Designing AI to Support Teachers with Dr. Rachel Book and Charlie Thayer of Lincoln Learning Solutions

Mar 18, 2026

Charlie Thayer, Chief Academic Officer with 15+ years in online and blended learning, and Dr. Rachel Book, education leader with 20+ years in early childhood and curriculum development, discuss purpose-built AI for classrooms. They compare generic versus education-focused AI. They explore AI use cases that boost teacher visibility and reduce clerical work. They cover AI for younger learners, safety and age-appropriate design, and risks of AI shortcuts.

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INSIGHT

Purpose Built AI Starts With Child Development

Purpose-built AI differs from generic AI by starting with child development, instructional goals, and classroom realities in mind.
Rachel Book emphasizes design around how students learn, how teachers teach, and what's developmentally appropriate for early elementary learners.

INSIGHT

Instructional Design Beats Generic AI For Lessons

Generic AI tools often lack instructional context and thus fall short for classroom tasks.
Charlie Thayer says tools with baked-in pedagogy and instructional design yield more instructionally sound outputs and save teacher time.

ADVICE

Use AI To Expand Teacher Visibility

Use AI to extend teacher visibility into classroom behaviors and aggregate data teachers can't easily observe.
Charlie explains AI can compartmentalize broad data sets and surface trends teachers would otherwise miss, especially in online settings.

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Dr. Rachel Book is an education leader at Lincoln Learning Solutions with over 20 years of experience in early childhood and student development. Charlie Thayer, Chief Academic Officer, brings 15+ years in online and blended learning, specializing in scalable, instructionally sound solutions.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

The difference between generic AI tools and purpose-built AI for education
How AI can extend teacher capacity without replacing human instruction
Practical AI use cases that support both teachers and students
Why AI guardrails, safety, and age-appropriate design matter
The risks of AI shortcuts and the importance of building AI literacy early

✨ Episode Highlights:
[00:03:15] Defining purpose-built AI vs. generic AI in education
[00:07:22] Real classroom AI use cases: data insights and teacher support
[00:09:48] AI for younger learners: voice, engagement, and curiosity
[00:12:20] What school leaders should look for in AI tools
[00:14:59] The biggest risks: AI replacing thinking and human interaction
[00:18:57] First reactions to Lincoln AI and the “wow” factor in classrooms
[00:20:29] How AI dashboards give teachers actionable insights
[00:21:50] Expanding teacher capacity through AI-driven visibility

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