^{Themes: Ethical challenges in using AI, How I’ve been using AI, Specific AI Tool(s), Teaching Strategies
Audience & Subject: Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12; General, The Arts, Literacy}

Introduction

This article is structured to provide an entry-level understanding of artificial intelligence in classrooms in grades 7-12, with a focus on creative arts and cross-curricular perspectives. In the following sections, we will explore some of the ethics and considerations for effective AI use in teaching and provide a starting point for discussing digital literacy and student responsibilities. Tools referenced for the following activities include Adobe Express Image Generator, Magic School Character Chatbot, Magic School Rap Battle, Magic School Rubric Generator, and Chat GPT 3.5.

General Guidelines

The foundations for the following insights are guided partially by conversations, collaboration, and anecdotal evidence from working groups that include the Greater Victoria School District, The Canadian Teachers’ Federation, and the BC Ministry of Education. Additionally, I include insights gleaned from Cardona et al.’s (2023) guidelines for using AI models and their use in educational tools and systems. Specifically, the considerations of:

1. Bias and discrimination:  It is important that any tools that are used are created by developers who have taken steps to minimize bias and discrimination.
2. Data Security Risks: The privacy of human data must be protected both for students and teachers.
3. Ethics and Transparency: Students must be taught to cite sources and use AI ethically. Verification of information is also part of ethical AI use.
4. Humans in Loop: To ensure the protection of the teaching profession, ensuring humans remain at the forefront is crucial. Teachers must use AI tools to enhance learning rather than the AI tool being the learning. In addition, the human loop used to prompt and re-prompt is vital in all aspects of the AI Tools used in this presentation.
5. Within an Educational Systems Perspective: Teachers should always ensure that they are using tools approved by their school board or district before engaging in classroom use with students.

Activities

Activity 1: Using Image Generator as an Introduction to Digital Literacy and AI

Overview

This activity explores prior student experience with AI, discussions on ethical use, and collaboration in creating AI-generated images. Students will reflect on the design and names of sports team mascots, looking specifically for images that could be stereotypical or not inclusive. Using AI-generated images, the students create new versions while learning to cite prompts and use critical thinking to develop and refine prompts. For this example, two course subjects are combined: A grade 10-12 English activity involving the novel entitled Indian Horse and the digital literacy requirements of a Media studies class. Also, this activity includes the use of an image generator (Adobe Express Image Generator).

Description

• Set-up: Ensure that any tools you use are district-approved.

• Step 1: Check in to share students’ general knowledge about and experience with AI. For example:
  • Which AI tools students had tried?
  • What do they think are important considerations for using AI?
  • What potential benefits could they see with AI use?
• Step 2: Focusing on responsible digital citizenship, it is important to provide information, share examples, and have a thorough discussion with the students to foster new thoughts. Some starting points include the ethical use of tools, responsibility for citing, the importance of adding personal thoughts, respecting the district guidelines, general safety, privacy, and bias.
• Step 3: Students are now introduced and taught how to use a district-approved AI Image Generator that does not require additional logins or registration authentication. We started by introducing the concept of how bias could occur in the generated images and then how to adjust the text prompts accordingly. A potential discussion prompt here includes reflection on how and why to cite and credit to something.
• Step 4: Provide students with four examples, including prompts, final images, and citations.
• Step 5: For the English lesson component of the activity, students can research team mascots and examine possible stereotypes and biases by looking at the pros and cons. Next, the class can collectively contribute to brainstorming ideas for a branding image that might not be offensive, allowing students to think about prompt modifications to incorporate their ideas into a creation.
• Step 6: The final task is to create four slides. In the first three slides, students incorporate images using the three prompts and provide reasons for changes. Additionally, the third slide shows the image with the proper citation. On the fourth slide, students expand on the process and why specific changes occurred.
• Reflection: At the end of the lesson, students can complete a Google form with four questions which outline what they learned about AI use and the training process.

Possible Challenges

• Setting the Tone: Ensure that each step follows informed practices to ensure students are set up for future success.
• Boundaries for Tool Use: Two key considerations include:
  • Ensuring that tasks stay on track from a time-management perspective, and
  • Foster student creativity but ensure that outputs are appropriate for the demographic and general policies.

Activity 2: Using Magic School AI for Character Creation

Overview

In this activity, students use Magic School, ways to interact with historical characters, and conduct a performance to demonstrate learning. The characters could vary depending on the curriculum, project, or student interests. Potential course subjects include drama, English, Social Studies, Languages, and Digital Media classes. Students will use Magic School AI Chat Bot, Magic School AI Rap Battle, Chat GPT 3.5 and Magic School AI Rubric Generator. This activity can support students explore history in a fun, interactive, and engaging way that brings the characters to life while also demonstrating knowledge-based growth.

Description

• Step 1: Students are guided through the Teacher and Student interfaces of Magic School AI. They are then shown Character Chatbot—an AI bot that can be modelled after a specific historical figure and allows students to interact with it and learn about that individual in a fun and engaging way.
• Step 2: Students choose a historical character. For example, in my demonstration, students were introduced to Rosa Parks.
• Step 3: The next step in the lesson is to research the character. Students will find out information about their character’s life, achievements, and historical context from various resources such as the internet, books, or other sources as they apply. The collected information allows students to stimulate conversation when engaging with the chatbot.
• Step 4: Students put the character’s name into the prompt and can use audio or text to ask interesting and insightful questions about the character. When the Character Chatbot responds, there are accessibility functions that allow students to play the responses in audio form, export the response, or copy and paste the information. If students are stuck, the tool also helps to generate new prompt suggestions.
• Step 5: Workshop participants are also introduced to the Magic School AI Rap Battle and Chat GPT 3.5 extension. Through research and discussions with the chosen character, students will identify other characters who can then engage in a fun rap battle with the original historical figure. Depending on the subject, students could perform the rap themselves to teach the whole class about the character. For my example, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr engaged in a rap battle. Additionally, a script with accompanying stage directions was drafted with the aid of ChatGPT3.5.
• Educator Backend Work: For this process, launch Magic School Tools and select items to share and customize for your classroom based on grade level and criteria. QR codes can be generated within the Magic School platform to allow students to engage with the tool. Additionally, you can create a rubric using the Magic School AI Rubric Generator.

Possible Challenges

• Teacher Training: Teachers must feel comfortable with the Magic School platform themselves before sharing and demonstrating with students, specifically, launching tools and knowing how to share them through the links, QR code or Google Classroom.
• Digital Devices: Another challenge could be the need for digital devices available for each student in the class. In this case, shift this lesson to a group project and use only four or five devices.

Supporting Resources

• Morandini, S., Fraboni, F., De Angelis, M., Puzzo, G., Giusino, D., & Pietrantoni, L. (2023). The impact of artificial intelligence on workers’ skills: Upskilling and reskilling in organisations. Informing Science: The International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline, 26, 39-68. https://doi.org/10.28945/5078
• The history of cheating in schools [article]
• The unintended consequences of artificial intelligence and education [article]

Reference

Cardona, M., Ishmael, K., & Roberto, J. (2023).  Artificial intelligence and the future of teaching and learning. Office of Educational Technology. Retrieved May 2024, from https://www2.ed.gov/documents/ai-report/ai-report.pdf

About the author

name: Lena Palermo

Lena Palermo holds a B.F.A., B. ED, and M.ED and brings 29 years of education in K-12 in BC and Ontario as a teacher and leader. She has spent her career using Arts and Technology to embellish cross-curricular work. Her recent roles on the BC Ministry of Education—Digital and AI Support Development Team (BCTF Rep.) and Canadian Teachers’ Federation—Advisory Council for the Teaching Profession have allowed her to explore effective AI teaching practices while being mindful of the profession’s integrity. She supports teachers locally and provincially in her current positions, which include Victoria Teachers’ Association Professional Development Chair, Mentorship Coordinator, Joint Committee for Curriculum Instruction Co-Chair, British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) – Professional Issues Advisory Committee, Teacher Inquiry Program Facilitator, and Peer Support Consultant. She is also a Digital Media and Theatre teacher at Spectrum Secondary. Lena has created web modules and workshops on Tech Tools 4 Teachers and regularly revises and presents workshops on various subjects.