Montgomery County Public Schools AI Literacy program is providing valuable lessons for students in the utilization of generative AI, or Artificial Intelligence technology.
As shared with the MCPS Board members during a recent school board meeting, the Instructional Technology Team began their research and preparation for the start of the AI Literacy program during the summer and fall of 2023. The rollout of the program includes time for instructional staff workshops, along with sharing the program’s details with community members, during the 2024-25 academic school year.
Prices Fork Elementary School Special Education Teacher Josh Porter discussed the advantages of AI use in meeting with K-12 instructional standards and Special Education applications.
“You can plug in, here is what a fifth-grade standard is for word problems, how would you write a goal for this particular student that has a learning disability,” Porter said. “You can take that, tweak it, make it specific to that child.”
Other applications for students, Porter said, might be creating social stories, helping students adapt to time change, and creating images to go along with the stories that students create.
MCPS elementary school students Seth, Lily, and Levi spoke to the board about their opportunities and learning experiences in using AI during classroom instruction.
Seth read from a prepared speech to the board that it would be helpful to learn about AI in preparation for a job someday.
“I find machine learning fascinating,” Seth said.
“I’ve learned that AI is a great source when it’s trained right. In class, we’ve learned about machine training and learning,” Levi said. “We’ve learned that AI isn’t 100% correct all of the time, that’s when I have to read and think about what it’s giving me for the information.”
Lily said she used AI to do an interview.
“It was better than just reading about my person I was researching, because I actually got to hear about life from their perspective,” Lily said.
Artificial intelligence is also being applied to transportation safety for children in the Montgomery County Public Schools division, according to Board Member Dana Partin.
“We have AI generated video cameras to help us see people who are speeding in school zones, and so that is already being used on our school buses for safety,” said Partin. “So, kudos to Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and bus patrol for bringing that technology into help our community and help our schools and our students.”
“Thank you for the comments about having to learn what AI is actually telling you, and what to believe and not to believe, because AI can be a scary thing for a lot of people,” Board Member Penny Franklin said.
School Board Vice-Chair Laura Purcell asked, “What kind of AI tutors and chatbots are being used within the division? Just because I know that those tools can be very easily manipulated and become inappropriate very quickly.”
Julie Craft, MCPS Instructional Technology Lead, said their team identified fairly early that a safe tool would be required for the students in their use of AI. “The activities that the kids discussed are working with School AI. It was one of the first platforms that was out there with a student facing interactive chatbot, and teachers have the ability to give the chatbots parameters for how they want the chatbot to work with the students.”
Board Member Dr. Edward Gitre suggested a look at the current discipline policy for misuse of AI in student work. Gitre said although he is supportive of AI use, the policy should be addressed.
