ETHS outlines classroom AI plans, emphasizes Gemini use and an AI 'playbook' for staff and families
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Summary
District instructional-technology staff described teacher trainings, a PlayLab grant-funded pilot, a preference for Google Gemini over other chatbots for student accounts, and plans for a district AI playbook and one-page guidance for teachers, students and families.
Evanston Township High School District 202 instructional-technology staff presented an overview of the district’s work with artificial intelligence at the Jan. 12 board meeting, describing professional development, pilot projects with PlayLab, and a forthcoming district AI playbook.
David Chan, the district’s director of instructional technology, traced ETHS’s work on AI back to public introduction of accessible chatbots in late 2022 and said the district assembled teacher cohorts (an AI Innovators group) and ran 'Chrome camp' workshops to explore classroom uses. Chan described a PlayLab partnership supported by an Amazon grant that funds a professional learning community and teacher-led projects to build AI-enabled classroom tools.
On privacy and vendor selection, the presenters said the district favors Google Gemini for ETHS account users because district Google Workspace agreements provide assurances that student and staff inputs "are not used for model training" and that the service aligns with applicable privacy frameworks. The presentation stated Gemini use is compatible with SOPPA, FERPA, HIPAA and COPPA protections for district accounts and that Gemini provides additional 'guardrails' for under-18 accounts.
School staff addressed common classroom concerns. Presenters said plagiarism predates AI but that teachers are adapting assessment design and using revision histories, locked Google forms and monitoring tools to document process and reduce reliance on AI for summative demonstration of learning. David Chan described approaches that ask students to document how AI suggestions were used and to build metacognitive routines around multiple drafts.
The team described current and planned supports: Google Gemini training, freshman-level AI literacy via FASH programming, Northwestern interns researching a district playbook, and student ambassador activities that trained a campus-specific bot to surface gaps and bias. Chan said a short one-page guidance document and a longer playbook will be released to staff and families this year to explain permitted uses and classroom expectations.
Board members asked about how AI instruction will support critical thinking and how students will be involved. Presenters pointed to classroom exercises that require students to evaluate and cite AI inputs and to projects where students helped build and test district bots.
Sources: presentation and board Q&A at the Jan. 12 meeting; direct quotes and examples supplied by David Chan, Melanie Morrison and Mina Marion during the presentation.
