INNISFAIL - In a sure sign of the times, Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) has adopted an official procedure for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in its schools.
Administrative procedure AP - 2-20 Technology Access procedure was approved by trustees at the recent, regularly-scheduled board meeting.
The procedure will apply to all students and staff in CESD. The 11,000-student, Innisfail-headquartered division includes schools across the region.
“Artificial intelligence, what we know about it, is changing so rapidly that we want to keep pace,” superintendent Kurt Sacher told the Albertan. “We can continue to upgrade that procedure so that it stays current because everything with AI is changing quickly.
“It give us some baseline operational components as an organization.”
Under the procedure, artificial intelligence is defined as “computing systems that are able to engage in human-like processes such as learning, adapting, synthesizing, self-correction and use of data for complex processing tasks.”
The procedure has the objective to “leverage AI to enhance the quality of education, personalize learning experiences, improve educational outcomes, and prepare students for a future increasingly shaped by AI technologies.
“Our goals are to prepare students to succeed in their personal and academic endeavours, as well as to thrive in a world were AI plays a central role in shaping our society and economy.”
The procedure outlines the following guidelines for usage:
• CESD staff will ensure that AI technologies contribute to the equitable access to educational resources and opportunities for students, regardless of their socio-economic background, abilities, or geographic location.
• CESD staff will utilize AI tools to enhance teaching and learning by creating engaging, interactive, and personalized learning experiences that cater to the diverse needs of students.
• CESD will equip students and educators with the knowledge and skills necessary to responsibly use AI technologies. This will be done by helping develop the understanding of the potential of AI, its limitations, and the need for human input and supervision of all AI creations.
• CESD commits to the ethical use of AI in education; with staff members being aware of the potential of AI tools to perpetuate bias and inequity through the created output. The responses generated by AI may contain biases and inequalities in the data, depending on the materials that were used for training, and as such, teachers need to analyze and assess the responses.
• CESD dissuades the use of AI tools to detect the use of generative AI in student writing. CESD encourages teachers with concerns regarding submitted student work to engage the students in one-on-one conversations about the submitted work.
• CESD supports our teaching staff in role-modelling the appropriate use of AI tools to students throughout the instructional cycle, including differentiation in planning, instruction and assessment both formative and summative.
• CESD encourages teaching staff to utilize AI to personalize student learning experiences, improve educational outcomes, and prepare students for a future increasingly shaped by AI technologies. CESD thereby encourages teachers to discuss the use of AI with their students.
• CESD encourages teachers and administrators to continue engaging in professional development related to AI to ensure our students are provided with AI skills and experiences that prepare them for success in their personal and academic endeavours.
• CESD encourages teachers to experiment and explore and be creative with AI.
• Under the principal’s leadership, teachers should clearly communicate to students and parents the expectations for AI use, including permitted and prohibited uses. Additionally, teachers should establish clear guidelines for how students must report their use of AI in classroom assignments.
