Wayfinder Learning Lab – Stephen Taylor

(If You) USEME-AI

What can schools do to adapt to rapidly developing AI technologies and their potential implications for teaching, learning and assessment? (If You) USEME-AI is a draft structure to support conversations and actions.

(Link to original post, Dec 10, 2022)

The world of AI is having big impacts on teaching, learning and our students’ futures. Back in Oct’22, I started this thread on Twitter. It began before ChatGPT was released, and since then we have seen week-after-week of major innovations and developments. If you scroll back, you’ll see some experiments, news, ideas, tools and discussions. Now there are even discussions of ‘sparks of AGI‘ and layer upon layer of new tools and developments causing major shifts in technology companies and education.

Adapting to this unprecedented pace of change, hot off the heels of a global pandemic, is a real challenge to education and educators.

I believe that schools that create a culture of thinking and powerful learning opportunities will be better able to benefit from these impacts than more traditional schools. In a class where there is an ‘invisible middle’ between and assignment being set and the work being turned in, there is more opportunity for misuse of technology – something that can easily be mitigated in classes where there is ongoing feedback, conferencing and discussion of the processes of creating, analysing, writing, editing and evaluating.

For those that like tech models, AI has the power to push the “R” of the SAMR model, or the “T” of the RAT model. In my last couple of posts (and in screenshots all over Twitter), you can find examples of how AI tools have ripped through the lower-order levels of these models. There will be some reflection needed in schools – and assessment agencies.

With AI already in the hands of students, is this an opportunity to refocus on the purposes of schooling: to bring the IB Learner Profile to life and to think about ATL Skills in design for learning? Being able to use these tools effectively could be the emergence of a new literacy related to prompt engineering, descriptive language and evaluating outputs with a critical eye.

How might understanding our learners as AI-augmented consumers, users and creators of knowledge shift the focus away from ‘cheating’ and towards constructive and productive relationships with technology?

At WAB, we’ve been researching AI for a while, curating resources and discussions, and looking for applications or adaptations of value.

Visit the WAB Learns AI Libguide for:

Related Posts:

Related Resources:

(If You) USEME-AI Draft Model 1.2

Draft 1.2 of (If You) USEME-AI is below. Older versions will be linked under the image. The version posted on this libguide will update live as I make edits – it also has working links and resources. This update includes the IB’s Statement on Academic Integrity.

It is licensed under Creative Commons, Non-Commercial, Share-Alike, Attribution. I’d love feedback on how to make this better, particularly from teacher-librarians.

For citation, please use: (If You) USEME-AI model for adapting to AI in schools, by Stephen Taylor at the Western Academy of Beijing.

(If You) USEME-AI, infographic by Stephen Taylor of the Western Academy of Beijing.

Version Histories – Click to see older versions

May 2023: A slide-deck to work though (If You) USEME-AI:

Click here to view full screen.

Accessible Tools to Try

Some of my go-to links for trying AI tools (we can’t easily access ChatGPT in China):

Some accessible image generators:

Academic Integrity in an AI World

“Academic integrity is a principle in education and a choice to act in a responsible way so others can trust us. It means conducting all aspects of your academic life in a responsible and ethical manner. The IB expects students to produce genuine and authentic pieces of work, that represent their own abilities.” IB. 2022. 

See the IB’s response to AI in education here.

Academic integrity is about building a culture and practises of trust, ethics and fair use. We should move beyond “gotcha” and suspicion and support students in how to be mindful and creative in their use of any tech tools.

Teacher-librarians & EdTech integrators are your school’s super-power for adapting to new technologies, literacies and academic integrity. See this post by Kay Oddone. Another great post on academic integrity is by Dr. Sarah Heaton: “Six Tenets of Postplagiariasm: Writing In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence.”

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