From social media algorithms to help with homework, artificial intelligence already plays a key role in students’ day-to-day lives. Yet research shows that very few actually understand how AI works. Using a programme piloted in ten New Zealand schools last year, ACG Strathallan aims to make its students digitally safe by teaching them to recognise AI, understand its limitations and use it responsibly.
The programme was developed in partnership with ‘Day of AI’, an initiative started at MIT to help students and their teachers thrive in the age of artificial intelligence. It is an internationally-recognised curriculum based around the UNESCO AI Competency Framework, the global reference tools on AI use and misuse in education.
Executive Principal, Danny O’Connor, views this as an important addition to the learning programme at Strathallan. “Artificial intelligence is already shaping the world our students will live and work in. It is important that they not only understand how these technologies function, but also develop the judgement to use them responsibly,” he says.
The programme is being delivered, using age-appropriate activities, across the primary school and college, with the year 7-10 content being taught as part of the ICT curriculum, culminating in a ‘Day of AI’ in term 4 for students in year 10.
The programme teaches important skills like critical thinking. Students need to be able to evaluate the information they receive from AI language models in the same way that they are taught how to evaluate a source on the internet. For example, students might believe ChatGPT has all the answers, but they need to understand that its answers are based on probability rather than truth, and that because AI is trained on human data, it inherits human biases. Recognising this will allow students to view these models as systems that should be questioned and critically evaluated.
Learning how algorithms work will also help students think more critically. In years 4-10, the activities focus on algorithmic literacy. Students will ‘peer under the hood’ of AI and learn about the invisible rules that influence what they see on TikTok and which news story they read, learning how these rules reinforce our own views and perception of the world. Rather than being passive consumers of technology, these lessons will enable students to become informed citizens who understand how their digital world is being shaped.
It is a world that already presents many ethical challenges. Who is responsible when a self-driving car makes a mistake? Should schools use AI facial recognition to track attendance? Can AI algorithms be used to assist judges in determining criminal sentences? These are some of the ethical dilemmas the programme raises for students to explore. And it’s important they do. Today’s students are the first generation that are having to deal with issues like deepfakes, AI-generated art, and automated grading, so they need to be given the tools to unpack the ethical questions AI raises in order to make responsible decisions about its use.
Whether a student becomes a nurse, a lawyer, an architect or a plumber, they need to leave school equipped with the knowledge, skills and values required to live and work in a future that will be shaped by increasingly advanced AI. By bringing AI into the classroom, Strathallan is enabling its students to navigate their digital world safely and responsibly.
