Students move across California’s public higher education systems all the time. Their access to AI tools, training, and infrastructure does not necessarily move with them.
In this episode of My Robot Teacher, Sarah Senk and Taiyo Inoue talk with David Goldberg of San Diego State University, Michelle Fischthal of the San Diego Community College District, and Dan Suchy of UC San Diego about the “Equitable AI Alliance” a regional partnership working across institutional boundaries to address that gap.
The conversation explores what equity means when students at neighboring institutions may have very different access to generative AI, AI literacy training, faculty support, and advanced computing resources. The Alliance’s response includes a shared AI micro-credential, coordinated faculty development, student surveys, and partnerships that extend access to computing infrastructure across the region.
But the episode is also about what makes that kind of coordination possible. David, Michelle, and Dan describe institutions sharing resources instead of duplicating them, using common data to understand student needs, and building the personal relationships that allow collaboration to continue across three different higher education systems.
At the center of the conversation is a simple problem: if colleges and universities increasingly expect students to understand and use AI, what happens when access to those opportunities depends on which institution a student happens to attend?
CHAPTERS
0:00-7:02 Chapter 1 - Introduction
7:03-11:01 Chapter 2 - Introducing the Equitable AI Alliance
11:02-13:00 Chapter 3 -“Is It Something You’d Be Willing to Share?”
13:01-16:49 Chapter 4 - Access to AI Literacy Training and AI Tools
16:50-20:54 Chapter 5 - Chapter Surveying Students
20:55-29:56 Chapter 6 - How Many Students Use ChatGPT?
29:57-35:58 Chapter 7 - The Future of Work and the Promise of Collaboration
35:59-43:06 Chapter 8 - The AI Microcredential
43:07-48:33 Chapter 9 - AI-Ready California Workforce
48:34-52:20 Chapter 10 - Sharing Institutional AI Infrastructure
52:21-55:02 Chapter 11 - Stop Competing, Start Collaborating
55:03-1:01:29 Chapter 12 - What’s in the Water in San Diego?
My Robot Teacher is hosted by Sarah Senk and Taiyo Inoue, produced by editaudio, and funded by the California Education Learning Lab, incentivizing innovation in teaching and learning in California’s public higher education.
Video Editing by Starline Hodge, Audio Editing by Megan Hayward, and our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert.
📄 Full transcripts available on Substack: https://calearninglab.substack.com/s/my-robot-teacher-podcast
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