Embracing the algorithm: How one Ottawa County district is rewriting the rules on AI

HUDSONVILLE — With the school year concluded, educators across Ottawa County are reflecting on a technology that has rapidly transformed classrooms over the past few years: artificial intelligence.

Tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini have become increasingly common among students, forcing school districts to confront urgent questions about academic integrity, critical thinking and the future of traditional instruction.

While some school systems nationwide have restricted AI use entirely, others are shifting their approach, exploring how the technology can be incorporated into learning rather than avoided. For many administrators, the conversation is no longer about whether students will use AI, but how schools can adapt to its reality.

Doug VanderJagt, superintendent of Hudsonville Public Schools, views AI as a tool that students must learn to navigate responsibly.

Hudsonville’s English department has worked to design a curriculum that "embraces the use of some AI so kids reject using it as a cheating method," VanderJagt said. If students learn to view AI as a component of the learning process rather than a shortcut, he said, they may be less likely to rely on it in ways that undermine their education.

"In creative writing classes, it’s harmful, but maybe helpful when it comes to analyzing data," VanderJagt said. "In English, it’s harmful if you’re not doing the work behind it — it still has to be your style and voice."

Despite concerns over widespread academic dishonesty, VanderJagt said the district has not seen a wholesale abandonment of original work.

"We tend to see a lot of our kids shy away from using these tools," VanderJagt said. "In fact, when students have used it in the past, their intentions were not to advance anything but to keep creativity."

With information now more accessible than it was a generation ago, educators are placing a greater emphasis on fostering human creativity — an attribute AI can assist with, but only to a certain extent. While AI can serve as a sounding board to bounce ideas off of, its writing outputs remain generic, VanderJagt said, meaning the core of the work still falls on the students.

To ensure the technology does not impede critical thinking, Hudsonville has spent the past three to four years using educational AI tools to help teachers craft assignments that are difficult for AI to replicate. Instead of assigning general, easily searchable questions, teachers now ask students to connect their ideas directly to specific class discussions and their immediate environments.

To maintain academic security during evaluations, the district has also adjusted its testing environments.

"Most exams are paper and pencil, but when they’re electronic, they’re with lockdown devices," VanderJagt said.

Adapting to the technology remains an ongoing process, and VanderJagt noted that expectations for responsible AI use cannot be a one-size-fits-all policy. The district is still figuring out how to scale guidelines across different grade levels, where student skill sets and maturity vary widely.

"We have to continue training our staff," VanderJagt said. "A third-grader handles AI differently than an eighth-grader."

The rollout of these technologies also intersects with persistent digital divides within the community.

"There are still some areas in Michigan, and even in Hudsonville, where kids do not have the same access to the internet," VanderJagt said. "Access always looks different and is variable."

As school districts look toward an AI-heavy future, VanderJagt said classrooms must prioritize skills that automation cannot replicate: deep research, relationship building, creativity and critical thinking.

"In the past, you went to the library and read books and looked up articles, but now students have access not only from their laptops but from their phones. They can access information much faster," VanderJagt said. "The expectation is using AI creatively, which AI cannot do."

— Alyssa Bird is a reporter for Ottawa News Network. Contact her at newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.