Now, he sees a similar debate happening around artificial intelligence.
Instead of resisting the technology, Westside is focused on teaching students how to use AI safely to enhance their learning, Lucas said.
“The Internet is here. AI is here. So you can’t spend your time and money fighting it. You better embrace it,” Lucas said.
Over the past year and a half, Westside has taken a two-pronged approach to implementing AI, Lucas said.
First, over the course of the last school year, Westside focused on training teachers on AI and making sure they felt comfortable with the technology.
This school year, Westside is focusing on teaching students about AI and finding ways to use it to enhance learning, Lucas said.
While some teachers are using the technology more than others, every Westside middle and high school teacher had to at least have an AI statement on their syllabus this year.
Sami Mahan, a junior at Westside, says there has been a big shift in teachers’ attitudes around AI between last school year and this year.
Lucas said teachers at all grade levels are using the technology for things like preparing assignments, while student use is mostly happening at the middle and high school levels
Westside junior Sami Mahan saw a big shift in teachers’ attitudes around AI between last school year and this year.
“Even last year, I think most teachers were, like, completely against AI,” Mahan said. “But then this year, it seemed like they were more open to like, ‘Hey, you can use AI, but you have to be specific in how you use it and use it responsibly.'”
WESTSIDE SEES BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS, TEACHERS IN AI
When most people think of students using AI, they probably think of them asking ChatGPT to write an essay for them, Lucas said. That’s the kind of use Westside is trying to avoid.
In fact, Westside and some other districts provide tools to teachers that can detect when something is written using AI.
Instead, Lucas said the district might encourage students to come up with their own rough draft of an essay and use AI to help them make the wording stronger. Or if a paper requires five sources, AI could be one of those sources.
“Students are being taught that you can’t just let AI do all your thinking for you,” Lucas said. “They’re learning how to use AI as a source, but not the lone source.”
The district is also encouraging teachers to use AI in ways to make their jobs more efficient, Lucas said. For example, a teacher could use AI to help tailor a reading lesson to different reading levels.
Westside uses Google Gemini as well as other programs like Canva’s AI platform. Google Gemini has a version designed for K-12 schools that has safety measures in place and complies with federal student privacy laws, Power said.
In addition to safety and security, Westside’s other district AI goals include building AI literacy, enhancing staff AI intelligence literacy, enhancing teaching and learning with AI and creating transparency and community engagement around AI.
Elizabeth Power, Westside’s communications director, said she thinks the district’s clear parameters around AI are helpful for families who may be concerned about how AI could be affecting students’ learning.
“After conversations with them, I think they feel a lot better understanding we’re not saying to our students, ‘Go use ChatGPT to figure out your homework.”
STUDENTS SEE A NEED FOR A BALANCED APPROACH
Westside students said their peers’ use of AI, and in some cases their own, has increased rapidly over the past few years.
“A year ago, I didn’t even know what it was,” senior Lucy Pocras said. “This year, I use it so much more.”
Students tend to adapt to new technology more quickly than their teachers, and would likely be using AI whether the district allowed it or not, Power said. Rather than completely outlawing the use of AI, Power said the district’s approach allows conversations over where and when the technology should be used.
“It’s a dialogue now, instead of something that students felt they had to hide,” Power said.
Pocras said she is glad the district is providing students with guidance on AI, as she has seen some students get “sucked in” to using AI for everything.
“I feel like it’s good to keep it at a little bit of a distance, because if you’re using it for everything, then there’s no point,” she said.
Mahan uses AI for things like converting a historical document into easier-to-understand terms or planning out a schedule for completing schoolwork. However, Mahan usually tries to avoid using AI.
“I’m definitely trying not to, because I feel like it would make me a better student if I just didn’t use it and I actually tried to learn the information,” Mahan said.
OTHER DISTRICTS STILL EVALUATING USE OF AI
While Westside is encouraging teachers and students to utilize AI, other Omaha-area districts vary on how much they’ve embraced the technology.
The Millard Public Schools are leaning more into using AI, and students and teachers are invited to explore AI with guardrails in place, according to the district’s website.
The district has a website outlining approved tools for teachers and students, which include Google Gemini and MagicSchool, an education-centered AI tool for teachers and students designed to help personalize instruction.
In the Omaha Public Schools, Chief Academic Officer Susan Christopherson said the district had an AI work group that held focus groups with teachers and students last semester with the goal of deepening the understanding of AI in education.
Christopherson said OPS is finalizing guidance on the use of AI and a plan for professional development.
In the Bellevue Public Schools, Assistant Superintendent Robert Moore said some teachers are starting to use AI to help with things like creating assignments and students may use AI occasionally in class for things like finding sources for a paper.
Moore said the district is also planning trainings around utilizing AI in the classroom and looking into tools that could help teachers tailor learning to specific students.
What the district can’t do is try to ignore AI, Moore said.
“We’re trying to do the best job we can, given what we know about it right now, with our students and to help them make better decisions with it,” he said.
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