UCHS is taking a bold step into the future by embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance educational services and drive student success. As part of this commitment, UCHS is excited to participate in Education First’s AI x Coherence Academy, a new initiative that will support school leaders in thoughtfully integrating generative AI across teaching, learning, and system-wide efforts.
UCHS’s HUM II is already leading the way in AI adoption, breaking down language barriers and creating an inclusive classroom for multilingual learners. HUM II is among 19 schools in the School Teams AI Collaborative, which brings together school-based teams to experiment with AI-enabled instructional practices, share what they learn, and refine promising practices for real-world application.
The Collaborative aims to help educators explore the possibilities of AI, not just as a tool for efficiency but as a catalyst for deeper learning and student engagement. And at HUM II, they are doing just that. “One of the values we’ve held [in the AI Collaborative] is to dare to experiment,” says HUM II Visual Arts teacher Marquitta Pope.
HUM II Visual Arts teacher Marquitta Pope leverages AI tools to transcribe YouTube videos into students’ primary languages, providing bilingual captions that allow them to engage with lessons independently and at their own pace.
“It’s like creating individualized stations,” Marquitta explains. “They can pause, process, and respond in their own time.”
By incorporating students’ primary languages into instruction, Marquitta supports their understanding of the material and fosters a deeper connection between their linguistic strengths and new learning as they deepen their understanding of the English language and progress within their English as a New Language class and beyond. It also creates an inclusive learning environment where multilingual learners can engage with the same materials as their peers.
By embracing AI, Marquitta ensures her students are not held back by language differences, creating opportunities for meaningful and equitable learning experiences.
AI tools like Brisk also help Pope generate quizzes in multiple languages from videos incorporated in her instruction that can be viewed in students’ native language. This saves valuable time while ensuring that her students’ academic abilities are accurately assessed, avoiding a common misinterpretation of a language difference as an academic gap.
As a result, Marquitta has been able to develop a more complete picture of student understanding and allow for more informed instructional decisions, and says, “This application allowed me the opportunity to do that, and I’m grateful to be able to share it with others.”
