Artificial intelligence is constantly evolving. In the past year in particular, more and more technology companies are developing forms of AI to enter the growing market and devising updates to improve their AI platforms.
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into everyday life, PDS has been forced to adapt to ensure that students are effectively learning alongside the new technology. Increased proximity and exposure to generative AI, such as Chat GPT and Google’s Gemini, may tempt students into using such tools to write their English essays or chemistry lab reports. However, PDS Director of Academic Technology Lauren Ledley emphasized, “If you’re taking a shortcut in your own learning by using generative AI, you’re not benefiting, because the learning is in the process.”
PDS’s AI policy states “artificial intelligence tools may only be used in academic contexts when explicitly approved by the teacher, and students must adhere to the guidelines set forth by the teacher for each assignment.” If students are caught not following the policy, it leads to a meeting with the teacher, dean, and advisor, and will likely result in a meeting with judiciary.
However, this does not mean AI has no benefits for student learning. English Department Chair Karen Latham states that AI can provide “another set of eyes for proofreading, [as well as] prove to be really effective for generating and expanding on ideas for assignments.”
Dr. Latham recently explored these benefits by partnering with Middle School English Teacher Katy Radice. Ms. Radice is currently taking a class at UPenn regarding AI and has been experimenting with using Magic School AI in her classes. Dr. Latham was then able to implement AI into her tenth grade class. First, the students wrote passages on their own, then used AI to help proofread and edit the writing. The students were able to use the AI’s feedback to improve their work. Dr. Latham explains that “It was a great opportunity for us to see how we never want to use AI to create content, but if we learn how to use it well, we can actually use it to make our writing stronger, add more detail, or improve grammar. It’s all about knowing how to use it and asking the right questions to help us use it most productively.” Dr. Latham further says, “moving forward for our assignments, part of the assignment will be an opportunity to continue playing with Magic School AI.”
Despite all the possibilities for harm AI has on learning, there are also many benefits that can assist students in their work and improve their skills. What’s important is teaching students the correct ways to use the AI to ensure they are still able to progress in their learning.
