How To Cultivate AI Literacy In The Next Generation
With AI influencing nearly every aspect of our lives—from how we work to how we shop—it’s become crucial for everyone to develop AI literacy. However, this knowledge is particularly essential for educators since they’re responsible for cultivating the next generation of critical thinkers who will navigate and shape the future of our AI-driven world. However, although promoting AI literacy among students is an increasingly important objective for educators, that doesn’t mean achieving it is a simple feat. Before educators can build students’ AI literacy skills, they must commit to learning all there is to know about the concept itself.
In this article, we’ll explore the concept of AI literacy, including what it looks like in the context of education. We’ll also provide a useful framework for understanding AI literacy and offer seven effective strategies for promoting it in the classroom.
What Is AI Literacy?
AI literacy is the knowledge and skills that enable us to understand AI, think critically about its capabilities and limitations, and leverage it effectively for various tasks.
Although AI literacy includes understanding AI technology and being able to use it, the concept also goes beyond those aspects. For example, knowing when and why to use AI, as well as understanding its social, cultural, political, and economic impact, is equally important.
In the context of education, AI literacy involves recognizing how AI can enhance or undermine the teaching and learning process. For example, educators can leverage AI to provide timely feedback to students. However, using it to replace human interaction will weaken educators’ ability to deliver quality education and diminish students’ chances of achieving learning outcomes.
Why Is AI Literacy Important?
AI usage is accelerating worldwide, emphasizing the need for AI literacy. According to Statista, over 250 million people globally used AI tools in 2023. The same source found that the number of global AI tool users is expected to reach over 700 million by the end of the decade.
Beyond increased AI usage, AI literacy is also important because AI technology offers various benefits, particularly for educators and students. According to research conducted by McKinsey, existing technology can help teachers reallocate 20% to 40% of their time to activities that support student learning. Furthermore, a Quizlet survey found that 73% of students agree that AI technology helps them better understand learning material.
At the same time, research highlighting the costs of relying on AI continues to emerge. For example, a recent University of Pennsylvania study found that high school students who use generative AI to prepare for math exams perform worse on tests where they can’t rely on AI than those who don’t use the tools at all. This finding underscores the need to identify, understand, and prevent overreliance on AI, which building AI literacy can facilitate.
3 Modes of Engagement: A Framework For Building AI Literacy In Students
Having a framework for understanding AI literacy and promoting it among students is paramount for educators in the age of generative AI tools, chatbots, and other advanced technologies.
Fortunately, Digital Promise, a global nonprofit focused on expanding opportunities for learners, offers a useful AI literacy framework for both education leaders and learners. It consists of three modes of engagement: understand, evaluate, and use.
1. Understand
The “understand” component involves acquiring basic knowledge of what AI can do and how it works so users can make informed decisions regarding AI tool usage and evaluation. For example, teachers and learners should be able to understand basic AI capabilities like speech recognition and decision making so they know when to use it and for which tasks.
2. Evaluate
Next, the “evaluate” component refers to using human judgment to critically consider how AI benefits and harms society, individuals, and the environment. For instance, educators should evaluate how AI technology often “hallucinates”—or produces incorrect results—and discuss with students the role of AI in disseminating misinformation.
3. Use
Finally, the “use” part of the framework involves interacting, creating, and problem solving with AI for different contexts and purposes. For example, educators might use AI technology to generate handouts for students and encourage students to use AI to brainstorm ideas for essay topics.
7 Effective Strategies For Your Classroom
Now that you understand the concept of AI literacy and have a valuable framework to reference, you can implement strategies to promote AI literacy among students. Here are seven strategies:
1. Assess And Improve Your Own AI Literacy
Before trying to improve students’ AI literacy skills, ensure that you have a firm understanding of AI yourself. For example, can you define AI without the help of Google and identify AI tools other than ChatGPT? Can you list some of its capabilities and limitations as well as what those capabilities and limitations mean for you and others?
Aside from having a conceptual knowledge of AI, you want to make sure you know how to use popular AI tools, especially if they will help you perform your work better or improve students’ learning experience. For example, you could use one AI tool to generate lesson plans, and different tools to grade work or design custom quizzes for students.
If you’re unsure of how to leverage certain tools or simply want to improve your AI knowledge and skills, see if your school or institution offers training. Also, research resources online. For example, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, the International Society for Technology in Education, and TeachAI all provide valuable guidance for educators.
2. Gauge Students’ Current AI Awareness And Usage
Although students are likely familiar with AI and may have used it previously, they may not realize its full potential. Conversely, they may overestimate its capabilities. Addressing both aspects is crucial to ensuring students have a robust understanding of and competency with AI tools.
To assess students’ current AI literacy, have them take a questionnaire. You could include short answer questions where students define AI, explain how it works, and describe how they use it. Students could also identify real-life examples of AI and the tasks it can perform.
Analyzing questionnaire responses will help you identify where students are confident and where they’re confused when it comes to AI. Based on your analysis, develop an effective plan for expanding students’ existing knowledge and clarifying any misconceptions about AI.
3. Determine AI Literacy Learning Outcomes For Students
Developing AI literacy learning outcomes will help you properly assess students’ AI skills and knowledge.
For example, definitions included as part of an AI literacy framework published in the Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence journal could be adapted into effective learning outcomes for students. To demonstrate their AI literacy, students could be required to:
- Know the basic functions of AI and how to use AI applications.
- Apply AI knowledge, concepts, and applications in different scenarios.
- Use higher-order thinking skills (e.g. evaluate, appraise, predict, and design) with AI applications.
- Make human-centered considerations (e.g. fairness, accountability, transparency, ethics, and safety).
Here are a few possible actions students could take to satisfy each criterion:
- Identify AI tools and know when and how to use them.
- Use AI writing tools to edit completed essays.
- Evaluate weaknesses in outputs when using generative AI tools to design images.
- Discuss ethical considerations raised by AI like bias and privacy concerns.
4. Establish Clear Guidelines For AI Usage
Students can use AI in numerous ways—from creating personalized study plans to answering homework questions. For that reason, be clear about how they should and shouldn’t use it.
For example, appropriate uses of AI for students might be using AI to simplify concepts, brainstorm ideas, and correct their grammar. Meanwhile, inappropriate uses could include using AI to solve math problems and write research papers. You can locate other sample use cases by referencing your school’s AI policy or other guidelines.
When outlining your use cases, be sure to explain why you’ve included them. This will encourage students to think critically about AI and be intentional with their usage. For instance, if you allow students to use AI to edit—not write—their essays, explain how assessing feedback from AI tools encourages them to consider what comprises effective writing.
Contrast this with students using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to produce entire essays by explaining how doing so undermines their critical thinking skills and creativity. To further aid students’ understanding of responsible AI usage while also promoting trust and transparency, share how you use AI to support—not supplant—your role as an educator.
5. Incorporate AI Tools In The Classroom
Demonstrate what responsible, ethical, and effective usage of AI looks like by modeling it in the classroom. Allow students to play AI-powered educational games to prepare for assessments and find credible sources for their papers using various tools.
Another way to explore AI in the classroom is by teaching students how to create effective prompts. This will help them develop prompt engineering skills, which are critical in today’s workforce. It’ll also encourage students to think more deeply about AI and its limitations. For example, students will realize that the quality of AI outputs depends on what users themselves feed to the programs. In other words, they’ll recognize that AI can’t produce quality results without human intelligence and intervention.
6. Foster Critical Discussion About AI
To ensure students are continuously examining AI’s role in their lives and the world, dedicate time in class to discussing AI. Ask students about what they’ve noticed from using AI tools, including whether it helped them understand learning content and how often it hallucinated.
If your school or institution uses an online learning platform, share AI-related articles in discussion forums and encourage students to comment on them. Fostering this dialogue encourages students to critically consider AI. Instead of passively accepting the technology, students will learn to observe, question, and even challenge how AI works.
An additional option for encouraging discussion about AI is to get feedback from students on how you’ve integrated AI into the classroom. This gives students a say in their education and allows them to consider how AI does or doesn’t deliver value.
For example, a recent study showed that college students in a first-year writing program believed AI tools helped them find ideas, research sources, counterarguments, and alternate word choices. However, many students still opted against using the tools because they believed reviewing AI suggestions was time-consuming.
7. Encourage Continuous Learning
The constant emergence of new AI technologies means that AI literacy is an evolving process. That’s why educators should instill the values of continuous learning and curiosity in students.
One way to do this is to connect AI to students’ interests and the overall learning process. For example, demonstrate how generative AI tools can create fun songs to help students memorize key facts from lessons. That way, they’ll engage more with class content and develop an awareness of and appreciation for unique AI capabilities.
You can also assign students extra credit for attending AI-focused events or completing AI-related exercises. For instance, award students for attending a recommended webinar on AI ethics. Or, give them extra points for responding to an article on AI and plagiarism.
Finally, direct students to other resources where they can continue educating themselves about AI. That includes official websites, educational videos, news articles, and research studies.
Conclusion
AI literacy will continue to grow in importance as AI technology evolves and becomes more widespread. Although everyone must develop a robust understanding of how AI works and what it means for the world, educators in particular must ensure that they have a firm grasp of the concept so they can equip students with the skills they need to navigate an AI-driven world.
Once educators understand what AI literacy entails, they can implement strategies to successfully promote it among students. However, the journey shouldn’t stop there. Educators should continuously learn about AI developments and instill this same curiosity in students so they can effectively navigate the technology-driven landscape of today as well as that of the future.
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