Educate Oklahoma: How Schools Are Building Real AI Literacy
Artificial intelligence is showing up in lesson plans and job descriptions alike. A recent Pew Research Center review points to a simple reality: many workers already use AI on the job, even as public concern stays high. For educators, the takeaway is clear-teach the tool, teach the limits, and teach the ethics.
Across Oklahoma, that's exactly what's happening. Districts and universities are moving from curiosity to curriculum, giving students the context and capability they'll need long after graduation.
Broken Arrow High School: A Full AI Course, Built for K-12
Broken Arrow High School is among the first in the state to offer a dedicated AI course for juniors and seniors. Launched at the start of the 2026 semester, the class already has about 150 students enrolled, with plans to expand.
"This course is really focused on what the tool is, what the technology is and what it looks like," said Brandon Chitty, executive director of instructional technology and virtual programs for Broken Arrow Public Schools. "It talks about ethics. It talks about bias. It goes into the root of it and kind of takes the magic away."
Chitty's stance is practical: use AI as a partner, not a shortcut. "We don't want AI to take the challenge," he said. "We want AI to partner in the challenge so we can get even further. If it can change the starting spot, then we can actually go farther in our tasks than where we started."
Students are responding. As they weigh careers and long-term plans, a course that makes AI concrete-and accountable-meets them where they are.
OU Polytechnic: Applied AI, Taught With Boundaries
That momentum continues in higher ed. The University of Oklahoma Polytechnic Institute is running the state's first bachelor's degree in applied artificial intelligence, now in its first year with about 15 students. Related programs in cybersecurity and software development round out the technical track.
Associate Professor John Hassell said clarity is central to the curriculum. "It's not a robot. It's not augmented reality. It's not virtual reality," he said. "We teach the fundamental nature of AI, what it's capable of and what it is not. We call that the jagged frontier."
Students also practice bringing AI into daily workflows-how to scope problems, choose tools, evaluate outputs, and keep humans in the loop. Graduate student Daren Diaz noted that skills tied to AI, security, and software are becoming more valuable as employers look for technical fluency. As Hassell put it: "AI is absolutely an exciting frontier. Nobody is an expert in everything about AI. We're all trying to get a grasp on how it can be leveraged in our lives, no matter what we do."
What Educators Can Do Next
- Anchor AI literacy in definitions: model types, data, tokens, prompts, limitations, uncertainty.
- Put ethics and bias up front: fairness, privacy, copyright, source verification, and consent.
- Teach with guardrails: clear policies on acceptable use, attribution, and assessment integrity.
- Make it applied: projects that use AI for brainstorming, drafting, analysis, and revision-always with reflection on quality and accuracy.
- Build teacher capacity: short PD cycles where faculty test tools, share use cases, and compare notes on what works.
- Partner locally: align with nearby colleges and employers to spot skill gaps and co-design capstones or internships.
- Measure impact: track changes in student workflow, critical thinking, and output quality-not just tool usage.
Resources for Planning and PD
- Trends and public sentiment: Pew Research Center on AI
- Curated training to support staff and curriculum development: Complete AI Training - Courses by Job
Across classrooms and campuses, Oklahoma students are getting a head start with AI-learning how it works, where it fails, and how to use it responsibly. That's the kind of preparation that follows them into any field they choose.
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