Nextech GenAI Teacher Fellows

Join Nextech for the GenAI K-12 Teacher Fellows program. This gamified 12 week experience is designed to guide Indiana educators into exploring and using Generative AI for teaching, learning, and living. Educators will be guided through a series of gamified AI challenges within asynchronous two-week sprints to explore how AI tools can be used in everyday life while engaging with a community of peers.

This program has been designed for educators to expand and uplevel their personal knowledge of GenAI tools.

It has been created with teachers new to GenAI in mind, though anyone – with or without experience – is welcome. Participants will be able to select the GenAI platform they prefer or would like to try (ex: ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, or Gemini). This experience is open to all K-12 educators, regardless of grade band, curriculum, or subject taught.

Participants will be able to earn points, reveal achievement tiers, and unlock incentive dollars through the 12 weeks of challenges.

Event Details

Length: 12 Weeks to work through a collection of six units comprised of 60 GenAI core challenges and optional bonus challenges

Required Kick-Off: September 2, 2026 from 6 – 8 PM on Zoom

Bi-Weekly Learning Community Meetings: Fellows will be divided into learning communities that will meet virtually every two weeks. During each sprint period, participants meet to share and discuss what was learned in challenges and to kick-off the next sprint. Fellows will be divided based on date / times available for community meetings.

Intended Audience

Any Indiana K-12 Educator, no requirements on license, para status, grade band, or subject taught.

Please note that for this professional development, you will need a personal or approved device with full access to at least one major generative AI platform, such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, or Gemini. Some school-issued devices may restrict access, so please ensure you have a device that allows you to freely use at least one of these tools during the sessions.

Incentives and PGPs

This is a gamified challenge, so participants will have the opportunity (through participating in weekly challenges and check-in meetings) to earn points towards a scaled incentive, up to $400. Participants will be able to earn points, reveal achievement tiers, and unlock incentive dollars through the 12 weeks of challenges.

PGP points will also be awarded after the program is complete.

Note: For those participants that are also in CSPDWeek, these hours do not count towards the CSPDWeek stipend.

Justin Hodgson, Ph.D. is an award-winning educator and digital transformation leader at Indiana University, where he serves as Strategic Director for GenAI Faculty Initiatives. He is also an Associate Professor of Digital Rhetoric and the creator and director of the Digital Gardener Initiative—a system-wide series of programs designed to integrate digital literacy, digital creativity, and digital learning into the curriculum.

Program Structure, Dates, and Times