Five critical priorities for AI in education

Key points:

As ai evolves and cements its place in the global economy, educators and stakeholders recognize that in addition to using ai in learning, students will need to develop ai skills and knowledge to succeed in the workforce.

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) ai-education” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Commission on ai in EducationA new commission comprised of policymakers, education leaders, business leaders, and education stakeholders from 16 states held a second meeting to refine its mission and further explore priorities for ai in learning.

SREB Chairman Stephen L. Pruitt said SREB created the commission to chart a course for how ai is used in classrooms and how to prepare people for a workforce that is being transformed by technology. The commission, which met June 21, is chaired by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and co-chaired by former Silicon Valley CEO Brad D. Smith, president of Marshall University in West Virginia.

“The focus of the commission is to provide thoughtful, strategic and practical leadership to education and the workforce,” Pruitt said. “What we saw at this second meeting is a tsunami of information. Commission members are working to ensure they have the best information and the best recommendations as they lead the work in the South and the country.”

Below are five takeaways and reflections shared in interviews with commission members immediately after the meeting:

Address the ethical and privacy implications of ai first.

Commission members emphasized the need to create guidelines that protect student privacy, maintain the fairness of ai, and inform K-12 educators and students about the potential risks and benefits of ai.

“Ethics should be the cornerstone, the foundation on which ai is built. While ai has enormous potential for good, if we do not build it on an ethical framework and if we do not include a diverse population in its creation, we risk introducing biases that could have a negative impact.” –Kim Christ, member of the commission’s workforce skills subcommittee and director of Workforce and Education Innovation for the South Carolina Competitiveness Council

Building a comprehensive ai framework for K-12 educators and administrators.

The SREB region should work to clearly define ai literacy, establish best practices, and create training and support resources to ensure consistency. In addition, commission members stressed that integrating ai into education requires teachers to adapt to new technologies and teaching methods. They said that adequate professional development and support is necessary to ensure that teachers can effectively use ai tools in the classroom.

“ai presents an incredible opportunity for educators to combat misinformation. Since generative ai tools often produce results without citations or even with fabricated citations, it is imperative that we teach students to critically evaluate information and recognize quality sources..” – Matthew Kinservik, a member of the commission’s postsecondary instruction subcommittee and vice chancellor for faculty affairs at the University of Delaware

Integrating ai into all school disciplines.

Preparing students for the workforce of the future involves teaching them how to use ai tools effectively. Commission members stressed that ai should be integrated into all subject areas, not just computer science. An interdisciplinary approach ensures that students develop a broad understanding of ai and can apply it in a variety of contexts to enhance problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

“ai isn't taking away anything that shouldn't have been done already. Now, we can replace them and allow humans to focus on more meaningful work.”.” – John Matthew Cortez, a member of the commission's K-12 instruction subcommittee and a high school artificial intelligence educator in Pinellas County Schools, Florida

Collaborate with industry and provide students prepared with success skills.

Collaboration with industry partners is essential to ensure that the skills taught in schools align with workforce needs. Industry feedback provides real-world context for students. Additionally, preparing students by developing “hard” or “soft” skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and ethical reasoning is essential to preparing them for an ai-driven workplace.

“ai is a tool like the Internet and other forms of technology. What matters is how we use it, how we want to use it, and how we plan to use it. My goal is for humans to learn how to use ai effectively, not for ai to take away humanity..” – Robbie Melton, a member of the commission's postsecondary instruction subcommittee and vice president for technology and Innovation at Tennessee State University

Developing clear ai in education policy.

State and district policies play a critical role in shaping the integration of ai in education. Clear policies and guidance can help educators and administrators navigate the complexities of ai, set expectations, and ensure consistent implementation across different areas of a state. (To help states share strategies, SREB has begun publishing an analysis of ai ai-policy-and-research-sreb-states” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Guidance, policies and standards in the Southern states).

“Many of us still don’t fully understand ai, but SREB has taken a bold step to bring people together and start defining it in a variety of contexts. It’s a tool that will help us, but we need to be aware that it will do things beyond the exact instructions we give it.”Eric Ebersole, a member of the commission's policy subcommittee and a Maryland state delegate

The commission, which began its work in April and will last two years, is tasked with reviewing industry research and data and hearing from experts. It will then come up with recommendations for Southern states to take the lead when it comes to:

• Using ai in teaching and learning, from preschool to secondary school and in higher education
• Develop related policies in primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities
• Preparing students for careers in ai