Weekly Reflection #4

Today we attended a couple of workshops as a way of learning about different resources and research from different experts.

Student AI Literacy Lesson K-12
The first workshop I attended focused how and why to teach AI literacy. The presenter made the point that whether we support using AI or not, we need to be able to teach AI literacy because it is very prevalent. It is inevitable that students will be using AI for their homework and daily life. I agree with this; it is importnat that students are taught to use AI safely and responsibly.

The presenter also acknowledged the negative environmental impacts of AI. However, she stressed that it is important to teach the many other things that have a negative environmental impact as well: driving everyday, fast fashion, disposable food packaging, countless other things.

We can’t avoid AI completely. It’s integrated into so many things (Canva, Powerpoint, most other things). zthis further instates why it is so important that people learn to interact with AI responsibly.

People should avoid giving AI access to private or personal information. Once your information is online, AI does not ask permission to use it. The presenter gave the example that she was able to ask a genAI for information about herself and it complied by accessing her blog even though she had not given it permission to do so.

Lastly, people should avoid letting AI think for you. Instead, it should assist you with your thinking.

LiVE IT.earth
The second workshop I attended was about a website that offers bilingual inquiry-based resources for students. The website has a large focus on outdoor-based learning. It has a lot of nature documentary-style videos that are offered in both French and English. Its materials seem very high-quality and I think that it is worth keeping in my back pocket, especially if I end up teaching in an inquiry-based or independent school.