How CMS will bring AI into the classroom
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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools offices. Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is grappling with how to embrace artificial intelligence in the classroom.
Why it matters: Students are entering a dramatically shifting and unpredictable workforce, where AI is increasingly augmenting and threatening many entry-level jobs.
- "The reality is, when they graduate and they leave us, employers are going to be saying, 'use it, use it, use it,'" Superintendent Crystal Hill said at an end-of-year press conference on Monday.
CMS claims it is "leading the way nationally in how public school systems approach artificial intelligence." The district has selected 30 schools to be "AI champions" that explore how AI is intertwined in the classroom.
- "We still want our students to develop those critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills and not use AI to potentially just create content, but to enhance their learning," said Rebecca Lehtinen, CMS' executive director of educational technology.
Yes, but: AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are blocked on CMS' network. Starting next year, the district will also lock AI sites on teachers' take-home devices.
- CMS is highly concerned about the risk of plugging students' names and IDs into AI, Hill said.
- According to a CMS survey, 44% of staff members — mostly middle and high school teachers — and over 60% of school administrators say they have used AI at work.
- AI could also be a powerful tool to ease the demands of teaching, possibly freeing up countless hours spent grading and lesson planning to work directly with students.
- Leaders say the district will require staff to undergo training on the implications of entering student data into AI and is strengthening its cybersecurity to prepare to embrace AI.
However, CMS is looking at options to adopt closed generative AI, such as Google's Gemini chatbot, that will protect data. The goal is that teachers and students "get the benefit of using it without it being the wild, wild west," Hill said.
The big picture: Hill said she is focused on the "appropriate use" of AI and AI literacy, ensuring students still understand the importance of being critical thinkers.
- She said appropriate AI use may include using it to develop a report, but still being able to deliver an engaging presentation to an audience, and being graded on such.
- Hill is also embracing a new term: "a pro-social classroom," meaning students focus on strengthening their human qualities, such as communication and connection, which AI can't do.
- As far as concerns about cheating, Hill said, "You're always going to find a way to cheat ... That's not an AI issue. That's a character issue."
Flashback: CMS collected feedback on AI from more than 10,000 respondents to develop its AI vision.
- The response was "a mixture of scared and curious, just like we all are, because this is uncharted territory, and especially for public school systems," said Candace Salmon-Hosey, CMS' chief technology officer.
What's next: CMS is also considering publishing a guidance document for staff and students this August that will clarify instances when they can and cannot use AI.
- Meanwhile, the school board will look at establishing an AI policy.