ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – As Roanoke County Public School students prepare to head back to the classroom, the division is preparing to lay down new ground rules for emerging technology. On Thursday, the Roanoke County school board met to discuss key updates to its artificial intelligence policy. School leaders said it’s about being proactive.
“Our message about AI is basically grounded in this: AI is here. And so there’s two ways you can deal with that, right? We can stick our head in the sand and pretend that AI is not here and that kids aren’t using it… or we can be proactive and really be strategic and map out how to teach kids how to use AI as a tool without replacing the ability for them to think on their own,” said Roanoke County Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Jamie Soltis.
Dr. Soltis said ignoring the progress of Artificial Intelligence is not an option. Instead, the division is implementing “AI zones” for teachers and students. Zone Zero bans AI use entirely, keeping work completely student-driven. Zone One permits AI only as a “thinking tool” for feedback, while Zone Two fully embraces AI for creative cognitive collaboration. But he stressed that no matter what the zone, brain development comes first…