Consumer AI vs. Student Workspace
Consumer AI tools may use data to train models or serve ads. Approved OCPS systems are reviewed for privacy, data use, and student protections.
Artificial Intelligence
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Grounded AI
Student experience
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Tool adoption
Learning design
Productive struggle
Scaffolded AI
District Guidance Hub
Artificial Intelligence in OCPS
Research, safety practices, educator guidance, student expectations, family resources, and approved-tool pathways for responsible AI use across the district.
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Start with the guidance you need.
Families Parent guides, approved tools, and student-data protections Safety How we protect our network and students, plus policy and request review Stakeholder Summary Community, parent, student, and staff feedback Teachers Productive struggle, AI literacy, and example resources Students Permitted use, verification, and disclosure
Parents and Families
Parent Guides to AI
Your child's school uses protected educational systems that differ from consumer AI applications families may use at home.
Approved AI Software
Use the approved lists before adopting an AI tool.
These lists identify AI tools that have moved through district review for instructional fit, privacy, data use, and implementation needs.
Safety
Safety, Privacy, and Approval Pathways
AI work in OCPS is anchored in human review, student-data protection, monitoring, and a formal review pathway for digital tools.
How we keep AI safe
Protection, Step by Step
Every AI tool a student uses sits behind layers of district protection. Choose a view, then click through each step to see how OCPS protects its network and protects students as they learn with AI.
Protecting our network
Each ring is a layer between the open internet and your student. Unapproved tools and harmful content are stopped at the outer layers.
Step 1 of 5
- Before any tool is used
Every tool is reviewed first
Before an AI tool reaches a classroom, district teams review its contract, student-data privacy, cybersecurity, and educational value.
What this means: Only tools that meet district standards are allowed. Tools that don't pass are blocked or redirected.
- At sign-in
District-managed accounts
Students and staff sign in with their OCPS accounts, so AI access runs through district settings and safeguards instead of personal consumer accounts.
What this means: School AI use happens inside a protected educational workspace, not the open consumer version of a tool.
- While browsing
Content filtering
District filtering screens web traffic on the district network, blocking inappropriate content and AI tools that have not been approved.
What this means: Harmful sites and unvetted AI tools are kept out before they reach a student's screen.
- Ongoing
Monitoring for safety
Activity on district resources may be monitored for compliance and safety, helping staff notice and respond to concerns.
What this means: There is no expectation of privacy on district systems. That visibility is what lets adults step in when something looks wrong.
- Always
Student data stays protected
Approved enterprise AI tools do not use OCPS data to train public AI models, and sensitive information may only be entered into tools approved for that type of data.
What this means: At the center of every layer is your student and their information.
Protecting students using AI
Students climb toward real learning one safe step at a time. The handrail is the adults who stay involved the whole way.
Step 1 of 5
- Before AI is opened
Teacher permission comes first
Students use AI for schoolwork only when their teacher authorizes it, on a district-approved platform, following the lesson's guidelines.
What this means: AI use in class is planned and purposeful, never a free-for-all.
- Inside the tool
Age-appropriate AI experiences
Student tools, such as the Gemini youth experience, add safeguards and age-aware responses designed for learners under 18.
What this means: Students work in versions of AI built with young people in mind.
- While typing
Personal information stays private
Students learn not to share personal or confidential information with AI, and approved tools are vetted for how they handle student data.
What this means: Privacy is protected by both the tool and the student's own habits.
- While learning
Students think, verify, and disclose
The PAUSE check helps students confirm AI use is permitted, check what AI produces, and disclose when they used it. AI supports thinking; it doesn't replace it.
What this means: Students build real understanding and honest habits. See the PAUSE check
- Every step of the way
Adults stay in the loop
Teachers review student work and AI outputs, and important decisions about students are always made by people, never by AI.
What this means: AI is a tool in the classroom. Educators remain responsible for learning, fairness, and safety.
Human-in-the-Loop
AI outputs must be reviewed for factual accuracy and representational harms. High-stakes decisions are made by staff.
Data Protection
Confidential data, sensitive student records, and PII may only be entered into tools approved for that data classification.
Enterprise Tools
Staff use District-vetted, secure AI systems that do not use OCPS data to train public models.
Monitoring
Users do not have an expectation of privacy on District resources. AI activity may be monitored for compliance and safety.
Prohibited Uses
AI may not be used for impersonation, harassment, copyright infringement, or exams unless the exam explicitly requires AI use.
Professional Learning
The District makes professional learning focused on AI literacy, data privacy, and ethical integration available to staff.
AI safety and security
Tools are evaluated for contracts, data privacy, cybersecurity, system compatibility, educational value, filtering, and monitoring needs.
- Contractual protection
- Student-data privacy
- Filtering and monitoring
- Education-focused access
Software and AI Request Process
Every tool moves through eight review steps. Select each one to see what happens.
Identify need
An instructional or operational need that does not duplicate software already approved.
Submit form
Provide purpose, users, costs, and alignment.
Site review
Principal or administrator confirms need and funding.
Content or operations review
District experts check instructional or operational fit.
IT and governance review
Cybersecurity, compatibility, and data privacy are evaluated.
Legal review
Terms are checked for FERPA, data use, public records, and intellectual property concerns.
Procurement review
Purchasing confirms value, pricing, and vendor eligibility.
Decision
Approved tools are added to the list; denied tools are blocked or redirected.
Taxonomy of scaffolded AI tools
Different AI uses require different levels of review and classroom design.
Generative support
Drafting templates, lesson ideas, summaries, examples, and teacher-facing planning support.
Feedback and practice
Adaptive reading tutors, problem sequencing, practice coaching, and AI-assisted feedback with educator review.
Classification and analytics
Pattern detection, student risk flagging, enrollment forecasting, and operational dashboards.
Recommendation tools
Resource suggestions, intervention supports, accessibility recommendations, and differentiated materials.
Embedded AI
AI features inside search, productivity suites, writing tools, learning platforms, and approved software.
Agentic workflows
Systems that can plan, trigger steps, or act across tools. These require especially careful governance and monitoring.
Platform Examples
Example AI Platforms and Resources your Child May Use
These larger sections are included on this page so the Google Sites embed works as a single self-contained resource.
Google NotebookLM
Source-grounded analysis, citations, and suggested actions.
View Google NotebookLM sectionGemini Youth Experience
Protected youth-focused AI access and classroom guidance.
View Gemini Youth Experience sectionGoogle Search AI Mode
Privacy, monitoring, safe search, and technical limits.
View Google Search AI Mode sectionGrounded AI Google NotebookLM
NotebookLM shifts AI use from general answers to source-grounded analysis. It works from materials the user provides and keeps the source set visible during the work.
What makes it different
Unlike general chatbots, NotebookLM is organized around selected sources. That source boundary helps users compare claims, follow citations, and keep the work anchored to approved materials.
How it supports learning
NotebookLM can summarize, compare, generate study supports, and suggest actions while keeping students and staff responsible for verification and final judgment.
Add sources
Upload or select the materials that should ground the work.
Ask focused questions
Keep prompts tied to the documents and learning goal.
Check citations
Review cited passages before using or sharing the output.
Transform carefully
Use summaries, outlines, or study guides as supports, not substitutes for understanding.
Student experience Gemini Youth Experience
The Gemini Youth Experience is designed for students under 18 with added safeguards, age-aware responses, and privacy protections that differ from consumer AI access.
Protected environment
Student use is connected to educational accounts and district-managed controls rather than general consumer access.
Critical thinking
The experience should guide students toward questions, evidence, and explanation instead of replacing the thinking they need to do.
Authorized use
For submitted work, AI use must follow classroom or lesson guidelines with prior documented instructor approval.
Search Google Search AI Mode
Search has evolved. Google Search AI Mode is different from District-approved instructional AI platforms, so students and staff need clear expectations for privacy, monitoring, and verification.
Consumer vs. student experience
Consumer AI experiences may use data differently. OCPS-managed student accounts and approved tools are reviewed for student privacy and district safeguards.
Classroom guidance
Students should use search results as starting points for verification and source evaluation, not as unchecked authority.
Foundations What is AI?
AI is not one thing. It is a collection of technologies that can recognize patterns, generate content, classify information, summarize sources, and support decisions when used with human review.
Artificial intelligence
Computer systems designed to perform tasks that usually require human intelligence, such as language, perception, planning, or prediction.
Machine learning
A method where systems learn patterns from data instead of following only hand-written rules.
Large language models
AI models trained on language patterns to predict and generate text, summaries, explanations, and other outputs.
Starting point
The value of AI depends on the instructional, privacy, and governance systems around it.
AI is...
- A tool to enhance human capability.
- A support for operations and learning when used within district guardrails.
- A reality of the modern workforce that students and staff must learn to evaluate.
AI is not...
- A replacement for human critical thinking.
- A replacement for staff review and accountability.
- An autonomous decision-maker for grading, discipline, services, or personnel matters.
Stakeholder Summary
Stakeholder Feedback Summary from Community Members, Parents, Guardians, Students, and Staff
Sequence, coach, and support practice.
Personalized tutoring, adaptive problem sequencing, dyslexia reading support, hybrid GenAI-adaptive programming feedback, and structured teacher assistance show credible gains.
Do not use AI detection or scoring as unchecked authority.
Detection tools and LLM scoring systems can align with humans in aggregate while still shifting criteria, compressing scores, and disadvantaging learner groups.
Replace vendor-led adoption with executable governance.
Districts need approval pathways, privacy review, classroom-use guidance, audit routines, staff training, and model checks that evolve as tools change.
Protect the thinking students must still do.
AI can reduce barriers, but unrestricted chatbot access can also create cognitive offloading, dependence, surface fluency, and a false sense of learning.
Teachers and Staff
Productive Struggle, AI Literacy, and Example Resources
AI may support staff workflow, but educators remain responsible for verification, professional judgment, instructional quality, data privacy, and fairness.
Productive struggle
Three Trails Up the Same Mountain
The summit is the learning goal—real understanding. Struggle is part of the climb; the wrong AI removes the climb entirely. Choose a trail and watch what happens.
Summit — the learning goal: real understanding
Base — the problem is assigned
Traditional — the long scramble
High cognitive effort and high learning—but with a real risk of frustration and abandonment when a student gets stuck alone.
Each trail begins with the same problem. What changes is how much thinking the student must still do.
Protect the sense-making students must still do.
AI should not remove the cognitive work that builds durable learning. The goal is to lower barriers without skipping reasoning, drafting, revising, and explaining.
Use a staircase approach.
- Start with a clear learning goal.
- Use structured prompts, sources, and constraints.
- Keep teachers in the review cycle.
- Require students to explain, verify, and reflect.
AI literacy
Defining AI Literacy
The knowledge, skills, and mindset necessary to understand how AI works, evaluate its outputs, and use AI tools responsibly.
Defining AI Literacy (opens in a new tab)Students
Recognize AI, protect privacy, question outputs, and use tools only when authorized.
K-5 Students
Educators
Use AI to support planning and feedback while keeping pedagogy and verification central.
Leaders
Set governance, review data practices, and align tools to district goals.
Community
Understand the difference between consumer AI and protected educational systems.
Example Lessons
Tools and Workflows
Classroom and Workflow Resources
Students
Using AI Wisely for Students
Students may use AI only when authorized by the instructor and must verify, disclose, and protect private information.
Before you use AI, run the PAUSE check. Select each card you can honestly answer yes to.
0 of 5 checks complete
Default rule: AI is prohibited from being used to brainstorm, outline, draft, revise, or edit submitted work unless a District-approved AI platform is used under classroom or lesson guidelines with prior documented instructor approval.
Open student guide PDF (opens in a new tab)