Creativity takes experimentation, revision, and a willingness to try something that might not work. How do we protect that process when AI can deliver a finished-looking product in seconds?

Jeremy Mikla and David Berner welcome artist, educator, and STEAM Power author Tim Needles to Integrate This! EdTech for a conversation about creativity, learning, and keeping students actively involved when using AI.

Tim shares how brainstorming, project mapping, and iteration can help students use AI thoughtfully while developing their own ideas. We explore what every classroom can learn from the art room, why playful experimentation has value, and how an emphasis on efficiency can squeeze out opportunities for deeper learning.

We also discuss Tim’s work with OK Go, the debate over AI-generated art, the importance of personal voice, and why foundational creative skills still matter as the tools evolve. Plus, Tim shares his favorite creative tools, current inspirations, and keynote walk-up song.

Join us for a reminder to make room for the messy parts of learning and give students opportunities to create, reflect, and try again.

RESOURCES & CONNECTIONS

• Tim Needles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timneedles/

• STEAM Power: Infusing Art Into Your STEM Curriculum: https://books.google.com/books/about/STEAM_Power.html?id=qc-CEAAAQBAJ • OK Go Sandbox lessons: https://okgosandbox.org/

• Integrate This! guest walk-up songs playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/28jaPWAoVslYQC4PAjVwh3?si=uW7kSARiRNuxESOdulKE1Q&utm_source=sms&pi=aeuH3BXiQI-Fy&nd=1&dlsi=2c7410ad6f1c4f03

Follow Integrate This! EdTech for more conversations about teaching, learning, and technology with purpose.

Jacob Kantor, known as "Chief Dodo," joins the podcast to share a rare inside view: running 100-150 district calls a month as a consultant connecting EdTech companies with school and district leaders. Jacob breaks down what's actually driving (or killing) a district's decision to adopt a new tool, from budget pressure, to why efficacy and case studies open the door but rarely close the sale on their own. He traces his own path from a recession-era curriculum rep knocking on school doors to running his own shop and talks candidly about how COVID-era ESSER funding fueled a wave of AI EdTech companies, some of which may not have survived without it. If you've ever wondered why your district adopted (or dropped) a tool or want to understand the sales conversations happening behind the scenes, this one pulls back the curtain.

Connect with Jacob:

https://thejacobkantor.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejacobkantor/

What changes when student work doesn't end on a screen?

Jeremy Mikla and David Berner are joined by Peter Valinski of Sawgrass Technologies and Vik Patel of Craft Express for a conversation about moving student creation from the digital world into something students can actually hold, share, use, and even sell.

What begins with personalized products quickly becomes a much larger conversation about learning. Peter and Vik explore how hands-on creation can help students develop ownership, resilience, creativity, problem-solving skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset while connecting classroom learning to authentic audiences and real-world applications.

The conversation explores school-based businesses, spirit wear and student enterprises, maker spaces, career readiness, STEAM connections, customer feedback, and the many skills hiding inside the journey from an idea to a finished product.

They also tackle the changing role of creativity in an AI-powered world. If AI can make generating an idea easier, what happens to the importance of iteration, judgment, personalization, hands-on skills, and the ability to turn that idea into something real?

Along the way, Vik shares examples of schools beginning to build entrepreneurship and maker experiences around product creation, while Peter connects those classroom opportunities to evolving technologies in manufacturing, automation, robotics, and the workforce.

It's a conversation about much more than making T-shirts or mugs. It's about giving students opportunities to create for someone, solve real problems, learn from failure, and see where their ideas can take them.

Resources

Sawgrass Technologies: https://www.sawgrassink.com/education/

Craft Express: https://craftexpressus.com/

Craft Express on Instagram & Facebook: @CraftExpressUS