Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WEST JORDAN — When Graham Bany first heard that the Jordan School District was planning to integrate generative artificial intelligence into K-12 classrooms, he didn't want to use it.
"I really was apprehensive at first, but it was the digital coaching team that kind of encouraged trying it, trying new things and kind of showed what we could be doing with it. That empowerment is kind of what led me to decide to take on more with it and see how I could leverage it for an easier time in preparations and for better results with students," said Bany, an English teacher and digital technology coach at Valley High School.
Bany was one of 2,350 teachers in the district that signed on to integrate SchoolAI, a Lehi-based company, into their curriculums.
The platform offers over 1,000 activities with AI tutors, interactive games, simulations, well-being check-ins and a library of grade- and subject-specific activities. Teachers also benefit from dashboards with real-time feedback and moderation, allowing them to easily track student progress and develop tailored learning plans to meet students where they are.
"It's like a tutor for students and teacher's aid for teachers," said Anthony Godfrey, superintendent of Jordan School District.
After a year of AI integration, the Jordan School District in June received the International Society for Technology in Education Distinguished District Award, which recognizes school districts that have demonstrated effectiveness and innovation through the use of technology.
The district joined New York City Public Schools and Trinity Area School District in Washington, Pennsylvania, as the only school districts recognized as 2024 winners in this competition.
"This award really kind of shows that Jordan is one of the leaders in this space and that we're a district that's open to trying new things and then nimble enough that we can move forward when it's time to use these tools in effective ways," said Jared Covili, the district's administrator of digital teaching and learning.
While many school districts and even higher education institutions employed outright bans against artificial intelligence — fearing it would lead to widespread cheating and be a nightmare for teachers to police — Jordan School District took a different approach.
"We were blessed to have a really innovative superintendent and a board that kind of likes to always look outside the box and say, 'How can we move into the 21st century?'" said Darrell Robinson, vice president of the Jordan school board. "We know that learning today is not going to be the same as learning tomorrow. We want to be that district that, kind of, is able to shift."
Something that drew the district to partnering with SchoolAI is how the platform benefits teachers and students alike.
Related:
Jordan School District partnering with Utah company to integrate AI into classrooms
Jordan School District has partnered with Lehi-based SchoolAI to bring artificial intelligence into classrooms for personalized one-on-one tutoring, guidance and support.SchoolAI can create assignments that are calibrated to individual student needs. For example, if a student is having trouble with run-on sentences, SchoolAI can create exercises to practice correcting run-on sentences — all while tailoring the lessons to the student's reading level and personal interests.
And even with the help of SchoolAI, teachers still have the final say on what lessons and assessments look like.
"When you put great tools in the hands of teachers, they become even better as teachers innovate and think about how they can improve learning for their students," Godfrey said.
Bany believes leaning into AI and teaching students how to leverage it as a tool, rather than a shortcut, is the most effective way of integrating the technology into the academic setting.
"Rather than allow them to just, kind of, secretly do it (AI) in the shadows, actually integrating it into the classroom, helping them learn boundaries with it and helping them learn how it can make their life easier and kind of fill in gaps where needed, it's much better," Bany said.
He also added that he's not worried about AI taking the jobs of educators.
"AI is not going to take teacher jobs, but teachers who use AI will take those jobs," he said.
