WASHINGTON, D.C. –West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt testified Tuesday before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce about the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom.
Blatt joined Teach for America CEO Aneesh Sohoni, Dean, Dewar College of Education and Human Services David Slykhuis and Senior Director of Education and Workforce Policy at Microsoft Allyson Knox in testifying before the committee and answering questions from lawmakers during the hearing, “Building an AI-Ready America: Teaching in the AI Age.”
The West Virginia Board of Education became the first state board in the country to issue guidance in 2024 on the use of generative artificial intelligence in the classroom.
Blatt said West Virginia has more teachers than any other state participating in Microsoft’s Teach module to ensure they receive age-appropriate training and keep students engaged.
“This is a tool that allows them to insert the grade level, the standards they wish to teach to get a variety of lesson plans and activities that they are able to implement in their classrooms,” she said.
The guidance document outlines approved classroom uses of artificial intelligence and specifies what is prohibited to help ensure responsible use by teachers.
Blatt said the implementation has been successful because the guidance can be updated to reflect the rapidly changing landscape of artificial intelligence.
“We chose to do guidance due to the fact, that we knew this was a quickly changing world for Artificial Intelligence and we did not want to be able to adjust quickly on the guidance that we needed out in our schools,” she said.
She said the guidance has been updated twice since it was first released.
North Carolina Representative Mark Harris asked Michele Blatt about the state’s stakeholder survey, noting that four out of five respondents expressed some level of concern about the use and adoption of artificial intelligence. He also asked how teachers and students have responded.
Blatt said state education leaders are continuing to learn about artificial intelligence alongside teachers.
She said students who complete a series of lessons through the Prodigy Learning module appear to be more engaged in their learning.
“An example would be, with our Minecraft education, they’ve been able to engage in a game that they were familiar with while learning about the different parts of AI and understanding that” Blatt said.
Blatt said parents have reported increased student engagement, which she attributed in part to West Virginia schools limiting the use of cellphones and social media during the school day.
Harris also asked whether teachers are better equipped to address academic integrity concerns related to artificial intelligence because of the state’s guidance.
Blatt said yes, because the state provides training on how to use generative artificial intelligence to enhance student learning
She gave the example of vocabulary instruction, noting that instead of asking students to write sentences, a task that can be completed quickly using tools such as ChatGPT, teachers are trained to use generative artificial intelligence to design lessons that deepen students’ understanding and engagement with the words.
“We encourage our teachers to put into the platform themselves, how could I engage students to help them understand how to learn these vocabulary words and how to use them in sentences and what we get back is a list of activities that are differentiated that we can provide to our students,” Blatt said. “So, it increases some of the creativity that our teachers are able to use to engage our students.”
Blatt said that while the state continues to integrate artificial intelligence into classrooms, the technology will not replace teachers.
She said educators build relationships with students and play a critical role in teaching them how to use artificial intelligence responsibly.
“It is important that we continue with our teachers to provide that meaningful relationship that is so important in our classroom experience,” Blatt said. “Our students also rely on our teachers to be guided on the effective uses of artificial intelligence.”