Guardrails, Not Shortcuts

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What if your classroom AI refused to write the paper—and taught students how to think instead? We sit down with Brittany Ordu from TrekAI at the Gacis conference in Athens, Georgia to unpack a teacher-built, student-centered platform that puts privacy, safety, and authentic learning first. Rather than handing out answers, TrekAI prompts learners to explore themes, gather evidence, and connect new ideas to what they already know, turning quick requests into moments of real understanding.

Website: spotlight4success.com

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
I'm Devin Pentosa, your host.
We are here at the GacysConference in uh sunny Athens,
Georgia today.
We are here with our specialguest.
This is Brittany Ordu.
Yes.
She comes to us from Trek AI.
That's Trekai.org.
So good to see you here today.

SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
Thank you so much.
It's great to be here.

SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
Wonderful.
Brittany, can you tell us a bitabout what brings you here to
this Gacis conference?

SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
Absolutely.
So my team, the Trek AI team, issponsoring, and so we are so
excited to be here to spread theword about Trek AI.

SPEAKER_00 (00:42):
Oh, wonderful.
And is there anything inparticular that you had as a
goal for this conference?

SPEAKER_01 (00:49):
Yeah, we just want to make sure that we share the
fact that there's a platform outthere, an AI platform that is
built for teachers, by teachers,but also with students in mind.
And so we have tons of built-inguardrails making sure that we
protect students.
Privacy is key.
And we also don't want studentsto have an answer-giving

(01:12):
machine.
And so we really want studentsto learn how to use AI
appropriately and safely.
We want to make sure that weprovide an on-ramp so that they
learn how to do that.
And we're able to build in andinfuse and incorporate
curriculum within each districtand from each school.

SPEAKER_00 (01:28):
Wow, that's a tall order to put all of those things
together, right?
You know, the privacy, ofcourse, that's so important,
student integrity on the data,and making sure there's
guardrails so they can onlysearch the things that are
educationally appropriate andage appropriate.
That's wonderful that uh you'reable to have a product that does
all of those things.
How do you deal with the aspectof, like you mentioned, you

(01:52):
know, it seems like a lot ofthese AI things, like you said,
Brittany, um, seem to um do thethinking for the student.
And how does Trek AI kind ofallow that process to shift so
that the student can get thatlearning?
Thank you for watching Spotlightfor Success.
I am Devin Pentosi, the ChiefOperating Officer of American

(02:15):
Book Company.
We are located here in ourheadquarters in Woodstock,
Georgia.
All of our materials are printedin the USA.
We have originallymaterials.com.

(02:57):
We look forward to hearing fromyou.

SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
So we definitely see students that are used to using
AI go to our platform and askfor Trek to do the work for
them.
And they're met with a responsethat students that are
accustomed to using AI don'tlove initially, which is I can't
write your paper for you, but Ican help you to think through
major themes that you love.
What did you like about the bookthat you're asking me to write a

(03:23):
paper for?
And so it will truly work withstudents, building upon what
they know, and it will also tryto draw upon what they know.
So it's always looking for anaccess point to build those
connections.
And so one example of that is uhwe have a student named Nancy
who went to uh Trek and said, Idon't know the difference

(03:44):
between homogenous andheterogeneous mixtures.
And so instead of Trek justsaying, This is what a
homogeneous mixture is, this iswhat a heterogeneous mixture is,
um, and just said, What do youknow?
And so she said, Well,homogeneous reminds me of home,
and heterogeneous reminds me ofa hot dog.
And in the time that it wouldtake for me to buffer and ask

(04:05):
many follow-up questions just tosee what in the world Nancy
meant, Trek jumped right inthere and said, Of course,
homogenous reminds you of homebecause everything is blended
together there, like sugardissolving in water.
And of course, heterogeneousreminds you of a hot dog because
those are distinct and visiblecomponents that you can see.
And so uh it builds upon whatstudents know.

(04:25):
Wow, helps to draw thoseconnections to inspire deeper
learning, and that'sindividualized and customized
for each and every singlestudent.

SPEAKER_00 (04:33):
Gosh, I love that, Brittany.
What a fantastic product to havefor the schools.
Right.
And uh so so uh so when thisrolls out, is it does a school
buy it or district, or how doesthat work?

SPEAKER_01 (04:44):
So both.

SPEAKER_00 (04:45):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (04:46):
Yep.
So we are partnering withschools worldwide, and then
we're partnering with districtsas well.

SPEAKER_00 (04:51):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Wow.
So how did you get involved withTrek AI?

SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
Well, I taught for about 10 years.
I taught, coached, mentoredteachers, um, and then I moved
into the space of ed tech with adifferent company, and I've
wanted to be a partner successmanager.
I was like, I know that this isthe next role for me.
And so uh I was looking onLinkedIn, scrolling, and I found
this role and I was like, thisis the perfect fit for me.

SPEAKER_00 (05:17):
Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 (05:17):
And so yeah, the rest was history.

SPEAKER_00 (05:20):
That is so exciting.
Uh, and and look, here you are.
And here I am.
So um is there um is thereanything you're hoping to uh
take away from GASIS or anythingyou'd like to share with the
GACSIS community?

SPEAKER_01 (05:33):
Absolutely, come check us out.
We are super excited andpassionate about the work that
we do.
We would love the opportunity topartner with you, so just check
us out on trekai.org.
We'd love to um learn even moreabout what you're doing and uh
partner together to see theimpact that we can make
together.

SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
That's awesome.
Thanks once again for being ourguest, uh Britney Ordu with
Trekai.org.
Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 (05:56):
Absolutely, thank you.