Month of AI - Staff Newsletter #2

This month will feature daily communications to staff as a lead-up to National AI Literacy Day. On March 27th, we will join schools across the country in a day of action focused on two vital questions: “What is AI?” and “How do we prepare our students to thrive in an AI-enabled world?”

Are we requiring you to use AI? NO. Neither are we requiring students use AI. The focus of this Month of AI is for all of us to gain an understanding of the evolving technology, so we can better navigate the changing landscape: to understand how it influences commerce, communication, medicine, business, the workforce, and education. Along the way we will look for value-adds for your professional and personal lives, and explore the SEE framework for SAFE, ETHICAL and EFFECTIVE use.

If you have felt that AI has exploded onto the scene, you would be right! Here's a chart that shows how quickly the generative AI tool ChatGPT grew to 100 million users, compared with other digital tools

bar chart of platforms gaining 100 million users

There's more to AI than generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. It is found increasingly in the world around us.

Can you identify what is AI and what is NOT AI?

🍎😀 This activity is from CRAFT AI Literacy resources (Classroom-Ready Resources About AI For Teaching) from Stanford's Graduate School of Education. Create a copy of the prepared Google Slides, or print out the items to sort. A classroom set for 6 groups of students will be available in the libraries this week. Try in your classroom or even with some colleagues!

An Elementary Level Is it Ai or Not?

🍎😀 Here's a similar elementary sorting exercise from aiEDU!

Want a video with more background for the what and where of AI?

If you use EdPuzzle to add comprehension questions to Youtube videos, AI features are available for teachers to help generate questions and grade open ended questions.

The district is looking for feedback on a draft instructional technology plan. There is a presentation to the school board on Wednesday night on the plan!

The main tenet is a focus on using technology strategically and purposefully to support student learning. The plan recognizes the changing landscape our students' face with the increase of Artificial Intelligence, and the increased digital load in their lives. The plan aims to develop AI-readiness, including critical thinking about AI, and its ethical and safe use, while recognizing students need a foundation of academic knowledge and productive struggle and cognitive load is necessary to develop minds. And they need the soft skills of collaboration, communication and self-regulation to thrive.

Major activities to be undertaken in the next years include:

a comprehensive audit of technology use, including discussions with the community about appropriate supports at home and school.
a centralized vetting process for edtech tools and programs, to keep use aligned with priorities and safeguard student data
the development of AI-readiness scope and sequence, including critical-thinking frameworks, fundamental concepts, and ethics.
data dashboards and warehousing systems to provide schools and leadership with more actionable information