GenAI Microcredentials for Educators
presented by ADVIS + Future Design School
Main Registration Page
Join Us Virtually
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a future skill. It is now core professional literacy.
In partnership with Future Design School, ADVIS presents a modular Generative AI microcredential program designed for independent school professionals who want to move beyond experimentation to confident, strategic use.
This is not a one size fits all course. It is a choose your own pathway into meaningful, responsible, school-ready AI practice. The program is built around three principles:
- Agency: Start with the Foundational Core or jump directly into advanced levels where your learning edge actually is.
- Role Specific Growth: Distinct pathways for Educators and School Operations, with opportunities to cross streams.
- Immediately Applicable: Each microcredential includes 2 hours of action packed learning-by-doing. Participants work on real tasks during each session and walk away with strategies that are directly relevant to their work.
Which Track is Right for You?
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The Foundation Track: New to AI? Start at Level I (phase 1) and progress at your own pace.
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The Fast Track: Already have a strong foundation in prompting and tool usage? Jump straight into the specialization options in phase 2 to stay at the cutting edge.
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The Strategy Track: You have the basics and need a school wide strategy. You see a vision for how AI could be used in your school and want to chart a path towards implementation? Join Levels VII and VIII (phase 3) and bring your visions to life.
- The Targeted Jump In Track: Expert in the basics but have a specific goal? Select the exact phase 2 or phase 3 level(s) that solves your current professional challenge.
Future Design School, named one of North America’s most innovative companies by Fast Company magazine, partners with school and system leaders in more than 65 countries worldwide to support effective and long term education transformation. Our extensive education experience, and deep insight into the future of work, provides a unique lens that helps to inform our work inside schools. Our senior leaders serve as trusted advisors to global changemakers, and our experienced coaches have worked with tens of thousands of teachers. Schools across North America leverage our organization for transformational strategy, acclaimed tools and resources, innovative reports and insights, sustained professional development, and our robust student programs.
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Les McBeth |
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LESLIE MCBETH is an educator on a mission to answer the question: “How might we empower students to solve the world’s big problems?” As Director of Special Projects at Future Design School, Les brings unique expertise on the intersection of design, education and technology to lead cross-functional teams in solving problems in K-12, Higher Education and corporate clients. A widely recognized and dynamic facilitator, Les has created and led impactful learning experiences for more than 25,000 educators and leaders globally on topics such as AI’s impact on education; Journey Based Assessment practices; and human centered design. She has 20 years of experience in both Canadian independent schools as a teacher and leader, and in international organizations in design, public policy and human rights advocacy. Les is a Columbia University Klingenstein Institute Fellowship recipient and was the Lead Design Facilitator for the Google Certified Innovator program globally from 2016-2025. |
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Diane Rutherford |
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DIANE RUTHERFORD is dedicated to empowering individuals to achieve their greatest personal potential. She has over a decade of experience as a world class facilitator and certified educator who has worked with thousands of school leaders, teachers and students globally. Diane is a leading expert on pedagogy and assessment, and supports the professional development of thousands of educators annually through the design and delivery of customized workshops that support student centred learning, build foundational skills and drive measurable personal growth. Diane also designs and facilitates rich AI-enabled learning experiences, supporting educators, schools leaders and students alike to stay up to date with the current technologies and use cases for AI in education. |
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Sandra Nagy |
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SANDRA NAGY is a seasoned strategist and innovation leader with 25+ years of experience driving organizational transformation. A trusted partner to school leaders worldwide, she has designed and delivered impactful learning experiences for thousands of educators and employees. Nagy leads the Education Practice at Future Design School, forging strong academic partnerships to drive strategic education priorities, while leading a team that designs impactful professional learning and student programs. Previously, she spent over a decade at Pearson Education as a Senior Strategist and led professional development initiatives at The Learning Partnership. Sandra holds a Master’s in Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Commerce in Organizational Behaviour from McGill University. |
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Tried and Tested
Future Design School has granted over 950 Microcredentials to independent school educators, leaders and operations teams. On average, participants rate the program as a 9.25/10.
Very well structured program with clear examples and walk-throughs.”
These sessions are NOT recorded; Live attendance is required.
PHASE 1: The Foundational Core*
Essential for all new participants to establish "AI Fluency."
September 17, 2026
Level I: The Art of Prompting
- The Goal: Move from basic search queries to "Co-Engineering" with AI.
- What you’ll do: Master the P-R-C-R (Purpose-Role-Context-Result) framework. Educators design instant lesson hooks and rubrics; Operations staff automate high-stakes communications and reports.
September 24, 2026
Level II: The AI Ecosystem & Productivity
- The Goal: Navigate the "Big Two" (Copilot and Gemini) and specialized niche tools.
- What you’ll do: Build a personalized "AI Toolkit." Examine your own professional workflows and determine exactly when, where and how AI can streamline your work and improve outputs.
October 1, 2026
Level III: Harnessing Custom LLMs
- The Goal: Train AI on your specific school data or pedagogical standards.
- What you’ll do: Deploy a "Private Knowledge Assistant." Educators build an assistant trained on their curriculum; Operations staff build a policy bot, trained on school handbooks and HR guidelines.
*NOTES
✦ We recommend that all participants take at least one foundational course before moving into applied pathways. The program gets progressively more advanced from I-III.
✦ Levels I-III focus primarily on multipurpose, school approved LLM tools - generally Google Gemini & NotebookLM, and Microsoft Copilot. The free versions of these tools are sufficient for the program, although some features in Copilot are only available on the paid version. Claude and ChatGPT are also acceptable for this course, provided they are school approved.
These sessions are NOT recorded; Live attendance is required.
PHASE 2: Applied Pathways
Select the track that aligns with your professional impact. Whereas levels I-III focus primarily on tools themselves, levels IV-VI focus more on approaches to and implications of AI within your work.
These sessions are NOT recorded; Live attendance is required.
PHASE 3: THE Mastery Capstone
Move from AI adoption to strategic change management.
October 29, 2026
Level VII: Institutional Innovation
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Educators: Design a program to develop an AI Literate Graduate and/or a whole school strategy for student led AI usage.
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Operations: Create an Institutional AI Roadmap focusing on AI governance, data privacy (PII) and change management.
November 5, 2026
Level VIII: Implementation Studio & Pilot Launch*
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Educators: Build a pilot plan to launch your AI Literate Graduate framework and/or student AI usage strategy, including success metrics, staff enablement, student guidance and a presentation ready proposal for senior leadership.
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Operations: Operationalize your Institutional AI Roadmap into an actionable rollout plan with governance protocols, PII safeguards, staff training structures, adoption metrics and a leadership ready implementation package.
Tools used in levels VII and VIII include general LLM tools (Gemini, Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT or other school-approved AI tool). We’ll use AI in levels VII and VIII primarily as a thought partner, while emphasizing your human expertise.
*NOTE
✦ We recommend that participants wishing to take part in VIII also attend level VI.
DETAILS
- All sessions are 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
- These sessions are NOT recorded;
Live attendance is required.
CREDENTIALING
Digital badges are awarded for each Level (session) completed, culminating in a Mastery Certificate upon completion of a full stream.
PROGRAM FEES
Contact Dena Torino (dtorino@advis.org).
Act 48 Credits Available
• You may request credit up to 7 days after the event.
• Per the PA Department of Education,
ADVIS is required to report your successful completion
of Act 48 evaluation within 30 days of the event.
• Contact Mandie Curtis Banks (mbanks@advis.org) for more information.
ACCOMMODATIONS
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. Please feel free to request an accommodation on the registration form.
For inquiries about accessibility, please contact Mandie Curtis Banks (mbanks@advis.org). At least two weeks' advance notice will help us to provide seamless access.
EVENT CONTACT
Dena Torino (dtorino@advis.org)
Vice President of
Strategy, Learning & School Services