Chat GPT is free to use, but updated versions like GPT-4 are available only to subscribers. Photo Cred: unsplash.com
Ian Biles, Staff Writer to The Powderhorn
In schools across the country, the use of AI in education has become a debated topic. Regulations vary by state to state and, in many cases, by school. At Watauga High School, faculty are updating policies to keep pace with this growing issue.
WHS teachers are no strangers to students using AI. Teachers report an increase in students turning to generative AI to complete assignments like essays or solve problems in math class.
“It happens in every class,” said Christopher Tarnowski, WHS English teacher. “Almost every long writing assignment will have somebody turn in either an entire assignment that is just AI or just portions of it. It’s definitely increased over the past year to two years at this point.”
With this increase in AI use, some teachers and faculty have formed a new perspective. AI has a wide range of uses, and some of those uses may be beneficial for an academic environment.
“We encourage students to use AI in a safe manner,” said Sarah Cardwell, Watauga High School’s digital learning coordinator. “We will continue developing training for our students, especially at WHS. We should view AI as a tool.”
Students are required to abide by the strict guidelines of generative AI in the school setting. However, they may still use the software as long as it does not replace their original work. For example, an appropriate use of AI might be for story prompting in writing classes.
“If you want to just know the starting point, [AI] is really good for that and kind of takes away some of the writer's block,” said Tarnowski.
However, a common theme among most, if not all, WHS teachers is that AI should not be replace the process of learning class material.
“It can be used as a crutch, ” said Tarnowski. “We end up with students that aren't really having to use the skills that we're teaching them.”
Another pressing topic in the discussion is how regulatory policies should be structured. Teachers recognize that AI is advancing, emphasizing limitations over complete disapproval.
“I don't know that zero tolerance on all things is really the answer to anything, but I think it needs a little more time and research to fully understand exactly what its role is going to be,” said Tarnowski. “The best and simplest first step is to simply ask a teacher.”
The official Watauga County AI guidelines state, “The board encourages the use of generative AI by school system employees and students to expand their skills and capabilities and to prepare students for a future AI-enhanced world.”
For additional “hard guidelines” regarding Watauga County school's rules surrounding AI, students can access the WCS AI guidelines pdf on the high school technology department website under the “student computing” subheader.
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