Small School, Big Ideas: The Transformative Use of AI in Brinnon School District
In Jake Rember’s classroom, creativity takes center stage. AI-generated coloring sheets are scattered across his desk, while a group of students learn to sculpt 3D models of dragons on their computers.
“They’re getting used to failing and moving past the point of failure while building these models,” said Rember. “It’s about the process and whether they can recreate it when we come back to the project at a later time.”
At Brinnon Elementary School, this focus on the iterative process of creation, rather than the product, is at the heart of Rember’s approach to instruction. Students gain hands-on experience with digital production tools like Blender that aid in understanding of subject matter and technology, while also catering to their interests.
Educators have strong ties to the school from having attended Brinnon Elementary themselves and being a part of the tight-knit community. Rember’s unique background in machine learning led him to adopt AI tools and emerging technologies in the classroom, helping him to dial into the specific needs of the rural school district.
“We’re a small community with about 80 students, which is challenging because we are in a remote location,” said Trish Beathard, Superintendent and Principal of Brinnon School District. “But we work really hard to bring services to our students and have some of the highest state achievement scores in the area.”
As the Director of Special Education and Technology, Rember uses AI tools to customize art projects for students with disabilities, create state-compliant assessments based on student interests, and streamline administrative tasks that previously took time. Personalized instruction has allowed educators to focus more on supporting individual student learning.
“Giving teachers access to the ability to rapidly tailor education for the personal needs of a student is transformative,” he said. “With AI, you can develop any kind of comprehension or writing assessments and have it be personalized to what students want to be engaging with.”
Special education and English language learning also stand to benefit immensely from AI. AI-generated captioning for students who are hard-of-hearing or deaf, for example, is a transformative service for school districts that might not have the resources to provide it themselves.
“A lot of students that would [not] have had access to interpretation might [or] be in that gray area where they don’t necessarily rise to the level of needing it in an IEP, but they would still benefit from it,” said Rember. “So, as an option, being able to have AI caption can be very powerful.”
The use of AI in classrooms is not without ethical considerations for privacy, accuracy, and relevance. Reflection and understanding are key parts of the human-centered AI approach to creating prompts and vetting AI-generated teaching materials. Educators are also careful not to enter any descriptive data into AI generators, which can easily identify specific students in small districts like Brinnon.
“The quality of the information you put in is often going to be the quality of information you receive,” said Rember. “But with anything derived by AI, we want to be thorough in the information we give it and also vetting it to make sure that it is suitable for students.”
For example, AI can create categorically incorrect information or include unwanted depictions of guns or alcohol. Administrative assistants spend time carefully vetting these materials, but Rember maintains that AI-generated content is a good starting point for most tasks such as lesson planning, grant writing, or budgeting.
“If you’re stuck, you can ask it to give you an example of what it should look like,” he said. “It will probably give you something bad, but just the act of identifying something bad helps you hone in on what would be good. And that’s a good starting point.”
Digital Equity and Inclusion Grants were key in providing smart panels, computers, and instructional materials to the Brinnon School District, increasing access to high-quality technology instruction for students.
Rember continues to bring innovative tools to the classrooms, including a 3D printer that students will use to print their 3D dragon creations. Eventually, he believes that AI will become an integral part of education and that teachers will embrace this change.
“Not only will it be something that we need to teach our students about, but it’s something that will enable our teachers to be able to move faster as well,” Rember said. “Teachers could start to engage with students in a way they wouldn’t have been able to before and create tools to better aid students in the classroom.”
