AI Use in Dexter Community Schools

As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a high-quality, equitable education for all students, we are excited to share that Dexter Community Schools is increasingly integrating artificial intelligence (AI) tools into our educational practices while working to protect students. We recognize the growing interest and observations about the role of AI in education, particularly its potential to enhance equity, personalized learning, and student engagement.  We also acknowledge that it is an expectation by employers, and many universities, that students have AI literacy skills and experiences.

AI offers transformative opportunities to tailor learning experiences to individual student needs. By leveraging these tools, we can:

• Promote Instructional Equity: AI can help us identify and address learning gaps, providing targeted support to students who need it most.
• Enhance Personalization: Adaptive learning platforms powered by AI can adjust to the pace and style of each student, ensuring everyone has the chance to succeed.
• Empower Educators: AI tools can assist teachers by streamlining administrative tasks, allowing more time for meaningful interactions with students.
• Foster Innovation: AI-driven resources open doors to creative problem-solving and real-world applications, preparing students for future opportunities.

In the Dexter Community Schools, we recognize the immense potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in revolutionizing education and enhancing Human Intelligence (HI). We view AI as a tool that can intensify the human element in education. AI can undertake routine tasks, freeing teachers to invest more time in direct, interpersonal interactions with students. Its potential for improving assessments, providing immediate, personalized student feedback, and delivering valuable, implementable data to teachers to improve instructional effectiveness is encouraging.  Our stance on the use of AI is rooted in the belief that it should serve as a powerful tool to augment and complement human intelligence rather than replace it. Here's why we emphasize the importance of AI enhancing human intelligence:

1. Personalized Learning: AI enables the creation of personalized learning experiences that cater to individual student strengths, weaknesses, and learning needs. By harnessing AI-driven adaptive learning platforms, we can ensure that every student receives targeted instruction tailored to their specific needs, leading to improved academic outcomes and student engagement.
2. Equity and Inclusion: AI has the potential to address equity gaps in education by providing personalized support and resources to students from diverse backgrounds and ability levels. By leveraging AI-powered tools, we can create inclusive learning environments where every student has access to the resources and support they need to succeed.
3. Preparing Students for the Future: In an increasingly digital and data-driven world, students need to develop fluency in AI technologies. By integrating AI into our curriculum, we can equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in the 21st-century workforce and become responsible digital citizens.
4. Empowering Educators: AI technologies can provide educators with invaluable insights into student learning patterns, preferences, and areas for improvement. By leveraging AI-powered analytics, teachers can tailor instruction to meet the unique needs of each student, thus enhancing their effectiveness in the classroom.
5. Ethical Considerations: While embracing the benefits of AI, we also recognize the importance of addressing ethical considerations and ensuring responsible use of AI technologies. It is essential to promote transparency, accountability, and ethical decision-making in the development and deployment of AI systems in education.

Some of our activities and projects will even require these tools. Understanding and using AI is a new and essential skill, and our staff will provide lessons and help using these tools.  Some of our activities and projects will even require these tools.  Classes will provide guidance for students regarding the appropriate use of AI.  Students must understand a few things about using AI, particularly generative tools, like ChatGPT:

• Effort matters. If you (students) don't take the time to think through and carefully write your prompts to the AI, you may not get excellent results. It will require practice and patience to get better results.
• Don't blindly trust the AI's responses if the AI gives you a fact or a number. Remember, you will be responsible for the accuracy of the information you use in your work, even if it comes from the AI.
• Always remember to acknowledge when you've used AI in your work. At the end of any project or assignment where you've used AI, include a short explanation about how and why you used it and what prompts you used. Not doing this could be considered as not being honest about your work.
• There is an expectation that when using AI, your work begins with you, the human (H), and ends with you, the human (H).  H, AI, H.
• Lastly, use AI thoughtfully. It can be a great tool, but it's not always the right tool for the job. Consider whether it's the best choice for the task at hand.

AI has the potential to significantly enhance education by providing personalized, inclusive, and engaging learning experiences when applied responsibly and ethically. Nevertheless, human intelligence, judgment, and connection remain central to our educational philosophy as we work to Champion Learning: Develop, Educate, and Inspire!