TOLLESON, Ariz. — As Arizona students return to classrooms all around the state, different districts are taking new approaches to changing technology and student safety.
In Tolleson, the union high school district’s superintendent said they’re launching Microsoft Copilot and more for teachers and staff this year.
“On Copilot you can get a lesson plan in about five seconds," Superintendent Jeremy Calles said.
Calles said staff members tell the program what they want to teach and a lesson plan is developed. The educator can then make personal changes.
“When we spoke with Microsoft, typically, companies using this product, they’re seeing their full-time staff save six to eight hours a week of work because of how fast this speeds up the process," Calles said.
That time savings, he said, will be used for more hands-on teaching time with students.
“There’s all these tasks that have to be done that don’t involve human interaction," Calles said. "We want those things to happen like that, so that’s what we’re moving towards.”
Tolleson Union High School District is also turning to AI for school safety.
“I can’t hire enough staff to post somebody to watch the entire fence line and stare at it and see if somebody jumps over it," Calles said. "With AI, it can watch the entire fence line, it can monitor crowd behavior and crowd patterns so we know when a fight is breaking out.”
Calles said the AI cameras are placed strategically around the schools and can also detect weapons.
"The AI security cameras we expect to significantly increase the securities on our campuses," he said.
While Peoria Unified School District administrators get ready for back to school in all of the traditional ways, artificial intelligence is a newer focus, said Roxi Thompson, a lead instructional technology coach.
“Starting the conversation about how they can help to develop a common understanding for their staff and their students about artificial intelligence," Thompson said.
Thompson provided AI resources for the district's school leaders.
“We have been trying to understand how all of these different tools work and their impact on the classroom and just trying to educate ourselves, especially at the district level," Thompson said.
In Peoria, Thompson said AI use is not available for students now. They’ve started pilot AI professional development with targeted groups of teachers, and this year they’re offering the training to more staff.
“Some of our teachers that are using it, predominately for brainstorming," she said. "So we’ve really been working with them on how they can use these tools as a thought partner.”
It's another tool in the toolbox to optimize daily tasks, aiming to give teachers more time with students.
While Arizona school districts turn to AI for efficiency, safety and enhanced learning, NAU’s Arizona Institute for Education and the Economy, is issuing guidelines for AI use in schools.
“Set the record straight for Arizona schools, and make it official that we need this balanced perspective and approach,” Dr. LeeAnn Lindsey, Director for Edtech and Innovation, said.
Lindsey said with the benefits of AI come risks, too.
NAU outlines five AI risks education leaders need to watch:
- Bias
- Misinformation
- Intellectual property and copy right
- Data privacy
- Equitable access
“We’re recommending all school districts form a task force for AI that includes other leaders, technology leaders, classroom teachers and parents," Dr. Lindsey said.
Lindsey said the task force should define the vision for AI in instruction, balancing with experts who understand those risks.
“The truth is there is just as much misinformation baked into AI output and so it really is the responsibility of every teacher and every user of AI to provide that human oversight," she said.
That human oversight to have eyes on accuracy, making sure the AI generated information is approved and creating more student-centered learning in Arizona.
NAU has issued a challenge for schools with three AI must-dos in the first three months of the school year. The challenge aims to help schools stay on a legal and ethical pathway in AI use. The challenge includes tasks related to student data privacy, teacher training and mitigating cheating.
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