Join Loyola's Center for Research & Evaluation (CRE) and the Loyola Notre Dame Library (LNDL) for a discussion with Dr. Marie K. Heath, Loyola University Maryland, Dr. Stephanie Smith Budhai, University of Delaware, and Dr. Punya Mishra, Arizona State University, about their book, Critical AI in K-12 Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Cultivating Justice and Joy. This conversation will provide audience members with helpful tips on navigating the complicated intersection of artificial intelligence, education, and justice. 

About the speakers: 

Dr. Marie K. Heath (she/her) is not a robot, but she refuses to prove it to Google’s CAPTCHA. She currently works as Department Chair of Education Specialties and as an Associate Professor of Learning Design and Technology at Loyola University Maryland. Prior to her work in higher education, Marie taught high school social studies in Baltimore County Public Schools. She is co-founder and Executive Director of the Civics of Technology project, an international community of educators, scholars, and community organizers committed to more just technological futures. Marie’s teaching and scholarship technoskeptically inquires into the effects of technologies on our educational and social lives to work toward more robust democratic futures.

Marie’s scholarship has won numerous awards including the 2026 Martin Haberman Journal of Teacher Education Article of the Year; the 2025 Scholar of the Year at Loyola University Maryland; the 2023 The National Technology Leadership Initiative (NTLI) Fellowship Award (CUFA); and the 2023 Best Paper Award in the Technology as Agent of Change (TACTL) SIG at the American Education Research Association (AERA). She is invited to speak internationally about the impacts of technology on education and society and has contributed to policy reports to the UN on the impacts of AI and education.

If you ask generative AI a question about Marie, she likes to say it replies with the Mariah Carey “I don’t know her” meme. But the truth is, it just takes this copy, moves some words around, and spits it back out with (frustratingly) better jokes.

Dr. Stephanie Smith Budhai (she/her), Associate Professor at University of Delaware, is an award-winning author and teacher educator whose interdisciplinary work bridges technology, equity, and civic engagement. She is a Council Chair for the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) and advisory board member for the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Center of Excellence for Publishing. Stephanie has published over eighty practitioner articles and nine books to support teaching, criticality, leadership and technology in education. Dr. Budhai’s work has been internationally recognized and two of her books have been published in Arabic. She is the recipient of an Excellence in Teacher Education Award from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and holds K–12 teaching certifications in technology education, instructional technology, elementary education, and special education. 

Punya Mishra (punyamishra.com) is Director of Innovative Learning Futures at Arizona State University’s Learning Engineering Institute and Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton College of Teaching & Learning Innovation. A TED-Ed educator and AERA Fellow he is internationally recognized for his work in educational technology, creativity, and design-based educational innovation. He has received over $11 million in grants, published over 200 articles, and edited 5 books. With over 75,000 citations of his work, he ranks in the top 2% of scientists worldwide (#91 in social science), and is ranked #62 (#11 in psychology) amongst scholars influencing educational policy. He previously served as Associate Dean of Scholarship & Innovation and director of doctoral programs (at MLFTC) and directed the award-winning MA in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University. He serves on ASU’s Leadership Academy steering committee, AACTE’s Technology and Innovation Committee, and as editor-in-residence for the Journal of Teacher Education. He is an award-winning instructor, engaging public speaker, podcaster, and accomplished visual artist.