Nova Scotia lacks provincewide policy on AI use in classrooms

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia has no provincewide policy explicitly stating how artificial intelligence should be used in the classroom, leaving decisions to regional education centres.

“We need to have consistency,” said Jenna Poste, a member of the national advocacy group Skills Before Screens. “We should really be taking a cautious approach.”

The provincial government says it is up to regional centres for education to make their own rules about the technology. Their approaches vary widely.

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The Halifax and Chignecto-Central regional centres for education have guidelines in writing, while in the Cape Breton-Victoria district, use of AI varies by grade level and teachers must “use their judgement.” The Annapolis Valley centre said it follows provincial curriculum and has an educational technology team.

The South Shore and Tri-County centres said they are focused on fundamentals while “actively monitoring the emergence of AI.” The Strait Regional Centre for Education is finalizing a plan to provide guidelines. The francophone school board has appointed a committee to develop a policy.

Chris Boulter, senior executive director for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, said the government strives to ensure students across the province have similar experiences.

Asked whether the department will develop provincewide guidelines, he said it is an "ongoing conversation." He said officials are monitoring other jurisdictions.

Boulter emphasized the department's primary focus is to ensure students have literacy, math and critical thinking skills.

“We feel that sets them up very well to use artificial intelligence to improve their learning,” he said. “But again, I can't stress enough, those foundational skills have not gone away because of AI. If anything, it's caused us to really double down on our efforts.”

Peter Day, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, said many teachers have reverted to in-class assessments on paper because students sometimes hand in work obviously generated by a chatbot.

He said AI cannot exist in the school system without guardrails.

“I don’t see AI as that much different. I think we really need to be showing students how AI works and what an appropriate use for it would be,” Day said.

But to teach students responsibly, Day said teachers need confidence in their own skills. Apart from a voluntary summer technology camp, he said there is no provincewide professional development focused solely on AI for educators.

Boulter said professional development is available through regional centres, but work is underway to develop more learning opportunities for teachers.

Johan Woodworth, an assistant professor who teaches courses on AI integration at Mount Saint Vincent University, said educators must be “judicious” with how they allow students to use AI.

He said AI can replace critical thinking, shortcut learning and produce biased or incorrect outputs.

Woodworth insists a provincewide policy is needed and teachers require more time and resources.

“Just knowing about a technology doesn’t mean that you could pedagogically integrate them into a classroom,” he said.

He pointed to New York City, where officials imposed a one-year moratorium on generative AI up to Grade 8 and banned chatbots for all grades.

Woodworth argues a similar pause could benefit Nova Scotia, giving teachers time to catch up while policymakers develop rules.

Poste is pushing for that kind of pause through Skills Before Screens, which has launched a petition calling on the province to follow New York’s lead.

“I think there’s always a place you can find an opportunity where it could be beneficial. It’s just, do those benefits outweigh the risks?” Poste said.

With files from CBC News