What AI Literacy Looks Like in My Classroom

I'm a believer that the most effective way to teach students AI literacy involves carefully integrating the technology—and its associated learning—into students' existing coursework. This way, students—and teachers—may come to view the development of AI competencies as commensurate with all other learning that goes on in their classroom.

My previous blog post introduced ten AI competencies that would provide BC students with a comprehensive understanding of generative AI: its abilities, its limitations, and its ethical considerations. Though I've been embedding AI literacy into my classroom for a while now, I've been doing so in a more casual manner.

Going forward, I would like to shift to a more methodical approach by intentionally pairing AI competencies with specific projects and learning activities. The intention is to make the integration of AI literacy feel natural rather than forced. My last Social Justice 12 project was an attempt to accomplish just that.

I've been assigning a "Commemoration Controversy" project for a few years now—well before generative AI changed the landscape of K-12 education. This time around, I tried something new. I revamped the project by facilitating an opportunity for students to leverage generative AI in a way that doesn't undermine their learning.

This project asks students to make an ethical judgment on a Canadian historical figure’s commemoration controversy. I divided students into groups simulating a city council. Each group split up their research objectives: some members explored the figure’s achievements, while others investigated their more controversial actions.

Students shared a Google Doc to house their point-form notes and track their sources. Since the project allowed AI as a “Work Partner,” I asked students to transform their collaborative notes into a cohesive written report using CoPilot. Afterward, students had to complete their ethical judgment without the technology, as AI would undoubtedly undercut the project’s learning intention.

Along with developing their understanding of making ethical judgments in social justice contexts, students furthered their ability to both "determine when and how to use AI for a task" and "collaborate with generative AI systems." We discussed why students could use AI for their collaborative report but not their ethical judgment. We also examined prompt engineering techniques to improve their AI responses. By intentionally engaging with AI competencies, our students will become more confident digital citizens.

What if more teachers at more grade levels enriched their courses with meaningful AI literacy? From mathematics to English Language Arts, there’s room for AI competencies in BC classrooms. As I write this, Canada is ranked 44th of 47 nations in AI literacy. We need to do better. This is my proposal for better.