OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, Fla. — Exactly how much artificial intelligence will your kids be seeing in the classroom this upcoming school year?
We sat down with two superintendents in our viewing area to find out.
We’re just days away from kicking off a new school year, and this new technology will likely change the education landscape.
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In Okeechobee County, Superintendent Dylan Tedders said they’re launching a career and technical program focused on AI.
“They'll learn about the principles of AI and then the applications of AI,” Tedders said. “If that resource is there, why wouldn't you use it? Why would you need to start from scratch on anything?”
The program will teach the basics on this topic, like evaluating, developing, and designing systems that use artificial intelligence. It’ll also teach students how to write code for robots.
“We’re literally preparing students right now for jobs we can't even comprehend,” said Tedders.
After the program, students walk away with industry certifications in Microsoft’s Azure AI information technology and cybersecurity.
"It’s going to increase productivity efficiency and maybe even the quality of what is submitted," Tedders said.
The coursework for the program includes classes like Artificial Intelligence in the World, Applications of AI, and Foundations of Machine Learning.
Tedders said the technology should be used as a jumping off point and inspire students to dig deeper.
“If I just copy and paste that into a report, yeah, that is going to be 100% plagiarism. And we have programs that can detect that. But if I want to use that as like a brainstorming session, a way to get ideas, that's the way our teachers are learning how to incorporate that into classrooms," Tedders said.
Other districts are also leaning into artificial intelligence.
The School District of Palm Beach County is expanding a tool they used this past school year, called Khanmigo.
“We’re rolling out Khanmigo in a big way to all our middle and high schools,” Superintendent Michael Burke said.
Khanmigo is an AI-powered personal tutor and teaching assistant. It does not give answers away, but rather guides students and teachers to solutions and strategies. It was used in nine schools across Palm Beach County last year.
“It's very safe. It operates within the Khan Academy content,” Burke said.
Burke also said they’re using what they learned during last year’s rollout to enhance this year’s use of the tool.
“One of the biggest challenges was we rolled it out mid school year. So it kind of came as a little bit of an afterthought to the teachers and principals. But it was a good testing ground," Burke said.