Los Angeles district wants AI for ‘impactful’ instruction shifts

Artificial intelligence could soon disrupt the instruction in the second largest school district in the U.S.

Sophia Mendoza, the director of instructional technology for Los Angeles Unified School District, says AI has been included in many recent conversations she’s had inside the district.

“[AI] has really been at the forefront of a lot of the conversations we’re having with our instructional technology facilitators who are at the forefront of working closely with school site administrators as well as teachers,” Mendoza says.

The emerging technology, and its potential to help the district glean insights from data could change the way teachers and staff design and teach curriculum at the K-12 level, Mendoza says.

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to really shape how we start to deliver and make these impactful shifts in instruction,” Mendoza says. “That’s an area that we’re going to be looking at closely within this next school year.”

The eye toward artificial intelligence also plays directly into the way Mendoza says she sees her role continuing to evolve.

“I really see my role as to continue and to support our senior leaders, our executive leaders, our school site principals and our teachers to really make sure that I am collecting and making sure that our teachers have the best of the best out there,” Mendoza says.

Mendoza on her top priorities:

Mendoza on cybersecurity and privacy:

These videos were filmed at the Consortium for School Networking’s annual conference in Portland, Oregon, on April 1, 2019.