INDIANAPOLIS -- Preliminary results are in for an AI pilot program that has affected 45,000 students in schools across the state of Indiana so far.
Last September, 112 Indiana schools received a combined $2 million through a competitive grant program to bring AI into the classroom. This week, the Indiana Department of Education released a preliminary survey of that program, which the department said showed promise.
”Our teacher response to it was very positive," said Mike McDivitt with MSD of Wabash County.
McDivitt said his school participated in the state AI pilot program to give more students immediate math tutoring support.
”It really kept our students from having to wait to get the teacher's attention while the teacher was working with someone else," said McDivitt.
An IDOE survey of 625 teachers who participated showed more than 53% said AI was a net positive, especially when it came to saving teachers time, getting kids engaged with learning materials and giving kids more customized tutoring.
”These opportunities have given schools a chance to do things we typically have not been able to, for sure," said McDivitt.
Schools could choose from five AI tools and platforms approved by the IDOE.
”They had to be safe for children to use, they have to protect child data, [and] they also have to have a data-reporting feature," said Diana Smith, IDOE director of digital learning, during this week's State Board of Education meeting.
But the program wasn't without its faults. Teachers surveyed said some of the biggest challenges included microphone problems, faulty speech recognition and just learning how to use the AI tools in general.
”These challenges are related to the platforms themselves rather than the pilot implementation, so we do plan to share this feedback directly with the vendors," said Heather Herring, an IDOE Course Access Specialist.
The IDOE said the remaining 47% of teachers surveyed were mostly neutral. The IDOE will release a full report on the program later this summer.