Artificial Intelligence

Students Want to Learn More About AI. Schools Aren’t Keeping Up

By Lauraine Langreo — November 10, 2023 1 min read
Illustration of an AI chatbot assist on the face of a cellphone tutoring a kid student doing homework with subject matter icons floating all around him.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

There’s a wide gap between what students say they want to learn about how to use artificial intelligence responsibly and what schools are teaching them right now, concludes a recent report from the Center for Democracy & Technology, a nonprofit that promotes digital rights.

Seventy-two percent of students said they would find it helpful to learn how to use generative AI responsibly, according to the organization’s nationally representative survey of 1,029 high school students conducted between June and August. Meanwhile, less than half of students (44 percent) said they’ve received AI guidance from their schools, the report found.

Today’s students are often called digital natives and seen as experts in navigating the digital space. But the report found other gaps in the digital-technology guidance that students said would be helpful to get from their schools and what schools have provided so far.

As schools become more reliant on technology for teaching and learning, collecting student data, and monitoring students’ behavior online, it’s important to teach students how to be responsible digital citizens.

In the Center for Democracy & Technology survey conducted over the summer, students were asked what kind of tech guidance and support from schools they would find helpful. Here’s what they said:

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Artificial Intelligence Opinion AI Tutors Can Be Both a Help and a Hindrance in the Classroom, Explain Teachers
Chatbots are no silver bullet, and there's much to caution about them, but they do offer some promise.
8 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Artificial Intelligence Trump Wants Teachers Trained How to Use AI. Will It Work?
A new executive order signed by President Donald Trump calls for infusing artificial intelligence throughout K-12 education.
Elena Gahan, left, and Bridget McDermott, right, listen as Amanda Pierman teaches her upper school science class at The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 10, 2025. Pierman uses AI to help teach her classes and the student’s computers mirror the main screen. They are then able to answer questions live using their computers.
Elena Gahan, left, and Bridget McDermott, right, listen as Amanda Pierman teaches her upper school science class at The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 10, 2025. Pierman uses AI to help teach her classes.
Josh Ritchie for Education Week
Artificial Intelligence What Trump's Draft Executive Order on AI Could Mean for Schools
The executive order calls for federal agencies to help schools train teachers and instruct students how to use AI.
Illustration of chatbot artificial intelligence AI technology education concept isometric illustrations.
iStock/Getty
Artificial Intelligence Why This School System Is Integrating AI Literacy With Algebra 1
A new course offered by the Florida Virtual School aims to build students' understanding of math and AI concepts.
3 min read
Photograph of the back of a teenage boy sitting at a computer and writing math equations in a notebook with a calculator near by.
E+