During this lesson learners will discuss how they think AI can be used in education. They will look at several short examples and evaluate the ethical issues involved. Finally, they will produce a list of guidelines for the ethical use of AI in the classroom.
Lesson outcomes
All learners will:
- discuss different uses of AI in education
- think critically about ethical issues surrounding AI in education
- produce a list of guidelines for the use of AI in education.
Some learners will:
- use their guidelines to assess further cases of the use of AI in teaching and learning.
Age and level
Secondary learners aged 13–17 and adults at B2+ / C1 level
Time
80–90 minutes
Materials
- AI and ethics in education lesson plan
- Student worksheet
- Presentation
- Lead-in (10 minutes)
Put learners in groups and show them the questions on Slide 2.
Get learners to brainstorm pros and cons of using AI in education.
Get some feedback and suggestions from the learners.
- Read and discuss (30–40 minutes)
- Give learners a copy of Worksheet 1 / Slides 3–10. Ask the students to discuss the cases and decide which teachers and students are using AI in an ethical way.
Ask learners to look at Case 1 on the worksheet. Give them some time to think individually about whether the teacher has acted in an ethical way (giving reasons for their answers), and then compare their answers in pairs.
Get some feedback and then feed in some of the ideas from the notes below yourself.
Then you can ask learners to complete the sentences on the worksheet with some of the ideas they have discussed. Explain the meaning of the phrases on the worksheet. Ask some learners to share their sentences, or they can compare in pairs. Give feedback. Encourage learners to use these phrases when they discuss the other cases.
Either get learners to discuss the other cases in pairs one case at a time using the presentation or give them the worksheet with all the cases and they can work through in small groups.
When the learners have finished discussing, get/give some feedback about each of the cases. (You can use the notes below to help with your answers).
- Teachers' notes on case studies
Case 1. A teacher is working late into the evening. They still have more than 20 assignments to grade for the next day. They decide to use an AI bot to help. They upload the assignments, and the bot marks the assignments and gives the students feedback.
Notes: There are several issues in this example.
The teacher shouldn't upload students' work to a site without their permission, and they should ensure it doesn't include any personally identifiable information.
The feedback the AI bot gives may include some inaccuracies, and the teacher should be checking the feedback.
The AI may have missed some important points in the students' work.
The feedback may be inappropriate for the specific students and may be demotivating for some.
Case 2. A student is trying to think of ideas for an assignment. They ask an AI bot for suggestions and take some of the ideas and write an assignment around them.
Notes:
- It's better to do the brainstorming of ideas before consulting a bot.
- Asking different bots or the same bot several times is more likely to provide a better range of initial ideas.
Case 3. A teacher arrives late at school and has a lesson in ten minutes. They ask an AI bot to produce the lesson plan and materials, and teach the class using these materials.
Notes:
- The teacher should take the time to check all the materials and make sure there are no inaccuracies in the materials.
- The teacher should check that the materials are appropriate for the students' level and existing knowledge.
Case 4. A student has an assignment to do. They go to three different AI bots and ask them to produce the assignment. They then read through the assignments and take the best parts from each one and edit them into a single assignment.
Notes:
- This is a bit of a grey area. The student has consulted multiple sources, read the output and made decisions about the content, so in that way they have used AI in quite an ethical way to do research.
- The student needs to check the content the AI produces to make sure it is factually correct, and acknowledge that they have used AI to help with the assignment.
Case 5. A student has an assignment to write. They don't really know much about the topic, so they use an AI bot to do the assignment and then hand it in. They are delighted when they get an A.
Notes:
- The student has a good mark but hasn't learned anything.
Case 6. A student writes an assignment but needs some background reading for the bibliography. They upload the assignment to an AI bot and ask it to write a bibliography that is relevant to the assignment. The bot produces ten references, and the student adds them to their completed assignment.
Notes:
- The student hasn't read the works they are citing in their references so they may not be relevant to the materials.
- AI bots tend to invent, so the reference materials it has chosen may not exist.
Case 7. A student is researching a historical event in their country during which a large number of people disappeared. They consult an AI bot, which gives them a credible explanation for why so many people disappeared and explains why the government was not responsible. They use this information as the basis of an argument they are writing for a debate.
Notes:
- AI bots tend to be biased towards the dominant culture, so opinions about events in history may be one-sided. It's better to consult several sources or ask for different perspectives on any particular event.
Case 8. A teacher decides to encourage their students to use AI and gives them a task to compare the output on a specific topic from three different AI bots for homework.
Notes:
- The teacher shouldn't assume that all students have access to AI tools at home. Those who don't will be at a disadvantage for this task.
- Production task (30–40 minutes)
Now tell the learners they are going to produce some guidelines for the ethical use of AI.
Show the students the different categories on Slide 11 and get them to work in groups to create/discuss some ethical guidelines for using AI in their learning.
Put them into groups and get them to make notes.
When they have finished, bring the groups together and discuss their suggestions.
Finish by producing a list of ethical guidelines most learners agree with.
- Early finishers optional task
If learners finish early, you could ask them to evaluate the following cases with their own guidelines:
Case A: A student has a deadline for an assignment. They have done most of it but they need some help with the conclusion. They get the AI bot to write the conclusion to their assignment and then submit it as their own work
Case B: A teacher needs some quotes about a topic they are teaching. They ask an AI bot to suggest some. They add these to presentation and teach the class.
Case A notes:
The student should acknowledge any work that isn't their own.
They should check the conclusion and edit to make sure it expresses their own opinion.
Case B ntes:
AI has a habit of inventing quotes and attributing real ones to the wrong people. The teacher should check that the quotes are genuine and who said them.
By Nik Peachey