Jordan Benoit, an English teacher at Providence Day, now has a network of colleagues she can reach out to with future ideas on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI, which can offer “innovative solutions in personalized learning, among other benefits, is transforming education, according to the University of Iowa, and teachers are learning to navigate the technology.

Ms. Benoit, who is in her 10th year at Providence Day, attended an AI Retreat at Charlotte Latin this month - a workshop for English and History educators from local independent schools.

“It’s no secret that AI is playing an increasingly large role in our world right now, and that role is evolving constantly,” says Ms. Benoit, who is also the Freshman and Sophomore Grade Level Dean. “I don’t want to only see AI as a ‘bad’ thing, and I recognize that I have a lot to learn.

Providence Day recently introduced Flint into its edtech toolbox, which consequently is providing both teachers and students a safe playground to learn and experiment with AI.

“I also wanted to see how English and History teachers at other independent schools in Charlotte are handling or even using AI in their classrooms.”

The retreat covered topics that ran the gamut from general Upper School policies on AI use, AI for lesson planning and general student use and misuse of AI as a learning tool, and practices for detection of student misuse of AI.

Ms. Benoit says her main relationship with AI so far involves monitoring students’ writing to make sure that they are not using programs such as ChatGPT to write an English paper. But she's learning how to make use of AI.

“I believe that a huge part of my job is teaching students to harness and develop their critical thinking skills, and in English class, that means reading comprehension and writing,” she says. “I am open to using AI as a tool to complement my instruction.”

The workshop also included break-out groups on the use of AI as part of student writing assignments, as well as use of AI in teacher lesson planning and assessment.

“My favorite part of the retreat was getting a couple of hours to talk with humanities teachers at Providence Day, Country Day, and Latin,” she says. “We rarely get opportunities to interact with teachers at area independent schools, and it’s so helpful to bounce ideas off one another. It was also beneficial to discuss the challenges we’re all facing and share ideas or assignments that have worked in our classrooms—challenges related to AI and teaching in general.”

Ms. Benoit says she and her peers discussed Upper School English elective options and other options that could incorporate AI.

“We discussed the notion of introducing a class that centers around dystopian literature, which could extend into AI and the future of writing,” she says. “It would be neat to bring that idea to [Providence Day] in the next couple of years.