Penn’s Graduate School of Education pilots ‘Pioneering AI in School Systems’ for Philadelphia school district partners.
2 min. read
Like many school districts across the country, Philadelphia already allows students to securely access AI technologies on district devices.
At an educator session in August, city teachers came prepared with observations and questions: “How do we help kids find their own writing voice even if they’re using AI?” “How can we encourage tech literacy without kids becoming dependent?” “How can we teach kids to turn to friends rather than chatbots?
Betty Chandy leads a discussion on the role of AI in the classroom during the PASS program, a donor-supported initiative that collaborates with the School District of Philadelphia.
(Image: Tom Stanley)
“We’re all trying to figure out AI together,” says Betty Chandy, director for Online Learning at the Graduate School of Education’s Catalyst Center.
Chandy and L. Michael Golden are co-leaders of the Pioneering AI in School Systems (PASS) program, which began this year with support from the Marrazzo Family Foundation. The program is a partnership between Penn’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) and the School District of Philadelphia, and it examines both the undeniable influence of AI on modern learning and how schools may navigate its promises and perils.
“Artificial intelligence is already everywhere,” says Golden, Penn GSE’s vice dean of Innovative Programs & Partnerships. “We recognized that in order to help people understand AI and how to think about it, we needed to help build out basic capacities on several levels, from governance and policy to oversight to practical applications.”
Based on these areas of need, Golden and Chandy teamed up with the District to develop three tiers of engagement: District leadership, school leaders, and educators. The program’s tiered structure distinguishes it from others across the country, Golden and Chandy point out, enabling each cohort to dig in to specific aspects of emerging AI. Sessions began in April of this year and will continue with additional programming for teachers through September.
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