District outlines AI education plan, device rules and Chromebook rollout

Tredyffrin‑Easttown’s education committee reported a technology update that outlined how the district plans to teach students to use artificial intelligence responsibly and to expand one‑to‑one device deployment.

Dr. Michael Simondara (director of educational programs) described the district’s approach to AI instruction: ‘‘teaching about AI, teaching for AI, and teaching with AI’’ with curriculum elements focused on information literacy, prompt engineering and critical interpretation of AI outputs. The committee emphasized age‑appropriate uses and staff development to support classroom integration.

On classroom tools, the district has permitted use of Microsoft Copilot in a district‑managed environment. As summarized by the committee, Copilot offers ‘‘age‑based access controls, Microsoft enterprise grade security, [and] student data is not shared outside of the TE environment,’’ keeping students in a supervised ‘‘walled garden’’ during use. The district also said teachers may direct students to use Microsoft Copilot only while logged in with district accounts; teachers cannot direct use of other generative‑AI tools.

The committee also reported progress on the one‑to‑one Chromebook roll‑out (grade 5 and middle‑school device transitions) and the end of the high‑school bring‑your‑own‑device option to reduce technical issues. Finally, the district described implementation of the Securly filtering suite (Securly Filter, Securly Aware and Securly Home) and said the district will continue to provide information to parents about home filtering and device controls.

What happens next: The district will continue staff training, expand Chromebook distribution by grade year, monitor proposed state legislation on mobile devices, and update the board on implementation and parent information for Securly.