A growing number of tools that educators and students use daily are now supercharged with generative artificial intelligence, reshaping everything from lesson planning to how students complete assignments.
At the same time, skeptics and critics of generative AI are raising concerns about the downsides of relying on the technology, such as a decline in critical thinking skills, students cheating or offloading work, and negative mental health outcomes.
Still, many AI advocates are encouraging schools to experiment with the fast-evolving technology and teach educators and students how to use it responsibly.
How can schools find a balance between the potential AI tools have in improving teaching and learning, and the troubling downsides that could come with more teachers, students, and parents using the technology? In a Nov. 13 K-12 Essentials Forum session moderated by Education Week Deputy Managing Editor Kevin Bushweller, three educators discussed this question.
The panelists were: Aaron Cinquemani, the principal of Woodstock Union Middle and High School in Vermont and co-founder of Greentime.ai, which aims to help educators use AI ethically; Tina Nuñez, the ed-tech resource teacher for Albuquerque public schools in New Mexico; and Justin Reich, an associate professor of digital media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the director of the Teaching Systems Lab.
Here are the key takeaways from the discussion.
Schools should ‘go slow and steady’
The biggest question educators tend to have about AI is this: What are we trying to accomplish in education, and what is AI’s role in that? The problem is that the technology is evolving quicker than schools can catch up, the panelists said.
Generative AI was instantly distributed across society with the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, making it difficult to conduct research measuring its effects, said Reich.
“It’s hard to say, ‘Well, is this because people are using GPTs? Or is it just because people are using their phones more?” Reich said.
It’s going to be a while before the research community can conclude what kinds of AI uses are harmful to student thinking and development and what kinds are helpful, he said.
“If Big Science is going to take a long time, I think schools should really consider being their own local scientists,” Reich added.
Cellphones and social media slowly crept into schools, but it still took a long time to learn about their harms, Cinquemani said. That’s why with AI, schools should “go slow and steady and be cautious,” he said.
Schools should welcome AI criticism
As schools figure out what role AI plays in teaching and learning, they should listen and consider every criticism and concern that educators, students, and families bring up, panelists said.
Because there’s still very little research evidence, “we should be open to the possibility that there are gains to be had,” Reich said. “But we should be definitely open to the possibility that these tools harm student development and thinking in ways that might take a little while to track and figure out.”
The concerns that skeptics and critics bring in “should be helping us inform how we implement,” Cinquemani said.
School and district leaders should have a “stance of humility when we don’t know what to do,” Reich said. “It’s OK to be transparent with our communities, our colleagues, our students, that we don’t know what to do and we’re trying things.”
Schools should create flexible policies
Generative AI technology is evolving quickly, which is one of the reasons many districts have yet to create policies or guidelines around using it. The panelists recommended creating flexible policies or guidelines that can be revised as more information about AI comes out.
That’s exactly how Cinquemani’s school in Woodstock, Vt., is approaching AI. A small group of educators created a general belief statement about AI, including what they think will work and what won’t, and they plan to revisit it regularly, he said.
The Albuquerque schools’ policy is “a little bit broad on purpose,” Nuñez said, because the technology is changing so fast. The district plans to revamp its teacher and student AI policies as it learns more about how they are using the tools.
Schools should teach AI literacy
Ultimately, if schools want to use this emerging technology, they need to teach students and staff how to use it responsibly, panelists said.
The Albuquerque district started with getting teachers comfortable with the technology, Nuñez said. Teachers learned what AI is, how it works, and what its pros and cons are.
Now, the district is trying to build that knowledge in students as well, Nuñez said.
