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As an educator who started their career in the mid 1990’s, I have seen lots of change. I spent six years teaching middle school in Davidson County North Carolina before taking a few years off to be a stay-at-home mom. During my time at home I wanted to keep my teaching license current so I registered for all of the technology PD I could find. I developed a passion for edtech and when I returned to education, I got a position in instructional technology. I have spent the last 20 years in the field of instructional technology and am currently serving as the Director of Instructional Technology and Media for Davidson County Schools. I have a passion for helping educators find creative ways to make their jobs easier by utilizing technology.
One of the biggest changes I have seen over the course of my career is the development of Generative AI tools. Like many others, our district’s first response to Generative AI was to block all access and fear that these tools would make cheaters out of our students. Many were concerned that students would no longer be able to think for themselves or communicate effectively. The bold leadership of our North Carolina Department of Public Instruction on the benefits of GenAI and how it can improve teaching and learning helped educate our leaders on the realities and best practices of its use. North Carolina was the fourth state in the nation to develop statewide guidelines on GenAI in Education and they made extensive efforts to inform the districts on their stance as well as the benefits and challenges it brings.
After developing our own district guidelines modeled after the state, Davidson County was able to serve as a model in our region and share our process. GenAI has drastically changed the landscape of education. Teachers can now have their own digital assistant to help develop personalized lesson plans and materials with just a well crafted prompt. After learning how to use the GenAI resources to facilitate teaching, our next step is to find ways to incorporate these resources into student activities while ensuring that student data privacy is protected.
Here are my top five low risk ways to incorporate GenerativeAI tools with students:
- Teacher-Generated Resources for Deeper Learning: One of the safest ways to introduce students to the benefits of Generative AI without direct interaction is for the teacher to be the primary user. For instance, you can use an AI tool to generate varied practice problems, differentiated reading passages, or even creative writing prompts tailored to specific learning levels. Students then engage with these AI-created materials, gaining the benefit of personalized content without ever inputting their own data into the AI model itself. This approach ensures all student information remains private and within the teacher’s control.
- Anonymous Brainstorming and Idea Organization with Tools like Padlet: Collaborative digital whiteboards like Padlet have evolved, and some now integrate Generative AI features, such as “Magic Padlet” which can help organize or summarize ideas, and even AI image generation. To leverage this with low risk, teachers can create a Padlet and configure it for anonymous contributions, meaning students do not need to log in or provide personal identifiers to post. Students can then contribute ideas, thoughts, or even use the AI image generation feature directly within their anonymous posts. The teacher can then leverage Padlet’s AI features (if available and data-privacy compliant) to quickly cluster themes, summarize discussions, or generate relevant visuals for the board. By ensuring students are not logged in and their contributions are not personally identifiable, this allows for rich discussion and creative exploration without exposing student data to an AI model.
- AI-Powered Assessment Creation: I was fortunate enough to attend the Discovery Educators Network Summer Institute in Chicago this summer where Discovery rolled out AI TeacherTools | Assess, a generative AI tool within Discovery Education Experience that helps educators efficiently create quizzes and assessments tailored to their classroom needs.. This is a game-changer for teachers looking to save time and create high-quality assessments. With this tool, teachers can input their lesson content or learning objectives, and the AI generates various assessment types, from multiple-choice questions to short-answer prompts or even rubrics. Students then complete these assessments through Discovery Education Experience, where their data is managed according to the platform’s privacy policies, distinct from any data collection by the underlying Generative AI model. A quick note about Discovery Education: all teachers using Discovery Education resources are able to become members of the Discovery Educator Network. A global community of education professionals, the DEN connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events like the DEN Summer Institute. This year, the DEN is celebrating 20 years of connecting educators to their most valuable resource: each other. Educators interested in learning more this powerful professional learning community and joining the DEN can visit the DEN homepage here.
- Quick, Browser-Based Creative Tools: Many simple AI-powered creative tools exist that run directly in a web browser and don’t require student logins or collect personal data. These are fantastic for quick bursts of creativity or demonstrating AI capabilities. An excellent example is Craiyon (formerly DALL-E Mini), a free web-based AI image generator. Students can input a text prompt, and the AI will generate unique images based on their description. This allows students to experiment with text-to-image generation in a fun, no-pressure way, without any personal information being collected or stored, as the interaction is entirely contained within the browser session.
- Simulated AI Interactions with Structured Prompt Building: Instead of having students directly use a Generative AI tool, teachers can create “simulated” AI scenarios that foster critical thinking and creativity. For instance, teachers can design a story template (e.g., using a Google Form or a simple worksheet) where students use dropdown menus or predefined lists to select elements like characters, settings, plot points, actions, or emotions. Students compile these choices to “build” a detailed prompt. The teacher then takes these student-crafted prompts and inputs them into a large language model (LLM) to generate a story. This approach allows students to learn about prompt engineering and the impact of input on AI output, while the teacher acts as the secure intermediary, ensuring no student personal data is directly handled by the AI model. Students can then analyze, critique, and improve the AI-generated story, focusing on the quality, bias, accuracy, and ethical considerations of the output. This is a powerful way to engage with the concepts of AI in a completely controlled and private environment.
These examples show that generative AI can be both safe and practical when educators lead the way and privacy is protected. As we learn and grow alongside these new tools, it becomes clear: AI doesn’t have to be a threat. With thoughtful planning and a focus on what really matters—great teaching and meaningful student learning—AI becomes a helpful partner in the classroom. By staying curious and committed to best practices, we can help ensure that technology strengthens, rather than replaces, the human connections at the heart of education.
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