Artificial Intelligence Resource Page

Image: This image was taken from the TeachAI Toolkit website on 30 April 2024.

Image: This image was taken from the TeachAI Toolkit website on 30 April 2024.

Beyond setting our own goals as outlined in the previous section, we looked to outside our own district to other districts, states, and organizations to provide early insight. This allowed us to expand our understanding of the topic, see best practices, avoid pitfalls, seek compliance to greater, foundational principles of instruction, and even save time and resources.  The following resources are worthy of note. 

Resources by Organizations

• TeachAI in their AI Guidance for Schools Toolkit

• Article: Four States' Guiding Principles for AI in Education  by Panorama Education

• Guidance for generative AI in education and research in UNESCO on 7 September 2023 

• Consortium of School Networks (CoSN), Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), and Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Resources by States and/or Universities

• Kentucky Department of Education's AI Guidance Brief

• University of Kentucky's Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching's AI Resources

• California Department of Education

• North Carolina Generative AI Implementation Recommendations and Considerations    ***** This was Aaron Yeiser's favorite guidance document early on.*****

• Southern Illinois University

• University of Virginia GenAI in Teaching and Learning

• WaTech (not education-specific but valuable principles)

• Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Resources by other School Districts

• Website: AI Policy Labs  by EDSAFE AI Alliance El with Segundo County and Gwinnett County

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers exciting possibilities for K-12 education, but it also raises important concerns. This section will explore some of the key challenges educators face as they navigate the integration of AI in the classroom. We look into ethical considerations, the potential for academic dishonesty, the presence of bias in AI tools, and the crucial issue of student data privacy. By understanding these concerns, teachers, and administrators can make informed decisions about using AI responsibly and creating a safe and enriching learning environment for all students. 

General

• Webinar: Vivacity Tech PBC & Eric Curts "ABCs of AI: What Educators Need to Know" Webinar by Nicky Acevedo and Eric Curts on Vivacity Tech's YouTube Channel posted on 29 April 2024. This video link takes you to the "C" of the title-referenced ABCs. 

Dystopia

• Podcast: Dispatches From the Integrity Trenches by Justin Reich on the TeachLab podcast of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab published on 13  May 2024

Ethics

• Article: 3 Strategies for Helping Students Navigate the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence by Mark Lieberman in EdWeek 27 June 2022 (paywall limited)

• Article: Deepfakes spell trouble for leaders. Here’s some advice by Micah Ward on District Administration on 14 May 2024

Academic Integrity

• Podcast: The Creative Classroom with John Spencer: Promoting Academic Integrity in the Age of Generative AI

• Podcast: The Arrival of the Homework Machine by Justin Reich on the TeachLab podcast of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab published on 24 April 2024

• Article: ChatGPT Cheating: What to Do When It Happens by Alyson Klein in EdWeek 21 February 2023 (paywall limited)

• Blog post: Artificial Intelligence: Will it Soon Take the Place of Plagiarism? by Micah Ward on blog.fetc.org on 2 April 2024

• Article: Helping Students Use AI Creatively Without the Temptation of Cheating: Designing school-friendly chatbots with firm guardrails can spur students toward creative AI use that doesn't do their work for them by Holly Clark on edutopia.com and posted on 29 April 2024

• Help article: How can educators respond to students presenting AI-generated content as their own? by OpenAI 

Bias

• Article: UN Research Sheds Light On AI Bias by Erik Ofgang in Tech Learning on 8 April 2024 

• Article: Navigating AI Biases in The Classroom by Michael Gaskell in Tech Learning on 20 July 2023

Data Privacy

• Blog post: AI Tools and Student Data Privacy by Eric Curts in Control Alt Achieve: transforming education with technology posted on 13 March 2024

Image: This image was taken from slide 121 of Eric Curts' ABCs of AI presentation given at Green River Regional Edcuational Cooperative on 30 April 2024

On page one of their Bringing AI to School: Tips for School Leaders, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) they say, "Artificial Intelligence is having a major impact on education. Whether you are excited or concerned about AI, as a school leader you have a responsibility to ensure AI is approached thoughtfully and appropriately in your school community and informs your vision for teaching and learning. This guide will help you quickly gain the background you need as a learning leader in an AI-infused world."

Later on page three, ISTE/ASCD says, "While a lot of exploration is still needed around AI in education, three overarching questions should be front and center for every school leader when it comes to determining the use of AI: 

•  How can schools use AI to support student learning? 

•  How can schools prepare students with the skills to thrive in an AI-infused world? 

•  How can AI support educators, both with teaching and by freeing up time to allow them to focus on students? 

School leaders should start this transition by engaging their educators first. Once educators are familiar with the technology, they can lead AI explorations appropriately with students. Remember that many generative AI tools are trained on datasets that are not tailored toward children."

Other Resources

Presentation: AI for Admin: Making Life Easier presented by Maria Bennett of Scott County Public Schools at the Kentucky Society for Technology in Education 13-15 March 2024

Podcast: Unlocking AI: Making Technology Work for You on Corwin's Leaders Coaching Leaders Education podcast published on 20 May 2024

Table: Syllabi Policies for AI Generative Tools by Lance Eaton of AI+Edu=Simplified newsletter created on 16 January 2023

Blog post: AI Policies, Guidelines & Frameworks for Schools by Eric Curts provided in his Control Alt Achieve blog and email newsletter from 21 March 2024

One of the first comments made regarding our use of AI in the classroom was that the teacher needs to use AI more like a battery-powered bicycle than a Roomba.  Said differently, we need to make sure that we, adult human eductors, are steering the path forward for our students rather than being passive bystanders to the process.  As such, teachers need to be vigilant in determining the best tools and best practices.  

On 10 April 2024, Eric Curts made available on a blog post called Rubric for Evaluating AI Tools in Schools a rubric that is worth investigating before looking at potential AI tools.  Take a look. 

The next sections are separated purposefully. It is important to understand why.  As outlined above in the section on Concerns and Dangers, we have to remain mindful of sharing private student information, focus on instructional value, and only then, look for teacher productivity assistants. 

Contracted Provider: SchoolAI and Google Gemini

Throughout the 23-24 school year, the Technology Advisory Council and district technology leaders took time to investigate dozens and dozens of AI tools. Although we tested tools that were specific to teacher productivity, our main focus was on instructional application and student safety. SchoolAI provides a product that addresses all three. 

• SchoolAI - Blog post - Demo video - Educator Certification Courses

• SchoolAI is uniquely FERPA, COPPA, and SOC2 compliant. Data is processed in the US. Engineering and development staff are in-house and on-site.

• SchoolAI has contracted agreements with large language model providers such as OpenAI and Microsoft that ensure personal student data is not saved or used by third-parties to train or refine future models. 

• SchoolAI uses multiple LLM providers against each other to crosscheck responses before being visible to students.   

• SchoolAI does not sell student data and prohibits behavioral tracking.

• Likewise, Google Gemini Education protects adult user data with the Google Workspace for Education's Terms of Service we already have. However, it is only available for adults for now. It will be available to students in the future as they develop transparency tools for school leaders and guardians.  

Approved by Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Provider:

• ChatGPT is available in our high schools based on the age of 13 for use.  

• MagicSchool is available in our high schools based on the age of 13 for use only when a teacher provides the link.

• BriskAI is available in our high schools based on the age of 13 for use only when a teacher provides the link.

Other tools that teachers are welcome to consider.

Disclaimer: District technology leaders are not endorsing specific tools on the following lists. Please consider the rubric and data privacy factors previously mentioned. 

The following lists are externally sourced

• Article: Helping Students Use AI Creatively Without the Temptation of Cheating: Designing school-friendly chatbots with firm guardrails can spur students toward creative AI use that doesn't do their work for them by Holly Clark on edutopia.com and posted on 29 April 2024 (Repeat from a previous section on this page)

• Doc: The AI Toolbox: Best AI Tools for Schools by Eric Curts provided in his Control Alt Achieve blog and email newsletter from 11 March 2024

• Webpage: AI Educator Tool Repository on AIEducator.tools 

• Article: 4 Time-Saving AI Tools for Teachers by Stephen Noonoo on Edutopia.org on 5 January 2024

• Blog post: AI for Teachers: 33 Tools To Make Your Life Easier in 2024 by Jill Staake on We Are Teachers on 13 May 2024

• Blog post: 30 AI tools for the classroom published on Ditch That Textbook on 13 November 2023

SchoolAI Level 1 Certified Educator (5 sections | 16 lessons | 30 min)

• What is SchoolAI?

• Tools

• Assistants

• Discover SchoolAI Spaces

SchoolAI will host a one-hour SchoolAI Introduction webinar just for us on July 29th at 12:30 for teachers that want to get a jumpstart on the school year. This is an optional, voluntary attendance hour.  Look for details in the summer issues of the What the Tech email newsletter.

AI in Education by Designed for Learning (7 sections | about 30 minutes each) 

• Understanding and Using AI - The Good, The Bad and the Potential and Session Resources

• AI Tools that Teachers Should be Using and  Session Resources

• AI Productivity & Efficiency for Teachers and Session Resources

• Differentiation with AI and Session Resources (coming soon)

• Personalization with AI and Session Resources  (coming soon)

• Getting Creative with AI and Session Resources

• Preparing Students with the Skills to Thrive in an AI-Infused World and Session Resources

AI Literacy Lessons for Grades 6-12 by Common Sense Media

• What is AI?

• How is AI Trained?

• AI Chatbots: Who's Behind the Screen?

• AI Chatbots and Friendships

• Understanding AI Bias

• How AI Impacts Our Lives

• AI Algorithms: How Do They Know You?

• Facing Off with Facial Recognition

• Always be learning. Come back to these resources to grow your own expertise

• Don't be scared to use AI professionally and instructionally as long as you're protecting student data.

• However, keep foundational instructional practices in mind before grasping for what's a new shiny object. 

• Consider school handbook and/or teacher syllabus policies to personalize if you aren't comfortable with the more generalized district Code of Conduct definitions.  

• Observe the available training provided by Design for Learning.

• Play with SchoolAI

• Have conversations about AI in your professional learning networks. 

• Reach out to your STC, principal, or district leaders with questions and concerns.