Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education

The Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education provides guidance for effectively and ethically integrating AI into teaching and learning to prepare students for an AI-infused future.

AUGUS T 2024 COLORADO ROADMAP FOR AI IN K-12 EDUCATION: GUIDANCE FOR INTEGRATING AI INTO TEACHING AND LEARNING As our knowledge and understanding of AI continue to evolve, this roadmap and its guidance will be updated to reflect the latest advancements and insights. Always refer to Colorado Education Initiative’s website for the most recent version! coloradoedinitiative.org/ai-in-colorado-education AI in Education Roadmap 1 “AI is one of the next great frontiers. To maintain Colorado’s leadership in bringing new ideas and technologies to the world, it’s essential to establish a state-level strategy that integrates AI education into the curriculum for all students. The Gill Foundation has always viewed Colorado as a learning lab—a national hub of creativity and innovation. We are proud to support the development of Colorado’s AI Roadmap, ensuring the next generation of students has access to the knowledge that will not only define the jobs of tomorrow but also provide solutions to some of our greatest social challenges. Together, we can inspire and equip young minds to reach new heights and change the world.” —Brad Clark, President & CEO, The Gill Foundation “In the evolving landscape of AI in education, well-crafted state guidance is a first step in a long marathon that leads to the education transformation we seek for all students. Colorado has made that commitment and more with this roadmap.” —Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer, Code.org, Lead of TeachAI 2 | Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education: Guidance for Integrating AI into Teaching and Learning DEAR COLORADO EDUCATORS, STAKEHOLDERS, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS We are pleased to introduce the Colorado Roadmap about data privacy, bias, and the role of human for AI in K-12 Education. Colorado has long been interaction in education. Similar concerns were raised recognized as a beacon for innovation, not only in when the internet first made its way into our schools, technology but also in education. Our state has never and while this is a different technology, we can ground shied away from a chance to pilot new models of some of our responses in lessons from that moment education, and we have a track record of stepping up and from other technological leaps. to find improved ways to equip students with skills they will need for a complex future. At this critical juncture, our schools must adapt and meet this moment with cautious optimism. The source Our opportunity to meet the moment related to artificial of our optimism lies in the transformative potential intelligence (AI) comes at a time when Colorado’s of AI to enhance teaching and learning, empower focus on the future has led to recent investments in educators, and ultimately improve educational economic development through Colorado’s designation outcomes for all students. CDE and CEI stand ready to as a Tech Hub with a focus on quantum technology. support you with guidance, tools, and resources. This Collectively, we can ensure Colorado’s young people roadmap also acknowledges how a globally available have what they will need to live, work, and lead in a technology can be piloted and embraced in our state’s future full of opportunity. unique context. Colorado’s essential skills include our commitment to fostering entrepreneurial competencies It is against this backdrop of innovation and progress in every student, embracing Colorado’s commitment that we release the Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 to ensure that our students are equipped with the skills Education. This roadmap is the result of a distinctly necessary to not just work but lead and thrive in an Colorado process: over the past seven months, more ever-evolving world. than 100 educators, policymakers, industry leaders, community members, and students have come We deeply appreciate those who contributed to the together to shape what we believe is one of the most development of this roadmap; the Gill Foundation who collaboratively produced AI education roadmaps in made the work possible through their financial support; the country. and the leaders and educators who commit to moving this work forward. This roadmap is a dynamic resource designed to support our local school districts as they develop their We invite you to explore the Colorado Roadmap for AI own approaches to integrating AI into teaching and in K-12 Education and join us in this exciting journey. learning. Recognizing the rapid pace of technological change, the roadmap emphasizes the importance Warm Regards, of flexibility and adaptability. It calls on state-level organizations, including the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and Colorado Education Initiative (CEI), to create the conditions necessary for school districts to rapidly learn from each other and from Susana Córdova Rebecca Holmes Commissioner of President and CEO early adopters. Education Colorado Education Colorado Department Initiative We acknowledge the challenges associated with the of Education rapid spread of AI-enabled tools, including concerns Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education: Guidance for Integrating AI into Teaching and Learning | 3 CONTENTS Overview and Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Working Group Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Reshaping Teaching and Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Advancing Equitable Access for All Learners . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Developing Policy for Transparent and Ethical Use. . . . . . . . 17 Next Steps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 As our knowledge and understanding of AI continue to evolve, this roadmap and its guidance will be updated to reflect the latest advancements and insights. Always refer to Colorado Education Initiative’s website for the most recent version! https://www.coloradoedinitiative.org/projects/ai-in-colorado-education/ 4 | Colorado Roadmap for AI in K-12 Education: Guidance for Integrating AI into Teaching and Learning OVERVIEW AND PURPOSE Opportunities and risks. Promise and peril. Hope and with AI will look like in a few years, we can use what we know skepticism. Not only is AI ushering in immense technological to guide us. We know the usage of AI among students and transformation, it brings with it the necessity of holding educators has increased substantially in the past year.1 We multiple truths simultaneously. AI offers unprecedented know that managing complex innovation requires clear vision, opportunities to reshape educational experiences and strong leadership, effective communication, stakeholder outcomes. It also brings significant risks that need to be engagement, and continuous improvement. And we know carefully managed, with an eye to a national and global that essential and deeply human skills such as collaboration, learning agenda and a grounding in context specific to critical thinking, and creativity are only rising in importance. Colorado. We have seen past technological innovations fall These key themes inform each working group and are short of their promise to drive substantive improvement embedded throughout their recommendations. on some of education’s most intractable challenges. With a thoughtful approach and shared effort across multiple organizations, this moment can be different. “Technology has completely changed the way we live - and the way we think, behave, and relate to each other.... Technology and its aftereffects - on Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology that culture, behavior, and attitudes - have broken the enables computers and machines to simulate cycles of generations to form something novel.” (some) human intelligence and problem-solving —Jean M. Twenge, PhD, Generati