English teacher Mary Rodgers kicked off her 12th grade honors English class at Louisa County High School in Virginia with an activity that some of her colleagues around the country would find unsettling: Showing students how to craft an engaging thesis statement for a college admissions essay, with help from artificial intelligence.
It鈥檚 not a lesson Rodgers would have envisioned when she started teaching in Louisa 25 years ago. And some college admissions offices have banned the use of AI on applications even as a brainstorming buddy, though experts point out they have no way of enforcing that directive.
For her part, Rodgers believes showing students how to use AI effectively as a partner鈥攏ot a ghost writer鈥攊s critical to preparing them for the workforce of the future.
鈥淎I is the future,鈥� said Rodgers, peering through a pair of rhinestone-studded blue glasses. 鈥淚f these students want to stay relevant, they need to know as much about AI as they possibly can. They can鈥檛 be afraid to use it. They need to go out there and use it but in an authentic way that uses their voice, their creativity to make something even better.鈥�
At a time when some English teachers are returning to pencil and paper to force their students to avoid relying on AI, Rodgers鈥� receptiveness to the tech may not be the norm. But she鈥檚 got plenty of company in this rural Virginia district of more than 5,000 students.
When a new version of ChatGPT was released in late 2022, 糖心动漫vlog were taken aback by its uncannily humanlike responses to typical K-12 assignments. Amid cheating fears, many districts banned the technology. Others simply tried to ignore it.
Louisa鈥檚 leaders instead moved quickly to understand the power, potential, limitations, and potential dangers of AI tools. They鈥檝e challenged themselves to keep pushing on that mission, amid resistance from some students and 糖心动漫vlog.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel like we鈥檙e behind [on AI]. I don鈥檛 feel like we鈥檙e ahead,鈥� said Kenneth Bouwens, the district鈥檚 Career and Technical Education and Innovation director, who jokes that his unofficial title is Louisa鈥檚 鈥淎I godfather.鈥�
鈥淚 feel like we鈥檙e right in that spot of: We鈥檙e doing a really great job keeping up with something that鈥檚 really, really hard to keep up with,鈥� Bouwens said.
What complicates matters is that the technology is so new that there aren鈥檛 tried-and-true approaches for using AI to inform teaching and learning, said Justin Reich, the executive director of MIT鈥檚 Teaching Systems Lab.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any evidence that we know what best practices are,鈥� Reich said. That鈥檚 frustrating for 糖心动漫vlog whose students are already diving in headfirst with the technology, he acknowledged.
Reich鈥檚 advice: Even as schools provide professional development on AI or train students to use AI tools, they should 鈥渟tart from a place of humility. Acknowledge that we do not know what the right steps are moving forward鈥� and that they may need to later 鈥渦nlearn鈥� some of what they鈥檙e hearing.
Start by showing teachers how AI can lighten their workloads
The district began by providing professional development on AI鈥攊ncluding an overview of how the tech works鈥攖o the leaders of its six schools: four elementaries, a middle, and a high school. Bouwens also offered sessions to teachers when principals asked for them.
By the winter of 2024, the district decided it needed a more holistic approach. That February, Louisa held a roundtable with about two dozen 糖心动漫vlog鈥攂oth AI fans and tech skeptics鈥攁s well as school leaders and instructional coaches.
Back then, Bouwens spent much of the day getting the group up to speed on the technology: how it works, the advantages and challenges it brings, and just how quickly Louisa would need to adapt.
When one teacher suggested the district take about three years to phase in AI implementation, Bouwens told him, 鈥淚f we wait three years, none of what [we plan now] is going to matter anymore,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淎 big part of that [2024] presentation was like, 鈥榣ook how fast this is exploding compared to anything else we鈥檝e ever done.鈥欌��
That day-long research and brainstorming session helped pave the way for what Bouwens and Louisa Superintendent J. Douglas Straley now think of as Louisa鈥檚 first phase of AI implementation: Helping teachers and leaders embrace the technology鈥檚 potential to plan lessons, create assignments, and otherwise lighten their workloads.
Their pitch to staff: Let AI assist with some rote tasks鈥攑arent emails, creating quizzes鈥攁nd you鈥檒l have more time and energy to focus on deepening students鈥� mastery of important skills such as communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and citizenship鈥攁lso known as the five C鈥檚. Those skills have been the north star for Louisa County and many other districts for more than a decade, Straley said.
Helping teachers see how AI can make their lives easier is a good entry point into a technology some find intimidating, said Justin Grigg, the district鈥檚 assistant superintendent for instruction.
A lot of 糖心动漫vlog still think AI is 鈥渙ne more thing鈥� on an incessant to-do list, Grigg said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 see how it can benefit them in their common practice. If you show them the powers of it, they become adopters.鈥�
By simply having done some AI professional development, Louisa is ahead of many other districts.
Less than half of teachers (48%) have participated in any training or professional development on AI provided by their schools or districts; and less than half of students (48%) said someone at their school provided information to students on how to use AI for schoolwork or personal use, according to a report released this month by the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology.
What鈥檚 more, a greater share of Louisa鈥檚 teachers are using AI than in other school districts around the country. Seventy-percent of the district鈥檚 teachers report using AI at least once a week, according to Bouwens.
By comparison, less than a quarter of 糖心动漫vlog鈥�24%鈥攔eport using AI tools 鈥渟ome鈥� or 鈥渁 lot,鈥� in their classrooms, according to a nationally representative survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center this summer. About another third鈥�37%鈥攗se them 鈥渁 little.鈥� Another 21 percent don鈥檛 use them at all and don鈥檛 plan to start.
The next phase of the AI journey will feature honing its use with students
The 2024 AI roundtable was so successful that last month Louisa held a similar all-day event to set the stage for its next phase of AI implementation: Helping more teachers follow Rodgers鈥� example and use the tech with students.
The prospect of students using AI as a learning tool is 鈥渁 little bit scary but a whole lot [more] exciting,鈥� Straley said, in an interview the morning of the Sept. 22 AI roundtable event in Louisa County High School鈥檚 library.
Long term, Straley doesn鈥檛 see leaving AI out of the classroom as an option.
鈥淭his is going to change how we operate in our world,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to embrace this, really run with it, to make sure [our students] are equipped to live in a society when we don鈥檛 even know what [work] is going to look like. 鈥�
After unveiling the day鈥檚 agenda鈥攄rafted with help from generative AI鈥擲traley and Bouwens welcomed the group. As in 2023, it included Louisa teachers and leaders from the elementary, middle, and high schools with varying levels of experience and comfort with AI.
This time, though, there were also parents and representatives from nearby districts who are just beginning their work with AI and wanted to learn from Louisa鈥檚 example.
Bouwens began by recapping the district鈥檚 progress on AI implementation so far.
In the spring of 2024, in response to 糖心动漫vlog鈥� feedback that they needed more formal direction on what to do鈥攁nd what not to do鈥攚ith AI, the district crafted acceptable use guidance.
The promotes the technology鈥檚 use for teaching and learning but cautions staff against inputting students鈥� personally identifiable information into AI tools. And it warns students that passing off AI-generated work as their own is considered plagiarism. (AI can be a writing assistant though, as Rodgers鈥� lesson showed.)
The conversations at that first AI roundtable also nudged Bouwens to find an education-friendly AI platform for his district, a move that went against his initial instincts. 鈥淚鈥檓 a DIY,鈥� he said in an interview. 鈥淏uild it yourself. Find as many free resources as you can and leverage them.鈥�
But he wanted the district鈥檚 staff to feel comfortable with the technology. 鈥淥ur teachers were pretty adamant: 鈥榃e need something now, and we need something that works,鈥欌�� Bouwens recalled in the interview.
The district adopted SchoolAI, an education-oriented, generative AI platform that includes lesson planning tools, tutors, workspaces for students, and insight into how kids are progressing through an AI-driven lesson. (Similar platforms include MagicSchool, Monsha, and Brisk Teaching. Louisa has a paid subscription to SchoolAI. There is also a free version.)
Bouwens also sends out a semi-weekly AI newsletter with tips on different types of AI-powered technologies. A recent edition included a rundown on how to use Google鈥檚 NotebookLM tool to create flashcards and quizzes, or to combine audio from a podcast with graphics to produce an engaging video.
鈥淚magine sharing short, dynamic video lessons or summaries directly with your students!鈥� Bouwens wrote in the newsletter.
Bouwens has also that includes Louisa鈥檚 AI guidance, as well as links to custom chatbots designed to make life easier for Louisa鈥檚 teachers.
One chatbot, for instance, helps 糖心动漫vlog think of lesson plans that incorporate one or more of those all-important five C skills. Another helps teachers learn how to write effective prompts with AI tools. And a third evaluates how well teachers have woven the five C鈥檚 into existing lesson plans and gives suggestions for improvement.
Students are afraid AI will 鈥榯ake over the world鈥�
Later, Bouwens presented some of the key research behind using AI with students, including the . Those include 鈥減erception,鈥� or how AI technology sees and hears, and 鈥渓earning,鈥� or exploring how AI can 鈥渓earn鈥� by examining data.
Next, participants broke into groups by grade bands to figure out how the district might incorporate the material on AI literacy in developmentally appropriate ways for students in elementary, middle, and high school.
The high school group, for instance, wondered about putting the A4K12 Big Ideas on prominent display in the school鈥攎aybe in hallways, or even on bathroom floors.
In its research, the high school group also stumbled onto one example of an AI 鈥渢raffic light鈥� that teachers could share with students to help make it clear on which parts of a particular assignment students could turn to AI for help.
If an assignment is marked 鈥済reen,鈥� students can use AI freely as long as they cite its work properly. They can get some limited AI help with 鈥測ellow鈥� assignments, and must steer clear of the tech altogether on 鈥渞ed鈥� ones. Could Louisa eventually create one of its own, they wondered?
Marcia Flora, who runs a Louisa High School program for students interested in becoming teachers, cautioned that her students were reluctant to use AI tools鈥攅ven though Flora assured them she had used the technology to create classroom content.
鈥淚 love it. I鈥檓 all for it. I鈥檓 100% in鈥� on AI, Flora told her colleagues. 鈥淏ut my students, they鈥檙e like, 鈥業 don鈥檛 like this.鈥� They think it鈥檚 going to take over the world.鈥�
A big part of combating that fear was explaining to students that AI 鈥渋s just one tool. It鈥檚 not going to do everything,鈥� Flora said.
Exposure also helps, she added. 鈥淭he more they did it last year, the better they felt about it,鈥� Flora said in the group discussion.
The teachers also discussed how to make sure students didn鈥檛 go too far in embracing AI and assume the answers it gave were all-knowing. That鈥檚 where one of the five C鈥檚鈥攃ritical thinking鈥攃ould come into play, they decided.
Should AI use be mandatory for teachers?
Later, the 糖心动漫vlog, parents, and school leaders met to brainstorm the district鈥檚 next steps for AI professional development.
One potential roadblock in Louisa: Using AI remains optional for teachers. That means plenty don鈥檛 use it at all, so their students aren鈥檛 getting exposure to the tech either.
In fact, Louisa鈥檚 teachers are at such different levels on AI use that several participating in the roundtable wondered whether it makes sense for the district to offer one-size-fits-all PD on the technology. Some teachers still need a rundown on AI basics to conquer their fear of it, 糖心动漫vlog argued.
Others wanted the option to pursue microcredentials and further their expertise.
The prospect of using the tech with students was daunting even to some AI fans.
鈥淚 can easily mess around on SchoolAI and figure stuff out, but using it with kids, I feel like it鈥檚 a whole different ball game,鈥� said Cameron Chiumento, a 4th grade teacher at Trevilians Elementary School in Louisa.
Bouwens listened to the feedback, which will help shape the district鈥檚 AI professional development strategy going forward.
Hearing directly from 糖心动漫vlog about what they need when it comes to professional development is vital for districts on the forefront of AI implementation, he said in an interview.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no best practices, there鈥檚 no roadmap, there鈥檚 no 鈥榯his is what everyone did,鈥欌�� Bouwens said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like you鈥檙e running down a dark hallway and you鈥檙e hoping you don鈥檛 run into anything.鈥�
Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center鈥檚 work.
