Ep. 9: Bridging the AI Gap: From Kindergarten to College with Stephanie Dinnen and Pete Siner

AI is reshaping every level of education—but K–12 and higher ed often feel worlds apart. In this episode, we talk with Teach Smarter podcast hosts Stephanie Dinnen and Pete Siner about how generative AI is transforming K–12 schools, the evolving challenges across grade levels, and what higher education needs to understand about the next generation of AI-native students.

Stephanie Dinnen is an implementation specialist, supporting districts and schools in building MTSS frameworks for literacy, math and SEL. She is a psychiatric researcher turned K-12 educator and a military spouse advocate.

Pete Siner is a former teacher and educational consultant who helps schools use AI to strengthen Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction, support SEL, and build sustainable systems across traditional, CTE, and alternative settings. He hosts the Teach Smarter podcast and will present at ISTE 2025 on how AI can save teachers time without adding complexity.

Teach Smarter Podcast, teachsmarteredu.com

Stephanie Dinnen, @mrsdinnenreads, www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniedinnen

Pete Siner, https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-s-75580490/

Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at unfixed@meltsintoair.org

You can find the full show notes and our writing at meltsintoair.org