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Q&A

AI in the classroom: A conversation with Ian Mette on equity, ethics and AI in education

BY DANIELLE LEGARE

Artificial intelligence is reshaping conversations in schools, from the classroom to the principal’s office. While it offers new opportunities for analyzing data, supporting instruction and streamlining daily tasks, its limitations and risks require careful attention.

Ian Mette.

As schools navigate these changes, educators and communities alike are asking how to strike the right balance between innovation and responsibility.

An expert in equity-oriented educational leadership, Ian Mette, associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, offers guidance to help families, teachers and administrators use AI thoughtfully and responsibly.

Question.

How can families help guide students’ critical thinking around AI?

Answer.

For parents, guardians and community members, it is important to talk with students about responsible AI use and to be clear about expectations. This might include helping students understand that AI can be a starting point—a way to begin thinking about a solution to a problem or engaging with a prompt—but it does not replace critical thinking.

We want to make sure our children can engage critically with addressing the needs of humans within our communities. Families and community members can help students understand that humans, not AI, are needed to navigate our day-to-day world and work toward addressing societal inequities so every citizen can thrive.

Question.

What role do clear guidelines play in how teachers use AI in the classroom?

Answer.

It is important for teachers to set clear expectations for when AI can be used and when it is not appropriate. This includes designing a variety of activities that value higher-order thinking, prioritize the student voice and encourage students to synthesize and create knowledge rather than simply repeat information.

This type of thinking has been at the center of debates within mathematics instruction for decades, specifically when calculators were introduced. There was concern that students wouldn’t be able to engage with mathematical concepts due to an overreliance on calculators. Most math teachers know that isn’t the case—calculators help students produce the beginning of an answer to a problem. However, how you interpret the answer you get from a calculator, and what it means when answering a problem, is of critical importance. The same is true with the use of AI.

Teachers should engage in helping students learn how to use AI ethically and in a way that helps them understand themselves and the world more fully.

Question.

Why is a human-centered approach essential when educational leaders use AI?

Answer.

For educational leaders using AI, we need to continue to double-check the data and results. While AI can jump-start a review of literature by suggesting potential authors, theories and sources, it is not exhaustive and often generates inaccurate or nonexistent citations—something I have seen in classroom assignments and with submissions to journals by researchers.

Education researchers and practitioners should treat AI’s output as a launchpad, then confirm and expand their search through databases like Google Scholar to ensure a complete and accurate review.

Keeping AI human-centered across education is of importance because while AI can help inform responses to prompts—whether for class assignments, emails or policy decisions—it often misses nuance or misunderstands the question.

It is our ethical responsibility as educators to critically examine what AI generates and to apply our own thinking to make the response our own and from a human perspective.

Question.

How can families help guide students’ critical thinking around AI?

Answer.

For parents, guardians and community members, it is important to talk with students about responsible AI use and to be clear about expectations. This might include helping students understand that AI can be a starting point—a way to begin thinking about a solution to a problem or engaging with a prompt—but it does not replace critical thinking.

We want to make sure our children can engage critically with addressing the needs of humans within our communities. Families and community members can help students understand that humans, not AI, are needed to navigate our day-to-day world and work toward addressing societal inequities so every citizen can thrive.

Question.

What role do clear guidelines play in how teachers use AI in the classroom?

Answer.

It is important for teachers to set clear expectations for when AI can be used and when it is not appropriate. This includes designing a variety of activities that value higher-order thinking, prioritize the student voice and encourage students to synthesize and create knowledge rather than simply repeat information.

This type of thinking has been at the center of debates within mathematics instruction for decades, specifically when calculators were introduced. There was concern that students wouldn’t be able to engage with mathematical concepts due to an overreliance on calculators. Most math teachers know that isn’t the case—calculators help students produce the beginning of an answer to a problem. However, how you interpret the answer you get from a calculator, and what it means when answering a problem, is of critical importance. The same is true with the use of AI.

Teachers should engage in helping students learn how to use AI ethically and in a way that helps them understand themselves and the world more fully.

Question.

Why is a human-centered approach essential when educational leaders use AI?

Answer.

For educational leaders using AI, we need to continue to double-check the data and results. While AI can jump-start a review of literature by suggesting potential authors, theories and sources, it is not exhaustive and often generates inaccurate or nonexistent citations—something I have seen in classroom assignments and with submissions to journals by researchers.

Education researchers and practitioners should treat AI’s output as a launchpad, then confirm and expand their search through databases like Google Scholar to ensure a complete and accurate review.

Keeping AI human-centered across education is of importance because while AI can help inform responses to prompts—whether for class assignments, emails or policy decisions—it often misses nuance or misunderstands the question.

It is our ethical responsibility as educators to critically examine what AI generates and to apply our own thinking to make the response our own and from a human perspective.

Ian Mette’s research focuses on access and equity in education, with particular attention to school leadership, educator preparation, curriculum and instruction, and issues of race, inequality and social justice.