Pender County Schools to discuss changes to AI policies

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — The Pender County School District is preparing policy changes surrounding the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom.

Generative AI allows people to input words, images, video, code, or audio into a program to create new content.

Craig Lawson is the district’s director of digital learning and media.

He said these changes will help better prepare students for their careers.

“For us, it’s about finding ways that we can ensure students know how to use these tools so when they get into a workplace and their company is using an AI tool such as ChatGPT,” Lawson said. “They know how to effectively use it.”

Lawson added that the policy changes would still address possible plagiarism by students, along with any student privacy and safety concerns.

“A big thing when we talked to the students is, they said their teachers never really expressed to them how they were supposed to cite if they used Chatgpt, right? Like, we talk about, is it plagiarism? Well, not really right, because the idea of generative AI is it’s creating something new that’s never been seen before.”

Lawson said there would be differences in how elementary students would use AI, compared to middle and high school students.

The policy changes will go through a first reading at the Board of Educations’s next meeting on May 13th, followed by a possible second reading at the next Board meeting.

If approved, Lawson said teacher training would begin during the school year that starts this fall, but implementation for students might not occur until the following school year.