Preparing the Next Generation for Success

The recent launch of widely available and powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools has presented myriad opportunities and challenges for administrators and teachers at K12 schools. Because they are widely available and powerful, their use by students is inevitable. For these same reasons, they present a number of challenges for school administrators and teachers. For schools to fully leverage the opportunities presented by AI, administrators must acknowledge its limitations and potential pitfalls along with the significant potential advantages in terms of time-saving, personalization and student self-efficacy. Everything from lesson planning, to the development of assignments and assessments, to the way student work is graded, is already being impacted.

Current training for teachers focuses on imparting an understanding of how the tool(s) work for the development of lessons and assignments, as well as how students might use AI to complete those assignments and prepare for exams. At the same time, administrators are implementing systems of accountability for both teachers and students, ensuring that teachers are equipped to check sources used when creating materials and checking student work, and preparing students to hone their ability to develop appropriate queries and evaluate the quality of outputs. Schools that build and revisit these foundational plans, are effectively preparing their students for the new and emerging job market. The reality is, if we do not actively lead the next generation on this front, we will fail them.

Beginning as early as Kindergarten, schools can provide opportunities for students to explore AI-enabled technologies that are age-appropriate, standards-aligned and productive. Although the emergence of the latest AI applications is fairly recent, empirical research showing the impact of educational technologies that leverage AI to improve student learning is not new. Adaptive frameworks which personalize learning pathways for students have been available for use for several years. New technologies now incorporate the ability to adjust the content and pace of lesson delivery, making them useful for differentiating one-on-one instruction for individual students. Additionally, AI-enabled classroom technologies can tackle some of the social aspects of learning challenges that have mostly been overlooked by standard online applications. For example, university-researched social robots, like the ABii robot, leverage AI and have demonstrated statistically significant learning gains due to higher rates of engagement, lesson scaffolding and social reinforcement for students. In general, social robots have shown promise for enhancing lifelong learning skills like self-efficacy, metacognition and critical thinking skills.

As AI technology evolves, educators will continue evaluating and offering digital tools to ensure that students are well prepared for the new and emerging job market. New challenges and opportunities will surface and as they do, one thing is certain: educators will continue paving the way for their students to learn to use best-in-class AI tools in a responsible and productive way, so ultimately, they too can lead the way for others.