NORMAN, Okla. \u2014 A local Norman parent is fighting against potential artificial intelligence policies within Norman Public Schools.<\/p>\n
Tabrina Alexander is a new member of the district\u2019s Citizen Advisory Committee, which aims to gain input from high school, middle school and elementary school parents about various education topics and Norman Public Schools.<\/p>\n
At the most recent meeting, Alexander said the committee was presented with a draft artificial intelligence policy for Norman Public Schools. The drafted policy raised several concerns for Alexander, prompting her to begin speaking at NPS Board of Education meetings and start a petition against the use of generative AI in Norman schools.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aMy issue is the fact that with this new AI policy, they\u2019re talking about opening up generative AI and other AI onto students\u2019 devices, their one-to-one devices,\u201d she said. \u201cSo that is what kind of catapulted me to be like, okay, I can\u2019t just say I don\u2019t appreciate the tech in the classrooms and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s working.\u201d<\/p>\n
The need for AI policies in school districts has increased over the past few years as access to, and the use of, artificial intelligence have become more common. The past state legislative session passed Senate Bill 1734, establishing guardrails for the use of AI in public schools and requiring districts to provide parents with an annual disclosure of how AI is used in the district.<\/p>\n
The bill, signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, also requires the state Department of Education to create guidelines on the responsible use of AI in schools and instructs Boards of Education to adopt internal AI use policies.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aThe whole thing to me is ridiculous because the whole thing is based on the students having access to AI, and I feel like the students should not have access to AI at all,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cSo the entire draft needs to be redrafted, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the draft policy, which has not yet been approved by the NPS Board of Education, student guidelines for AI use said certain assignments may permit, encourage or require the use of AI tools, but it is prohibited if it\u2019s not specially stated in assignment guidelines. Teachers also have the discretion to allow or not allow students to see AI.<\/p>\n
The draft stated students can use AI for explanations of concepts, exploration of new topics and seeking guidelines on research directions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, students should be mindful that some AI is prone to \u2018hallucinations,\u2019 false answers\/information, or outdated information,\u201d the draft stated. \u201c\u2026Thus, students must always verify the information provided by AI using reliable sources such as textbooks, scientific papers, and reputable educational websites.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students should not upload any personal, confidential, or sensitive information into any AI tools or use AI to manipulate media for bullying, harassment or intimidation.<\/p>\n
Draft staff guidelines would allow teachers and staff to consult AI tools for ideas, outlines, supplementing lesson plans or to aid in curriculum development. It states staff must comply with applicable laws regarding data and student privacy, carefully evaluate the appropriateness of AI for educational purposes in an education setting on a case-by-case basis, and should not upload any sensitive information.<\/p>\n
However, the staff guidelines state AI should not be used for grading, student progression and discipline \u201cwithout human oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexander, who said she has over 200 signatures on the petition, said she has been vocal about the drafted policy to help inform others, as some are unable to attend board meetings. She said she wants all voices to be heard and that she is one among a group of voices raising concern about the drafted policy. She said parents, students and teachers have signed her petition.<\/p>\n
She added that she\u2019s concerned about the impact AI has on students and the information students will have access to by using AI. One teacher who signed the petition said AI is making it more challenging to teach students problem-solving and critical thinking. Another worried about students\u2019 ability to learn independent skills when they use AI to write emails and essays.<\/p>\n
A research paper, published in the National Library of Medicine, about the effects of AI on student and academic well-being in higher education discusses how AI is reshaping how students engage with their academic and personal lives as AI use increases.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the growing dependence on AI for learning, communication, and entertainment, students are exposed to digital environments that might lead to negative consequences for their overall well-being,\u201d the paper, written by Blanka Klimova and Marcel Pikhart, stated.<\/p>\n
According to the paper, the boundary between educational tasks and recreational activities are being \u201cporous\u201d and students are struggling to manage time effectively or have meaningful offline interactions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis continuous engagement with AI technologies may, in turn, affect students\u2019 ability to form social connections, relax without digital stimuli, or maintain a healthy balance between academic and personal life,\u201d Klimova and Pikhart wrote.<\/p>\n
Alexander has spoken at several Board of Education meetings over the past few months and read three letters about this policy at the May meeting, including a victim\u2019s impact statement. In the statement, which was presented to all board members, NPS parent and community member Amber Heinzig wrote that innocent images of herself were uploaded to an AI software and manipulated into sexually explicit content.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am asking the Norman Public Schools Board to pause, reconsider, and place stronger restrictions on generative AI access within our schools until meaningful safeguards \u2014 not vague promises \u2014 are in place,\u201d Heinzig wrote. \u201cBecause I can tell you firsthand: What starts as \u2018just an app\u2019 can quickly become someone else\u2019s lifelong trauma. And no child in this district should ever have to experience that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The use of artificial intelligence was discussed during an educational town hall hosted by NPS Board of Education members Annette Price and Alex Ruggiers earlier this month.<\/p>\n
According to Ruggiers, the board and district are working on a technology plan addressing AI and technology, which he plans to bring up again during the board strategic plan meeting on June 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NORMAN, Okla. \u2014 A local Norman parent is fighting against potential artificial intelligence policies within Norman Public Schools.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,32903,76,1172,1636,2920,599,2819,508,24991,52,301,32791],"class_list":["post-56467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-cnhinews","tag-education","tag-educational-technology","tag-generative-artificial-intelligence","tag-information","tag-learning","tag-policy","tag-privacy","tag-regulation-of-artificial-intelligence","tag-research","tag-teacher","tag-well-being"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}