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Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Science
- Chicago Tribune
South, southwest suburban high school districts prepare to implement new AI programs
South and southwest suburban school districts are using the summer to prepare to implement several artificial intelligence tools, training or guidelines in the classroom, embracing the technology as it becomes harder to outright ban it. Several high school districts, including Orland High District 230, Bremen District 228 and Oak Lawn District 229, have expanded technology committees and implemented guidelines on AI in discipline codes, giving teachers autonomy to use AI but prohibiting certain uses, such as generating content. 'Because it's been embedded in so many programs now, we had to come up with a clause in our policy that actually covers that. I mean, AI is just everywhere,' said Marcus Wargin, assistant principal at Oak Lawn Community High School. 'We knew we didn't want to say no to AI, so we just wanted to put some guardrails in place.' District 228 has experimented with AI and recently purchased several programs to launch this fall. One AI program, entitled and founded in 2023, helps teachers convert class content to different languages, reading levels and content that is more closely related to the students interests, which 'makes a big difference,' said Jim Boswell, director of operations and technology. The district also plans to pilot the AI program Magic School, which gives students access to tools for reviewing and brainstorming ideas while ensuring the teacher has control over access to the tools. Students can even chat with an AI version of Abraham Lincoln, Boswell said. 'It comes down to taking off some of the tasks that get in the way of teachers interacting with their students, and we really do believe at a core level that AI is going to allow our teachers to be more in touch with their students, or be able to help their students more, rather than less, because it's going to eliminate things that are taking time away from students,' Boswell said. At the administrative level, District 228 is using AI licensing for general data analysis, such as student performance, 'turning hours of work into seconds,' said Boswell. He said staff is trained to fact check and edit the information. Oak Lawn High School has already allowed teachers and students to use AI technology for school projects that went well last spring, according to Wargin. Students used Chat GPT to research how Oak Lawn could build a healthier, more sustainable food culture while other students used AI to manipulate their own pictures in a photography class, which taught students to 'ask what was ethical,' he said. District 229 also required mandatory staff training on AI use, along with integrating AI education to students on a 'grand scale,' incorporating it into the media center's training for freshmen and other classes, Wargin said. This coming year, Wargin said the district plans to educate students on the ethical use of AI, along with how to prompt it and understand if data is accurate. The use of AI could also vary from teacher to teacher, Wargin said, as long as student data is protected and students are still generating their own original ideas. John Connolly, District 230 chief technology & operations officer and a board member for the Illinois Educational Technology Leaders, said schools have rescinded bans on AI because even if the technology is blocked from a school's online network, students and staff are still able to access it on their phones and personal devices. District 230 decided against purchasing any specific AI programs and instead plans to continue exploring options and increasing training, Connolly said. 'The technology is moving so fast and there are so many things being introduced on the AI front, so that's why we're in an exploratory stage where we're seeing how all these technologies are coming along and how they can be used,' he said. Since about two years ago, Connolly said, teachers have faced an explosive prevalence of AI in the classroom. Sheli Thoss, an English teacher at Stagg High School entering her 34th year of instruction, said she increased the number of in-class and hand-written assignments to avoid opportunities for the use of AI and also to get to know individual student voices. 'Obviously we don't want AI to do students' thinking and that's kind of the catch is like, there are very appropriate uses for it and there are very inappropriate uses for it, so we have to kind of find that balance,' Thoss said. Thoss said she's discovered several students using AI to write assignments, but in response gives those students an opportunity to redo the assignment in front of her. She also addresses the issue individually, a method she has found particularly effective. 'It's just a matter of reminding kids that you believe that they can do it, that you know they have the skills to do it and making sure as well that if they're not, asking them what's going on and why they're making this choice,' Thoss said. 'I've found in my own opinion that when you address it and catch it one time and handle it with some kind of kindness and an opportunity to redo it, that they don't do it again,' she said. District 230 held its first large-scale AI training in March for more than 75 teachers and staff. Attendees spent three hours discussing how to leverage AI, along with the pros and cons of using the technology. The district also added guidelines on the use of AI to its discipline policy for the first time last summer. Connolly said while the district has not purchased any AI-specific programs for the classroom, the district made data privacy agreements with companies they had already partnered with as the companies embed AI into existing programs, such as Microsoft's Copilot or Google's Gemini. The district also embraced the use of AI for the district's wireless system in 2022 through a company called Juniper, which helps the district better manage the efficiency of its network. District 230 might reevaluate its stance next year, Connolly said, after using this year to explore different uses and types of AI tools in the classroom. 'It's going to be really interesting to see some of our existing applications, how they build AI within them, to take them to the next level and a lot of those are instructional tools,' Connolly said. 'It's also really important for us to work with our teachers on this to make sure that we're supporting what our teachers need.' Both Bremen's Boswell and Oak Lawn's Wargin said while there have been some concerns around the ethics of using AI, teacher feedback has been generally positive about its efficiency. 'We have a good vibe going amongst our staff about the use of AI and its potential,' Boswell said. 'This next school year is getting the rubber to the road and being able to get teachers trained, developing student literacy for AI.' Several districts plan to communicate about the effectiveness of each program, essentially collaborating through 'group sourcing' to find the best resources, Boswell said. 'I have friends or colleagues in every department in every district near us, and some are trying different tools than us, and we get together and discuss which ones are going well and how our experience is going with our tools,' Boswell said. 'I think over the next several years, we'll probably hone in on some that are the most successful.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bay District School makes moves to implement AI in the classroom
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – On April 23, President Trump signed an executive order for school districts to start using AI. But Bay District school officials were prepared for this transition. They'd already formed a task force to begin the process well before the announcement. 'We just wanted to get ahead of the game,' Instructional Tech. & Media Resources Supervisor Susan Tierney said. The AI task force, made up of teachers and administrators, set out to test different educational platforms. 'We gave our committee members several tasks to do without a whole lot of guidance. And they completed those tasks with three different products, and ultimately, unanimously, it was decided that Magic School AI would be the product that we chose,' Tierney said. Magic School AI provides educators and, eventually, Bay District school students with access to over 80 AI-powered tools. Panama City officials hope to improve pedestrian safety with potential trail system It will help teachers generate lesson plans, rubrics, and craft parent communications. Tierney said the task force felt Magic School was user-friendly and intuitive. Once educators become well-versed, there will be a roll-out process. 'It will be a year-long process. So we're going to start at the teacher level and really train teachers in understanding what AI is. All of the good and the bad that is AI and then eventually we will roll that down to students. So with the Magic School, teachers, will have control over what AI tools they can select for their students to use. So it'll make them feel more comfortable with AI and having their students use those tools,' Tierney explained. Tierney said teachers will still maintain control over their implementation of the product into their curriculum. Bay District School Board members approved a one-year contract to try out the platform. The total cost for the trial will be $88,000, funded by half-cent sales tax. Tierney feels the long-term impacts will be worth it. 'We want to make sure that our students are ready for careers that, like I said, don't exist currently right now. And so we want to be prepared for that,' Tierney added. Some people are suspicious of AI. But school district officials said Magic School AI prioritizes data security and privacy, with strict measures to protect student and staff information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Yahoo
Educators seek to combat AI challenges in the classroom
Educators are reaching into their toolbox in an effort to adapt their instruction to a world where students can use ChatGPT to pull out a five-page essay in under an hour. Teachers are working to make artificial intelligence (AI) a force for good in the classroom instead of an easy way to cheat as they balance teaching the new technology with honing students' critical thinking skills. 'Even before the AI era, the most important grades that we'd give at the school that I led and when I was a teacher, were the in-class writing assignments,' said Adeel Khan, CEO and founder of MagicSchool and former school principal, noting the assignments worth the most are normally final exams or end-of-unit tests. Khan predicts those sorts of exams that have no access to AI will be weighted more heavily for students' grades in the future. 'So, if you're using AI for all of the formative assignments that are helping you practice to get to that final exam or that final writing test … then it's going to be really hard to do it when you don't have AI in those moments,' he added. The boom of generative AI began shortly after students got back in the classrooms after the pandemic, with educators going from banning ChatGPT in schools in 2023 to taking professional development courses on how to implement AI in assignments. President Trump recently signed an executive order to incorporate AI more into classrooms, calling it the technology of the future. The executive order aims to have schools work more closely with the private sector to implement programs and trainings regarding AI for teachers and students. 'The basic idea of this executive order is to ensure that we properly train the workforce of the future by ensuring that school children, young Americans, are adequately trained in AI tools, so that they can be competitive in the economy years from now into the future, as AI becomes a bigger and bigger deal,' White House staff secretary Will Scharf said. Dixie Rae Garrison, principal of West Jordan Middle School in Utah, describes herself as an early advocate for AI in schools. She said her classrooms have had 'an overwhelmingly positive experience' with the technology. Garrison remarked the problems with AI need to be resolved through innovative thinking, not passivity. 'There needs to be a shift from the types of questions we were asking students, so shifting away from repetitive exercises,' Garrison said, adding educators 'really have to think about the way that you're teaching students to write, the way that you're framing your questions.' One way her school has used AI to help students is by creating more avenues for pupils to study for exams such as the AP U.S. history test. Teachers are 'able to provide the students with more frequent opportunities to practice' by inputting the AP rubrics into a generative AI tool, leading the students to get feedback 'instantaneously' on their work. Another strategy used for preparing students to work with AI as well as lower concerns about cheating is to create collaborative projects. 'I think in the younger classes there is a shift towards project-based learning, and even homework is more sort of collaborative, which is harder to replicate' with AI, said Tara Chklovski, founder and CEO of Technovation. The integration of AI varies across the United States, with about 60 percent of principals reportedly using AI tools for their work, according to a survey by RAND, a research nonprofit. Among teachers, only 25 percent are using AI for their instructional planning or teaching, although English language arts and science instructors were twice as likely to use the technology than mathematics educators. Educators in higher poverty schools are also less likely to use AI and are more likely not to have guidance on AI implementation compared to lower poverty schools, according to RAND. The lack of guidance makes it even more difficult for educators as concerns of cheating with generative AI become louder. 'Pragmatically, on the ground, some teachers are shifting towards more short, oral questioning of students. … In fact, for some kids — I hear this from science teachers that I work with — the ability to ask kids questions orally, instead of writing on a test, helps reveal' they might know more 'than they would have been able to express on a written test,' said Bill Penuel, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. For many, it is still a challenge to balance the benefits of AI with the drawbacks in the classroom. Most educators don't want AI 'to be used as a shortcut for thinking, but they want people to be able to use it as a tool to help them solve problems, to give them feedback on things that they're working on and writing, maybe even support folks who are multilingual learners in classrooms,' Penuel said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
11-05-2025
- The Hill
Educators seek to combat AI challenges in the classroom
Educators are reaching into their toolbox in an effort to adapt their instruction to a world where students can use ChatGPT to pull out a five-page essay in under an hour. Teachers are working to make artificial intelligence (AI) a force for good in the classroom instead of an easy way to cheat as they balance teaching the new technology with honing students' critical thinking skills. 'Even before the AI era, the most important grades that we'd give at the school that I led and when I was a teacher, were the in-class writing assignments,' said Adeel Khan, CEO and founder of MagicSchool and former school principal, noting the assignments worth the most are normally final exams or end-of-unit tests. Khan predicts those sorts of exams that have no access to AI will be weighted more heavily for students' grades in the future. 'So, if you're using AI for all of the formative assignments that are helping you practice to get to that final exam or that final writing test … then it's going to be really hard to do it when you don't have AI in those moments,' he added. The boom of generative AI began shortly after students got back in the classrooms after the pandemic, with educators going from banning ChatGPT in schools in 2023 to taking professional development courses on how to implement AI in assignments. President Trump recently signed an executive order to incorporate AI more into classrooms, calling it the technology of the future. The executive order aims to have schools work more closely with the private sector to implement programs and trainings regarding AI for teachers and students. 'The basic idea of this executive order is to ensure that we properly train the workforce of the future by ensuring that school children, young Americans, are adequately trained in AI tools, so that they can be competitive in the economy years from now into the future, as AI becomes a bigger and bigger deal,' White House staff secretary Will Scharf said. Dixie Rae Garrison, principal of West Jordan Middle School in Utah, describes herself as an early advocate for AI in schools. She said her classrooms have had 'an overwhelmingly positive experience' with the technology. Garrison remarked the problems with AI need to be resolved through innovative thinking, not passivity. 'There needs to be a shift from the types of questions we were asking students, so shifting away from repetitive exercises,' Garrison said, adding educators 'really have to think about the way that you're teaching students to write, the way that you're framing your questions.' One way her school has used AI to help students is by creating more avenues for pupils to study for exams such as the AP U.S. history test. Teachers are 'able to provide the students with more frequent opportunities to practice' by inputting the AP rubrics into a generative AI tool, leading the students to get feedback 'instantaneously' on their work. Another strategy used for preparing students to work with AI as well as lower concerns about cheating is to create collaborative projects. 'I think in the younger classes there is a shift towards project-based learning, and even homework is more sort of collaborative, which is harder to replicate' with AI, said Tara Chklovski, founder and CEO of Technovation. The integration of AI varies across the United States, with about 60 percent of principals reportedly using AI tools for their work, according to a survey by RAND, a research nonprofit. Among teachers, only 25 percent are using AI for their instructional planning or teaching, although English language arts and science instructors were twice as likely to use the technology than mathematics educators. Educators in higher poverty schools are also less likely to use AI and are more likely not to have guidance on AI implementation compared to lower poverty schools, according to RAND. The lack of guidance makes it even more difficult for educators as concerns of cheating with generative AI become louder. 'Pragmatically, on the ground, some teachers are shifting towards more short, oral questioning of students. … In fact, for some kids — I hear this from science teachers that I work with — the ability to ask kids questions orally, instead of writing on a test, helps reveal' they might know more 'than they would have been able to express on a written test,' said Bill Penuel, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. For many, it is still a challenge to balance the benefits of AI with the drawbacks in the classroom. Most educators don't want AI 'to be used as a shortcut for thinking, but they want people to be able to use it as a tool to help them solve problems, to give them feedback on things that they're working on and writing, maybe even support folks who are multilingual learners in classrooms,' Penuel said.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
South Windsor High School embraces Artificial Intelligence in classrooms
SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. (WTNH) — Artificial intelligence is becoming a bigger and bigger part of our lives. That is why one local school district is embracing AI in the classroom. The ways in which they are doing that may surprise you. Students in Ms. Quinn's senior English class at South Windsor High School are using artificial intelligence to help with their senior theses, and their school is encouraging it. Community describes qualities wanted for new Hartford superintendent 'It's not necessarily doing any of the thinking for you,' senior Aiden Keegan explained. 'It's more taking your thinking and being like, 'Hey, here's an angle you might not have thought of. Here's another route to explore yourself.'' South Windsor is using an AI platform called Magic School designed to help students, but still let them do the critical thinking. 'I think it's helping them move out of the brainstorming phase faster,' teacher Cara Quinn said. 'It's helping them generate ideas faster. It's helping them get through the research faster.' That research is the kind of thing that can take the longest for students working on a paper for class. There has been a lot of hand-wringing over students using AI to cheat, but with Magic School, teachers can review all the interactions between students and the AI to make sure the AI is helping, but not doing the work for them. 'I'm able to see what it is that they're asking,' Quinn said. 'I can see the script of the questions and the responses that they've gotten.' Teachers can also look at the process students went through. That process of interacting with technology is what is driving South Windsor to use AI all the way from 12th grade down to kindergarten. 'That's what it's all about with AI is asking the right questions, and so you start with basic questions,' South Windsor Schools' Director of Technology Doug Couture said. Those questions are just like the ones you would ask a teacher. 'It saved me so many hours of struggling over the computer when I can just use my own words and have it help me,' senior Isabella Giammarino said. 'It's like talking to my teacher. It literally is.' However, the reality is, the teacher can only do so much. 'There's one of me and there are 25 of them,' Quinn said. 'So, when they are in a place where they need assistance, this is another group member, another brain that they can use to bounce ideas off of.' And when today's students are out in the workforce, AI will be even more prevalent than it is now. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
