Quick post for updates to (If You) USEME-AI. First released 10 Dec 2022, it has been through a few iterations and refinements. Version 1.4 has a new look and cleaner design. The core principles still hold, with a focus on creating a culture of high-quality thinking and agency. Some sections have been rearranged to make a more natural flow through the document.

• Permanent link here.

Some Notes:

(If You) has been highlighted. Some adaptations or uses left this part off, but it is important. Learning futures are not pre-determined, we have active choices to make about teaching, learning and adapting to AI.

Agency is repeated as a key message. Central to progressive international education, core policy guidance from UNESCO & OECD, and in the face of increasingly agentic AI, this is important. More here.

Learning for hope and agency means that powerful learning for now is excellent learning for the future. The knowledge, skills and competencies that students develop through deeper learning (with or without AI), are enduring and resilient. More here.

Mitigation, Adaptation, Innovation has been moved up. This is to recognise the parallel states we are in across classes. Find out more about the inspiration from climate action on this post.

Understand re-emphasises the importance of understanding not just AI, but learning itself. A solid foundation in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment is essential. AI will expose low-quality learning in an instant.

Evaluating Ethics has always been there, but as more evidence on the impacts on the environment, bias, equity, voice, safety, privacy and more become known, this is something schools should keep up with. Some examples here.

Authentic Adaptations and Inspiring Innovations have been edited slightly to better align with mitigation, adaptation and innovation. This should also signal that beyond the GenAI that teachers worry about, there are many positive impacts of “hard AI” on development, medicine and more that students could be exploring, testing or innovating with. See some examples here.

(If You) USEME-AI is based on years of research, teaching and leading. The core principles in V1.0 and the iterations thereafter have been influenced by a lot of sources and experience, including:

• Creating Cultures of Thinking by Ron Ritchhart, along with Making Thinking Visible and Cultures of Thinking in Action (see more here).
• Everything IB, NEASC and CIS.
• Extensive reading on policy and guideline developments from UNESCO, OECD, China and more (see post here).
• Our development towards Profiles of WAB Alumni, including connections through Mastery Transcript Consortium and Melbourne Metrics (more here).
• Our AI developments from 2021-now.

Impacts of (If You) USEME-AI

When I designed this in 2022, it was partly based on our research and partly as a response to early knee-jerk reactions to either “ban it” or “rush in” approaches. From my perspective, I’m neither pro- or anti-AI; this is part of my work and a reality we have to face, so let’s tackle it from a culture-based, learning-focused perspective. The timing of ChatGPT was perfectly horrible – we were in the final period of remote learning before China went back to normal. We needed many months to get the community back together and focus on the interpersonal elements of international schooling. So (If You) USEME-AI was too early for most people in our own context; it remained a guiding frame for some thought at a leadership level, but did not really directly influence teachers, who had much more pressing issues to deal with. Instead, we created, curated, waited and innovated through listening and research.

It did get featured in a few things and used in some contexts where “normal” had returned earlier. Early feedback from users was appreciated. It also helped frame my EdD studies and informed my thinking in conversations with other school leaders and innovation teams. In the three years since v1.0, it has been encouraging to see high congruence with releases from IB, UNESCO, OECD and more.

2023-25 has been positive in relation to AI in our context. Conversations and considerations have really matured. Our library and edtech teams have been doing a great job. We have clear school-wide guidance and more targeted guidelines for MYP-DP. Teachers and teams are coming up with all manner of student-centred mitigations, adaptations and innovations, and this has kept the values of teaching, learning, assessment, integrity and ethics at the forefront. A successful visit from Rita at Eblana Learning was just the right messaging at just the right time to reassure and encourage teachers to tackle the challenge head-on.

I am optimistic for the future of learning.

If you have used or been influenced by (If You) USEME-AI, I’d love to hear from you. Find me on LinkedIN here.