Learning Technology
Enhancing Learning Through Innovation and Technology
The district's digital ecosystem seamlessly integrates technology with curriculum, providing interactive tools and diverse resources that foster collaboration, spark innovation, and drive academic success for students.
ClassLink
Launchpad
ClassLink is the district's single sign-on (SSO) solution, providing access to all your digital tools and resources with just one login. Whether you are a student, teacher, or staff member, ClassLink streamlines your workflow and enhances productivity.
Canvas Learning Management System
Canvas is the district's Learning Management System (LMS), supporting online and blended learning for students and teachers. Canvas offers tools for creating assignments, discussions, quizzes, and much more.
Approved Learning Applications
Our district uses a variety of vetted learning applications to support instruction. Ohio law underscores the importance of safeguarding student data and ensuring transparency in how educational institutions handle sensitive information. At Columbus City Schools, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our students and families while providing a rich digital education environment. Information around approved technology providers, data privacy, and contract inspection can be found at the link below.
Approved AI Tools for Teaching and Learning
Columbus City Schools (CCS) is taking a deliberate, strategic approach to integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into our Teaching and Learning environment. We prioritize adopting secure, high-performing tools that empower students, educators, and staff to thrive in a rapidly evolving world. Across departments, CCS continually evaluates and vets AI-enabled solutions to help teachers and staff prepare learners of all ages and abilities to keep pace with change. Our goal is to leverage both traditional and emerging technologies so students can consume, create, communicate, and connect—while practicing responsible digital citizenship in an increasingly connected society.
Security and Institutional Data
The tools listed here are approved for Teaching and Learning, and tools for students are marked for specific age ranges.
District users should ensure they are logged in with their CCS logins. District employees and students should not be encouraged to use personal logins when using AI tools for district purposes.
Student Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and other confidential data should be held in the strictest confidence and not entered into unapproved AI tools for any reason. Each tool listed below is provided by a currently approved vendor in CCS, has a current data sharing agreement (DSA) on file as well as an approved contract with terms and conditions approved by the CCS Office of General Counsel (OGC).
To learn more about more specific use cases and student access, in the AI Position Statement for Teaching and Learning tab at the top of this page.
Approved AI Tools
As a school district with an ongoing Enterprise Education contract, Microsoft Copilot is the primary chat and operational AI service throughout CCS. A variety of AI functionality is also inherent in licensed products such as Adobe, Canva, Canvas, HMH, and Zoom as described below. While operational and technical district departments may use additional AIs such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Platform, Google Cloud Platform, and Salesforce, the AIs offered here are the ones currently approved for Teaching and Learning.
Columbus City Schools does NOT have a contract with OpenAI for use of the ChatGPT chatbot or Sora. CCS does NOT have approved DSAs, contracts, or approved terms and conditions with Meta, Perplexity, Anthropic, or Grok for use of their AI-enabled browsers or AI chatbot products. Entities need to be an approved CCS vendor, have a current data sharing agreement, and approved contractual terms and conditions in order to receive district data.
Adobe
Adobe offers a range of AI-enhanced creative tools under the Adobe brand, and product names and capabilities may evolve over time. Adobe Express, Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Firefly are part of a connected ecosystem that supports design, media creation, and generative AI workflows. Different users have access to different tiers of products.
|
Tool |
Students |
Faculty & Staff |
AI Limit |
Training |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Adobe Express: Design social media content, flyers and videos using Firefly-powered AI tools and templates, with seamless social platform integration. |
Log in from Classlink Available to all users |
Log in from Classlink Available to all users |
500 AI Credits per month |
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Create and collaborate on design, video, photo, animation, and web projects with tools like Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro, plus cloud storage. |
Log in from Classlink Available to students in specific course enrollments |
Log in from Classlink Available to teachers with specific courses |
AI Credit Limits vary by associated Adobe program |
Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Platform support |
Canva
Canva is an all-in-one visual communication platform designed to make professional-quality design accessible to everyone. It offers a drag-and-drop interface, thousands of templates, and tools for creating graphics, presentations, videos, and documents—all without requiring advanced design skills. Columbus City Schools students, teachers, and staff have access to the Educational tier of Canva.
|
Tool |
Students |
Faculty & Staff |
AI Limit |
Training |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Canva: Design presentations, infographics, flyers and videos using various embedded AI tools and templates. |
Log in from Classlink Available to all users |
Log in from Classlink Available to all users |
500 AI Credits per month |
Canva User Guide and Design Guide |
Microsoft
Columbus City Schools maintains an Educational Enterprise license with Microsoft. Microsoft provides district email, calendar, and many other applications through O365. The information below outlines specific AI features.
|
Tool |
Students |
Faculty & Staff |
AI Limit |
Training |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A platform that uploads and analyzes files, supports real-time collaboration with Copilot Pages and lets you create agents to automate tasks and processes. |
Currently not available to students |
Log in for a maximum of 512 MB prompt per file and up to 30 queries per thread |
CCS AI Canvas course or optional courses available through Microsoft Learn |
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Microsoft 365 Copilot Full License Microsoft 365 Copilot Full License interacts with emails and other Microsoft 365 applications to offer a more personalized experience and supports advanced use cases for teaching, learning, and productivity. |
Currently not available to students |
Available for supplemental departmental or building purchase. |
Supports file uploads up to 512 MB, and users can upload up to 500 file |
CCS AI Canvas course or optional courses available through Microsoft Learn |
|
Microsoft 365 Copilot Office Apps Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, & Others |
MS Office applications are available to students enrolled in middle schools or high schools without AI functions |
Log in for a maximum of 512 MB prompt per file |
Microsoft Learn training for Office |
More Approved Tools that Incorporate Generative AI
Canvas AI Tools
- The Discussion Summary option allows a teacher to request a summary of a discussion thread. Teachers may also ask specific questions about the thread's content. Discussion Summaries in a Principal's Corner or district-level courses can help admins identify key questions or concerns across the school. This feature is only visible to the instructor role.
- The Smart Search feature provides a page where users can enter keywords that return pages in the course that are directly or indirectly relevant. Instructors can then make Smart Search available to the entire course or leave it in the "hidden" area of the course navigation to limit access to instructional staff.
CCSOH-US.Zoom AI Tools
- Zoom AI Companion: Zoom's AI digital assistant, delivers real-time capabilities to help users improve productivity and work together more effectively.
- Live Transcription: Zoom provides speech-to-text transcription during meetings using AI and machine learning. Transcriptions and task summaries can be emailed to participants following the meeting.
Additional Tools
Columbus City Schools is currently evaluating additional tools that incorporate generative AI and there is a committee already formed to establish board policy and administrative guidelines. This page will be updated as policies are formed and more tools are approved.
Students should use GenAI tools only with the explicit permission of each instructor, in the ways allowed by that instructor. Teachers are encouraged to explicitly state, within each assignment, how students are permitted to leverage AI tools.
Have questions?
Have questions on how generative AI tools get approved or want to submit a tool for approval? Reach out to the Office of Learning Technology at learning_tech@columbus.k12.oh.us or submit an application for review through TDX.
AI Position Statement for Teaching and Learning
Purpose
To responsibly guide the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching and learning, ensuring that AI enhances educational experiences while protecting student data and upholding ethical standards.
Position Statement
Columbus City Schools supports the thoughtful integration of AI technologies, such as Microsoft Copilot, to enrich teaching and learning. AI should be used to personalize instruction, support student engagement, and empower educators—while never replacing the essential role of teachers.
- Permitted AI Uses for Adults
- Student AI Use By Grade Level
- Prohibited AI Uses
- Guardrails for Responsible AI Use
Permitted AI Uses for Adults
Permitted AI Uses for Adults
- Lesson and curriculum planning (e.g., generating lesson outlines, adapting materials for differentiation)
- Drafting communications (e.g., emails, newsletters, parent updates)
- Analyzing student performance data to inform instruction
- Automating routine administrative tasks (e.g., scheduling, attendance tracking, report generation)
- Creating formative assessments and providing real-time feedback
- Supporting accessibility (e.g., generating alternative formats, translation, or communication aids)
- Professional learning (e.g., summarizing research, generating training materials)
- All uses must comply with district privacy policies, and any AI-generated content must be reviewed by a human before sharing with students or families.
Student AI Use By Grade Level
Student AI Use By Grade Level
- Grades K–5: Student use of AI is limited and highly supervised. AI tools may be used for accessibility (e.g., text-to-speech, language support) or as part of teacher-led activities. Independent use of generative AI is not permitted at this level.
- Grades 6–8: Students may use district-approved AI tools for guided learning activities, such as brainstorming, research support, or practicing skills. All use must be supervised, and students must be taught about academic integrity and responsible AI use.
- Grades 9–12: Students may use district-approved AI tools for research, writing support, project planning, and skill development, provided they follow academic honesty guidelines. Students must cite AI tools following the author–date–title–source format and are responsible for ensuring their work reflects their own understanding.
- All Grades: No student data may be entered into non-approved AI tools. All student use must comply with FERPA, COPPA, and CIPPA, and be monitored by educators.
Prohibited AI Uses
Prohibited AI Uses
- Automated Grading Without Review: AI-generated grades or feedback that is not reviewed and validated by a teacher.
- Entering PII into Non-Approved Tools: No student or staff Personally Identifiable Information (PII)—including names, addresses, student IDs, grades, health data, or behavioral records—may be entered into any AI tool that is not district-approved.
- AI for IEPs: Employees should not utilize AI-generated content to generate language that is specific to any particular student’s IEP, 504, FBA, BIP or other similar documentation.
- Unsupervised Student Use: Students may not use generative AI tools independently in grades K–8 or outside approved instructional activities.
- AI for Disciplinary Decisions: AI tools may not be used to make decisions about student discipline or behavioral interventions.
- AI-Generated Content Misrepresentation: Submitting AI-generated work as original without proper citation or disclosure.
- External AI Model Training: District data may not be used to train external AI models under any circumstances.
Guardrails for Responsible AI Use
Guardrails for Responsible AI Use
- Equity & Inclusion: AI tools must promote equitable access and outcomes for all students. No individual or group should be unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged by AI.
- Transparency: Educators and students must be informed when AI is used, and AI-generated content must be clearly identified and cited.
- Human Oversight: Teachers remain responsible for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. AI may assist but not replace educator judgment.
- Academic Integrity: Use of AI in assignments or assessments must comply with academic honesty policies. AI-assisted plagiarism or misrepresentation is prohibited.
- Data Privacy (FERPA, COPPA, CIPPA compliance; Microsoft Copilot preferred): All AI tools must comply with FERPA, COPPA, and CIPPA. Only district-approved platforms—such as Microsoft Copilot, governed by Microsoft’s K-12 privacy agreement—may be used with student data. Third-party AI tools require a formal privacy and security review.
- Accessibility: AI tools for special education must be selected and monitored to meet accessibility needs without compromising privacy.
- Professional Development: Educators and staff must complete training on AI tools, ethical use, and data privacy before classroom use.
- Continuous Review: The district will regularly review AI practices and seek stakeholder feedback to ensure alignment with legal, ethical, and educational standards.
