He hopes that with artificial intelligence, things can be different.
"This is something that we need to get out in front of," Johnson said.
President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to boost artificial intelligence in K-12 schools, but Connecticut may already be one step ahead.
Districts across the state have been working to integrate artificial intelligence into their classrooms, as Connecticut educators say AI's growing prevalence in education is inevitable. "I don't think there's a district anywhere that's not having to engage in the AI conversation," said East Hartford Superintendent Thomas Anderson.
Some schools in Connecticut are particularly at the forefront of embracing the technology, as the state launched a pilot program this year in half a dozen districts to help introduce state-approved AI tools into classroom instruction. The program could eventually lead to more sweeping AI integration throughout the state.
East Hartford and Lebanon are among the districts testing out comprehensive AI usage in the classroom, which both Anderson and Lebanon Public Schools Superintendent Andrew Gonzalez said was a no-brainer decision.
"I've always believed that if you're approached with something, and if you can find the benefit of how it's going to help enhance our teaching and learning process, our school system, then there's no reason not to," Anderson said. "The use of AI is already here and it's going to increase. So we really viewed it as an opportunity to be more forward thinking, to get out ahead of it."
Gonzalez similarly said he saw AI as something to be embraced in the education world.
"It's not going to go away. It's only going to become more prevalent," he said. "So, you know, trying to wrap our our mind around, how can we responsibly and appropriately use it as educators to supercharge our teaching, and how can we empower our students to appropriately use it in the classroom to support their own learning, is something that we were excited to do."
'A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD'
But as with anything, there have been challenges, district leaders say.
"It's a double-edged sword," said Steve LePage, superintendent of Northwestern Regional School District No. 7. "It's a new territory. We're trying to learn how to best navigate that, not only for our students, but for our staff members, what tools can be a leverage to improve learning and teaching opportunities, and what can be real detriment to having original thought, things that you're worried about as a school leader ... It's scary, but it's also exciting."
He and other district leaders said that above all, it was critical that they had a true understanding of the technology before essentially cementing it into the learning experience of schoolchildren for generations to come.
Anderson said one of the biggest challenges about integrating AI into education was combatting the misconceptions around it. Neither he nor Gonzalez had gotten specific complaints about pushing the new technology in their districts, but with any new initiative, they said they knew the unknown could spur concern.
"Because when we think of AI, you never know what people are thinking about it. We hear it in the news, and those type of things where individuals are worried, you know, AI is going to take everyone's jobs, and those types of things," Anderson said.
In East Hartford, he said they were focused on having transparent, open conversations about what exactly they would and wouldn't be using AI for. "So really getting it so people understand, you're comfortable with it already. You just don't realize it," Anderson said.
Aspects like data privacy and thoughtful, age-appropriate usage also remained top of mind for district leaders.
But districts participating in the pilot program used specific platforms with built in controls and limitations to avoid some of those issues that can come up with AI, like plagiarism, privacy and safety, Johnson said. For example, the artificial intelligence platform MagicSchool, one of the state-approved tools, had more safeguards in place than other models like ChatGPT, he said.
In addition, a major goal of the pilot program was to learn from the challenges that come up so they can figure out how to best implement it on a much larger scale, Anderson said. "To really give us the opportunity to have a better understanding of AI and the need for it, and then not to be afraid of it," he said.
But at the same time, it could be hard for educators themselves to keep up with such a new, ever-evolving phenomenon, Gonzalez said.
A LEARNING CURVE
"We're just kind of dipping our toe in the water at this point. And you know, with each day, you learn about something else it can do. And the technology is really moving so fast that it's hard to catch up, never mind get ahead of it," Gonzalez said. "So we're trying to be mindful and take bits and pieces of this technology and make the most of it, really trying to become masters at those things that we feel would be most beneficial to our learners at this point and just continue with the learning process."
To help students and teachers with the growing integration of technology, more Connecticut school districts have created specific technology support staff roles in recent years.
Hope Mulholland, a technology integration specialist for Mansfield Public Schools, said her job is to work with teachers, staff and students to help integrate technology and AI into curriculum and to make sure that people feel comfortable using new technologies in a way that enhances their learning experience.
"So for education, it's important that we educate our staff and our students on AI and the benefits of it, but then also potential challenges and things that could be a concern in using AI. So just making sure that we're giving them all the information they need to be successful," Mulholland said.
Teacher training has also evolved accordingly.
"Each and all of our professional development opportunities and faculty meetings, at least part of them is devoted towards how we can integrate AI into what we're doing," Johnson said. Training was especially important because teachers were not only introducing the technology to their students, but using it themselves, he said.
AI isn't going to replace the interaction between students and teachers or the teacher role, but rather it "adds another tool to the toolkit" for teachers to use to make their jobs easier and save time, Anderson said. "I'm not expecting it to teach our students exactly. AI is just the next component of how we can strengthen the instructional process during the day," he said.
EQUITY IN EDUCATION
In Lebanon, one of the main reasons they wanted to participate in the state's pilot program was to help support the district's initiative of inclusive and differentiated learning, Johnson said. And they've seen how AI can help individualize instruction for different levels of learners, he said.
"We kind of looked at it through that lens as to what AI might be able to do to help us with planning to meet the needs of diverse learners in a classroom, not just special education students, but students who are maybe above grade level, on grade level or below," Gonzalez said. "That's a challenging task for teachers, so to be able to use this type of technology to be able to enhance our planning was an exciting opportunity."
Because AI functions can provide immediate constructive criticism and responses to students, Anderson said he has seen how it can create a more equitable learning environment in East Hartford as well. "Everyone has access to that type of feedback," he said. "So it's not about it being something where it's doing the work for the student, but it's allowing the student to access to improve their own work."
Ensuring all schools and districts had access to the technology and platforms would be another endeavor, but in the meantime, Anderson said he believed more districts would place a heavier emphasis on AI usage.
"I think that every superintendent and every district has a different comfort level, and is at a different place in terms of readiness to implement this. But I don't see this going away. I see only it increasingly being a part of what we do on a day to day basis," Gonzalez said. And it was up to each district whether they wanted to get ahead of the curve, he said.
Both East Hartford and Lebanon district leaders said they hoped the AI pilot program will be extended and were working with the state on next steps, but they were committed to continuing to implement the technology no matter what.
"We're gonna keep going regardless. We've really just scratched the surface," Johnson said.
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