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Former Centerburg Local Schools Superintendent Mike Hebenthal, now a school improvement specialist at Knox Educational Service Center, is set to teach an artificial intelligence (AI) class at Ashland University. Hebenthal emphasizes AI's profound potential to revolutionize education, arguing that its impact will be even greater than that of computers. His course aims to equip educators with the skills to leverage AI for more effective teaching and student engagement, ensuring they embrace this evolving technology rather than being replaced by those who understand it.
Mike Hebenthal, a veteran educator and former Centerburg Local Schools Superintendent, now serves as a school improvement specialist at the Knox Educational Service Center. In this role, he recognizes the increasing challenges faced by classroom teachers while simultaneously identifying the immense opportunities that artificial intelligence (AI) presents for enhancing both teaching methodologies and student learning outcomes. He emphatically states that AI is poised to have a more profound and widespread effect on education than computers ever did. Hebenthal has already begun implementing this vision by leading intensive, day-long sessions for high school teachers at Mount Vernon’s Energy Fieldhouse. These sessions delve into analyzing complex end-of-course testing data across critical subjects such as English/language arts, American history and government, biology, and algebra. A significant portion of these workshops is dedicated to practical applications and discussions surrounding educators' effective use of AI tools in their daily practices, preparing them for the future of the classroom.
Hebenthal's extensive background and deep understanding of artificial intelligence are not merely theoretical; they stem from rigorous personal study, including advanced graduate coursework and specialized online instruction. This comprehensive knowledge base has positioned him as a leading voice in AI in education, culminating in his upcoming role as an adjunct professor at Ashland University. Starting on February 18th, he will facilitate a 10-week course specifically designed to illuminate the tangible benefits of AI for contemporary educators. The curriculum will meticulously explore innovative ways to integrate AI into teaching, focusing on strategies to enhance classroom effectiveness and improve pedagogical approaches. Dr. Timm Mackley, Superintendent of the Knox Educational Service Center, highly commends Hebenthal's contributions, describing him as an invaluable asset to the county's school districts. Mackley highlights that the Knox Educational Service Center, through Hebenthal's expertise, is actively offering crucial professional development opportunities that empower teachers and administrators with essential AI literacy and application skills.
A significant component of Hebenthal's professional development sessions for high school core subject teachers revolves around a meticulous analysis of state testing results. During these sessions, educators collaboratively examine individual school data, identifying specific academic areas where students consistently struggle. This comparative approach, contrasting "School X" with "School Y" to discern varying levels of achievement, allows for the sharing of successful instructional and testing preparation strategies. A recurring and critical issue identified across districts is the confusing nature of many state test questions, where multiple-choice options might seem plausible, yet only one is deemed correct without sufficient clarification. Hebenthal emphasizes that this ambiguity contributes significantly to student difficulties. To counteract this, he advocates utilizing data from the past five years of state tests to construct more representative and effective practice tests, better preparing students for the actual examination format. He also points out AI's direct involvement in state testing, particularly in grading essays for American history and government. By combining Ohio’s established testing rubric with AI capabilities, educators can generate exemplary responses, providing students with clear models of high-scoring writing and actionable insights for improving their own performance.
Hebenthal strongly advocates for artificial intelligence as a potent tool for offering creative and remarkably time-saving assistance to teachers. He illustrates this by referencing the common challenge of catering to students operating at different proficiency levels—approaching, proficient, and exceeding. In a traditional classroom setting, where a teacher might oversee as many as a hundred students daily, the task of individually customizing worksheets and other learning materials for each student's specific needs would consume an overwhelming number of hours. Hebenthal highlights that with the strategic integration of AI, these labor-intensive hours can be dramatically condensed into mere minutes, freeing up valuable teacher time for more direct student interaction and personalized instruction. Furthermore, Hebenthal draws on his own experience as an instructor, emphasizing how AI actively fuels his creativity in lesson planning. It provides him with innovative ways to structure lessons, generates fresh ideas, and even suggests necessary supplies and materials, significantly streamlining the preparation process and enriching the educational experience.
Looking beyond current classroom applications, Hebenthal envisions an expansive future for AI proficiency, extending its benefits into broader administrative and operational spheres. He reveals that county school treasurers have already expressed considerable interest in understanding how artificial intelligence could be leveraged to positively transform their daily work and streamline financial processes. Consequently, discussions are underway to potentially organize dedicated AI training sessions tailored specifically for this administrative cohort. Fundamentally, Hebenthal asserts that the overarching objective is to ensure that students are ultimately better served through the intelligent application of AI across the educational system. Addressing a common apprehension among educators, Hebenthal tackles the concern that AI might lead to job displacement. He offers a pragmatic and reassuring perspective: AI itself will not eliminate teaching positions. Instead, he warns that educators who fail to adapt and acquire a comprehensive understanding of AI's capabilities and effective utilization might find themselves at a disadvantage, potentially being outpaced by colleagues who actively embrace and master this transformative technology. This underscores the critical importance of continuous professional development in AI for long-term career relevance in education.