MCPS is okaying students and teachers using AI on assignments

[Anonymous]

Did you see this new draft regulation? https://drive.google.com/file/d/19cDQr7J7LodmaYl2hkqHTFsrtbGxBML4/view?usp=sharing

Rather than having a zero tolerance policy on AI for students and teachers, apparently MCPS is developing an "AI Scale" that explains when and how kids can use AI to do part of their assignments, and instead of prohibiting teachers from using AI for grading, it simply prohibits them from relying entirely on it without even looking at the results.

If this is as alarming to you as it is to me, you can submit comments to [e-mail] .

[Anonymous]

AI is getting used whether you want it or not.

The wisest solution is to study and regulate its use, instead of banning it, and teach students HOW TO QUERY, which is the one trait that will distinguish an intelligent human user from an unintelligent human user. I can tell you don't use it much, OP.

Why? Because AI is here to stay at all degrees of school and work. If you want to ban AI, you are forcing students to become less competitive compared to peers.

All schools and workplaces should be developing their own regulations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AI is getting used whether you want it or not.

The wisest solution is to study and regulate its use, instead of banning it, and teach students HOW TO QUERY, which is the one trait that will distinguish an intelligent human user from an unintelligent human user. I can tell you don't use it much, OP.

Why? Because AI is here to stay at all degrees of school and work. If you want to ban AI, you are forcing students to become less competitive compared to peers.

All schools and workplaces should be developing their own regulations.

I totally support educating kids (and teachers) on AI and its strengths and limitations.

Of course ignoring it doesn't make it go away. But just because it's everywhere doesn't mean the school system should be saying "let's give a stamp of approval to students and teachers using AI to cut corners and decrease the amount of human thought and judgment involved in education."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AI is getting used whether you want it or not.

The wisest solution is to study and regulate its use, instead of banning it, and teach students HOW TO QUERY, which is the one trait that will distinguish an intelligent human user from an unintelligent human user. I can tell you don't use it much, OP.

Why? Because AI is here to stay at all degrees of school and work. If you want to ban AI, you are forcing students to become less competitive compared to peers.

All schools and workplaces should be developing their own regulations.

💯 I’m in graduate school right now and the use of AI is allowed. But you have to understand how it’s allowed. I think a scale could be a good way to keicodd guidance to both educators and students.


Ironically I’m currently in an ethics course and the professor had to send out a class-wide email reminded students of the proper use of AI. Adults are not using it wisely either.

It’s here. It’s not going anywhere. And we need to standardize the use to help students (and adults) learn how to utilize it as a tool. Just like calculators were a worry in math - obviously on a much grander scale- this is a tool we need to learn how to incorporate to help ensure our student success in this connected, global world.

Plus, kids are so clever, we need to also understand this tech to keep on top of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AI is getting used whether you want it or not.

The wisest solution is to study and regulate its use, instead of banning it, and teach students HOW TO QUERY, which is the one trait that will distinguish an intelligent human user from an unintelligent human user. I can tell you don't use it much, OP.

Why? Because AI is here to stay at all degrees of school and work. If you want to ban AI, you are forcing students to become less competitive compared to peers.

All schools and workplaces should be developing their own regulations.

I totally support educating kids (and teachers) on AI and its strengths and limitations.

Of course ignoring it doesn't make it go away. But just because it's everywhere doesn't mean the school system should be saying "let's give a stamp of approval to students and teachers using AI to cut corners and decrease the amount of human thought and judgment involved in education."

I think one of the biggest issues with younger users, which includes high school students, is that they have no idea whether or not the information AI is proving is correct. I have students using ChatGPT to answer questions and the "answers" they copy/paste for assignments do not even answer the prompt. They don't care though. They just want to finish their work in a minute or two and then try to use their phones to watch videos. We did a lot of copying answers from textbooks when I was in high school. Technically, this was just being given the answers. But, the process of rewriting the information using pen and paper helped retain more information than what's happening with students using AI today. We moved on to taking notes from the textbooks, taking notes during lectures, etc. The aspects of being an active learner are not happening anymore and it will soon be impossible to teach students proper use of AI because it is already so far beyond our control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AI is getting used whether you want it or not.

The wisest solution is to study and regulate its use, instead of banning it, and teach students HOW TO QUERY, which is the one trait that will distinguish an intelligent human user from an unintelligent human user. I can tell you don't use it much, OP.

Why? Because AI is here to stay at all degrees of school and work. If you want to ban AI, you are forcing students to become less competitive compared to peers.

All schools and workplaces should be developing their own regulations.

I totally support educating kids (and teachers) on AI and its strengths and limitations.

Of course ignoring it doesn't make it go away. But just because it's everywhere doesn't mean the school system should be saying "let's give a stamp of approval to students and teachers using AI to cut corners and decrease the amount of human thought and judgment involved in education."

PP you replied to. Respectfully, you don't understand what AI is good for. It does not replace human thought. Indeed, it cannot be deployed to any great effect if used thoughtlessly. The AI is not really intelligent, it's just a gigantic deep sea trawler in the ocean of online data. The fish it dredges up indiscriminately is of all kinds, some of it useful, some of it nonsensical. It cannot replace human intelligence. Ideally, instead of looking at the finished product, which is the least important part of the exercise, teachers should observe AI use in class, and give feedback on query style, so that they can teach kids how to effectively, without wasting time, reach their desired outcome in the least amount of time. That takes a lot of critical reasoning!!! Most posters on DCUM don't seem to use AI all that much, and therefore do not understand that this is the crux of the matter.

Using AI is a lot like using mathematical and computer programming tools. You need to be supremely logical and precise in your wording. You need to be creative and think outside the box. But the added wrinkle is that AI being what it is today, you also need to double check what it spits out in a way that you don't tend to do when using a calculator (but that you do need to do when testing code!).

AI does not equal cheating. We absolutely need to harness it so we can compete with other nations.

[Anonymous]

Kids don't need to learn how to use AI in elementary or middle school or even most of high school.

Don't give them access to the internet. Have them learn to read and write and do math using pen, paper and calculators in school and MCPS will achieve more than it does now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AI is getting used whether you want it or not.

The wisest solution is to study and regulate its use, instead of banning it, and teach students HOW TO QUERY, which is the one trait that will distinguish an intelligent human user from an unintelligent human user. I can tell you don't use it much, OP.

Why? Because AI is here to stay at all degrees of school and work. If you want to ban AI, you are forcing students to become less competitive compared to peers.

All schools and workplaces should be developing their own regulations.

I totally support educating kids (and teachers) on AI and its strengths and limitations.

Of course ignoring it doesn't make it go away. But just because it's everywhere doesn't mean the school system should be saying "let's give a stamp of approval to students and teachers using AI to cut corners and decrease the amount of human thought and judgment involved in education."

PP you replied to. Respectfully, you don't understand what AI is good for. It does not replace human thought. Indeed, it cannot be deployed to any great effect if used thoughtlessly. The AI is not really intelligent, it's just a gigantic deep sea trawler in the ocean of online data. The fish it dredges up indiscriminately is of all kinds, some of it useful, some of it nonsensical. It cannot replace human intelligence. Ideally, instead of looking at the finished product, which is the least important part of the exercise, teachers should observe AI use in class, and give feedback on query style, so that they can teach kids how to effectively, without wasting time, reach their desired outcome in the least amount of time. That takes a lot of critical reasoning!!! Most posters on DCUM don't seem to use AI all that much, and therefore do not understand that this is the crux of the matter.

Using AI is a lot like using mathematical and computer programming tools. You need to be supremely logical and precise in your wording. You need to be creative and think outside the box. But the added wrinkle is that AI being what it is today, you also need to double check what it spits out in a way that you don't tend to do when using a calculator (but that you do need to do when testing code!).

AI does not equal cheating. We absolutely need to harness it so we can compete with other nations.

You are in an idealistic dreamworld if you don't think that people use AI to replace thinking and mental effort on their own part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AI is getting used whether you want it or not.

The wisest solution is to study and regulate its use, instead of banning it, and teach students HOW TO QUERY, which is the one trait that will distinguish an intelligent human user from an unintelligent human user. I can tell you don't use it much, OP.

Why? Because AI is here to stay at all degrees of school and work. If you want to ban AI, you are forcing students to become less competitive compared to peers.

All schools and workplaces should be developing their own regulations.

I totally support educating kids (and teachers) on AI and its strengths and limitations.

Of course ignoring it doesn't make it go away. But just because it's everywhere doesn't mean the school system should be saying "let's give a stamp of approval to students and teachers using AI to cut corners and decrease the amount of human thought and judgment involved in education."

PP you replied to. Respectfully, you don't understand what AI is good for. It does not replace human thought. Indeed, it cannot be deployed to any great effect if used thoughtlessly. The AI is not really intelligent, it's just a gigantic deep sea trawler in the ocean of online data. The fish it dredges up indiscriminately is of all kinds, some of it useful, some of it nonsensical. It cannot replace human intelligence. Ideally, instead of looking at the finished product, which is the least important part of the exercise, teachers should observe AI use in class, and give feedback on query style, so that they can teach kids how to effectively, without wasting time, reach their desired outcome in the least amount of time. That takes a lot of critical reasoning!!! Most posters on DCUM don't seem to use AI all that much, and therefore do not understand that this is the crux of the matter.

Using AI is a lot like using mathematical and computer programming tools. You need to be supremely logical and precise in your wording. You need to be creative and think outside the box. But the added wrinkle is that AI being what it is today, you also need to double check what it spits out in a way that you don't tend to do when using a calculator (but that you do need to do when testing code!).

AI does not equal cheating. We absolutely need to harness it so we can compete with other nations.

You are in an idealistic dreamworld if you don't think that people use AI to replace thinking and mental effort on their own part.

My dh works for a bio tech company, which encourages them to use ai for communications with clients. He composes his own emails, though. Some of his younger colleagues use ai for all communications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids don't need to learn how to use AI in elementary or middle school or even most of high school.

Don't give them access to the internet. Have them learn to read and write and do math using pen, paper and calculators in school and MCPS will achieve more than it does now.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids don't need to learn how to use AI in elementary or middle school or even most of high school.

Don't give them access to the internet. Have them learn to read and write and do math using pen, paper and calculators in school and MCPS will achieve more than it does now.

+1

You need to wake up and understand we live in a competitive world, one in which most children will access the internet, learn a ton, and use AI effectively. You cannot live like a digital Amish and then expect to benefit from the fruits of everyone's tech expertise later on in life.

[Anonymous]

and instead of prohibiting teachers from using AI for grading, it simply prohibits them from relying entirely on it without even looking at the results.

Talk about a bare minimum.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure people will take issue with this but I'll say it anyway. A complete and total ban on AI is completely unrealistic considering that every single student account comes preloaded with programs like Grammarly which essentially just a specialized AI program. Same goes for spellcheck and grammar check on Word. Teaching the kids that there are acceptable uses for AI is a solid lesson and skill. I actually encourage my students to use AI as an editing tool. I tell them to ask AI to identify words that have been overused and to suggest replacements. This not only improves their essay but also expands their vocabulary as they can see how saying something was good six times is repetitive and what better word choices can be used.

The way I combat using AI as cheating though is I require all assignments to be 100% completed in google docs where I can have access to time stamped revision history. When a student opens the assignment for the first time at 9:45 PM and there is a 5 paragraph essay that appears at 9:47 PM, it's obvious they used AI. I don't care if they argue that they did the assignment on a separate document. The rule is it must be done in the Google Doc and now it's not just a zero for cheating, it's a zero for not following classroom rules instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

and instead of prohibiting teachers from using AI for grading, it simply prohibits them from relying entirely on it without even looking at the results.

Talk about a bare minimum.

AI has things it's good at and things where it struggles. Grading things with clear right and wrong answers, like multiple choice, fill in the blank or many math assignments is something it does efficiently and well.

Teachers are overworked. For some teachers this means that things don't get graded at a reasonable pace. For others it means they get burned out and quit. If AI grading, in the right context, helps with that, then I am all for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids don't need to learn how to use AI in elementary or middle school or even most of high school.

Don't give them access to the internet. Have them learn to read and write and do math using pen, paper and calculators in school and MCPS will achieve more than it does now.

+1

You need to wake up and understand we live in a competitive world, one in which most children will access the internet, learn a ton, and use AI effectively. You cannot live like a digital Amish and then expect to benefit from the fruits of everyone's tech expertise later on in life.

AI pays my bills. I do not want kids using it in school.