Teaching Strategies
3 Reasons AI Should Be Part of Your Digital Citizenship Lessons
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a term that has made many rounds in the news cycle this year. As with any emerging technology, it has come with various (and even divided) opinions, especially when it comes to its use in education. However, there’s one thing we can all agree on–AI isn’t going anywhere.
And this generation of students will engage with it more than any generation before them. It’s our responsibility as educators to prepare them to approach AI safely, critically, and ethically. That’s why AI literacy is essential in today’s digital citizenship curriculum.
Why AI should be part of your digital citizenship lessons
1. AI is everywhere
From customer service chatbots to facial recognition, AI is becoming more prevalent in our everyday lives. In fact, according to Common Sense Media, 58% of teens aged 12–18 have already used generative AI tools. Plus, the adoption of AI is becoming more common in educational settings, from assisting teachers in the classroom to creating personalized learning experiences for students.
Having a basic understanding of how AI works helps students make informed choices when they interact with the technology.
2. Media literacy is key to navigating AI
AI systems learn from vast amounts of data, which may include biased, offensive, or even incorrect information. Knowing how to decipher these biases can help students critically evaluate the AI-generated content they consume. And finding accurate information is the first step to using it to make connections and deepen understanding.
Which is why media literacy and AI literacy should go hand-in-hand. Building both throughout your digital citizenship lessons helps students quickly detect AI-generated content from human-created content–and the intent each serves–as well as giving students a leg up in their research skills to evaluate and present information effectively.
3. AI will impact their future
As AI continues to evolve, students today will be the ones who have to navigate the technology more and more as they get older, while society is still trying to understand its impact and limitations at the same time.
Preparing them for its potential influence on their lives now and helping them understand how to leverage AI with positive intention, empowers them to shape a digital culture we all can benefit from.
It’s important to be thoughtful about how you interact with AI. Unlike a computer, you have critical thinking skills, so make sure you use them!
Building background knowledge on AI
For more than 25 years, classrooms around the world have relied on BrainPOP to equip students with the digital citizenship skills they need to safely navigate online spaces.
BrainPOP’s latest Digital Citizenship topic, Artificial Intelligence, takes students on a journey to build background knowledge on what AI is, understand the impact it can have on their daily lives, and the risks that can unfold when used nefariously. And in Tim’s words, “it’s important to be thoughtful about how you interact with AI. Unlike a computer, you have critical thinking skills, so make sure you use them!”
For a limited time, teachers and students can explore our Artificial Intelligence topic for free.
Our complete Digital Citizenship unit covers more than 20 topics across K-8th grade, including Cyberbullying, Copyright, Social Media, and Peer Pressure.
Jordan Bremus-Wyles is the social media lead at BrainPOP, with a Bachelor’s in English and Journalism. She is a youth advocate and mom of two.
