Month: April 2025

I found this task incredibly challenging but rewarding, particularly as it provided the opportunity to utilise various technological tools. It was overwhelming to narrow down the focus of my guide and artefact as there were so many really important aspects of digital citizenship to explore. After switching ideas multiple times, I designed an e-book guide for teachers to support teaching the ethical use of Generative AI in high school learning. Unfortunately, because I changed my focus so many times, I felt that this led to my final product being a bit rushed. As I completed the task, I appreciated walking in my students’ shoes, as I was very conscious of the need to model best practices in relation to acknowledging the use of Generative AI (and other sources). In my experience, many students forget that they must demonstrate this important aspect of digital literacy and citizenship.

As part of my assignment, I modified Caulfield’s SIFT (The Four Moves) approach to evaluating online sources to develop a tool to assess the credibility of information retrieved from Gen-AI (Caulfield, 2019). Initially, I planned to create a guide for students as I feel that this area is very under-resourced. Despite students completing the All My Own Work (AMOW) program before Stage 6, there continues to be a lack of understanding of the importance of acknowledging sources of information. Whilst the AMOW program was updated in 2024 to include a topic on the ethical use of AI, consistently supporting this through classroom practice is needed. Based on my recent classroom experience, this is an area where many teachers feel out of their depth and are perhaps reluctant to lead the integration of digital/AI literacy skills in the classroom. I found an ABC article advocating the importance of teachers and students having a basic understanding of AI skills, describing it as a must-have skill. Thus, providing a resource to assist teachers in delivering this information became the focus of my final assignment.

During the assignment, I often found myself going down a rabbit hole and exploring data on the use of AI by students. Whilst this was not a key focus of the task, I did include some of this information in my teacher guide as I felt it was relevant to demonstrate how prevalent the use of Gen-AI is by high school students in addition to their lack of understanding about how to use these applications ethically. Data that concerned me from a 2023 YouthInsight survey included 42% of students failing to verify information generated through AI. A 2024 UNICEF survey found that 20% of students admitted to using Gen-AI to complete assignments and schoolwork. Whilst I was not surprised by these numbers, as they reflect what I have experienced in the classroom, they clearly illustrate the importance of a focused approach to teaching digital citizenship and literacy.

I look forward to exploring this further in Assignment 2 to identify gaps in the school’s DLE and strategies to address these gaps. Future survey results will likely reflect the important work of Teacher Librarians to improve the ethical use of AI by students (and teachers!).

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