Artificial intelligence in New Westminster Schools
Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools are becoming a big part of our lives and are often found helping humans with tasks like charting GPS routes, creating images from text prompts, and even detecting cyber security threats.
New Westminster Schools recognizes generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, CoPilot, Midjourney, and others can support our students and staff in learning, increase productivity, and spark creativity. However, it is important to use AI ethically and appropriately as a tool rather than a main source of learning or work.
This AI resource hub will receive regular updates as artificial intelligence platforms evolve over time. Our goal is to provide the New Westminster Schools community with guidance and information on adapting in an ever-changing digital landscape that is now, more than ever, influencing how we do things.
AI guiding principles
Using generative AI tools can make learning more engaging for all students. However, we need to use these tools wisely, to teach AI skills, ensure everyone has access, protect data privacy, and maintain honesty in academics. Below are New Westminster Schools’ AI guiding principles:
- Inclusive – Prioritize humane and ethical use (human-centered design)
- AI technologies in education should be designed and implemented with a focus on human dignity and ethical considerations.
- Ensure that AI enhances human capabilities rather than replacing human interactions.
- Promote well-being and respect for all individuals involved in the educational process.
- Engagement and innovation – Focus on education and learning (purposeful educational value)
- AI should be used to support and enhance educational outcomes, providing personalized and adaptive learning experiences.
- Implement AI to assist teachers in instructional practices and to foster critical thinking and creativity among students.
- Use AI to provide real-time feedback and insights into student progress, aiding in continuous improvement.
- Equity – Champion equity and justice (fairness, inclusivity, bias-free)
- Ensure AI tools are designed and used in ways that promote fairness, inclusivity, and are free from bias.
- Actively work to mitigate any unjust impacts of AI, especially on marginalized or underserved communities.
- Promote equal access to AI benefits for all students, regardless of their background or circumstances.
- Collaboration – Be transparent
- Maintain transparency about how AI systems operate, the data they use, and the decisions they make.
- Inform all interested parties, including students, parents, educators, and administrators, about the role and impact of AI in education.
- Foster an environment of openness and accountability, empowering the community to engage with AI technologies responsibly.
- Integrity – Safeguard privacy, security, and data protection
- Implement robust safeguards to protect sensitive information and ensure data security in all AI applications.
- Adhere to relevant laws and regulations regarding data privacy and security.
- Establish clear policies for data collection, usage, and storage, ensuring that the rights of all individuals are respected and protected.
Information for students and parents
The goal of AI integration is to support students develop in:
- AI literacy and critical thinking skills,
- Foster creativity and problem-solving skills, and
- Promote ethical use of AI.
Key competencies from the BC Ministry of Education curriculum include:
- Research and information literacy – Students use AI tools to gather, evaluate, and use information effectively.
- Critical thinking and problem solving – Students apply AI to plan and conduct research, manage projects, and solve problems.
- Creativity and innovation – Students use AI to create innovative products and processes.
- Digital citizenship – Students understand the ethical implications of AI and practice responsible use.
This is done through AI-based research projects, problem-solving tasks using AI tools, when appropriate using AI to generate content and having discussions on AI ethics and digital citizenship.
Information for educators
The goal of AI integration for educators is to:
- Enhance teaching practices with AI.
- Support student learning through AI tools.
- Model ethical AI use.
This will be done by providing professional development workshops, collaborative planning sessions to integrate AI into the curriculum, creating AI-enhanced lessons and activities, and modeling ethical use in the classroom.
Questions and answers about AI
What are the different types of AI?
AI systems come in many forms and are used in a variety of ways that often aren’t obvious to casual observers. Some widespread examples include:
- Machine learning – These AI platforms “learn” patterns from data to make predictions or decisions. E.G. movie or show recommendations on Netflix, shopping recommendations on Amazon, fraud detection systems, etc.
- Generative AI – This type of AI creates text, images, audio, and video based on user instructions. E.G. Midjourney, DALL-E, ChatGPT, Gemini, Suno (AI music).
- Predictive AI – This is AI that predicts future trends by analyzing data. Predictive AI is often used in finance, healthcare, and marketing.
Why are we introducing AI into our schools and classrooms?
AI use is increasingly common online and in real life. Student exposure to AI-generated content is no longer a matter of “if” it will happen, but “when”. It is more than likely many students are already using generative AI in some capacity outside of school.
Bringing AI into our classrooms lets educators teach proper AI use and guide students on how to work with generative tools like ChatGPT and MS CoPilot safely, effectively, and honestly.
How are teachers using AI in the classroom?
Teachers can use AI platforms to create lessons plans, quizzes, and other educational content to increase the amount of materials available to students in a subject.
AI can also be used to provide quick, targeted feedback to students about their work. For example, a teacher might evaluate a student’s project, take notes, and then ask an AI platform like MS CoPilot to write a short feedback paragraph incorporating their notes and AI-generate suggestions on other sources a student might consult to improve.
Lastly, AI-powered tools can be used for interactive learning experiences. For example, a teacher might instruct CoPilot to roleplay as an ordinary Canada-Est citizen reacting to the Confederation of Canada in 1867. Students are then given opportunities to ask the in-character AI questions about how they feel, what they think, etc. and the AI responds with replies backed by historical resources.
Are children safe when using AI in class?
Any AI platform marked for use in classrooms will have to satisfy Canadian and British Columbian data and security requirements. Before a tool is approved for school use, it must first be reviewed using a Privacy Impact Assessment to ensure it follows all applicable provincial and federal privacy laws.
Educators will also instruct students on using generative AI ethically and safely.
How can parents and caregivers support their children as they learn about and use AI?
Families can support their young learners at home by doing their best to be informed about some of the more commonly used generative AI tools like ChatGPT and MS CoPilot.
Reading up on the latest generative AI developments, trying the various tools, and encouraging children to explore AI platforms with adult supervision are some ways parents can incorporate AI learning at home.
Parents may, for example:
- Use ChatGPT or CoPilot to write personal bedtime stories with their children based on cherished family memories.
- Spend time with their children using AI to create pictures based on their child’s ideas.
- Encourage older children to use generative AI as creative outlets through which to generate digital art, brainstorm writing ideas, etc.