Here’s how Newberg Schools are Teaching Artificial Intelligence

NEWBERG, Ore. — Artificial intelligence, or AI, is saturating the internet, and students are going to have to learn to live with it one way or another.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, refers to online computer systems designed to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence using large amounts of information via the internet and answering in a simple, conversational text format. Users can do anything from generating an essay to solving complex mathematical equations in seconds.

These tools, while powerful and fast, rely on existing information on the internet and algorithms rather than original thought, which is why educators emphasize teaching students how to use them critically and ethically. They also are not perfect, and can provide incorrect or misleading information.

It appears AI is here to stay, and local schools from elementary to college levels are experimenting with how to teach best practices for its use.

Newberg-Dundee Public Schools

The Newberg School District is currently developing an AI policy, but teachers have already begun using the tool in some classrooms — as has George Fox University.

Holly Miele, director of secondary teaching and learning for Newberg Public Schools, said the district is still early in its approach.

“This is still just relatively new to the classroom, and so a lot of decisions are just in the making rather than in hindsight at this point,” Miele said.

According to Miele, a work group of administrators and teachers met last spring with other Oregon school districts to review a sample policy. From there, Newberg began drafting a localized version. The policy is still in development and has not yet been approved by the school board.

“We are really not having the conversation with our elementary schools. I mean, it’s really just not appropriate at this point,” Miele said. “Their learning targets and experiences are rooted in acquiring skills and knowledge through hands-on work and what we call ‘on demand’ in the classroom.”

Teachers and staff have attended AI training sessions the past two summers, examining how the technology is impacting education and exploring ethical ways to use it — such as creating choice boards for students and developing learning targets.

“AI is able to create all those scaffolds nearly instantaneously for teachers, but we’re really slow on the use for students,” Miele said. “We really see that as just a secondary piece of the learning experience for a kid, with a ton of scaffolding, a ton of parameters, a ton of ‘why’ behind them using that.”

At the high school level, especially in career and makerspace classrooms such as marketing, business development, and graphic design, teachers are using software like computer-assisted design (CAD) and digital design software Canva.

“These are tools that we know our students will be using in different disciplines outside of their high school experience,” Miele said. “AI is now a piece of career and tech readiness in our eyes.”

At the same time, Miele said the district is strongly protecting the writing process from AI tools. Writing, like art, is a discipline where AI-generated content can amount to plagiarism, so teachers are drawing clear lines.

“The writing is by hand, on demand in the classroom as much as possible,” Miele said. “Final drafts come from a process where the teacher has seen the student organize their initial brainstorming, put it into a logical sequence — whether that’s outlining or another graphic organizer — and write a rough draft before completing a final draft.”

Miele said her 11th-grade student uses AI tools to help spot flaws in the logic of essay drafts or to generate flash cards from lecture notes under teacher direction. Both classes are Advanced Placement, for college credit.

“This is already at a college level, and they’re writing their work and thinking critically,” Miele said. “But then, on his own or by the direction of the teacher, he’s looking for flaws in the logic of his writing. It’s probably not appropriate for other writing assignments, and that’s why teachers are so careful to protect that full writing experience to be done in the classroom. AI doesn’t have a place in that.”

Miele said it’s important to continue teaching critical thinking skills, such as referencing primary documents, to ensure students can complete homework without relying on AI.

“Our teachers are becoming more and more equipped to guide them in ethical and appropriate use, and to still rely on their own skill sets and background knowledge so that they are using it for a better outcome,” Miele said. “The learning is done by the kid, not by the machine, and that’s the most important piece.”

Using AI ethically and purposefully is another key part of the learning experience, Miele said, comparing the current wave of technology to when calculators or laptops were first introduced.

“AI is as overwhelming as anything else when you’re trying to learn something for the first time,” Miele said. “That’s why it’s so critical that our teachers continue to do their awesome work of teaching in real time in the classroom with no AI use at all — so students really learn their material, background information, and critical thinking skills deeply. Then they can use an AI tool and know what they’re after and what they’re trying to create.”

George Fox University

Brian Doak, vice president of George Fox Digital and a professor of biblical studies, said that when the AI chatbot ChatGPT launched in fall 2022, it became the fastest-adopted technology in history — especially among students.

“The immediate story for us as professors, as faculty, is just trying to keep up with the creativity and vitality of students, because they’re so creative and they want to explore new things,” Doak said. “Eventually, professors here started to tinker with it, and we realized really quickly as a university that we needed a formal committee and some kind of public guidance.”

In early 2024, George Fox became one of the first universities to adopt a public-facing AI policy. Doak said it remains experimental, with room to evolve.

“As a faith-based university, we want to treat each other with dignity and respect, and we recognize that these tools are powerful — but they’re not just to be used for any purpose whatsoever,” Doak said. “We’ve chosen a very open approach, allowing faculty to decide how they want students to use AI in their programs and to be clear about communicating that.”

Doak said it would be unrealistic to ban AI entirely, but equally unwise to allow unrestricted use. Instead, George Fox uses a color-coded system — red, yellow, and green — to communicate which courses allow full, partial, or no AI use.

“I’m teaching one class right now, and I have a yellow light where I’m saying, hey, using AI on this or that assignment is totally fine. I’m using it for research and similar things,” Doak said. “But there are other classes where we’re just trying to encounter each other. We have an honors program that’s very much sit-around-the-table, read-books, talk-to-each-other, Socratic-method kind of thing — and they’re doing red light.”

The university has held small groups for professors to discuss AI challenges and sends out surveys to gather input and develop solutions. For example, instead of assigning an essay on themes in Romeo and Juliet, professors might ask students to write about someone they know personally and how that relates to the play.

“We’re facing all the same struggles any other university would face about academic integrity — trying to keep students doing the work and the learning that we want,” Doak said. “This is not going away. This is going to be part of our lives and our careers for a very long time. We’re doing kind of that double stance, but also trying to teach. It’s hard, but we’re doing it.”