Elizabeth Zielinski, superintendent of regional and union districts of Ralph C. Mahar, affirms that school officials design an AI addendum with existing plagiarism policy.
Personal file photo / Paul Franz
While schools across the country are faced with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), new policies are introduced to govern its use in classrooms, in order to balance innovation with concerns about privacy, equity and academic integrity.
The above sentence was written with the help of Chatgpt. Were you able to say that it was not written by a human? Now imagine the challenges that educators face by welcoming new innovations in class, while preventing students from letting artificial intelligence finish their homework for them.
To remedy this, the Mohawk Trail School School Committee adopted a policy earlier this month to approach the use of AI in schools for inclusion in the student manual next year.
“We all know that AI enters our world and it is important that we are informed,” said Suzanne Crawford, president of the district's political sub-comity. “The AI will have an important role in the future, and it is important that students learn of it and will be informed of the use of ethically.”
Crawford said IA has been in its mind for some time, and the district began to write a policy on its use in schools according to the Massachusetts Association of School Committee conference, which was held in Hyannis last November. A policy has been written in collaboration with Trail Mohawk teachers and librarians in order to recognize AI as a tool that can be used in classrooms, but must be regulated to ensure that students use it ethical and do not transmit work generated artificially as their own.
“The Mohawk Trail regional school district recognizes the growing importance of generative artificial intelligence (GENAI) in the constantly evolving landscape of digital technology,” said policy. “At the same time, he recognizes that Genai represents an important change in the way a range of educational tasks can be accomplished, that there are serious questions unanswered on SI and how Genai can be used ethical and how it can be effectively integrated into a rigorous program.”
The policy stipulates that the district will continue to seek advice and equipment on how to integrate AI into schools and will offer students the possibilities of learning to use it. Policy adds that all work created by AI presented as an original work will be considered as “a violation of academic integrity and managed in accordance with the relevant directives of the student manual”.
Crawford said AI policy was deliberately written as vague as technology evolves so quickly. If the school committee adopted a policy with more details on how AI can and should be used, technology could change and policy would no longer be applicable, Crawford said. Leaving the policy as general as possible allows it to be changed according to needs in the future and so that teachers determine how AI can be better incorporated into class.
“We have tried to do so in general because it is a rapidly moving world and policy changes are not fast,” said Crawford. “I don't know where it will land in class.”
Other school districts of the County of Franklin and the North Quabbin region also seek to integrate and regulate AI in class.
Heather Maynard, director of teaching and learning the regional school district of Gill -Montague, said that even if she could not talk about what will happen in the future in Gill -Montague schools – her post has been eliminated for the next school year in the middle of budget cuts – she thinks that the use of AI will develop in schools as technology is developing. Maynard also said that students teaching how to use these tools will be essential.
“I think AI is a very important tool, but students, if they are left to themselves, can use AI in a way that is not conducive to learning,” said Maynard. “AI must be used as a tool to improve their learning and not as a replacement for learning.”
She said that although technology is already good and constantly improves, students must be aware that AI is not perfect and that they must be responsible for their own work and learning. She recommends that school districts to talk about the development of AI plagiarism policies and to look at technology to recognize the work generated by AI to prevent students from trying to make it pass for their own. When possible, she said teachers should organize written evaluations in person.
Darius Modestow, superintendent of regional school districts and Union 38, said that the teachers have attended training on artificial intelligence for two years and plan to develop an AI policy for the student manual. Currently, staff members tell students that AI is not authorized on homework and works to develop duties that require critical thinking skills beyond the capacities of AI.
“AI is a tool that is there to stay. Although it can help routine writing tasks, it has limits,” said Modestow. “Our goal is to guarantee that students understand both when and how to effectively use AI, as well as the potential challenges it presents.”
Elizabeth Zielinski, a superintendent of regional and union school districts of Ralph C. Mahar, said that school officials designed an AI addendum with existing plagiarism policy.
“It is currently in dialogue and in discussion. This is where we are. We are in the craft phase,” she said, adding that the objective will be for teachers to guide students on how to use the AI appropriately as a learning tool. “You cannot change the tidal wave of the happening technology.”
Zielinski said the districts will also require advice from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to help students “use technologies that are constantly evolving”.
Maynard added that educators are used to adapting constantly to new technologies, study programs and teaching methods, and AI is only the last thing that schools must adapt.
“Even if it is a new territory, it is not really,” said Maynard, “because there are constant changes in education.”
With the exception of the first paragraph, the entire article was written by staff editors. Rendezer Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recarder.com. Chris Larabee and Domenic Poli contributed the reports.
Finn founded Learnopoly to provide unbiased, in-depth online course reviews, helping learners make informed choices. With a decade in financial services, he developed strategic partnerships and business development expertise. After a frustrating experience with a biased course review, Finn was inspired to create a trusted learning resource.