As K12 students graduate high school, their perceptions of AI quickly shift from that of a homework helper to a competitor, underscoring the importance of digital literacy initiatives.
T姻AIlblazing is a monthly column capturing the latest trends and innovations surrounding artificial intelligence and its impact on K12 based on research and conversations with district leaders.
Last month, Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta was booed during his commencement speech at Middle Tennessee State University for saying, “AI is rewriting production as we sit here.” His response to the backlash: “Deal with it.”
His firm reaction is rooted in the reality that AI is advancing at a pace that forces K12 educators to take one of two actions: embrace it or ban it. As of last fall, roughly 40% of schools ban generative AI, yet more than 80% of high schoolers use it for school work, according to the .
However, by the time high school students graduate, their views onAI change dramatically. Roughly 44% of young adults think AI will worsen their job prospects, according to a .
The rapid shift toward automation makes pursuing a degree feel like a waste of time, one Middle Tennessee graduate told.
Weve been pushed our entire lives to get our diplomas. Then you pulled the rug out from underneath us, and said: Oh, you know those four years you spent learning how to do very specific things, you dont need to do it anymore, Jacob Pagel told the news outlet. We can get a computer to do it for two-thirds the price.
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Teaching AI fundamentals
At the K12 level, most educators hope students won’t see AI as a threat, but as an efficiency tool that teachers are using to streamline lesson planning, curriculum prep and grading.
Leaders can encourage a positive student-AI relationship by imbedding AI into their digital literacy initiatives. At New York’s Central School District, students attend school board meetings and PD workshops to share how they want AI to be used in the classroom, Alana Winnick, the district’s technology director and data protection officer, recently told District 91心頭istration.
Sheseeks students’ ideas because they often have a clearer vision of AI’s capabilities than do teachers.
I say, OK, youre not getting the learning experience that you think you need. So, lets do something about it together,’ Winnick says.
District leaders can help students see AI as more than a job threat. encourages schools to teach students how AI works, where it fails and how to question its outputs critically.
The framework also argues that AI literacy should extend beyond computer science classes. Students need opportunities across subjects to evaluate AI-generated information, identify bias and discuss privacy and ethics. For superintendents, that means embedding AI literacy into existing digital citizenship and instructional initiatives instead of creating entirely new programs.
There needs to be an understanding about how kids are accessing information and evaluating that information, Jamie Nunez, senior manager of outreach and training at Common Sense Media, recently told District 91心頭istration. Media literacy, information literacy andAI literacythe ability to understand a tool like AI and what its outputs areare just as important.
