Developing District & School AI Policy

In today’s episode, we'll review resources and strategies that help guide the writing of district and school AI policy. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Transcript

#297 Developing District and School AI Policy

11 min
AVID Open Access

Paul Beckermann  0:01  

Welcome to Tech Talk for teachers. I'm your host. Paul Beckermann. 

Student  0:06  

Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. What's in the toolkit, what is in the toolkit? Check it out. 

Paul Beckermann  0:17  

The topic of today's episode is Developing District and School AI Policy. You know, technology changes really rapidly, and school policy generally does not. For that reason, policies regarding the use of artificial intelligence or AI in our schools are, in many cases, still being developed. At AVID Open Access, we've been getting a lot of requests for resources and information regarding AI policy development. So in response to that, we've created a series of four articles outlining a process and providing valuable links and resources that schools can use to help them write a policy regarding AI, especially generative AI. These resources can be found at AVIDopenaccess.org by searching for AI policy development in K–12 schools. 

In today's episode, I'm going to give you a brief overview of what you'll find in that collection of resources, while also giving some suggestions for how to go about writing a policy for AI in your school. The first article outlines step one, setting the stage and getting ready to begin the process. This means taking a step back from the busyness of a school day and taking time to understand where we're at with AI. Here are a few of the talking points outlined in the first article that can be helpful in framing your conversations. 

Student  1:39  

Let's count it. Let's count it. Let's count it down. 

Paul Beckermann  1:43  

First, AI is here. Students and staff are already using it, whether we have a policy in place or not. 

Number two, banning AI is probably not a viable option. Even if we ban it, kids will still use it. More important than that, we owe it to our students to help prepare them for a world where AI will be transforming the job market. Even New York public schools, who famously banned ChatGPT shortly after it was released, now allows it to be used, acknowledging that it needs to, "prepare young people for the new world that's coming." I'd argue it's probably already here. 

Number three, AI will not replace humans. Understandably, people worry what AI will mean for their own job security and personal relevance, while the workforce will almost certainly be disrupted by AI, with many jobs changing and evolving, there's near unanimous agreement that AI will not replace humans. In fact, the US Office of Educational Technology notes in its very first recommendation for adoption of AI in schools that we pursue a vision of AI where humans are in the loop. Humans need to be a critical element in the AI ecosystem. 

Number four, we need to learn both with and about AI. We need to consider how AI impacts teaching and learning, and to do that, we need to learn about AI and understand its capabilities and limitations. 

And number five, we need policy to help guide the implementation of AI in our schools. When starting out your policy writing journey, you'll want to set up an inclusive leadership committee. Consider including representatives from key stakeholder groups like school leadership, teachers, parents, and students. If you have local AI experts, they would be valuable assets as well. 

The second article is dedicated to learning. You can't really write effective policy unless you understand what you're writing about, so it's critical to spend some time learning and learning as a committee. This can help demystify AI a little bit and help the group get past some of the sensational headlines that can be overwhelming at times and probably even misleading. The article outlines some tips to guide you in your journey. Here are a few of them. 

Number one, focus on generative AI. Even though many of our educational technology tools already utilize some form of artificial intelligence, most of the committee's new learning should probably focus on the newest and most disruptive type of AI, and that's generative AI. 

Number two, use it. The best first step in learning more about generative AI is simply to use it. Start by choosing one of the leading generative AI chat bots. The four main companies all have versions that you can try for free. OpenAI has ChatGPT, Google has Gemini, Microsoft's Copilot, and Anthropic has Claude. Pick one experiment and do it often. Use it for a variety of purposes. Try different ways to word your request, ask follow up questions if you have time, do a little research on prompt engineering and try out some of those suggestions. The more you work with it, the more you'll learn. In fact, Ethan Mollick, professor at Wharton and a leading voice of AI in education, suggests users need to spend 10 hours or more with an AI chatbot to really begin to understand how they work and how they might benefit from their use. 

Number three, you can take a course. There are new AI courses popping up all the time, and many of them are free. Once you've played around with one of the generative AI tools, these courses can help you dive deeper and discover some of the nuances about AI that you might have overlooked. Check out the article for a list of almost 20 free courses that are available online. You'll find courses from code.org, IBM, Microsoft, AI for Education, Google, and a bunch of others. 

Number four, do some research. Hands on experience and formal courses can provide really practical insights into how generative AI works, but that learning will not necessarily provide you with an education context. To gain additional understanding and perspective regarding how AI applies specifically to education, it's helpful to explore education specific materials. These resources often provide valuable context and consideration that educators should take into account when bringing generative AI to schools and classrooms. This includes when writing policy. In the second article, you'll find an annotated list of some great resources to jumpstart your learning. Some of my favorites include Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning: Insights and Recommendations from the U.S. Office of Educational Technology, EDSAFE Policy Library and Resources from EDSAFE AI, there's lots of great things in there, Ethics of Artificial Intelligence from UNESCO, and the Teach AI Toolkit from TeachAI. They've put together a Google folder specifically for schools to take, modify, and use with their staff or in their process. 

Number five, review current policies. Check out policies that have already been written. You don't need to reinvent the wheel, you can just improve on the wheel. These can serve as great models, and we've got quite a few listed in the article. 

And number six, share and network. There's a lot out there, so you may want to divide and conquer a little bit. Once committee members have had a chance to learn on their own, come back together and share your biggest takeaways. 

The third step and the third article, is to actually do the writing. So much of this is going through the writing process that many of us are familiar with, but there are a few special considerations that can help make the process of writing AI policy go smoothly. Here are a few of the ideas from the article. 

Student  7:46  

Here is your list of tips. 

Paul Beckermann  7:50  

One, work through CoSN's K–12 Generative AI Readiness Checklist. It's a really great document that can help you determine how prepared your district is for the integration of generative AI. This can be a great step before you actually put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. 

Number two, review current policies to find the gaps that need to be filled. CoSN's AI Readiness Checklist, again, is helpful and suggests some policies to review, such as current acceptable or responsible use policies and data privacy policies. 

Third, it can be helpful to reference guides and models as you outline and write your own document. Again, use those guides. We've included links to helpful resources such as the Office of Educational Technology's AI Foundations and Recommendations, EDSAFE AI's SAFE Benchmarks and TEACHAI's Toolkit. 

Number four, as you write your policy, be sure the committee has input, even if a few of the people do the majority of the writing, be sure everyone gets a chance to review and offer input. You want the committee to feel empowered and valued. 

And number five, as part of your review make sure your policy is in compliance with key student and family data privacy laws like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, the Children's Internet Privacy Act. CIPA, and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, COPPA. You may also want to review the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA.

The fourth article in this series addresses implementation of the new policy. So in addition to getting formal board approval for your policy, you want to develop a communication plan. In many ways, the formal adoption of an artificial intelligence policy is just the beginning of the important work to be done. The policy is only as useful as impact it makes on the actions and intentions of people involved. Therefore, it's important that several steps are taken to bring these written words to life. This article outlines various communication channels that you might consider to reach your stakeholder groups. It also addresses the very important step of supporting school staff. General communication is an important first step, but it's also really helpful to provide more targeted training and guidance around practical implications of the new policy. This is especially true for school leaders, teachers, and support staff working in the schools, because the new policy will likely impact classroom practices, it can be helpful for leadership to offer guidance in the practical application of the larger district policy. How will this impact individual school policies or student handbook language? How will the new policy impact classroom rules and behaviors? How should teachers integrate the larger policy language into their syllabus, and how should it be communicated to students? What practices are required, and where do individual classrooms have options? And this will look different in different schools. Jordan Mroziak, AI and Education Project Director for EDSAFE AI and InnovateEDU reminds us that, "There is no one size fits all AI policy model." He adds, "We are all in a space of learning." To learn more about today's topic and explore other free resources, visit AVIDopenaccess.org. Specifically, I encourage you to check out this series of four articles about AI policy development. Again, you can find it in the collection AI in the K–12 Classroom, or you can find it by searching for AI policy development in K–12 schools at the AVIDopenaccess.org website. And of course, be sure to join Rena, Winston, and me every Wednesday for our full length podcast, Unpacking Education, where we're joined by exceptional guests and explore education topics that are important to you. Thanks for listening, take care and thanks for all you do. You make a difference. 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai