In Birdville ISD, we are at the forefront of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into our learning environments. Our commitment to innovation, excellence, and empowering every student and educator drives us to harness the transformative power of AI. 

Empowering Learning with AI

In the Birdville Independent School District (Birdville ISD), all students will use AI responsibly to support their learning, strengthen their thinking, spark creativity, reflect on ideas, and receive feedback, while protecting their privacy, verifying accuracy, and doing meaningful work themselves.

 

BISD's Commitment to Students

Our students are and will continue to engage with artificial intelligence in the years to come. As such, we are responsible for empowering them to use new technology and tools to advance their learning and reach their potential as Empowered Learners, Responsible Citizens, Global Competitors, and Innovative Entrepreneurs, as outlined in the BISD Portrait of a Graduate.

Birdville understands the importance of an all-encompassing AI strategy to equip students and teachers for the challenges ahead, improve the educational experience, and ensure our school district stays ahead in an ever-changing educational environment.

We aim to prepare our students for the evolving demands of the workforce and society, demonstrating our district's commitment to forward thinking and to offering an education that is both modern and relevant.

And while AI tools are invaluable, they cannot substitute the human touch in teaching or any other profession. AI can make processes more efficient, yet it necessitates the guidance and expertise of a professional to manage and optimize its use. 

 

In Birdville ISD, AI will support students, teachers, staff, and leaders, but it will not replace relationships, human judgment, strong teaching, creativity, curiosity, or our shared responsibility for student learning. These commitments explain how we will use AI to support meaningful learning and optimal student outcomes.

Empowering Educators

Teachers, staff, and leaders will use AI with purpose to strengthen instruction, improve productivity, personalize learning, create resources, and design meaningful tasks. Educators will use professional judgment to decide when AI adds value and when learning is best supported through human connection, discussion, practice, and teacher guidance.

 

Academic Integrity and Responsible Use

Students will use AI honestly, responsibly, and transparently. They will follow teacher expectations, explain how AI supported their work when required, protect their own thinking, and never submit AI-generated work as their own.

 

 

Meaningful Student Learning

Students will use AI to strengthen their thinking, not replace it. AI may support feedback, creativity, reflection, problem-solving, and deeper learning, but students will continue to question, create, evaluate, revise, and explain their own learning.

 

Access and Opportunities

All students will have opportunities to learn with and about AI when it is appropriate for their grade level and learning goals. Birdville ISD will provide equitable access, clear guidance, and meaningful learning experiences so students are prepared to use emerging technologies with confidence.

 

Prioritizing Data Privacy and Safety

Students, teachers, staff, and leaders will protect personal and private information when using AI. Birdville ISD will use approved tools, follow safe practices, and provide clear expectations for responsible use.

 

AI Literacy and Ongoing Teacher and Staff Professional Learning

Students will learn how AI works and how to use it wisely, including how to prompt, check accuracy, recognize bias, evaluate responses, and know when AI is helpful. Teachers, staff, and leaders will receive ongoing support so AI can be used confidently and responsibly for teaching, learning, productivity, and student support.

 

Instructional Leaders and AI

Leaders will model effective, responsible AI use and provide clear expectations, professional learning, approved tools, equitable access, and ongoing guidance for teachers and students to ensure AI strengthens teaching and student thinking and learning.

By adhering to these guiding principles, we will ensure the integration of AI in ways that enhance educational outcomes, support teachers, and prepare students for the future, all while upholding ethical standards and promoting accessibility and opportunity for all.

 

Educational Goals and Accessibility

We use AI to help our students achieve their educational goals. AI will help us achieve our district goals, improving student learning, teacher effectiveness, and school operations. We aim to make AI resources universally accessible. We are committed to evaluating AI tools for biases and ethical concerns to ensure they effectively serve our diverse educational community.

 

Policy Adherence and Privacy

We reaffirm adherence to existing policies and regulations. AI is one of many technologies used in our schools, and its use will align with existing laws to protect student privacy, ensure accessibility to those with disabilities, and protect against harmful content. We will not share personally identifiable information with consumer-based AI systems. We will thoroughly evaluate existing and future technologies and regularly address any compliance gaps that may arise.

 

AI Literacy

We educate our staff and students about AI. Promoting AI literacy among students and staff is central to addressing the risks of AI use and teaches critical skills for our students' future endeavors. Students and staff will be given support to develop their AI literacy, including how to use AI, when to use it appropriately, and how it works, as well as foundational concepts from computer science and other disciplines. We will support teachers in adapting instruction in a context where some or all students can access generative AI tools.

 

Opportunities and Risks

We explore the opportunities of AI and address the risks. In continuing to guide our community, we will work to realize the benefits of AI in education, address the risks associated with its use, and evaluate whether and when to use AI tools, paying particular attention to misinformation and bias.

 

Academic Integrity

We use AI to advance academic integrity. Honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility are expectations of students and teachers. Students should be truthful in giving credit to sources and tools and honest in presenting work that is genuinely their own for evaluation and feedback.

 

Continuous Evaluation

We commit to auditing, monitoring, and evaluating our district’s use of AI. Understanding that AI and technologies are evolving rapidly, we commit to regularly reviewing and updating our policies, procedures, and practices.

As we embrace the potential of AI in education, we commit to responsible use and academic integrity to enrich the educational journey without compromising our foundational values of honesty, integrity, and fairness.

Responsible Use

Responsible AI use in our classrooms starts with clear expectations, intentional guidance, and ongoing conversations with our students. As these tools become a regular part of the digital landscape, teachers play a vital role in modeling thoughtful, transparent, and ethical AI integration.

Classroom Considerations

• Protect Student Privacy: Always ensure students do not enter personal or sensitive information into AI tools.

• Require Transparency: Build a culture where students openly cite or disclose how and when they use AI in their coursework.

• Critique and Refine: Teach students to always critically review, fact-check, and refine AI-generated content and never accept it at face value.

• Keep Learning at the Center: Use AI to enhance and scaffold student thinking, never to replace the actual process of thinking and learning.

• Establish Clear Guardrails: Set explicit, assignment-specific boundaries so students know exactly when AI is a helpful tool and when it crosses into academic dishonesty.

 

Teacher and Student Resources for the Classroom - Visit the BISD Digital Learning AI Hub

Find teacher and student resources on the Birdville Digital Learning AI Hub to support responsible AI use and equitable learning opportunities for all students.

 

Students may use AI to get support, feedback, ideas, practice, and explanations, creativity, and reflection, but students must do the thinking, make the decisions, create the final work, and be able to explain their learning.

 

 

 

Here are the main ways we want students to use AI so it supports their learning without doing the thinking or learning for them:

Clarify their understanding

Students can ask AI to explain a concept in a different way, define unfamiliar vocabulary, or give an example. Students still need to restate the idea in their own words and show they understand it.

Brainstorm ideas

Students can use AI to generate possible topics, questions, project ideas, or approaches. Students still choose the best idea, refine it, add their own thinking, and develop the final work.

Get feedback

Students can ask AI for feedback on a draft, response, project, or explanation. Students still decide which feedback is useful, make the revisions themselves, and explain how their work improved.

Practice skills

Students can use AI for practice questions, review, tutoring support, vocabulary practice, or step-by-step coaching. Students still solve problems, answer questions, show their work, and explain their thinking.

Strengthen writing

Students can use AI to improve organization, clarity, grammar, sentence structure, or word choice. Students still provide the original ideas, evidence, reasoning, voice, and final response.

Check their thinking

Students can ask AI to look for unclear reasoning, missing evidence, potential errors, or areas where their explanation needs strengthening. Students still verify the feedback, make their own decisions, and revise their work.

Support creativity

Students can use AI to explore design ideas, formats, images, scripts, outlines, or presentation options. Students still make creative choices, build the final product, and explain the purpose behind their choices.

Ask better questions

Students can use AI to help generate deeper questions for research, discussion, problem-solving, or reflection. Students still investigate, evaluate sources, think critically, and develop their own answers.

Reflect on learning

Students can use AI to ask them questions about their work, choices, process, or understanding. Students still do the reflection, explain what they learned, identify what needs more work, and decide what to improve next.

Example prompts:

“Ask me three questions that will help me reflect on my project.”

“Here is my explanation. Ask me questions that will help me make my thinking clearer.”

“Here is my draft reflection. What follow-up questions should I answer to think more deeply?”

“Quiz me on this topic one question at a time so I can see what I understand and what I need to study more.”

Improve access to learning

Students can use AI for language support, reading support, vocabulary help, summaries, examples, or explanations. Students still engage with the content, participate in the learning, and show their own understanding.

 

AI Innovation in Education Action Team Members

 

The action team consist of a diverse group from the Birdville community who worked together to develop comprehensive strategies and processes for integrating AI into our educational environments, including setting objectives, identifying key areas for AI application, and establishing some general guidelines for the ethical use of AI tools. 

Our FAQs cover a wide range of topics and will be updated often.

 

 

Welcome to the CyberSmart Families Resource Hub! Cybersecurity is more important than ever, and the Birdville Technology Department is dedicated to ensuring that all families stay cyber-safe.  This October, we’re rolling out weekly videos to teach your family about protecting personal information, avoiding scams, and more. We encourage you to watch the videos together as a family, explore the provided resources, and engage in discussions on how to build online habits that will keep your family cyber-safe all year long!

During Digital Citizenship Week, from October 14th to the 18th, families can explore topics like AI, identity theft, and media literacy. Be sure to check back each day of Digital Citizenship Week for new resources and at-home activities to explore!

Share with Care

To kick off the CyberSmart Families series, we’re diving into the importance of protecting personal information online - Share with Care. With so much of our daily lives happening on the internet, it’s easy to overshare without realizing it. But did you know that hackers and scammers look for even the smallest pieces of personal information to cause harm? In this video, we’ll explore why it’s essential to be cautious when posting online, what information to keep private, and how parents can teach kids to develop smart sharing habits.

Share with Care Family Resources

Family Discussion: English, Spanish

Family Tips: English, Spanish

 

Don't Fall for Fake

In today’s world, it’s more important than ever to be able to spot what’s real and what’s fake online. Scammers are getting smarter, and whether it’s a suspicious email or a sketchy website, it can be hard to know what’s trustworthy. That’s why in this video, Birdville Digital Learning is here to show you how to stay safe by recognizing online scams, phishing attempts, and fake websites. They’ll guide you through simple steps you can take to protect yourself and your family from falling for online fakes.

From verifying emails to checking website URLs, this video will equip you with the tools you need to confidently navigate the digital world. So, let’s get started and learn how to keep our personal information secure and steer clear of online traps!

Don't Fall for Fake Family Resources

• Family Activity: English, Spanish

• Tips: English, Spanish

 

Secure Your Secrets

Your personal information is valuable—and cybercriminals know it. In this video, we’ll show you how to protect your digital identity by creating strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and safeguarding your data. Learn simple steps to secure your secrets and prevent unauthorized access to your accounts. Don’t wait until it’s too late—start securing your secrets today! 

 

Secure Your Secrets Family Resources

• Family Activity: English, Spanish
• Tips: English, Spanish

 

Device Security

Do you think hackers need advanced skills to access your data? The truth is, they often don’t. In this video, we break down how simple oversights—like leaving devices unlocked, skipping updates, or using unsecured Wi-Fi—can put your information at risk. Learn easy steps to secure your devices, from setting strong passwords to recognizing safe networks. Watch now and discover how a few smart habits can protect your personal data and keep hackers out.

 

 

Additional Resources

• Be Internet Awesome Family Guide - English, Spanish

  • The Be Internet Awesome Family Guide gives families the tools and resources to learn about online safety and citizenship at home. Google has created this guide for families to make it easier to incorporate and practice good digital habits in your everyday lives. Packed with good stuff, this guide will help you and your kids discuss, learn, and think about online safety together.

• Interland for Kids

  • Interland is a playful online game that makes learning about digital safety and citizenship interactive and fun — just like the Internet itself. Here, kids will help their fellow Internauts combat the badly behaved hackers, phishers, oversharers and bullies by practicing the skills they need to be good digital citizens.

• Explore Highlights Magazine special edition Be Internet Awesome content

  • Check out Highlights Magazine Be Internet Awesome special edition issue and content for kids, families, and educators. Here, kids can explore the Be Internet Awesome lessons through a fun, educational, and activity-packed magazine, take the online safety pledge, and practice the skills needed to be a safe, confident online explorer.

• Digital Wellbeing Family Guide

  • A conversation guide to help you tackle the tough tech questions and navigate the digital world as a family.

 

 

 

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Digital Citizenship Week: October 14 – 18, 2024

Highlighting the importance of supporting our students, families, and teachers as they navigate our ever-present digital landscape. As students dive into lessons on AI, personal identity, and media literacy, we encourage families to explore these important themes together. Check back during Digital Citizenship Week for resources to support meaningful home discussions and build stronger online safety habits. This week is all about empowering students to be responsible digital citizens, and with your help, we can ensure they thrive in the digital world. 

Check out the daily activities and resources below to guide your family through these critical conversations

Lower Elementary Resources (PK - 2nd)

• What is a Digital Citizen?: Pause & Think Online

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • SEL Conversation Starter: English, Spanish

 

• Digital Well-Being: How Technology Makes Me Feel

  • Family Activity -  English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish, More Languages

  • SEL Conversation Starter - English, Spanish

 

• Our School Community: Managing Device Distractions

  • Family Activity - English

 

• Media Literacy: Meet Head!

  • Family Tips: English, Spanish, More Languages

 

• Stay Safe Online: My Online Neighbor 

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tech Planner - English, Spanish

 

Upper Elementary Resources (3rd - 5th)

• What is a digital citizen?: Super Digital Citizen

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish, More Languages

  • SEL Conversation Starter: English, Spanish

 

• Digital Well-Being: My Media Choices

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish, More Languages

  • SEL Conversation Starter: English, Spanish

 

• Our School Community: Our Device Charter

  • Family Tech Planners - English 

 

• Media Literacy: Is Seeing Believing?

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish, More Languages

 

• Cyberbullying & Upstanders: The Power of Words

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish, More Languages

  • SEL Conversation Starter: English, Spanish

 

Middle School Resources (6th - 8th)

• Artificial Intelligence: What is AI?: Help students think critically about AI, from generative tools to misinformation.

  • Family Activity: Ideas for Using AI as a Family 

  • Family Tech Planners: English, Spanish

 

• Privacy & Security: Impersonation & Identity Theft: Teach students how to protect their digital identities and manage privacy settings effectively.

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish

 

• Tech-Design: Digital Media & Your Brain: Explore the impacts of tech design on well-being and foster healthy digital habits.

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish, More Languages

  • Family Tips -  English, Spanish

 

• News & The Elections: Finding Credible News: Guide students in evaluating credible news sources.

  • Family Activity English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish, More languages

 

• Cyberbullying & Digital Drama: Up-standers & Allies: Encourage students to reflect on their tech habits and create a plan for positive digital usage.

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish, More Languages

 

High School Resources (9th - 12th)

• Artificial Intelligence: AI Chatbots: Who’s Behind the Screen?: Help students explore the role and ethics of AI chatbots.

  • Family Activity: Ideas for Using AI as a Family 

  • Parent Article: Helping Kids Navigate AI

  • Lessons for Parents:  AI Literacy: A Parents Guide to Discussing AI

 

• Digital Footprint & Identity: Who’s Looking at Your Digital Footprint: Encourage students to consider how their online actions shape their digital identity.

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish

 

• Media Balance & Well-Being: The Health Effects of Screen Time: Discuss the impact of screen time on health and well-being.

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish

  • Conversation Starters - English, Spanish

  • Family Tech Planners - English, Spanish

 

• AI & the Elections: Are Deepfakes a Threat to Democracy?: Explore the influence of AI on elections and the risks of deepfakes.

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish, More languages

 

• Positive Relationships: Teen Voices: Friendships & Boundaries: Teach students how to build healthy, positive relationships online and offline.

  • Family Activity - English, Spanish

  • Conversation Starters - English, Spanish

  • Family Tips - English, Spanish, More languages

 

• Blended Learning: Blended learning is a teaching method that combines traditional classroom teaching with online education. Students attend in-person classes and complete online activities or courses at their own pace. This approach uses technology to supplement and enhance learning, providing a flexible and often more engaging way for students to learn.

  Personalized Learning: Personalized learning is a tailored educational experience that aims to meet each student's unique needs and abilities. This method adjusts the pace (faster or slower), style (visual, auditory, hands-on), and level of instruction based on individual student preferences and performance. The goal is to make learning more effective by focusing on how each student learns best and what they need to succeed.

  What do students say about blended and personalized learning?