AI (Artificial Intelligence) refers to computer systems or machines that are designed to think, learn, and solve problems like humans. These systems can understand language, recognize images, make decisions, and even learn from experience. Believe it or not, most of us actively use AI daily. Popular examples of AI include virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa, recommendation systems on platforms like Netflix or YouTube, and tools like ChatGPT that can help with answering questions or generating text.

For students, AI can be a powerful tool to assist with learning, homework, and creative projects. It can provide quick answers, explain complex topics, and even help write essays or solve math problems. However, just like any tool, it’s important to use AI responsibly and with guidance to ensure it’s helping rather than distracting.

Recognizing the importance of proper use of AI, Lauderdale County Schools has adopted an AI policy. It can be accessed here.

The internet and AI tools offer students incredible educational opportunities, from instant access to information to personalized learning support. Resources like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and research tools such as Semantic Scholar can greatly enhance how students learn, study, and create. However, it's important for parents to stay involved and aware, as the internet also contains content and interactions that may be harmful or inappropriate for young users.

Disclaimer:

While AI programs are designed to be helpful and safe, no system is perfect. Even the most advanced AI tools can be misused through inappropriate prompts or attempts to bypass safeguards. Parental guidance and open conversations about responsible use are key to ensuring these technologies remain positive and productive learning tools.

A Parent's Guide to Protecting Their Kids Online helps inform parents how to keep their children safe on the internet by offering practical tips on setting boundaries, using parental controls, monitoring online activity, and having open conversations about digital safety and responsible behavior.

Overall Usage:

Chat GPT - ChatGPT is an AI-powered tool that helps students with studying, writing, research, and learning new topics. It can explain difficult concepts, help with homework, generate ideas for essays or projects, edit writing, and even quiz you to prepare for exams.

Microsoft CoPilot - Microsoft Copilot is an AI assistant built into Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It helps students work faster and smarter by summarizing documents, creating presentations, organizing data, and even drafting emails or essays.

Google Gemini - Google Gemini is an AI tool from Google that helps students learn, research, and create more efficiently. It can answer questions, explain complex topics, help with writing and brainstorming, and even assist with coding or solving math problems. It is integrated with Google tools like Docs and Search.

Canva - Canva is a user-friendly design tool that helps students create eye-catching presentations, posters, infographics, and more. With drag-and-drop features and thousands of templates, it makes it easy to design professional-looking visuals for school projects, social media, or clubs—no design experience needed.

For Writing and Research:

Grammarly - Grammarly is a writing assistant that helps students improve their grammar, spelling, and clarity. It checks essays, emails, and assignments in real time, offering suggestions to make writing clearer and more professional. It’s great for polishing schoolwork and boosting writing confidence.

Perplexity - Perplexity AI is an AI-powered research assistant that helps students find accurate, up-to-date information quickly. It answers questions clearly, provides sources, and helps with studying, writing, and exploring topics in-depth. Perfect for research projects or learning something new, it combines the speed of AI with the reliability of trusted sources.

Zotero - Zotero is a free tool that helps students collect, organize, and cite research sources. It automatically saves references from websites, books, and articles, and can generate citations and bibliographies in seconds.

Semantic Scholar - Semantic Scholar is a free academic search engine that helps students find high-quality research papers quickly. It uses AI to highlight key insights, summarize papers, and show connections between studies—making it easier to understand complex topics and find reliable sources for essays, projects, or research.

For Teaching and Learning:

Quizzizz - ​Quizzizz is an interactive learning platform that transforms traditional quizzes into engaging, game-like experiences. It allows educators to create customized assessments—incorporating various question types, images, and videos—to suit their teaching objectives. Students participate in these quizzes using their own devices, earning points for correct answers and viewing real-time feedback, which enhances understanding and retention.

Almanack - ​Almanack is an AI-powered platform designed to assist educators in creating personalized and engaging educational content. It enables teachers to generate customized lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes, and slide decks tailored to their students' unique needs.

Diffit - ​Diffit is an AI-powered tool designed to help educators create customized instructional materials that cater to diverse student needs. It allows teachers to generate differentiated reading passages, quizzes, vocabulary lists, and more, all tailored to varying reading levels and languages. By inputting a topic, grade level, and language, educators can quickly produce resources that are standards-aligned and based on credible sources.

Magic School - ​Magic School is an AI-powered platform designed to assist educators and students in enhancing the educational experience through personalized and efficient tools. For teachers, it offers features such as generating customized lesson plans, creating assessments, and facilitating effective communication with students and parents. For students, Magic School provides resources aimed at building AI literacy and promoting responsible usage of AI technologies.

GimKit - Gimkit is an interactive, game-based learning platform that transforms traditional quizzes into engaging, competitive experiences. Designed for classroom use, it allows educators to create custom quizzes—referred to as "kits"—tailored to specific learning objectives. Students participate using their own devices, earning virtual currency for correct answers, which they can spend on power-ups and upgrades to enhance their gameplay.