Early Education in the Age of AI
Welcome to the 'Early Education in the Age of AI' podcast. Join me (Jodie from The Empowered Educator Website) each week, as I break down early education topics and strategies into simple steps that empower educators, teachers and leaders to confidently embrace, adapt and master the use of ethical AI strategies to support early learning. In every show you'll get new prompts, tips and realistic examples to try from a certified AI ChatGPT expert AND early childhood professional with over 30 years experience, that you can use to make your planning, documentation and day to day practice easier with AI as an educational assistant by your side. I can't wait to inspire you with the possibilities!
Episodes
Every year around this time, a few questions start appearing in educator Facebook groups and inboxes along the lines of… “What are you doing for NAIDOC week?”, and ‘“Is this tokenistic?”
But now I’m noticing a new question doing the rounds…"Is it ...
You opened your documentation app this week and there it was...a new sparkle icon, a "draft with AI" button that nobody asked you about. The AI didn't wait for your permission. It moved into your workflow. So what now?
In this episode, Jodie Clarke looks at the almost quiet shift happening inside Stor...
🟣🟢 So you've probably been using AI for a few months now, maybe longer. You've got a pile of AI-assisted observations sitting in your files. But there's a question you keep circling back to - is what I'm producing actually any good? Does it still pass as authentic and high quality?
Here's the t...
Most family engagement in early childhood education flows in one direction - and it's not the direction that helps your responsive planning and programs.
We send things out constantly. Photos, newsletters, daily updates, portfolios, app notifications. And then we wonder why our documentation feels thi...
🟢 That child who has been in the sandpit for forty minutes isn’t “just playing.”
They’re testing volume, comparing weight, exploring cause and effect, strengthening fine motor skills, practising social ne...
🟢 Your learning environment is teaching children something right now. The question is whether you know what it's saying. If you set up your room at the start of the year and haven't made meaningful changes since, it might be telling children a story you didn't intend.
In this episode, Jodie make...
🐰 If you've ever stood in your storeroom the week before Easter staring at a bag of cotton balls and a stack of pre-cut bunny templates thinking "there has to be something better than this", then this episode is going to change how you approach every cultural moment on your planning calendar from here on in.
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🟢 What if you could hand your policy manual, your observation notes, and the Early Years Learning Framework to a research assistant who'd read every single word… and then just answer your questions? That's exactly what NotebookLM does. And it only knows what you give it.
In this episode, ...
🟢 Most early childhood teams are already using AI - without guidelines, training, support or policy. And the most experienced person on the team is often the one with the most to say about it. She had eighteen years of experience, three commendations from assessment and rating, and a reputation as the best documenter in the service. When her director mentioned AI, s...
You set up the provocation. You observe something genuinely meaningful. You write your notes. And then the session ends… and those observations sit in your notebook, never quite making it into your program. Sound familiar?
In this episode, I'm walking you through a two-step AI process that take...
In This Episode…
Can AI and Reggio Emilia actually coexist? In this episode, Jodie explores what Loris Malaguzzi's most important principles … the hundred languages of children, pedagogical listening, and documen...
In This Episode...
Ever sat down to write an observation about a quiet child and found your page stays stubbornly blank? You're not alone — and it's not because you're not paying attention. In this episode, Jodie explores why our documentation systems consistently fail quiet learners, introduces the SILENT framework for observing learning you can't hear, and shares four specific AI prompt approaches that help you find the prof...
🟢 Documentation was supposed to make children's learning visible. Instead, it's become the thing that steals your evenings, your weekends, and your enthusiasm for the job. In this practical episode, Jodie challenges the documentation expectations that have built up over the years in the early education sector, reveals what the NQS actually requires, and shows you exactly how AI can help you write better observations in less time -...
It's the beginning of a new year and perhaps you're already feeling behind on observations while trying to settle new children in. Before you try to overhaul your entire practice and rooms (again), Jodie introduces the "one small thing" approach that actually works. This episode walks you through practical, tested strategies for making documentation feel less impossible...starting with a 30-second AI introduction tip that changes t...
🟢 What’s This Episode About?
What If Your Documentation Could Come Alive?
In this final episode of 2025, Jodie explores a question that's been forming all year: what if the documentation and planning cycle system itself…not just our efficiency within it, is what needs to change?
Jodie takes a step back from specific AI tool use cases and prompting to look at the bigger picture. We explore why the "old way" of docum...
The end-of-year gift-making rush is a source of huge stress for educators. We're pressured to create perfect, product-focused items, which often goes against our "process-over-product" approach. In this episode you’ll learn how to use AI to simplify end of year activity planning, create ...
🟢🟣 This episode is for every educator who has felt the "Sunday afternoon panic" of trying to fill out a weekly program with a balance of play based activities and intentional teaching. I’m taking you beyond generic planning themes and Pinterest boards to explore how AI can become your "educational thinking partner". You'll learn how to use AI to better unders...
In This Episode
If you've ever felt let down by generic AI responses, this episode is for you. Jodie talks through the common frustration of using one-size-fits-all AI tools and explains a more effective way forward. You'll learn how to see AI not as a single tool, but as a team of specialised ...
🟢 In This Episode...
Discover how you can use a free AI tool to create beautifully illustrated, personalised storybooks in minutes.
This episode moves beyond the tech and focuses on meaningful, ethical co-creation with ...
🟢 Are your program plans in step with the land - or just with the wall calendar?
In this episode of Early Education in the Age of AI, Jodie invites you to...
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