Reflection 6: AI Literacy and Cybersecurity

Last Friday, I attended a Focused ED seminar on AI literacy and on cybersecurity for students. Cari did a wonderful job of walking us through the risks and benefits of AI use as educators. For starters, Cari reminded us that AI is a tool that relies on data and probability; it is not a search engine. AI generates something new every time you use it. She warned us that it tries to fill in our blanks, so we need to be careful with the prompts we choose and be aware that not all responses will be accurate. She also clearly stated that ChatGPT is not appropriate for students because it is susceptible to inappropriate responses and collects their data. She touched briefly on the dangers of deepfakes and the reality that AI has surpassed our ability to tell what is real and what is fake. She pointed out that you can use a reverse search in Gemini to help you know if a photo or video is AI generated. As teachers, she essentially told us it is never appropriate to allow young children to use AI because there are too many risks, and it is impossible to put up sufficient guardrails. She told us that the best thing you can do is follow your school or district’s policies and use their approved tools and guidelines. She also mentioned that AI literacy lessons are free and accessible on the Focused ED website.

In the cybersecurity workshop, they went through the pre-made lessons by age group that are available on the Focused ED website. The website includes lesson plans, videos, assessment guidelines, rubrics and optional project ideas. It also includes a reference section to find more resources. There is a teacher/answer guide so that the instructor is familiar with the content and expectations before teaching. Topics include password security and cyberbullying, which continue to be relevant to our students.