Artificial intelligence changes dynamics of local schools as educators adapt to new technology

One of the most extraordinary technological developments in recent months is having an outsized impact on education, as artificial intelligence has suddenly become an everyday part of educational life. While elements of the technology are truly worrisome, the new technology also allows for increased innovation and opportunity.
The concern was evident, according to Rocky Mountain Middle and High School librarian and technology specialist John Berhisel. With the new technology, students would only have to type in an essay prompt and then an entire paper would be spit out by ChatGPT, Google Bard or another AI service in a matter of seconds. The technology has the potential to make academic dishonesty rampant in school hallways.
Bernhisel said a meeting was held by school staff early in the year regarding whether or not to block artificial intelligence services from students, and the decision made was decisive. They would leave artificial intelligence services available to students throughout the school day.
“First, students would find a way to access AI in the first place, so I’m not confident it would have done a lot of good,” Bernhisel said. “But, more importantly, it’s our job to prepare students for the world they are entering into, and they are going to use artificial intelligence in the careers they are entering into.”
Big Horn County School District No. 2 superintendent Doug Hazen took a similar approach to the dilemma. He reckons the emergence of search engines like Google were taken the same way by educators, with students suddenly able to find answers to questions within minutes instead of having to pour over bound volumes of encyclopedias to gain information.
“But it would seem ridiculous to demand students use a printed encyclopedia today,” Hazen said. “We all use Google. It’s an important tool that is efficient and makes all of our work easier. I reckon artificial intelligence is the same way.”
The line Hazen draws is if students can use artificial intelligence to aid them in their work, help them research, give them prompt ideas or a myriad of other uses, those uses are academically legitimate. That’s much different than a student generating an entire paper they didn’t write.
It has been a headache for teachers to determine if students are academically dishonest, Bernhisel said, but being in a small school helps. Teachers know their students. They know their voice. They know how they write. Text generated by artificial intelligence can often sound far different, more stilted with vocabulary students wouldn’t often use.
Bernhisel said Rocky Mountain schools use Google Docs for the majority of their written assignments, which allows teachers to easily access past works from students and even view the entire history of their edits when it comes to long-form papers. That often makes it apparent when students are plugging in text that is not their own.
But, for the most part, Bernhisel said, academic dishonesty has not been the focal point of artificial intelligence in Rocky Mountain High School. It’s been a largely positive technology within the building.
Bernhisel estimated that 50 percent of Rocky Mountain instructors are using aritificial intelligence daily within a classroom. He said in English class the service is used to change the reading level of texts, making passages more accessible for students. For himself, teaching physics for the first time in many years, he used artificial intelligence to generate 20 experiments that can be used to demonstrate gravity for students. He said the majority of those ideas, up to 18 of them, were viable experiments that could have been used.
“It’s been an important technology in many aspects of both student and teacher life,” Bernhisel said.
Big Horn No. 1 superintendent Matt Davidson said artificial intelligence is just the next step in a long history of technology upheaval that he has witnessed in his educational career.
“I am old enough to remember when the first computers came into my high school in 1983.  Ours were Apple IIs with 5 1/4 floppy disk drives. They were very basic machines ­­—rudimentary by today’s standards.  Initially, no one was quite sure how the computer was going to benefit teaching or learning. There were many skeptics,” Davidson said.  “Since that time, technology has evolved at a furious pace.  I have been at least knee deep in this evolution over the past 40 years. It has been impressive to see how educators and students have taken the advancements in stride.  For the most part, schools have been able to keep technology in its place as a tool to enhance teaching and learning.”
He said while artificial intelligence creates complications in the classroom, he also views it as essential that it’s taught as a learning tool and not run away from.
“This evolution of technology has brought us face-to-face with AI.  We ought to use what we already have learned about using technology as a tool and apply it.  This would include things like consistent policies on AI’s use by staff and students,” Davidson said.  “Staff need time to explore, learn and develop skills in its application in school settings. Parents and community members need to be part of the discussions. They need to understand what appropriate use of AI by their children looks like.  Students need to understand the ethical differences between using AI to learn and using it to cheat.”
At the end of the day, artificial intelligence is here to stay, Davidson concluded, agreeing with Bernhisel’s assessment that to not teach students how to use artificial intelligence productively would be a disservice to their future careers.
“I believe AI has the potential to change the nature of work in many fields. Jobs will look and be different because of AI’s integration.  Many of these jobs don’t exist now, and many jobs that exist now won’t in a few years,” Davidson said. “Students need to be prepared and career ready for such careers and for such a world.  Schools have the responsibility to help in this preparation.”