THE PREP PERIOD

Quick tips, tools & tricks you can take to the classroom on Monday

Artificial Intelligence Guidance | This week's tip comes from the Chalkbeat and ISBE​

Illinois released AI guidance for schools this month. The state framed the central question as not whether AI can do a task, but whether using it supports the purposes of schooling. Lots of frameworks, guidance, and recommendations are popping up lately (and I think that's a good thing!) but you should always use your own judgement as an educator. Use what you've learned here and through your other research to think through your own AI use. Maybe ISBE can help you out!

That being said... ISBE's guidance runs about 400 pages long. Probably not something you're going to have the time to get through before Monday. Chalkbeat has a nice summary, but let's do our own quick run through here before your weekend kicks off:

Run the fallback test before you commit to a tool. The guidance asks you to name the actual learning problem first, then decide whether AI is the right instrument for it or whether an ordinary classroom routine would do the same job. Ask yourself this question: If the tool disappeared tomorrow, what would I do instead, and would that version serve the learning goal better?

Name the part of the task that belongs only to the student. Before AI enters a lesson, the guidance has you identify which thinking the student must own outright, meaning the strategy they pick, the representation they build, the reasoning they have to defend. Then build in a point where the student has to accept, reject, revise, or verify whatever the tool handed them. Ask yourself this question: How much does the student's thinking rely on the tool?

Write constraints into your prompts. The document's argument about prompting is that specificity decides whether AI actually helps your planning or just creates more work through a hefty revision cycle (sad). A strong prompt gives the tool enough to produce a draft you can edit, and it makes explicit what you will be verifying yourself. Building skills files and requiring the AI to cite its sources is a great place to start. That way you're not hoodwinked by a confident-sounding output. Ask yourself these questions: What are the most important parts of the output to pushback back on? What constraints can I add to improve it?

SARAH'S PICK

Education Week

​NY School Pauses Plan to Deploy AI Robot Teacher After Backlash​

A rural New York district approved almost $60,000 for a humanoid classroom robot and hit pause on the rollout after parents, teachers, and the state commissioner started asking questions.

Salamanca bought a stationary robot with long dark hair, already nicknamed Sally, whose legs do not work, from a company whose corporate sibling holds a stake in... let's just say another kind of robot.

While Sally was apparently first described by the district as a tool for robotics lessons with "no instructional role", a recent presentation to the state board "characterized the robot as a 'tutoring platform'".

I know and love someone who spent years in robotics and it ain't as easy as it looks. Getting a machine to move, hold a form, and respond in a way that doesn't, say, crush a tomato, or God forbid, a bone, takes years of work and an abundance of effort.

Which leads me to believe that Sally here is a robot first an... instructional tool? second.

It isn't clear whether her 'tutoring' skills are actually any good anyway, but if the majority of the thought, effort, and R&D went into the body (as I suspect it did) and not into the student-facing responses and feedback, then Sally is just a thin wrapper in a dress.

I'm willing to bet that robotics teacher would prefer a teacher aide or maybe some upgraded classroom materials at that rate.

LOUNGE READS

The AI headlines that matter for your classroom

A New York school pumping the brakes on a $60,000 AI robot teacher after privacy concerns and some uncomfortable questions about the manufacturer surfaced. West Virginia launched what it is calling a first-in-the-nation AI literacy curriculum for K-12, and a new Manhattan Institute framework is pushing for age-appropriate AI guidelines that treat a kindergartner and a high schooler very differently.

Education Week

​NY School Pauses Plan to Deploy AI Robot Teacher After Backlash​

A New York school pulled back on its AI robot teacher plan after privacy concerns and vendor scrutiny emerged.

"Our students don’t need robots... they need real relationships with caring adults."

Tri-State Alert

​West Virginia Begins Rollout of First-in-the-Nation AI Literacy and Digital Science Curriculum​

West Virginia is rolling out a statewide AI literacy curriculum for K-12 students, a first nationally.

"The Framework, the first of its kind in the country, outlines an approach for digital science and AI literacy education that equips students with the knowledge, skills and credentials to succeed in this rapidly evolving workforce. It also offers educators a way to increase efficiencies in their work and better personalize learning for students."

Manhattan Institute

​A Developmentally Appropriate Framework for AI in K-12 Education​

This framework argues that how and when AI enters the classroom should depend heavily on student age.

"Generative AI, the newest technology that has made its way into nearly every school in the U.S., is different in kind. Its ability to write essays, solve mathematics equations, and all other cogitative work demanded of students is a unique concern to American schools and schoolchildren. Like the technologies before it, generative AI was introduced into American classrooms with many theories but little to no research about how it would affect student outcomes."

A NOTE BEFORE YOU GO...

I'm glad you're here! If something resonated this week, hit reply and tell me. If you know a fellow educator who would find this useful, forward it their way. The village grows when educators share with other educators.

Never hesitate to send me an email if you're looking for some human-forward, AI thought partnership!