FULL SPEED AHEAD

K-12 procurement is quickly transforming

It is not a question of when artificial intelligence (AI) will shape the future of procurement, instruction, time management, data analysis and so many other tasks and features of the work that K-12 administrators do. The question now is, “What are you not doing with AI?”

Right off the top, AI tools are helping K-12 administrators to quickly assess usage rates, quality of usage, i.e., success on tasks and ROI, as well as research and development and data compliance check processes. Aside from experimentation with Open AI, Google Tools, ChatGPT and others, some administrators are dabbling with Magic School AI to see how teachers’ time management can be enhanced.

So, if you ask today’s K-12 leaders what the next decade for AI looks like, you’d better be prepared to see how the next 10 months may shake out. “I think AI will be the next big accelerator for bringing the conversation about technology back to the classroom,” says Sarah Radcliffe, Director of Future-Ready Learning, School District of Altoona in Altoona, Wisconsin. “Since so many people are talking about AI, people have a natural curiosity about it. It will help us to leverage that curiosity and attention to ensure that all students are prepared for their futures.”

Radcliffe says educators and administrators like the School District of Altoona, which serves just under 1,900 students and covers a mere 14.79 square miles, also are being tasked with ensuring equitable and safe use of AI, while also balancing ethical considerations that have not been fully developed in society. 

In addition, the power and efficiency capabilities of AI should help teachers and administrators focus their time and energy on being fully present with students. This seems to be the ultimate desire of teachers and leaders, but mundane and common tasks take up a lot of time in the day and are required in order to run a school.

“Some of the vendors we work with are developing AI tools within data platforms to help us answer data-driven questions more efficiently and easily,” Radcliffe says. “For example, leveraging AI to flag students who may require additional assistance based on their data profile or utilizing a chatbot in a data warehouse so that leaders can have a ‘conversation’ with the district data instead of spending an inordinate amount of time preparing the data for analysis. Our web learning tools have used machine learning to better match tasks to student skills and I suspect those will get better with the use of more sophisticated AI tools.”

Balancing compliance with efficiency

In 2022, the Indian Hill School District EVDS in Cincinnati launched a five-year strategic plan developed by 2,200 stakeholders, including its students, staff, alumni and members of the community. During the planning, the District hosted six community engagement events, which welcomed 160 students who participated in focus groups, and a 22-member steering community that met for 10-plus planning and design sessions.

The plan features 10 initiatives centering on three focus areas: Learners as Doers, Learners as Individuals, and Learners as the Whole Child.

One of the promises made by IHSD CEO and Superintendent Kirk Koennecke is that as the district moves forward, it will continue to receive feedback on progress within each of the focus areas. The goal will always be to refine the practice and make space for the right growth. “One thing will always remain the same, the original guiding light that helped us to define our work: students at the center.”

Undoubtedly, one of the areas of growth will be its implementation of technologies like AI, particularly how Indian Hill can ensure the technologies are used effectively and responsibly. “The governance matrix developing with AI and machine learning requires everyone to think seriously about how we categorize ‘all prior knowledge’ in decision-making processes as lesser tasks and/or lesser importance and ethical, moral reasoning, as well as governance authority over decision-making itself, as higher value, more complex tasks,” Koennecke says.

“The governance matrix developing with AI and machine learning requires everyone to think seriously about how we categorize ‘all prior knowledge’ in decision-making processes.” 

— Kirk Koennecke, Superintendent, Indian Hill EVSD 

Koennecke, like many K-12 educators, will have to keep a keen eye on the ever-evolving landscape of organizational dynamics, especially since it is imperative to challenge conventional perspectives on change, and its impending pace and magnitude. Rethinking the traditional paradigms associated with change processes, in terms of pace and scale, are crucial analyses we must address for all people in all facets of human resources and operations, as well as governance.

Part of the problem with discussing ethical implications of AI in schools is that rules or guidelines have not fully been developed in general society yet regarding the technology. Radcliffe says that is due in part to the fact that there are no current norms to apply in schools around use of AI.

“We talk about ethical use of technology tools and citing sources as part of our information literacy development,” Radcliffe says, “but it is not extremely difficult to expand the reflection of these guidelines on the use of AI. I will say it again: it is imperative for educators and school districts to teach our children how to physically leverage the use of tools that help them to be their best selves and to produce the best product they can. This is an opportunity for us to teach students how to solicit and utilize feedback on their work to ensure that their final product is as good as it can be.”

As K-12 administrators across the country move forward with the power and promise of AI, the biggest challenge will be that CTOs will have to understand this power and promise to leverage the technology for learning. “It is imperative that we balance safety and security with the exploration of these tools,” Radcliffe says. “We have an obligation to teach students how to use technology tools, including AI, to improve their employability posture and make a positive impact on the world.”

“We have an obligation to teach students how to use technology tools, including AI, to improve their employability posture and make a positive impact on the world.”

— Sarah Radcliffe, Director of Future-Ready Learning, School District of Altoona 

K-12 procurement is undergoing its continued metamorphosis and the technology will not only signify a shift in educational practices, but also herald a promising future—one where innovation and efficiency pave the way for enhanced learning experiences for generations to come. The rest is up to educators to make the transition seamless.