CHERRY TWP — After attending a conference on policies and ethics surrounding artificial intelligence, three administrators at Moniteau School District addressed the school board with their findings.

Superintendent Aubrie Schnelle, director of technology Alix Greenawalt and Kim McBryar, a teacher at Dassa McKinney Elementary School, shared potential implications for AI within the school district, and ideas on how teachers can use the tech as an educational tool.

The presentation included an example from a guidebook designed for educators and families in the Canyons School District highlighting how AI could be appropriately used as a learning tool to prepare students for post-secondary education and careers.

“It’ll help us understand what (AI) is and how to use it before implementing it in the school district,” Schnelle said. “It is something that we can utilize and can be positive for our students.”

She said after the conference, she and the two administrators decided to put together a similar guidebook specific to Moniteau School District.

After the meeting, Greenawalt said the district is still discussing ways AI can be incorporated.

One way AI could be used by teachers, McBryar said, is as a lesson planning tool.

She described an educational tool that used AI to help teachers generate and integrate grade-appropriate activities, assessments, quizzes and videos into their lessons.

“We don’t want our kids using (AI) as their own work, we know that,” McBryar said. “We want them to be able to be thinkers and come up with their own ideas. But we can use these things as tools not just for students, but as teachers, looking for new ideas and innovation. We’re always looking for ways to change how we’re doing things — this might be a way to do that; not necessarily to rely on (AI), but to see it as a tool.”

“There’s kind of this fear about AI,” McBryar said. “I’ve always been of the mindset of, we need to understand how things work — you can’t just say it’s an all or nothing.”

“(AI) is already here,” said school board president Michael Panza. “People are already using it. I’d rather be on the forefront of this than playing catch up.”