Date
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Time
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
Location Name
BL 15
Name
Vetting the Bot Before It's Bought: K-12 Playbook on AI Vendor Selection
Description
Let’s face it: the pressure to adopt AI right now is intense. It is incredibly easy to fall for the flashy "AI sparkle" and rush into purchasing tools without a clear goal or educational problem to solve. Buying a bot just to say you have one leads to wasted budget and frustrated staff. Designed for anyone piloting, purchasing, or implementing K-12 AI, this session shares a practical, step-by-step approach to a purposeful rollout. We'll show you how to check your school’s readiness before looking at vendors. We’ll explore the difference between teacher-facing and student-facing tools and how to know if students are prepared. We’ll also cover how to push past canned sales pitches by getting hands-on in a sandbox environment. Finally, we'll discuss essential data security and hard questions about equity so no learner is left behind. You'll leave with a customizable playbook to confidently guide your school's AI journey.
Speakers
Session Type
Traditional Workshop
Track
AI Implementation
Secondary Track
Digital Tools
Primary Audience
School and District Leadership
Secondary Audience
School Curriculum Leaders
Fall Conference Strands
Educate
MA DLCS Strands
Computing and Society, Digital Tools and Collaboration