Students as Co-Leaders in the Age of AI: Learning Together Through Change
TCC 2026’s theme, Human by Design: AI, Creativity, and Purpose in Education, invites educators to look beyond tools and ask why and how AI should shape learning. This proposal shares how ʻIolani School is engaging students as co-leaders as we move from small AI pilots toward more coordinated efforts.
This session builds on last year’s TCC presentation, which introduced students as “AI-native learners.” This year, we focus not only on how students use AI, but on what happens when students help shape understanding, guide dialogue, and inform change. Through student-led AI presentations, tool testing, and participation in faculty professional learning, students have helped surface emerging needs and inform how our community approaches AI.
Students will share how these experiences have deepened their thinking about learning and responsibility. They will also reflect on what they believe educators most need to understand, including why guidance often matters more than restriction and why students want to be trusted as learners.
Student partnership has been especially important because many students are already navigating AI tools, norms, and peer conversations that rarely surface in classrooms. Incorporating student input has helped build shared understanding, identify gaps in guidance, and support educators who are still developing confidence engaging with AI. Even skeptical teachers often listen to students in a fresh and open way, creating space for dialogue that might not emerge through adult-led initiatives alone.
Participants will hear directly from students and examine student-teacher collaborative artifacts, focusing on concrete roles students can play in supporting AI-related learning and change. The session invites both experimentation and inquiry, offering insight into how student partnership can strengthen a school’s capacity to respond thoughtfully to emerging AI-related challenges.
Faye Furutomo, ‘Iolani School, US
Dr. Faye Furutomo serves as the Director of Educational Technology Systems at ʻIolani School in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. She specializes in project management and supporting faculty and staff in their use of technology. A proud graduate of the Learning Design and Technology Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, her research interests include faculty adoption of technology and the relationship between innovation and organizational culture.
Her work has been published in the International Journal of Educational Media and Technology, Innovative Higher Education, and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Conference Proceedings. Dr. Furutomo has also presented at multiple conferences, including the ATLIS Annual Conference, ISTE, AECT National Convention, the Teaching, Colleges & Community Conference (TCC), the STEMS2 Symposium, and the Hawaii Educational Research Association (HERA) Conference.
Gabriel Yanagihara, ʻIolani School, US
Gabriel Yanagihara was born and raised in Maui. He is an experienced educator and public voice in emerging technologies, AI tools, computer science, Esports and video game design at ʻIolani School in Honolulu, Hawaii. He strives to quickly integrate and study newly developed technologies like AI, 3D printing, and VR into his curriculum and has trained over 1000 teachers in AI tools through workshops and keynotes.
Along with supporting AI efforts at ʻIolani, he has become a renowned local expert on AI through presenting at multiple conferences, panels and facilitating industry workshops, presenting alongside Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Meta on the rapid adaptation of emerging technologies in education. Pursuing a Master’s in Private School Leadership at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, he is dedicated to educational innovation and empowering both educators and students.
