Nicolette Rankin
Teacher · AI evaluation · Malibu, California

I teach people to use AI well, and to check that it’s right.

I’m Nicolette Rankin. I co-founded Open English, where about 2 million students learned English online, and I designed The Daily Lesson, taught by Kelly. Now I teach schools, small businesses and AI teams to get real work out of AI without trusting it blindly.

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“Education is the only asset that can’t be taken from you.”
Nicolette Rankin
How I teach

Every session is a lesson.

Whether it’s one owner with a laptop or a whole school staff, I teach the same way.

Start where you are.

No question is too basic. Nobody in my sessions is behind; they are just starting.

Learn on real work.

We practice on your own emails, lesson plans and reports, not on made-up examples.

Leave knowing how.

You keep the skill, not just the tool. If the tool changes next year, you’ll still know what to do.

Check before you trust.

Every session ends with how to tell when the AI got it wrong.

Try it now · A two-minute lesson

Three questions to ask any AI answer

  1. Is it true?If it names a source, open the source; AI sometimes invents them. If it gives no source, treat the answer as a draft, not a fact.
  2. Is it right for the reader?Check the language, the reading level and the tone. An answer written for an expert can lose a beginner.
  3. What did it leave out?AI sounds sure even when something is missing. Ask it, “What would someone who disagrees say?”

That’s the whole lesson. Try it on the next answer you get.

Packages

Ways to learn together.

Simple, fixed prices. Every project gets a fixed quote before we start.

AI Jumpstart

from $350

ForOne person or a small team, just getting started.

How it works

A short questionnaire before we meet, then one 90-minute session, in person around Malibu or online. A check-in by email a week later.

You’ll learn

  • What AI is good at, and what it gets wrong
  • What never to paste into it
  • How to check an answer in three questions

You leave with

  • One or two tools chosen for your work and set up safely
  • Three of your real tasks, done together
  • A one-page plan for the next month

Workshop

from $750

ForA team, a school staff or a faculty, up to 15 people.

How it works

A short call to learn about your work, then two hands-on hours at your place or online, with time for every question.

You’ll learn

  • How AI tools work, in plain words
  • How to ask for an answer you can use
  • How to spot a wrong one
  • For schools: lesson planning, feedback, and what students should and shouldn’t use AI for

You leave with

  • A handout with every exercise
  • A draft one-page AI policy for your team
  • A next step for each person

Pilot

$3,500

ForOne team or one classroom that wants to use AI on real work, and know whether it helped.

How it works · four weeks

Week 1I watch how the work is done today. We pick one task and agree how to measure it.
Week 2We set up the tools and I train the team.
Week 3The team uses it on real work. We meet once a week.
Week 4We compare the results with where we started.

You leave with

  • A working setup and a trained team
  • A short written report: what worked, what didn’t, and what to do next

Ongoing support

$1,500 / month

ForTeams already using AI that want a teacher in their corner.

Each month

  • One two-hour working session
  • Your questions answered by email within two business days
  • A spot-check of your AI output against a simple rubric
  • A short note when a tool you use changes in a way that matters

Terms

Month to month. Cancel anytime.

Expert work

$75–100 / hour

ForAI teams and companies.

What I do

  • Rubric and evaluation design
  • Careful grading of model output
  • Learning-design review of lessons, courses and tutoring products

How it works

By the hour, or a fixed quote for a defined project.

A case in point

I check my own work first.

40.7%

of the AI-generated lesson titles in The Daily Lesson had a provable defect when I audited them with code alone.

AI helps write The Daily Lesson: 365 lessons a year, in 47 translated languages plus English. When I audited the titles, I found stray translator notes, repeated phrases, broken characters and mixed scripts.

So I’m building a checking step. It asks plain questions about each piece of text before a learner sees it, such as “Is this in the right language?” It never rewrites anything, and anything uncertain goes to a person.

That is the care I bring to your work.

Background

Where I’ve taught.

  • Co-founder, Open EnglishLive English classes online. About 2 million students. Harvard Business School case N9-814-020 (2014).
  • Founder, Lesson of the Day, PBCI designed The Daily Lesson: one shared lesson a day, taught by Kelly. We also make Word Orb and HELD. lotdpbc.com
  • Malibu, CaliforniaIn person nearby, online anywhere.
Contact

Tell me what you want to learn.

Write a few lines about your team and what you’re hoping for. I’ll reply myself.

nicoletterankin@gmail.com