Here’s how Iowa schools are embracing AI

Some Iowa educators are embracing artificial intelligence, using it as a tool so they can be more efficient in lesson planning and other tasks, and teaching their students how it works, ethical implications and when it’s appropriate to use.

Mark Kenny, a computer science teacher at Vernon Middle School in Marion, said AI isn’t going away. “We need to find a way to educate our kids about the power of it and how to use it,” he said.

He is incorporating AI into some of his lesson plans to teach students how it can “enhance their learning” as opposed to doing the work for them.

One way Kenny allows students to explore the use of AI is when they work with Finch robots as a beginning tool for learning how to code. It also helps students develop critical thinking, problem-solving and collaboration. Kenny has the students check their code through an AI tool.

“I’ve got to help teach kids how to use computers the right way as they go to high school and beyond,” Kenny said. “The future is technology. I’m never going to be that educator that isn’t trying to think big-picture.”

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Teachers also are adopting the use of AI to help them more efficiently create personalized lesson plans for students.

Kenny uses Magic School AI, for example, to modify lesson plans to better teach the different kinds of learners in his classroom and create grading rubrics for homework assignments.

Kenny said his own daughter used AI when writing college scholarship applications recently. The AI tool proofread her paper and gave her suggestions on how to improve it, “but it doesn’t do the work for her,” Kenny said.

AI won’t replace need for critical thinking, problem solving

Corey Rogers, computer science and digital learning consultant for Grant Wood Area Education Agency, said AI will have a large impact on education. But fundamentally, students still need to learn how to be critical thinkers and problem solvers.

Grant Wood AEA serves a seven county region including Linn and Johnson counties, and assists students with disabilities and delivers general education and media services to educators.

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“AI is here. What we have to be mindful of in classrooms is the bias in the data sets of AI, and making sure teachers and kids understand what AI is, how it works and where it comes from. It doesn’t act independently. It’s a trained piece of technology humans created, so it inherently has biases and misconceptions,” Rogers said.

“It might help me as a thinker, but we have to have a human in the loop to check it’s factual and accurate and to consider if we truly need to be using AI or not,” Rogers said.

Iowa educators are turning to Digital Promise, a global nonprofit organization that aims to improve learning and education through technology, for guidance. Digital Promise’s vision for AI in education puts people first and envisions safe, equitable and meaningful uses of the technology to enhance teaching and learning.

“What I see when I’m working with districts is they are cautious and intentional about how AI can be helpful and beneficial to our system, but cognizant and aware of the drawbacks and impacts ethically, morally and keeping students’ data private,” Rogers said.

It’s important for teachers to be clear with students about when and how they can use AI to assist them in their schoolwork. For example, are they using an AI tool to help them brainstorm ideas and get feedback or are they using it to create something? Rogers said.

Rogers said one of the most important things for educators to remember when using AI is to not use any identifying student information like names, city or school as some AI tools collect and store information.

Many AI tools also have age-restrictions, Rogers said. Users of Chat GPT — a chatbot that uses AI to generate responses to text — need to be 13 years old or older. Gemini — an AI-powered assistant from Google — requires users to be 18 or older.

New school policies address ethical, safety concerns of AI

Some school districts are adopting their own policies around AI use.

A new policy in the Iowa City Community School District — adopted by the school board earlier this year — requires:

The Iowa City Community School District has goal to empower a cohort of K-12 educators to be equipped with knowledge, skills and expertise to effectively integrate AI in their classrooms and support their peers in district-wide adoption, said Andrew Fenstermaker, an instructional technology coordinator for the Iowa City district.

“The rapid rate at which AI is changing means we’re going to have to evolve and adapt. This serves as a launching point for us to get guidelines and guardrails out there for students and their safety,” Fenstermaker said.

Students also are receiving education in the use of artificial intelligence in grades K-12.

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Fenstermaker said school leaders are working on more detailed guidance for teachers and students around responsible use of AI, including giving flexibility for when it can be used in the classroom. By outlining clear policies, Fenstermaker hopes to avoid potential academic dishonesty from students.

The Winterset Community School District also adopted a policy about the use of AI approved by the Winterset school board in March. The policy’s objectives are to promote appropriate use of AI in schools as an educational tool, protect the privacy and safety of students, staff and faculty and school data and instill a culture of innovative, responsible, equitable and ethical use of the technology.

“We consider this a living document,” said Chad Sussex, assistant principal of the Winterset junior and senior high school. “We need to educate students on the right way to use AI, the ethical part of it.

Sussex, who is writing a book about AI in education, said students are “definitely” using AI dishonestly to write papers, for example.

“Students have been trying to find ways to cheat for years. It’s unavoidable … We need to educate students on the right way to use AI and help them understand why they’re being assessed on writing skills,” Sussex said.

Schools already have policies that address academic integrity. That applies to students’ use of AI as well, Sussex said.

“We are in the infancy stage” of addressing AI use in schools, Sussex said. “It feels a lot like the internet felt like at first for education.”

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