging it can be to find time for meaningful professional development that fits our unique needs and busy schedules. This episode offers a solution that's accessible, flexible, and tailored to you. By making the most of AI for your professional development, you'll be able to:💡 Create a personalised learning journey that fits your specific goals and schedule💡 Access expert-level knowledge and support 24/7, right when you need it💡 Save time on research and content curation, allowing you to focus on application💡 Improve your reflective practice skills with AI-guided prompts and questions💡 Strengthen your ability to link educational theory to practice in your daily work💡 Simplify challenging documentation tasks, reducing stress and saving timeIf you enjoyed this episode make sure to subscribe to Early Education in the Age of AI to stay updated on new episodes and be the first to hear about new training and free resources to support your learning journey in the use of AI. 💬 Let’s Connect!🌟 If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator!🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies!📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration💻 Discover What’s Possible with AI in Early Learning... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page 🟣 Get the simple steps to follow and friendly AI tools you need HERE to cut your planning time in half and ditch the paperwork overwhelm in 2025! 🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. 🚀#AIforEducators #SustainabilityInECE #EarlyLearning #PlayBasedLearning #AIinEducation #Aiempowerededucators
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    49 mins
  • EP 13 | - Understanding Educational Theories with Perplexity AI
    Aug 14 2024

    Welcome to Early Education in the Age of AI! I’m Jodie from The Empowered Educator, and in today’s episode, we’re exploring one of my favourite AI tools—Perplexity. Whether you love research or dread it, this tool can save you hours of time and help you find reliable, concise answers without getting lost in the endless maze of distraction that is the internet.



    🎧🎙️ How Will This Episode Help You In Your Early Education Role?


    In this episode, we’ll dive into how Perplexity can become your go-to research assistant, helping you quickly and accurately gather information to better inform your overall planning and documentation and connect to frameworks like the Australian EYLF.


    I’ll share how Perplexity compares to other AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, then give you practical examples of how you can use it to clarify and improve your understanding of educational theories and frameworks, making your job as an educator more efficient and less overwhelming.



    Highlights From This Episode:


    🟢 Discover how Perplexity can simplify and speed up your research process by providing direct, concise answers.


    🟢 You’ll learn the important differences between Perplexity and other AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude.


    🟢 Explore how to use Perplexity to delve into complex educational theories, making them easier to apply in your daily work.


    🟢 Find out how to use Perplexity’s follow-up question feature to help you extend your understanding of any topic.


    🟢 Uncover practical ways to connect educational theories with your planning and documentation using Perplexity.


    🟢 Get tips on how to use Perplexity to align your practices with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).



    🎧 Why you’ll want to listen:


    💡 Quickly gather reliable information without falling into the "Google rabbit hole."

    💡 You’ll find out how to improve your understanding of complex educational theories with easy-to-understand explanations.

    💡 You’ll understand how to confidently connect theories like Piaget and Vygotsky to your daily planning and practices.

    💡 Perplexity can help you link your documentation with the EYLF.

    💡To find out how Perplexity can act as your personal research assistant and save you a whole lot of planning time!


    Don’t forget to subscribe to Early Education in the Age of AI to stay updated on new episodes and gain access to valuable AI training resources tailored specifically for early childhood educators.

    💬 Let’s Connect!


    🌟 If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow educator!


    🎧 Subscribe & leave a review so we can reach more educators looking to save time with AI


    📲 Follow me HERE on LinkedIn for more AI tips & timesavers and leadership strategies!


    📍Follow me on HERE on Pinterest for play ideas and environment inspiration


    💻 Discover What’s Possible with AI in Early Learning... HERE on the FREE AI Resource Page


    🟣 Get the simple steps to follow and friendly AI tools you need HERE to cut your planning time in half and ditch the paperwork overwhelm in 2025!


    🔔 New episodes drop every Friday! See you next time as we continue learning about creative ways to use AI in early childhood education - ethically, practically, and with confidence. 🚀


    #AIforEducators #SustainabilityInECE #EarlyLearning #PlayBasedLearning #AIinEducation #Aiempowerededucators

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    41 mins