Teaching
I have been teaching for years - first in corporate training, then inside and alongside the higher-ed classroom, and now in public AI workshops, faculty development, and hands-on builder sessions. This is not a recent add-on to my work. Teaching is one of the main threads running through my entire career.
I know how to teach beginners, working professionals, faculty, and technical teams because I have done it in each of those environments. I am also a published textbook author and current higher-ed technology leader, so my workshops are grounded in real systems, real adoption challenges, and real implementation.
10+ years
teaching, training, and technology leadership
Top 10
New Horizons instructor ranking worldwide
#1 / 65
EMU Gen AI Summit session result
Workshop FrameworkMy teaching goal is agency, not just familiarity.
I teach people to identify a real gap, ask whether they can build around it, and leave with clearer next steps than they had when they arrived.
The Teaching Throughline
The environments changed. The work of helping people learn, adapt, and build with technology did not.
2012 - 2013
Corporate Training
Before higher ed, I taught Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and media design at New Horizons Computer Learning Center for corporate clients including the eBay Utah Data Center and Utah government offices.
2014 - 2020
Higher-Ed Classroom Teaching
At Southwest Technical College I taught across Business and Digital Media while serving as Program Director, and I later taught Microsoft Office in hybrid and online CSIS courses at Southern Utah University.
2020 - Present
Academic Leadership & Faculty Enablement
As Dean of Education, LMS Administrator, and now Director of Curriculum & Assessment, I have trained faculty and leaders on curriculum systems, academic technology, and increasingly on AI tools and workflows.
Current
Public AI Education
I teach in public through workshops, conference sessions, Shared Sapience, The Century Report, and Open Builder Bar - translating complex AI topics into practical, usable next steps.
What I Teach
My sessions are practical, implementation-focused, and designed to help people become more capable in their own work rather than dependent on vague AI advice.
Practical AI Literacy
Help people understand what AI can do, where it breaks, and how to use it responsibly in the real contexts where they already work.
Personal Tool-Building
Teach non-engineers how to spot a friction point, scaffold a small solution with AI, and iterate toward something genuinely useful.
AI-Assisted Development
Coach people through VS Code, Copilot, Claude, Cursor, APIs, and iterative build workflows so they can move faster without becoming sloppy.
Self-Hosted & Sovereign AI
Guide teams and individuals who need more privacy, control, or infrastructure fluency with local models, Open WebUI, Ollama, and related stacks.
Formats & Audiences
- •Faculty development workshops and AI literacy sessions
- •Conference presentations and live-build workshops
- •Team training for staff, administrators, and knowledge workers
- •One-on-one coaching for educators, founders, and builders
- •Technical setup clinics for self-hosted or local AI
Why this works
I bridge a rare gap: I can explain the concepts clearly, I can build the systems myself, and I know how to help institutions and individuals actually adopt the tools.
What People Say
“Ben's presentation was hands-down the best session I attended at the summit. It was deeply informative and gave me the highest amount of real, practical skill I could take away from any session across the entire event.”
- Conference Attendee, Gen AI Summit (EMU)
“Ben made me genuinely passionate about building personal AI tools with skills I didn't even know I had. I left his session ready to start creating.”
- Conference Attendee, Gen AI Summit (EMU)
“Always the most knowledgeable person in the room when it comes to AI. I'm grateful to be working with him.”
- Conference Organizer
“I came to Ben feeling overwhelmed and unsure. He not only helped me understand how to connect more consistently with my tools, but also walked me through many options for moving to other AI platforms if I ever want to. I'm feeling reassured and equipped.”
- Consulting Client