Lake Orion High School began using AI last year

By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
 LAKE ORION — Lake Orion High School students are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the classroom and teachers and students say it can be a helpful tool to complete schoolwork, get instant feedback and provide help when a teacher is not available.
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey of 11,201 United States adults found a majority of Americans feel more concerned than excited about the world’s increased use of artificial intelligence. Just 10% of those surveyed said they are more excited than concerned, and 36% said they feel an equal mix of these emotions, according to the survey.
Google Cloud published a list of 185 AI uses across a range of areas including health, travel, shopping, gaming and sports, while the United Nations’ UNESCO identified AI as having “the potential to address some of the biggest challenges in education today.”
Still, the agency also said rapid technology development brings risks and challenges that have “so far outpaced policy debates and regulatory frameworks.”
With this as its background, Lake Orion High School Principal Dr. Daniel Haas said there was an “intense” push by MASSP leadership to get schools in front of AI, and to start looking at how to implement it in learning.
“What (MASSP) said is it’s a lot like when mankind started to figure out fire,” Haas told the Lake Orion Community Schools Board of Education during a meeting this fall. “If you do it wrong, it’s going to hurt, but (if) you do it right it’s life changing.”
It already started changing how classes are taught and taken at LOHS. Spanish teacher Kelsey Glynn said teachers began investigating artificial intelligence and how it can make their lives easier last school year, and have been using it across all subject areas with their students this year.
At least seven departments are using AI in their classes, according to a slideshow presentation Glynn referenced. Architecture students use AI for help rendering designs, and art students use it in Photoshop to generate missing parts of backgrounds.
Social studies students trained AI to respond as economist Adam Smith so they could debate “core economic principals with the AI,” while another class did the same with Karl Marx, according to the presentation.
The school has also been using Class Companion, an AI tool that gives students coaching and instant feedback, according to its website. Glynn, LOHS teacher Cathy Srock and two LOHS students presented their experience using the tool to prepare for AP tests, practice writing and more.
Sophomore Brooke Bronczyk was nervous about writing large essays for her AP World History test, and said she needed help. With her teacher’s help and by using AI, Bronczyk said she could practice writing in the format the exam required.
“We have about two months of school where we’re not in the class leading up to the AP exam,” Bronczyk said. “And so, I was freaking out. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to practice quizzes (and) writing without a teacher there to help me. But, Mrs. Meinberg was amazing, and she provided us with practice essays, short-answer questions (and) quizzes all through Class Companion.”
Teacher Marie Meinberg’s help through AI and Bronczyk using the tool helped her earn a score of five on her exam – an AP exam’s highest possible score, she said.
Sophomore Carlos Urquidi also said AI’s ability to provide immediate feedback when a teacher was not available, personalized feedback and constructive criticism was especially helpful.
According to Urquidi, AI is used every day in AP United States History, and that its help moves beyond students.
“(Teachers) can’t be in 32 places at once,” Urquidi said. “So, it’s really helpful for the teachers as well.”
Srock said this works because teachers can post assignments, whether short answer, multiple choice or longer form assignments, along with its rubric. Students then go into the assignment and seek assistance from AI, and also submit their work to receive instant feedback and scoring.
“Once you start to use it for a student … it can identify patterns for that teacher in regards to all of their students and their strengths and weaknesses … as well as individual student strengths and weaknesses,” Srock said.
Teachers can set accommodations to each student based on their needs, and also set age-appropriate feedback, Srock said.
Learning Options High School Principal Kristin Sliwinski acted as the coordinator for high school summer school at LOCS, and called AI one of the challenges for virtual learning during another presentation.
“And so, we really needed to think about ‘by using a virtual program, how do we ensure academic integrity when students could easily AI their way through a test or instantly solve math problems,’” Sliwinski said.
While Srock said Class Companion has tools like paste detection, timing tracking and others to detect cheating, several changes to the summer school program upheld academic integrity, according to Sliwinski. Two changes being required paper-guided notes and proctored in-person assessments.
The notes were printed off and provided to each student to complete with a video lesson, which were then graded. This ensured students were not simply pressing play on a lesson and leaving to do something else, according to Sliwinski.
The in-person assessments included all unit assessments and the class’s final exam. Students could use their notes during the assessments, but not AI, their phones, Google and other similar services.
While Sliwinski mentioned the possibility of cheating on tests using AI, Srock brought up comparing AI to calculators.
“When they first started to embrace calculators, everybody was freaked out (thinking) ‘nobody’s going to know how to do any math,” Srock said. “But, we recognize obviously it’s a tool that’s made our lives easier, and so we need to recognize that AI can also be that same possibility.”
Other potential issues, like AI error in Class Companion, are combated by teacher ability to override AI’s actions, and students being able to dispute the way something has been graded.
“We’re really digging into this and trying to make it as educational for students as possible,” Glynn said.