SAN ANTONIO – Inside one of the oldest buildings at Northside ISD, Academic Technology Coach Janet Winninghoff is surrounded by tools teachers used decades ago.
“It’s been 75 years since these smaller rural districts came together and formed Northside,” said Winninghoff.
Today, however, those resources think for themselves.
“I feel like every day there’s a new AI program, so I can even list them all for you,” said Winninghoff.
Winninghoff explains that, so far, teachers can use tools like ChatGPT and Gemini as chatbots that respond to users when they interact with them.
“Teachers can use those chatbots to get feedback on their lessons or scale the difficulty of those lessons. But that’s not the only thing AI can be used for in the classroom,” said Winninghoff.
“And so, teachers can take like a bulleted list that they have and ask the Canva AI to then turn that into a slideshow,” said Winninghoff.
Lastly, AI can help teachers sift through large amounts of content and generate questions. But Winninghoff is quick to emphasize that teachers will not be replaced by AI.
“Will AI take the place of me? Of course not. AI is really going to augment or enhance the things we can do in the classroom,” said Winninghoff.
The district is also exploring ways to allow students to use AI.
“Northside is working to craft policy that will outline student guidelines for use,” said Winninghoff.
There are guidelines in place to help teachers understand how they can incorporate AI into their classrooms. However, Winninghoff says if a teacher doesn’t want to use it, there’s no requirement to do so.
