Getting Up to Speed with AI: How to Educate Students, Faculty, and Staff

According to our Artificial Intelligence in Private and Independent K-12 Schools Report, more than half of today’s schools are using AI in some capacity (59%). Of those using AI, 68% are providing AI education for faculty and staff while 62% view AI education for students as a top priority. 

As schools begin to dip their toes into the AI pool, proper training and education is key to mitigate risk and maximize the benefits. Keep reading to learn how you can help students, faculty, and staff get up to speed with AI this school year.     

How to Educate Students About AI 

In our recent survey, teachers rated their students’ enthusiasm for AI as extremely high, or nine out of ten. While students appear to be eager to learn about AI, only 41% of teachers are encouraging them to use it, likely due to concerns over plagiarism with tools like ChatGPT and teachers’ lack of knowledge about the tools themselves. 

Tye Campbell, Director of Strategic Information and Innovation at Gilman School, encourages educators to reframe their approach. “We need to think about our future — our students’ future. Whether we block it or not, they are going to be exposed to [AI].”  

In other words, if students don’t learn how to use AI at school, they’ll learn how to use it somewhere else. By giving your students a safe space to learn about and experiment with AI, you can control the environment and ensure they learn how to use it in positive and productive ways.  

Here are a few things you can do to educate your students about safe AI use:  

Host a school security training about digital citizenship. Cover topics like misinformation, bias, deepfakes, and cyberbullying to help students understand the risks of AI.   

Walk through your AI policy at the start of the school year. If your school has an approved list of AI tools, host mini training sessions and teach students how to use them properly in the classroom and for schoolwork.  

Teach AI literacy. Common Sense offers bite-sized lessons to help students understand AI and think critically about its benefits and risks.  

Give them time to practice. Dedicate a portion of classroom time to AI education and teach students how to use AI as a partner, not a replacement. Show them the difference between plagiarism and prompting, and teach them how to ask AI for its source material.  Show students the difference between their responses and an AI prompt response to demonstrate this technology’s capabilities. 

Beyond student education, 67% of schools are also interested in educating families about safe and ethical AI use. Consider hosting a webinar for parents and guardians about your school’s AI policy or topics like deepfakes and cyberbullying. If you have a school newsletter, share a weekly tip or fact about AI to keep families informed.  

How to Train Staff on AI 

According to our research, school staff are also eager to understand AI. 64% of survey respondents expressed moderate to extreme interest in using AI; however, they lack proper training and education. In fact, every department that we spoke to referenced lack of knowledge as a major hurdle towards their AI adoption. 

Here are a few things you can do to train faculty and staff on AI:   

Offer professional development opportunities. Teach faculty and staff how to use specific tools that can help boost efficiency and productivity. The Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS) has a robust AI hub with helpful resources for introducing AI to faculty and staff.  

Provide security awareness training. Data privacy is a huge concern with AI. Make sure faculty and staff know what information can and cannot be shared with an AI tool. According to our research, 14% of schools are already offering cybersecurity training as a way to mitigate AI risk.  

For teachers, highlight the inaccuracies of AI detectors and encourage teachers to prioritize deeper teaching and learning. Encourage them to focus less on right and wrong answers and more on emotional intelligence and personal response in their assignments. 

Share helpful tips and resources in staff newsletters. Highlight successful use cases from around the school, newly approved tools, and policy updates.  

Getting Comfortable with AI 

Like any new technology, the best way to get comfortable with AI is to use it. By giving your students and staff ongoing educational opportunities, they will learn how to use it safely and effectively within the boundaries you’ve established for your school. 

To learn more training tips and best practices for using AI at school, watch this on-demand webinar for a full summary of our AI research study. Best of luck as you experiment with this tech and discover how your school can thrive during the age of artificial intelligence!