Artificial Intelligence is Being used in Schools, But Statewide Guidance is a Work in Progress
Frederick County public schools superintendent Cheryl Dyson talks with a student at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School last week, during the first day of school for students in the county. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)
Brayden Morgan says artificial intelligence is here to stay and everyone should embrace it.
“We have to adapt. We have to stay up to date,” said the 17-year-old high school senior and student member on the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. “We have to learn about it and make sure our students know how to use it [the] right way [and] that they’re learning and not being enabled on technology.”
That may be easier said than done.
The technology better known as “AI” is already being used by students and teachers in Maryland schools. But the state has yet to develop specific statewide guidelines on how to effectively use the powerful new computing tool, and what guardrails to protect students from using it inappropriately, such as plagiarism on essay papers and other work.
State education officials have been working behind the scenes for more than a year on language, and county school systems have made tentative steps toward developing their own policies. But it’s been slow going. Jing Liu said there’s a couple of reasons many school districts in Maryland, and the nation, don’t yet have artificial intelligence policies in place.
“The AI space is developing really, really fast. All the AI tools are developed at lightning speed,” said Liu, an associate professor in education policy at the University of Maryland, College Park and a member of the Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society (TRAILS).
Liu, who’s also directs the school’s Center for Educational Data Science and Innovation, said evidence-based research needs to be done quickly to help inform policymakers and school district leaders on how to design AI policy. He said a policy would include certain tools used to meet education standards and guardrails to ensure appropriate uses.
“I think we are still at a very early stage in terms of understanding their [AI] impact,” Liu said. “There hasn’t been a lot of research looking at the impact of particular AI users on teacher and student learning outcomes.”
Maryland education officials said they have been working behind the scenes on AI guidance for more than a year.
A document from the state Board of Education summarizes artificial intelligence frameworks such as potential benefits like tutoring and personalized learning assistance, aiding creativity and collaboration and operational and administrative efficiency. Some of the risks are plagiarism and academic dishonesty, overreliance and loss of critical thinking, and perpetuating societal biases.
State Superintendent Carey Wright said in an interview Thursday that statewide guidance on AI could be released by the end of the school year. In the meantime, Wright has advice for educators and other school leaders on effectively using AI in schools.
“The things that I would hope they’re doing is developing lesson plans that are aligned to our standards. That’s key because our statewide assessment is aligned to our standards,” she said.
“We don’t want just a hodgepodge of things being taught,” Wright said. “So, anything that they can do that is going to make their life easier, but also guiding children in [what’s] appropriate and what’s not appropriate, in terms of the use of AI.”
