The Los Angeles County Office of Education’s (LACOE) second annual AI Symposium brought together a diverse group of educators, administrators, and AI specialists for a day of exploration into the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in K-12 education.

Over 160 people from seven county offices of education throughout the state and 42 school districts attended the event at the ASU California Center in Los Angeles. Attendees participated in insightful sessions featuring keynote speakers, deep dives into specific AI technologies, and interactive breakout sessions focused on real-world use cases.

A key highlight of the symposium was the emphasis on practical applications of AI in the classroom. Educators shared their experiences integrating generative AI and AI-assisted writing tools into their curriculum, showcasing the tangible benefits for student engagement and learning.

David Rivas, a teacher at Antelope Valley Union High School District shared writing tools to help teachers enhance engagement, assess writing, and teach responsible AI use. Rivas has developed three courses on AI and says that when it comes to writing, the process is more important than the outcome. He uses tools such as Canva, Adobe Express, Murph, and Padlet in his class to enhance students' writing and critical thinking abilities. These tools can create visual representations of ideas to aid in brainstorming and structuring writing, add audio elements to written work such as sound effects and narrations, curate and organize research materials and create digital bulletin boards for class discussions and idea sharing, fostering collaboration and diverse perspectives.

Another session, led by Rob Johnson, Tara O’Brien and Taraneh Karim from Torrance Unified School District (TUSD), focused on “Fostering Equity, Ethics and Critical Media Literacy.” In October 2023, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 873 into law, requiring Critical Media Literacy to be taught in all subjects across all grade levels K-12. The TUSD team discussed the differences between misinformation, disinformation and malinformation and shared tips on how to teach AI students to use responsibly. Tara O’Brien was part of LACOE’s AI in Education Task Force, which developed and released a comprehensive AI Guidelines designed to empower TK-12 school districts to navigate the implementation of ai in education.

The LACOE AI Symposium 2024 served as a springboard for educators to gain valuable insights and practical tools to leverage the power of AI in their classrooms. By fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing, the symposium empowered educators to become leaders in shaping the future of AI-driven learning experiences for all students. To learn more about other presenters and topics at LACOE’s AI Symposium, visit the event page.