David has been pulling from two curriculums to customize lessons for his students: Code.org and Common Sense Media. The Code.org unit, How AI Makes Decisions, focuses on computer science to make predictions. Code.org markets as being for grades 3 to 8, but David has found ways to adjust and edit the content for 2nd grade. An advocate for AI and Media Literacy, David sees value in starting in younger grades. As an aside, David observes that students in older grades seem to be more nervous about AI. He points out, however, that older kids are more likely to have heard negative stories through social media. Code.org's "Is this a fish?" interactive game helps students understand how humans train AI by identifying fish in images. David also appreciates the Code.org instructional videos and admits to learning alongside the kids.
Common Sense Media's Digital Citizenship curriculum has been an additional resource for David. These lessons are more scripted, but like any responsive teacher, he adapts the language to sound more like him. David wants to give students tools for leveraging AI properly to help people rather than hurt them. Deepfakes, images/videos layered with AI-generated voices, scare him the most. It's frightening how they misquote people, and he questions the need for that ability. David reminds students that AI can only do what we teach it to do. Like anything else, it can be a positive force despite its dark side. His thing is to teach knowledge, which is power, to see that AI is not scary.
While digital programs are great, David believes the real power is classroom conversations. He sees AI as an opportunity to address topics like bias and blind spots in artificial intelligence. Through classroom talk, he has seen students go from fear around AI to viewing it as just another tool.
Kristin Patrick
Blended Learning Coach
Way to go, David! White River students are lucky to have you as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteThey sure are! And they were lucky to have YOU as their technology teacher before David!
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