Responsible & Ethical Implementation

To help education leaders envision and operationalize the opportunities of responsible implementation, we provide the following recommendations.

1. Educate and Train: Train teachers, staff, students, and community members to recognize, evaluate, and challenge bias and misinformation in generated content. Training should also help individuals recognize personal values that influence the interpretation of biased content.

2. Hold Ed Tech Companies to Ethical Standards: Evaluate educational technology companies' ethical commitment; include contractual clauses related to ethical compliance when procuring ed tech services.

   • Resource: Top 5 questions for GenAI EdTech Providers (AI for Education, 2023)

3.  Prioritize AI Literacy and Other "New Literacies": Adults and students alike need training to effectively and ethically navigate an AI-powered landscape. Build AI and other new literacies into the curriculum across grade levels and provide ongoing professional development for teachers and staff.

   • AI Literacy: AI literacy includes the knowledge and skills that enable humans to critically understand, use, and evaluate AI systems and tools safely and ethically (Digital Promise, 2024).

   • Digital Literacy: Digital literacy involves the ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, communicate, evaluate, and create information safely and appropriately through digital technologies (UNESCO, 2018).

   • Media and Information Literacy: Media and information literacy teaches how information is created, packaged, and disseminated, and encourages critical thinking skills to evaluate sources and verify information. Include training on how cognitive biases influence our perception of media and information.

   • Technology Literacy: Technology literacy encompasses a range of skills related to using and understanding technology devices, tools, and systems in various contexts.

4. Revisit Existing Privacy Practices: Use GenAI implementation as a good excuse to revisit existing data governance practices. Your current practices may be robust enough to account for GenAI. If not, consider it an opportunity to update and strengthen them. It is also a great time to train administrators and teachers how to safeguard student data and handle privacy challenges.

5. Strengthen Digital Citizenship Education: Move digital citizenship education from the back burner to the front. Instead of relegating it to an assembly or a few lessons per year, help students to make informed decisions about their digital use all the time and in meaningful ways.

6. Evaluate Digital Access: Assess the digital access of your entire school community to pinpoint existing gaps and barriers. Then investigate and promote appropriate solutions such as low-cost internet options from local providers like Cox's Connect2Compete plan, federal programs such as Lifeline, and state support such as Arizona's Broadband Extension Fund to bolster digital access efforts.

7. Align to Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Use UDL as a frame to focus GenAI use around greater inclusivity and accessibility for all learners.

8. Revisit Existing Security Measures: Review your security practices to evaluate their ability to protect against cyber threats and ensure the security of sensitive information.