5 Ways Christian Schools Can Use AI

Jeff Smith and Dr. Sean Riley, both from Stony Brook School, present a webinar titled "Five Ways Christian Schools Can Use Artificial Intelligence in Our Classrooms." Stony Brook School is a boarding, day, and virtual school that believes in the integration of faith and learning, and they have been working on integrating AI into Christian school contexts.

They start by discussing the recent data from an NAIS survey that shows that within independent schools only 32% of teachers are using AI for their actual lesson planning. They compare this to a survey from Cardus and ACSI of just Christian schools which found that 26% of schools are officially using AI in actual instruction. Furthermore, only one in four teachers are very confident in using AI, and about 30% of Christian Schools have an AI policy in place. But, 81% of Christian Educators believe that AI will significantly impact teaching and learning. This gap between actual adoption of AI in Christian schools and where they need to go needs to be closed.

The five ways Christian Schools can use AI in their classrooms that they present along with examples are listed below. Specific use cases for Flint that have impacted learning outcomes were provided for points #2, #3, and #4.

1. Ease faculty workload in ways that are not student-facing

2. Formative assessments outside the classroom

   • SBS is using Flint's AI platform for formative writing feedback (18:10).

3. Provide dialogue partners for personalized learning

   • Oral conversations in World Languages (28:10).

   • Scientist on the witness stand.

   • Practice oral assessments for a research project.

4. Enhance character formation

   • Bible memory verse tutor (37:14).

5. Craft a clear and charitable school AI policy (not created by AI, but with AI use in the class in mind and use AI to show students why the policy matters).