Nordonia plans for the future with artificial intelligence summit

by Sarah McClain

Nordonia Hills City School District took a significant step toward embracing artificial intelligence in education with its first-ever AI Summit held at Nordonia Hills High School late last year. The professional development event offered staff, administrators, district leaders and guests the opportunity to explore the growing role of AI in education and its potential to revolutionize learning and teaching.

The summit featured a variety of sessions for all experience levels and interests, including “AI Tools for Beginners,” “The Future of Feedback: Guided Grading with AI,” and “Making AI Dance: Prompt Engineering for Education.” Presenters also demonstrated innovative tools like Brisk, an all-in-one AI teacher’s assistant that can generate lesson plans; Google Docs and quizzes; and how visual programs Canva AI and Padlet AI can be integrated for classroom use.

“The goal of hosting the AI Summit was to empower staff with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively integrate AI tools and technologies into their roles, enhancing productivity, creativity and student outcomes,” said Todd Stuart, director of curriculum, instruction and professional development. 

District Library Media Specialist Angela Wojtecki, a 13-year veteran of Nordonia Hills schools, reflected on the summit’s impact: “The AI Summit was extremely beneficial for our entire staff. There are many misconceptions about artificial intelligence and what it really means to many who may not be familiar with it or have had time to try AI tools,” she said. “Most of the attendees had limited knowledge about AI, so being able to learn about specific tools and resources to help us professionally with our day-to-day jobs was extremely informative and very well received.”

Wojtecki emphasized the value of tools like Magic School, a free K-12 AI resource for educators and students that can assist with tasks like lesson planning and creating projects for students that fit within the lessons. Both teacher and student can use this tool, allowing kids to learn and utilize AI within a more controlled context. 

“Like all technology resources, students really need to first know how to use AI responsibly and correctly. AI is a tool – it has a lot of potential, but it also can negatively affect the learning process if we allow it,” Wojtecki said.

Looking ahead, Stuart and Wojtecki envision AI as an integral part of education, streamlining processes for educators and offering personalized learning opportunities for students.

With growing AI use comes concerns about it replacing real-life workers, though Wojtecki doesn’t see AI as a threat to the teaching profession. 

“Teachers will never be replaced with AI because it will not be able to respond and adapt to students’ needs like a human can, but it will definitely assist teachers in making the educational process more personalized to meet the specific needs of learners,” said Wojtecki. “In a classroom where there are 25 students and one teacher, this is a huge part of what makes AI really important for our learners.”

The district is also staying informed about state-level developments in AI Content Learning Standards.Stuart believes that having a future-ready mindset regarding AI will give teachers and educators “a sense of empowerment and readiness to adapt to and lead in an AI-enhanced educational environment.”