Merlyn Mind Practitioner Advisory Board¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 4 claims (3 for, 1 against) · 4 studies (3 design, 1 associational), q2 · 0 of 4 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description¶

A six-member advisory board of educators formed by Digital Promise in January 2022 to give feedback to edtech startup Merlyn Mind on its AI classroom digital assistant. Members were recruited through Digital Promise's networks, applied, and were interviewed; all have extensive classroom experience, four in technology coach or administrative roles. From February 2022 the board met monthly, joined group discussions with Merlyn Mind staff on professional development, learning communities, and technical resource implementation, completed surveys, and collaborated on short articles on AI in the classroom.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Interested educators completed an application and interview with Digital Promise staff

Constraints¶

• Due to procurement and contracting delays, advisors did not receive their devices during the first six-month phase of the work

Target Learners¶

• practicing K-12 educators curious about AI and emerging technology

Target Learning Goals¶

• educator feedback on edtech product design
• educator learning about AI

Affordances¶

• Rpip Model

Claims¶

• Industry partners reported learning about working with schools and educators, including contracting and teacher community building [+W]
• Limited device access and a six-month engagement constrained some Board members' contributions, with one member reporting expectations were not met [-W]
• All six Practitioner Advisory Board members reported that engaging with Merlyn Mind was a valuable use of their time and that their feedback was taken seriously [+W]
• Practitioner Advisory Board members reported learning more about AI and related edtech through their engagement [+W]

Related Elements¶

• SEERNet Practitioner Advisory Board: six practitioners meeting monthly to advise the research network

Examples¶

• Plan for device distribution delays and extend engagement duration in practitioner advisory partnerships

Key Sources¶

• Pautz Stephenson, S., Banks, R., & Coenraad, M. (2022, June). Outcomes of increased practitioner engagement in edtech development: How strong, sustainable research-practice-industry partnerships will build a better edtech future. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/158