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Today Common Sense Media released their new white paper on "Generative AI in K-12 Education: Challenges and Opportunities." It takes a deep dive into the complexities of AI adoption in education. Amanda Bickerstaff was fortunate to share some of our experiences from AI for Education's work in schools and districts with one of the authors, Bene Cipolla .

The white paper is worth a read, and we love the emphasis on responsible implementation, the importance of building AI literacy, and the need for clear guidelines to ensure AI enhances rather than undermines learning experiences.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Current State of AI in Education:
* Though familiarity is increasing, there is still a lack of fundamental AI literacy
* Only 5% of districts have specific generative AI policies, which reflects what we have seen in the field
* Students are using AI tools, often without clear guidelines

Opportunities for AI adoption:
* Student-focused: Adaptive learning, creativity enhancement, project-based learning, and collaborative support
* Teacher-focused: Lesson planning assistance, feedback on teaching, and productivity gains
* System-focused: Data interoperability, parent engagement, and communication

Risks and Challenges:
* Inaccuracies and misinformation in GenAI outputs
* Bias and lack of representation in AI systems
* Privacy and data security concerns
* Potential for cheating and plagiarism
* Risk of overreliance on technology and loss of critical thinking skills

What Students Want:
* Clear guidelines on AI use, not outright bans
* Recognition of both potential benefits and ethical concerns of the technology
* More education on AI's capabilities and limitations

Recommendations:
* Invest in AI literacy for educators, students, and families
* Develop standardized guidelines for AI use in schools
* Adopt procurement standards for AI tools in education
* Use participatory design to include diverse voices in AI development
* Center equity in AI development and implementation
* Proceed cautiously, given the experimental nature of the technology

Shoutout to all of our EDSAFE AI Alliance and TeachAI steering committee members featured in the white paper.

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Common Sense Media Releases K-12 Education GenAI Report - AI for Education

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Common Sense Media's new white paper on "Generative AI in K-12 Education: Challenges and Opportunities" takes a deep dive into the complexities of AI adoption in education.

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This model guides students to ask vital questions about their AI use and to reflect on how it benefits their learning.

All of the excitement and trepidation about generative artificial intelligence (AI) has led to thorny questions for teachers, perhaps none more pressing than whether, when, and how to allow student use of AI tools. While these tools can undermine the learning process, they can also be powerful sources of enrichment, clarity, and perspective-when used responsibly.

To aid teachers and students in responsible Al use, we have collaborated on a decision tree for student decision-making. This framework can help students make better choices about using AI tools and give teachers more confidence in supporting student use. Critical engagement with AI tools-including questioning their outputs, understanding their limitations, and considering ethical implications-is a vital component of digital literacy and citizenship.

Walking Through The Decision Tree

Permission: Am I permitted to use AI tools for this task? Generative AI is undetectable, making bans impractical and short-sighted. Instead, teachers should collaborate with students to create trust-based norms and transparent processes for AI use. A straightforward " red light, yellow light, green light " system is a good starting place. Teachers need to feel empowered and knowledgeable enough about AI tools to dictate whether students can use them, and students need to understand the rationale for these kinds of decisions as part of their own emerging AI literacy. This first question, then, reminds students of the permission structure and expectations within a given class.

Enhancement: Am I using AI tools to enhance my learning? Like most academic technology, AI tools can be used to enhance learning or to supplant it, and students need to be prompted to consider not just whether they're allowed to use these tools but how to use them responsibly-not as a replacement but as an augmentation. This question invites students to reflect metacognitively on the goals of the task and the suitability of the tool. Students are more likely to be successful in this process when their teachers give guidance tailored to an activity and clearly communicate its learning objectives.

Indeed, this is one way in which AI might inspire teachers toward best practices, as clearly articulated learning objectives are an essential part of effective teaching. When students understand assignment goals, they are also more likely to understand the teacher's rationale for allowing (or not allowing) AI tools. Similarly, they will be better positioned to evaluate the effectiveness of an AI tool in helping them build their understanding and develop their learning.

Iterative use: Am I using PROMPT and EDIT to generate and analyze my AI outputs? AI tools work best when used iteratively; that is, they are best leveraged through repeated engagement and tuning. Our model offers PROMPT (Purpose, Role, Organize, Model, Parameters, Tweak) and EDIT (Evaluate, Determine, Identify, Transform) as helpful acronyms for designing and refining prompts, again with the goal of introducing some critical metacognitive friction into the students' use of the tools.

PROMPT encourages students to design scaffolded prompts with the goal of eliciting the most helpful responses, while EDIT reminds them that use of an AI tool is an active process of determining the appropriateness and effectiveness of AI outputs, iteratively analyzing, tweaking, and re-prompting.This approach is equally beneficial to teachers-whether they are creating routine study materials or designing a custom chatbot for classroom use.

PROMPT also pairs nicely with the " AI roles " framework developed by Ethan and Lilach Mollick, which encourages users to give the AI a clearly defined role (e.g., tutor, coach, mentor) in order to get desired results and leverage it appropriately. That role is yet another opening for students to intentionally use the tool within a teacher's parameters.

Transparency: Am I prepared to show how and explain why I used AI tools to support my work? This question drives home the metacognitive process even more deeply and is a crucial step for promoting thoughtful collaboration, rather than outsourcing. It requires students to reflect on how they integrated the AI tool's offerings, placing greater emphasis on process over product.

Teachers can make informed choices about how best to have students share their process. We have had students share conversation links and annotate sections of their writing on which AI served as a coach. There are MLA, APA, and Chicago Style guidelines for citing AI use as well.

Reflection and metacognition: Am I actively reflecting on my use of AI tools? In this essential final step, students are once again invited to consider the assignment objectives, their own growth and learning, and their own responsible use of these tools. The goal, as always, is to prepare students to be not just tech-savvy but tech-wise, ready to approach the complexities of a digital future with confidence and ethical clarity.

Educators play a critical role in this process, and through scaffolded reflection, students can develop nuanced understandings of appropriate and inappropriate uses of AI. Facilitating discussions on AI use, experimenting in class, and soliciting feedback can bring students into the fun, messy project of figuring out how best to teach and learn in this new era-empowering them in the process.

Banning Won't Work-and Won't Help Students Learn

For a host of reasons-because AI-generated content is not always detectable, because AI tools are here to stay, and because they can be such robust tools for creating and learning-teachers and schools should resist the temptation (to try) to ban these tools from the classroom process. Instead, AI tools, like all technology, need to be mindfully and carefully woven into learning through a deliberate process of iterative ideation and metacognitive reflection, thereby helping to preserve the human connections that form the core of teaching and learning.

Through structured frameworks like our AI decision tree; a red, yellow, or green light system; and ongoing dialogue about AI's role and impact, teachers can help students not only leverage AI to enhance their learning but also fully appreciate the opportunities, responsibilities, and downsides that this technology presents. By fostering responsible AI literacy in our classrooms, we can empower students to shape a future that is more human-centric, reflective, and thoughtful.

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This model helps teachers guide students to work with AI through questions about their use of it and reflection on how it benefits them.

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Importance of Clarity with Student AI Use

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Importance of Clarity with Student AI Use

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7 Approaches for Students using GenAI in the Classroom 

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7 Approaches for Students using GenAI in the Classroom 

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48 Pages Posted: 21 Jun 2023 Last revised: 26 Sep 2023

Date Written: September 23, 2023

Abstract

This paper examines the transformative role of Large Language Models (LLMs) in education and their potential as learning tools, despite their inherent risks and limitations. The authors propose seven approaches for utilizing AI in classrooms: AI-tutor, AI-coach, AI-mentor, AI-teammate, AI-tool, AI-simulator, and AI-student, each with distinct pedagogical benefits and risks. Prompts are included for each of these approaches. The aim is to help students learn with and about AI, with practical strategies designed to mitigate risks such as complacency about the AI's output, errors, and biases. These strategies promote active oversight, critical assessment of AI outputs, and complementarity of AI's capabilities with the students' unique insights. By challenging students to remain the "human in the loop," the authors aim to enhance learning outcomes while ensuring that AI serves as a supportive tool rather than a replacement. The proposed framework offers a guide for educators navigating the integration of AI-assisted learning in classrooms.

Keywords: AI, LLM, Education, Prompts

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assigning ai: seven approaches for students

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Assigning AI: Seven Approaches for Students, with Prompts

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This paper examines the transformative role of Large Language Models (LLMs) in education and their potential as learning tools, despite their inherent risks and

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Chaparral MS Teacher AI - Unlocking the Power of AI Tools

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alvarobrito783's presentation | Poll Everywhere

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This is the place to be if you're trying to participate in a live poll

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Cheating - coming up with nonoriginal material.

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My concern is that students accept what AI gives them without thinking critically about whether the information is valid. I think there needs to be more education with students directly about how to use the tools and evaluate the information they are given.

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I perceive that the students are using AI to complete assignments quickly without doing the learning themselves

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Students are using it now, however, without much guidance.

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Students can use it for immediate feedback on their written responses and essays.

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students are familiar with the concept of AI and products like ChatGPT but I don't think they are utilizing it as much for school purposes at our specific site

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Students have not developed basic proofreading skills necessary to be active in the process of using AI.  They would just submit something that it generates as their own.  

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Students have not developed basic proofreading skills necessary to be active in the process of using AI.  They would just submit something that it generates as their own.  

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Students will become dependent on it.

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I'm unsure.

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Students not using it as a tool but rather using it as an "easy way" out of work

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I am not opposed to it and think students would be open to it. There are just worries about regulating it from my position. Also, don't want students relying on it for everything.

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cheating on writing that is not done in the classroom

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Cheating.  I've already caught 3 students using it during a math test.

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Cheating.  I've already caught 3 students using it during a math test.

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...students using AI as a replacement for learning content and problem-solving skills.

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Using it as a tool to add to their learning (like a calculator) rather then something that detracts from the individual learning and accountability for knowledge and skill development

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Cheating.

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Inaccurate information, lack of proper sourcing, and plagiarism.

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My major concerns are plagiarism and a decline in critical thinking.

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Students may rely on AI too much in order to get answers and not think critically.

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Students using Gen AI can be a supportive tool for them in terms of receiving quick feedback on their work, but with guidelines and restraint.

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Many students use it as a crutch right now, eliminating creativity in their process, critical thinking, and effort. They need to be trained on how to use it. Just like any tool, it can be missused and undervalued.

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Most of them use it for answers to questions and trust what they get as an answer from AI versus answering on their own.

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Students use it for research and immediate feedback on assignments.

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I think that students primarily use ai to write for them.

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I don't see much use, but occasionally students use AI to write responses and complete assigments.

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Useful tool for getting feedback on writing to help with revising and editing (if used properly)

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I think students do not know how to use it properly.

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I see students using AI to do all of their writing, even simple writing.

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I see people using GenAI like they would traditionally have Googled something - take the first two or three results and treat them like it’s the absolute truth. With GenAI, students generate whatever they want and remove the critical thinking, planning, synthesis, etc. part from it.

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Students are using AI to help with homework without thinking about the answers.

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Read a news article and create word problems from the context.

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Lack of critical thinking skills

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Students using it without analyzing what they are getting from AI or using it to complete assignments without much critical thinking.

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Students relying on it for all their work. Lack of development of critical thinking skills, which I think many are already kind of behind on. Also, cheating.

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I assume (perhaps incorrectly) everything written and turned in has been run through some sort of AI

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Highly structured time and opportunity for students to see how it can be used as a tool for immediately feedback rather than a way to quickly complete assignments they do not want to do.

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I don't mind my students using AI to discover ways to solve a problem but I want them to understand the process and not just copy the work.

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Students are using it to write emails and to complete assignments.

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I think a lot of students use it to answer questions. Most of them think of ChatGPT when they think AI.

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They will lose their critical thinking skills without the training on how to use these tools.

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I am concerned students do not understand the risks associated with GenAI when inputing personal information. We already see that struggle with our students and social media.

I also am concerned with the over-reliance issue and the impact it will have long term on their critical thinking and knowledge base.

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For research, or to generate ideas, to get feedback...

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For research, or to generate ideas, to get feedback...

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We are still trying to develop skills such as correct source siting and without that there is the potential for plagiarism instead of creativity. 

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We are still trying to develop skills such as correct source siting and without that there is the potential for plagiarism instead of creativity. 

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My concern is on how students do not see the difference anymore between receiving support from AI and just having AI do the thinking for them.

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not sure. would like to see guidelines in general. need a baseline to work with so that adjustments can be made as we go since things are accelerating at such a fast pace, whether we realize it or not

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Helping with writing prompts and feedback on assignments.

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I perceive that students CAN use AI effectively when given direct instruction for what to use it for. EX: use DeepAI to create a graphic that you can use as inspiration for a drawing on an activity

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Cheating, plagiarism, and privacy concerns.

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Students are using Gen AI and rely on social media for guidance.

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Students will take short-cuts in other areas of their lives.

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Concerned that AI minimizes student creativity; students don't understand what AI creates which students claim as their own work.

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Students will write essays, get answers to homework, etc. They will also use it to explore information on the Web. They may even go down rabbit holes, both good and bad. They will use it as their go to for information and help.

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Using it to provide feedback or enhancing their work/thoughts they already have rather than doing to work for them. Figuring out how to do that.

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I wonder if there are more reliable ways to identify AI plagiarism for students on assignments

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An easier way to prevent plagiarism

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Using it to solve math problems. They may or may not be trying to learn how to actually to complete the problem on their own.

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Structured and dedicated time to using and evaluating tools appropriately.

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Students will use AI on homework and not be able to complete tests or assignments at school without it.

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Students relying too heavily on it, using it in place of their own writing/thinking, not being able to look at AI through a critical lens

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I've had a few students use it to write their essays and/or stories.

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cheating

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Students should be required to pass an AI Training module before they can utilize devices in class. We need to train them in the benefits and drawbacks.

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Students use it for feedback to revise essays. They might become overly dependent on it for their daily tasks.

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Students seem to use AI with the belief that it is always correct.

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Loss of critical thinking, ability to write and edit well, and the loss of curiosity.

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I would like to have a step-by-step instructional guideline for the students to use before they turn in any work generated by AI.

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Students do not think critically about the information AI is giving them. They don't take the time to understand the answers it gives them. Most concerned about their grade over their learning.

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Cheating on assignments. AI doing the work for them.

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Students are not developing their critical thinking skill.

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Showing students how they can effectively use AI to help with schoolwork while being able to still learning the critical thinking skills necessary

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I would like to see fact-checking become a taught skill alongside the ethical use of AI.

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I'm not as worried about kids using AI in my subject matter and maybe it would help them to generate ideas.

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I'm not as worried about kids using AI in my subject matter and maybe it would help them to generate ideas.

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Students being taught how to use AI to guide them and not use it to get a quick way to complete assignments. Teaching students what is an acceptable use of AI to enhance their learning and not diminish it.

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Students asking for answers without trying.

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I feel like students/parents are using AI to generate their emails. I think that it's helpful for EL students.

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Students are using it but for the wrong reason. To get out of doing work and thinking for themselves.

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Students will lose their own voice, their own style, and their own creative ideas.

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Students taking whatever information they are given as truth/correct and not collaborating with their peers. Lack in critical thinking.

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A decrease in critical thinking skills. Using AI more for low DOK skills than higher DOK.

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I would like to see students taught how to responsibly engage with GenAI.

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District or school provided tools to prevent and detect cheating.

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I would like to see guidelines set to support the students and enhance what they have already completed themselves.

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Is there an effective way to teach students how to use as a tool and not become dependant on this. Not lose critical thinking skills

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Guidelines or plagiarism tracking functions such as flagging copy/pastes, similar submissions, typing anomalies, split-screens, leaving the tab, etc.

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Decrease in critical thinking skills.

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I am concerned that students just assume and repeat that everything they see for the first time is correct when using AI. Students I have talked to use it to make the task faster and easier, not to gain or give accurate information.

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Using it to substitute work/learning.

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I think AI is like alcohol. At a younger age, you don't understand (or believe) the inherent possible misuse and danger. You just know it makes you feel good and allows you to do things easier.

But like alcohol, it enhances the good things and makes them better, but enhances the bad things and makes them worse. If you are a good student, you will use AI to enhance your learning. If you are a struggling learner, or one who tends to not take school seriously (for whatever reason), then you will use AI to replace your learning, so that you don't have to spend time and effort doing things yourself.

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Lack of ability to use AI in a helpful way. Lack of critical thinking (since they are just asking AI for an answer vs thinking on their own). Not being able to discern an age appropriate/grade level appropriate/content appropriate answer that was AI generated.

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I wonder if there's an effective way to support students' critical thinking about AI and still support their learning. Right now I see students using AI to simply complete assignments without necessarily learning the concepts.

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I'd like a guideline where students see the consequences and repercussions of reliance on AI and how it impacts their brains. This should SCARE them.