How is AI Changing Education in Eagle County?

Introduction

With artificial intelligence tools making their way into classrooms, the Eagle County School District formed an AI Think Tank this year to better understand the benefits and pitfalls of the technology. Led by the district’s ed-tech team, the Think Tank originally set out to create recommendations for AI-related policies and strategies. However, as the team got going, its members decided to lean into education and building AI literacy first.

Why Focus on AI Literacy?

This shift occurred as the group considered the rapidly changing nature of technology and AI tools. Any policy would likely “become obsolete” quickly after setting it, said Bri Chittenden, the district’s education technology manager. So from January to March, the group focused on crafting strategies and guidelines for how to ensure the technology is used appropriately and safely.

Gathering Feedback

Throughout the spring, hosting meetings up and down the valley, the Think Tank sought feedback first from teachers and administrators and then later from high school students and parents to help guide future strategies for the schools. By the end of the semester, the team created drafts of guiding principles for AI use as well as student and staff agreements for AI.

Future Policy Changes

This doesn’t mean the district won’t ever make policy changes. Next year, it’s likely the Think Tank will make sure the district’s “current policies cover the gamut of all the technologies that may come out,” including AI, Chittenden said. The Think Tank followed a “human in, human out” approach with all of its work, meaning that even while using technology, the human aspect is critical.

How Teachers Can Use AI

Starting in January, the group began its work by providing AI literacy to teachers. “Generative AI was so new. We wanted to make sure that they understood how it works,” said Scott Hopkins, an education technology specialist for the district. “It’s not magic; it’s just math. And we also wanted to make sure that they knew and were aware of some of the inherent risks.”

The group put together an AI Literacy 101 presentation as well as various educational materials to establish baseline knowledge around what the technology can do and what the pitfalls can be. This literacy is expected to continue in future school years, with the ed tech team already planning for some AI exploration sessions and workshops for educators in August and throughout the year.

How Students Can Use AI

Later on, the group worked through understanding what appropriate student use of AI would look like, something Chittenden said was the “topic that all teachers were interested in.” “They were all very anxious and nervous about students utilizing AI inappropriately and using AI to do the work for them,” she said. “It’s a hard discussion to have with teachers.”

Chittenden said there was a “wide spectrum” of opinions ranging from staff that wanted to block AI entirely to those who wanted to allow free-range use for students. Similarly, the approach to handling artificial intelligence in classrooms has differed between education systems, schools and districts across the country.

Leveraging research and looking at what others were doing — including a group of students from Vail Mountain School — the Eagle County School District group created its own version of something called an “AI integration scale.”

AI Integration Scale

“It just gives some guidelines to teachers. We don’t expect this to be a student-facing resource. It’s more something for teachers to utilize and have discussions or conversations with their kids,” Chittenden said. It creates four buckets of acceptable AI use for teachers, from no AI assistance allowed to AI collaborative creation. In between are buckets allowing AI to assist with brainstorming and allowing the technology to assist with editing. The idea is that assignment to assignment, teachers would set expectations for what acceptable AI use is.

Future Plans

As the school district moves forward in its AI journey, it is planning to pilot or purchase an AI platform for its schools. Having its platform would allow for a “safer environment” for student use as education-specific platforms can better protect student information and eliminate inappropriate content. It also would help prepare students for beyond high school. “This is something that students are going to have to use when they graduate. And we want to make sure that they know how to use it,” said Will Harris, an education technology specialist with the district.

For more information, visit the original article on Vail Daily.