“AI is the next frontier of education that will lead us to do more than we ever could, but only if we use it right,” says
Donald Bittala, director of the Lake Ridge Academy upper school.
Last year, he spearheaded an artificial intelligence policy, and this summer the school will hold an AI summer intensive with educators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford.
What is the “right way” to leverage AI at school?
Bittala is in deep-dive mode exploring how Lake Ridge, and schools in general, can harness the power of AI ethically and responsibly.
“AI is pretty much ubiquitous — it’s everywhere,” he points out.
Setting AI Ground Rules
“There’s no foolproof method for implementing an AI policy or going down the road of AI because it changes so fast,” says Bittala. Lake Ridge’s AI policy centers on plagiarism, copyright infringement and emphasizing students’ job to produce original work.
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Putting expectations on paper gives the school a tool for educating students, parents and teachers on how Lake Ridge will and will not use AI. One section reads: “The use of AI programs should supplement and enhance students’ learning experiences, not substitute for their own critical thinking, analysis and original work.”
Students are not permitted to use AI unless given explicit permission. “Teachers shall provide students with guidance and instruction on responsible use of AI programs,” the policy says.
AI or Original Work?
How do schools filter students’ content to ensure it’s not lifted from a tool like ChatGPT?
Bittala says the onus is on teachers to get to know students’ writing styles.
“Understand the words they typically use,” he says. “When AI writes a paper, it’s not at ninth- or tenth-grade level. AI writes like a dissertation or at a super-low level depending on the prompt. But this is changing, so our methods will need to change also.”
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Saving Teachers Time
Some Lake Ridge teachers are all in with AI. “It depends on their comfort level,” says Bittala. “Some use it as a tool for writing lesson plans, study guides or designing slides. This gives teachers back a lot of time so they can plan different activities in the classroom and focus on interfacing with students.”
Advancing AI for All Students
Any high school student can sign up for Lake Ridge Academy’s Inspirit AI intensive taught by instructors from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford. AI Scholar participants work on research and programming projects June 16-27.
“The two-week boot camp teaches how to use AI productively and constructively,” Bittala says. “It covers the very basics of ‘What is AI?’ along with how it applies to the classroom and in real-world applications so AI doesn’t feel so pie-in-the-sky.’”
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