Interested in having your students explore AI? Good news -- I created a lesson for you! It can be used in grades K-8 and be as long or short, involved or simple as you want it to be!
Good news: the tools the students use is similar to ChatGPT in that it is a chatbot, but it meets other requirements:
It does NOT collect any data from students, so there is no need to have a SOPPA agreement in place.
It is okay for students to use, kindergarten and up.
I am starting to lose track of what I have shared with you, so if I already shared this, my apologies! But one of the coolest things I've used recently is called Scribe -- and I credit Mary Jo and Jonathan for the discovery!
If you need to create step by step directions for someone on how to complete something online, Scribe is your new best friend! Simply install the Chrome extension, activate it when you're ready to demonstrate something, and go to work! When you're done, it will create step-by-step, annotated and illustrated web page/exportable document that you can share that shows your audience what to do! You can even edit the page before you share it or export it, deleting anything you don't need people to see or changing language. Here's an example of what a Scribe document looks like.
Check out the Scribe website! And if you're ready to start using it but are feeling a little iffy, no worries! Just give me a ring and I'll come walk you through it! You'll be addicted to making really snazzy how-to guides!
Digital media literacy is a super hot topic in education because of the impact AI generated content can have on learning. It should be a hot topic for the general public as well because every last one of us could easily and unwittingly fall prey to the bad actors out there generating content that is incredibly realistic and incredibly believable -- and is all super duper fake! Let's just take a look at an analysis of how AI generated false content could impact our upcoming Presidential election. Without being incredibly discerning consumers of information, we all could easily be duped into believing something that is simply not true. One of the most important things we need to do is first, pay attention to our own common sense. If you see, watch, or hear something that makes you think, "Is this actually real?" that's your sign to do some investigating! And that may also mean finding the information in multiple locations because, sadly, far too many reputable sources of information have mistakenly shared false information. This really believable false content is so common it has a name -- deep fakes. And they are incredible sometimes! Just for fun, here's the first deep fake I fell for (if only for a moment). I saw the video and said to my husband, "Tom Cruise and Paris Hilton are a couple???" He looked at me like I had 3 heads, so I decided to check it out and discovered it was all fake. I felt pretty dumb!
But let's take a moment to look at something that kids might be vulnerable to. Here's an AI generated video that will completely appeal to kids: a video of amazing new animals like giraffe flamingoes, eel cats, and bunny armadillos among others -- creatures that will freak you out but may totally mesmerize kids who may then believe these are somehow real.
Our students are going to be exposed to more and more content like this as they get older and AI gets more sophisticated, so we need to reach them early to teach them how to think carefully about what they see. The acronym SIFT is mentioned in the first video I shared in this post, and it's a great one to teach kids and maybe even hang up in your classroom:
S = STOP when you encounter content that makes you wonder about it.
I - INVESTIGATE the information in the content.
F = FIND alternate coverage of the same content.
T = TRACE the origin by looking at other places where the content is found, looking for dates, authors, etc.
By using this acronym, we -- kids and adults alike -- can protect ourselves from being the victim of people out there who are trying to manipulate us and deceive us. Now, I would love to hear from you! Share in the comments -- what tips, tricks, or strategies do you have for teaching kids how to be critical thinkers and consumers of online content? We can't have too many tools in this toolbox.
.gif)