Adding AI to Your K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum

Key points:

Traditionally, teaching digital citizenship (responsible use of technology) to students involves fostering efficient research skills, encouraging appropriate communication styles, highlighting potential security and privacy concerns, and consuming digital information with a critical eye.

However, the rapid expansion of ai tools and services has disrupted these carefully curated lesson plans. Educators may feel overwhelmed and uncertain about this technology, but the call is clear: we must evolve with the world around us to help our students be good digital citizens of ALL the technology that is available to them.

Apply old habits to new technologies

Teaching students about ai allows them to not only learn its capabilities but also begin to question its limitations. Fortunately, educators do not need to know everything about ai to teach it because they are already professionals in teaching digital citizenship.

As students turn to bots and ai tools for help, apply the same digital citizenship guidance you are familiar and comfortable with:

• “Can you find a reliable source to back up that information?”
• “Can you find more than one reliable source to confirm the accuracy?”
• “Is the information provided based on assumptions or biased?”
• “Do you think it's safe to share that information with the ai?”
• “Who do you think has access to the information you are sharing?”
• “Does the way you communicate with a bot produce different results?”
• “Is it okay to bully a robot?”

Questioning a tool or practice that initially seems so beneficial and positive forces students to pause and consider the quality of the information they receive, as well as safety and ethical issues of the tools they use.

Help students become aware of ai

Guiding our students to approach ai through the lens of a digital citizen means educating students not only on how to use this technology but also how to use it safely and responsibly. Savvy digital citizens will also understand the implications that ai has on their daily lives.

For example, ai influences our selected social networks, the advertisements directed at us, and even the decisions made about our education and health. As such, students should have a general knowledge of how ai works so that they understand where the information comes from, who is behind the technology, what their interests may be, and how the results affect their daily lives.

Ethical Considerations for ai in K-12 Education

Understanding how ai works also means understanding its potential. prejudices and the ai-ethicist-views-on-chatgpt/?sh=5ffa1bbfeb70″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>ethical Problems may arise when using it.

For example, data privacy becomes a primary concern as ai systems often require large amounts of data to function effectively. How is student data used? Who has access to it? Are we accessing others' data without their permission? (Spoiler alert: yes).

Additionally, ai can perpetuate (and even amplify) biases if not managed carefully. It is possible for ai tools to develop biases based on the data they receive. Helping students understand how and why this happens can help them prepare to challenge and question the results they are achieving.

Teaching our students to think critically about these tools will allow them to make informed decisions and interact with these technologies responsibly.

Tips for Integrating ai into Your K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum

To begin integrating ai into your existing digital citizenship curriculum, let's consider four main pillars of digital citizenship: safety, communication, literacy, and ethics. Here are some suggested activities related to each topic area:

• Security: Assign a different ai tool to student groups. Ask them to explore how it works and, if appropriate for their abilities, ask them to explore the tool's privacy policy. What information does it require to function? Are you transparent about how you collect and share data? Do/should you feel safe sharing information with him?
• Communication: Have students research the best way to communicate with ai tools. As with a search engine, are there ways to “talk” to these robots that are more effective than others?
• Literature: Have students analyze popular ai tools to determine the ease of use, reliability, and credibility of each tool. They could even use ai to create a graph that compares and contrasts their findings.
• Ethics: Share real-world examples to illustrate ethical dilemmas related to ai. As a class, discuss scenarios, such as who is responsible when an autonomous vehicle makes a mistake or if the use of ai is plagiarism.

These activities not only foster ai literacy, but also empower students to become critical thinkers and ethical digital citizens.

Conclusion

As ai continues to evolve and influence various aspects of our lives, we can prepare students to interact with it in the same way we have been preparing them to interact with the digital world for years. By equipping students with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the complexities of ai, we enhance their digital citizenship skills and prepare them to face the future with confidence and integrity.