After a month of sharing information, thought provoking questions, and strategies to improve our collective media literacy, I wanted to wrap things up by talking about how artificial intelligence is quickly shaping this conversation.
Here at Olympia we have been having conversations around generative AI since ChatGPT first went public in early December, 2022. It immediately had an impact in our classrooms, and our teachers responded by learning about the technology and beginning to have conversations with their students about how we will navigate the impacts that generative AI will bring.
After discussions throughout the spring of 2023, we officially released our stance on AI tools at Olympia in the summer of 2023. Since that time, I have had dozens of personal conversations with staff members (and students) from kindergarten through twelfth grade around AI. I have also had the privilege to collaborate on a number of classroom projects where our teachers thoughtfully incorporated AI.
We are currently undergoing focused district-wide training and support around all facets of AI (ethics, classroom impact, societal ramifications, efficiency vs. quality, etc…). Leadership groups are participating in book studies, outside experts are sharing their experiences and knowledge from school districts they have worked with around the state, and students are being exposed to more and more thoughtful AI lessons to broaden their understanding and practice skills in a controlled environment.
I wanted to wrap up this month by sharing a blog post from Taciane D’Angelo Batista, a contributor to the International Council for Media Literacy. Titled Navigating the Digital Era: Media Literacy in the Age of AI, this post accurately reflects my personal stance on how we can create an educational environment that does not shy away from AI, but encourages thoughtful discussions, hands-on experience, and collaborative learning.
Link: https://ic4ml.org/blogs/navigating-the-digital-era-media-literacy-in-the-age-of-ai/
*The cover image for this new article was created using Google Gemini by prompting it with themes from the blog post linked above.