When used properly, AI can open up opportunities for students and give teachers a new set of tools to get kids engaged in learning, said Leslie Eaves, director of project-based learning at the Southern Regional Education Board, a nonprofit that works to improve education in the region.
The group recently released a new guide for educators on how to get the most out of AI, which allows computers to perform complex tasks like reasoning, decision-making and creating. Eaves, who authored the report, asked educators about their thoughts on AI and how they've started using it.
One example she found is a social studies teacher in West Virginia who had his middle school students use AI to create comic strips about a historical figure from their state. The goal of the assignment was to get students to study history, but using AI helped bring their research to life.
"It makes it more exciting for kids, and they dive deeper into the learning process," Eaves said.
Still, such a quickly evolving technology raises plenty of concerns, such as students using AI to complete their assignments or schools using AI bots to give lessons.
Classrooms need "that deep connection between teacher and student," Eaves said, "where the teacher is the learning expert in the room and is coaching students" on how to use this new technology.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Why is it important for schools to develop guidelines for AI?
AI has come very fast at us all at once. With these new tools, we're seeing the workforce and our daily lives transform.
We felt it was important for schools and districts to have a framework for how these tools can be used to support student learning, particularly students' mastery of content standards and skills in the classroom.
We want to be able to highlight and pull out opportunities that schools might be thinking about, but also provide some cautions. Like, "If you're going to do this, here are some things you really need to think about."
What were some common concerns you heard from educators about AI? What about things they were excited about?
Using AI to cheat and circumvent the learning process was a big concern. Kids being able to filter an assignment through AI and hand it in, which is very similar to how it was when Google (started gaining popularity). Also, students not using AI in an ethical way, like making deepfakes that can get themselves or teachers in trouble.
The other concerns we heard from people more on the tech side was student data and privacy concerns. How do we protect student information? Those were our two big buckets of concerns.
On the other hand, when you make AI part of the learning process, it can encourage critical thinking and creativity. Students can turn out richer products and can go deeper in some areas they haven't been able to before.
What are some examples of how teachers can incorporate AI into lessons?
There's a tool called SchoolAI that I learned about from a teacher. It allows teachers to create their own chatbot, like ChatGPT, but for classrooms. Teachers can put in resources that the chatbot can reference or put parameters on what students can access.
This science teacher was doing a unit on erosion at a state park and had students develop designs. The students could use the chatbot to test out their ideas in real time without needing their teacher's input. A student could say, "What if we were to use rocks to build the trail?" The AI system could respond with the pros and cons of doing that.
I have seen a lot of elementary school teachers create resources and tools for students. There's a tool on Google, for example, where you can take a video and put it into the tool and it will give you questions that can help promote deeper thinking for students.
What are steps teachers can take to mitigate improper uses of AI, like cheating?
You have to realize that even if you ban AI, students are still going to use it.
One pillar in our report is about using AI tools to develop more cognitively demanding tasks. Meaning the task itself has to be intellectually demanding enough and require creative thought from students so that they can't just get the answers from an AI chatbot.
If you're asking students to write an informed opinion piece about a news article that also documents their process from brainstorming, outlining, drafting and improving the draft, you can't necessarily do that with AI, because you have to provide all the steps you took along the way.
How can teachers use AI to help them with administrative and planning work?
They can use it as a thought partner or a lesson planner.
A lot of teachers I work with use ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot as a starting place for developing lesson ideas. They can use tools like Diffit, which is an online tool for differentiating text-based assignments. They can automatically create graphic organizers and resources for students. These tools really up the level of engagement for learning.
How can teachers discourage students from relying too much on AI?
In the classroom, you want to make sure you're leaving time for offline learning.
If you want kids to brainstorm, they need to close down the computers. Sometimes that might mean doing some reflecting using a pencil and paper, rather than having them type something up.
Just doing something where they're not constantly in the classroom with a screen in front of them.
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