3 Ways to Teach Appropriate Use of AI
How can we teach students to use AI responsibly and make it a tool for learning, not shortcuts?
Read the first blog in this series: Three Strategies for Teachers Who Use AI
In the new world of artificial intelligence, students have access to tools that will generate pretty much anything they ask it to generate. This can be very frustrating for teachers. How do we ensure that they are not cheating? The truth is, unless you are doing everything on paper, you can’t. Even online AI detectors are problematic, with a high percentage of false positives. So, the best way to manage AI is to teach our students how to use it responsibly and ensure that we capitalize not only on the efficiency it offers, but also the opportunity to task students with evaluating its accuracy. Let’s look at three ways you can teach students about the appropriate use of AI. You may also find it helpful to read my previous blog post, Three Strategies for Teachers Who Use AI.
Stoplight
The use of artificial intelligence in the classroom isn’t just a “do” or “don’t.” There are numerous ways in which this tool can be utilized without just completing the work for students. Many teachers have adopted a stoplight model when assigning work to let students know what level of AI interaction is permissible. Red assignments would mean no AI is allowed. Yellow would mean AI can be used with caution. A green light assignment would mean AI is allowed and encouraged, following certain guidelines.
Image
Stoplight: Using AI in the Classroom
🔴Red light—No assistance with AI at all. Doing so would violate academic integrity and school policy.
🟡Yellow light— AI prompting can be used to brainstorm, refine ideas, generate search terms, suggest sub topics, provide feedback on drafts of student work, etc.; 90 percent of the submitted work is student-created. Reflection on how AI was utilized should be required.
🟢Green light—Students are encouraged to use AI as a launchpad for their work or utilized as a collaborator/assistant. The key is showing students how AI can support the learning process. In this stage, requiring reflection is key. Students must submit any AI-generated work and show how they have revised or adjusted work based on their verification and evaluation of AI’s accuracy and reliability. They must be vigilant of erroneous or irrelevant data and ideas generated and note those in their final reflection.
- Note: Book discussions with a character, alternative student-created ideas to pair with AI output, creating images and critiquing the generated content, etc., are all ways students can benefit from critical thinking opportunities that AI presents.
Guidelines for Using AI Without Plagiarizing
It’s important to teach students how to use AI without plagiarizing. Realistically, unless you teach appropriate use, they won’t know what they can and cannot do. Using a simple poster of guidelines can help.
- AI information is a source; and just like any source, it must be referenced.
- If you adapt something from AI, you should note that it is adapted.
- Adapting AI means totally rewording it, not just rearranging what is there.
- If you don’t reference AI or say you adapted it, that is plagiarism.
- Be careful how much you use from AI. Even if you adapt it, too much is plagiarism.
REVIEW Your Use of AI
A second set of guidelines is appropriate when you want to help students know exactly how to use AI throughout the process. You might consider using the following acronym with students to REVIEW their use of AI before submitting work.
R—Review your prompt.
E—Evaluate the response generated by AI.
V—View and adjust your prompt if necessary.
I—Include appropriate citations of AI platforms used.
E—Elaborate on the response with other sources.
W—Write your response, including, but not copying, AI.
A Final Note
AI can be challenging for today’s teachers. Students often want to have AI do the entire assignment, and teachers aren’t sure if they have done so. Although it may not solve the whole problem, teaching students how to use AI appropriately can help allay the problem.
Join the AI and Education Community!
Join the team from the AI Educator Brain, which includes AFT’s Share My Lesson director Kelly Booz; New York City Public Schools teacher Sari Beth Rosenberg and EdBrAIn, our AI teammate (yes, it named and designed itself!). In this community, we will dissect the pros and cons of AI tools in education. Our mission: to determine how AI can support teaching and learning, and when it might be best to stick with tried-and-true methods.
About the Author
Melissa Miles, M.Ed., is a middle school Language Arts teacher with over 18 years of experience and co-author of Rigor in the K-5 and 6-12 Language Arts and Social Studies Classroom with Dr. Barbara Blackburn. She’s a National Board-Certified educator, former Director of Educational Resources, and consultant for SpringBoard Curriculum and “Schools to Watch.” Melissa brings humor, practical strategies, and a focus on student ownership to her workshops.
As a teacher, a leader and a university professor responsible for graduate training for educators, Barbara Blackburn has used her knowledge and experiences to write over 35 best-selling books. She utilizes the engagement she advocates there to capture and instill in nationwide audiences the desire... See More
Advertisement
