Integrating AI in the Classroom

Guidance that support districts and charters in understanding and implementing instructional AI tools

To fully realize Generative AI’s potential in education, school districts and charter schools must ensure that educational and technological standards are met, thereby facilitating the use of Generative AI tools to augment educational experiences.

State and local policymakers and academic leaders should establish an equitable framework supporting comprehensive policies catering to all students’ diverse needs and capabilities. This approach will ensure the safe and effective use of AI tools in learning environments, preparing students for future challenges and opportunities.

Protecting Student Data with Generative AI Classroom Integration

Integrating Generative AI into K-12 education presents a transformative opportunity to enhance learning experiences and outcomes. However, it necessitates a meticulous approach to protecting student data, ensuring privacy, and maintaining compliance with legal frameworks such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). School Districts and Charter Schools must prioritize establishing robust data governance policies with precise data collection, storage, access, and sharing protocols. Implementing these tools should be accompanied by rigorous security measures, including encryption and secure authentication, to safeguard against unauthorized access to sensitive information. Furthermore, transparency with students and parents about using Generative AI and the data it generates is crucial.

This involves providing accessible information on how data is used to support educational goals and how privacy is protected. By thoughtfully integrating technologies within a framework of strong data protection practices, academic institutions can unlock the potential of Generative AI to personalize learning while simultaneously upholding the trust and confidence of the educational community in the digital age. The Delaware Department of Technology and Information provides terms and conditions for cloud services and student data usage. This documentation needs to be recorded and signed when contracting with vendors.

Ensuring Ethical AI Use with AI Classroom Integration

Educators must prioritize digital citizenship and media literacy when integrating Generative AI into the classroom to empower students with essential skills for navigating the digital world. Digital Citizenship encompasses diverse skills, fostering an understanding ofappropriate, responsible, ethical, and healthy behavior. Media literacy involves accessing, evaluating, creating, and taking action with various forms of communication, including AI-generated responses (AIFWD, 2023).

Promoting Equity with Generative AI Classroom Integration

Adopting Generative AI in education necessitates focusing on ethics, equity, and digital literacy. This involves addressing potential biases in these systems, ensuring data privacy, and promoting an inclusive learning environment that benefits all students. Educational leaders must establish policies and practices reflecting these values, ensuring AI tools are used ethically, equitably, and effectively.

Enhancing Learning with Generative AI Classroom Integration

Generative AI has the potential to revolutionize learning by providing access to personalized and immersive educational experiences.

Examples include using augmented reality (AR) for interactive learning sessions and employing chatbots for tutoring and support. These applications engage students in novel ways and support diverse learning styles and needs, making education more accessible and practical.

Integrating Generative AI allows educators to engage students in deep and meaningful learning, promoting high levels of creativity and critical thinking skills. Our role as educators is to educate our students, teaching them how to use Generative AI appropriately to enhance their learning, creativity, and demonstration of standard mastery.

Best Practices for Integrating Generative AI

• When selecting a Generative AI tool, carefully review the age restrictions, privacy, and data collection policies before implementing them in the classroom.
• Participate in a classroom discussion on plagiarism and establish guidelines forGenerative AI citations. (Citation resources: MLA Style – Generative AI , APA Style – ChatGPT, and Chicago Style – Generative AI; OpenAI has a “Get Citation” feature that creates a current citation)
• Be clear about how and when students are expected to use or not use AI.
  • Permissive: Students freely utilize AI tools to assist in assignments, such as generating ideas, proofreading, or organizing content.
  • Moderate: Students may use AI tools for specific parts of the assignment, such as brainstorming or initial research, but core content and conclusions are original.
  • Restrictive: AI tools are prohibited for the assignment, and all work must be author’s original creation (OpenAI, 2023).
• Avoid using AI detection tools as they are proven unreliable, often resulting in false positives (e.g., Checking the Google version history of the document to see if paragraphs have been added in one keystroke).
• Provide instruction on how students can be critical consumers of Generative AI, evaluating responses to see if they meet their needs and verifying facts, figures, quotes, and data using reliable sources.
• Consider how Generative AI may be used as a thought partner for students as a brainstorming tool or to provide feedback.
• Ensure equity by making Generative AI tools available to all students, considering that some may and some may not have access outside of school if an assignment permits use.
• Provide a blended learning experience integrating technology with discussions, hands-on learning, and project-based assignments and assessments.

AI and the SAMR Model

The SAMR model, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, provides a framework for incorporating technology into education and categorizes technology integration into four levels: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.

Generative AI and Student Learning

As K-12 education systems increasingly integrate Generative AI into the learning environment, it is imperative to harness its transformative potential responsibly and effectively. This guidance aims to illuminate Generative AI’s benefits in enhancing student well-being and improving learning outcomes, as well as the associated risks and strategies for their mitigation.