AI Literacy, Guidelines, & Resources

What is Generative Artificial Intelligence?

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that creates content like text, images, music, or videos. Instead of simply retrieving information, it uses data to learn patterns and produce original content. Think of it like a creative assistant—it can write stories, answer questions, make drawings, and even help with schoolwork.

Pamlico County Schools AI Literacy and Guidelines

NC Portrait of a Graduate

In a future where AI can handle many tasks, companies will value human skills like adaptability, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, empathy, a learner’s mindset, and personal responsibility, as these cannot be replicated by AI. In addition, students will need AI literacy to work effectively with AI. To prepare students for the future, these skills and AI literacy should be integrated into all grade levels and curricula.

Elementary grades: Learn ABOUT AI

Direct student interaction with AI chatbots, even those created and monitored by teachers, is not recommended for elementary students because our youngest students are not cognitively ready to completely understand AI or critically evaluate content for inaccuracy and bias. Even the safer AI tools run on ChatGPT, which is improving, still is prone to bias and hallucinations.
Increased focus on media literacy, including recognition that images and video may be manipulated by AI, to become more critical consumers of all kinds of media
Allow students to provide input into colors, shapes, events, etc in teacher/AI generated stories & images using educational tools such as Adobe Express and Canva
Basic coding to build computational thinking using code.org activities and using robots such as BeeBots, Sphero etc
Online and offline problem-solving activities to build computational skills
AI awareness discussions- simple conversations about how AI is part of their daily lives, such as voice assistants, GPS etc.
Creating of creative content utilizing education specific creativity tools such as the Generative AI Image tools in Canva Edu (Terms of Service) or Adobe Express (Student Privacy)

Middle grades: Learn ABOUT AI; Learn WITH AI

Learn about AI

5 min critical thinking activity (no AI use required) AI Snapshots for Gr. 7-8 by aiedu.org
Common Sense Media AI Literacy Lessons G. 6-12
Code.org ‘How AI Works’ Video Series’
Common Sense Media AI Literacy Lessons G. 6-12
Which Face is Real- https://whichfaceisreal.com/
AI for Education Uncovering Deep Fakes Lesson & Discussion Questions
Analyze images in Google Image search by using ‘About this image’ (3 dots→ about this image; to reveal info about it)
Recognize other methods of identifying current AI generated images by visual analysis for distortions, looking for watermarks, file name, etc (noting AI image generators are improving so won’t always be able to distinguish from human generated)
Middle school students may also benefit from awareness of potentially unsafe and irresponsible uses of AI in social media applications such as SnapChat MyAI and even in the video games they play

Learn about and with AI (All ages, with permission)

View, evaluate, and create AI generated content using generative image tools in creative apps such as Canva and Adobe Express to enhance AI Literacy, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.
Interact with teacher-created AI assignments on tools such as Schoolai.com ,Magicschool Student, Fobizz, etc that do not require student account creation, can be overseen by teachers, and are FERPA, COPPA compliant

Always carefully review privacy policies and ensure district approval and compliance with parent/guardian permissions for any AI tool(Ex. SchoolAI Privacy Policy

High school: Learn ABOUT AI; Learn WITH AI

Learn about AI- no AI required!

5 min critical thinking AI Snapshots for Gr. 9-12 by aiedu.org
Common Sense Media AI Literacy Lessons G. 6-12
AI for Education Uncovering Deep Fakes Lesson & Discussion Questions https://www.aiforeducation.io/ai-resources/uncovering-deepfakes
Code.org ‘‘How AI Works’ Video Series’ Analyze AI Images to see if they can pick out the AI images (this-person-does-not-exist.com/en, https://www.whichisai.com/ , https://realoraigame.com/game.html)
Analyze images from viral social media posts etc using Google Image search using ‘About this image’
In corner of image, click the 3 dots→ about this image to see metadata, history, etc
Test & evaluate the accuracy of an AI image detection tool such as aiornot.com
View, evaluate, and create AI generated content in educational apps such as Canva and Adobe Express to enhance AI Literacy, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking
Gain awareness of the potentially unsafe and irresponsible uses of AI such as in social media applications such as SnapChat MyAI and even in the video games they play
Interact with teacher created AI assignments on tools such as Schoolai.com, MagicSchool Student, Fobizz, etc that do not require student account creation, can be overseen by teachers. Always ensure any tools are approved by the district and are FERPA, COPPA compliant ( ex. School AI Privacy Policy)

Learn about and with AI (13+ Requires use of AI)

13+ may begin utilizing LLM tools such as ChatGPT with district/school & parental consent (after training)
AI for Education Lessons 1-4 for Gr. 9-12
Teacher-guided prompting to help them learn how to use genAI tools responsibly as a learning partner to expand their own creativity and critical thinking abilities.
Maintain a prompt library to evaluate prompts used
Maintaining Prompting Libraries
Participating in ‘Prompt-athon’ competitions
Advanced- Building AI agents or Bots to perform specific tasks

The CRAFT Prompting Framework

This framework allows users to skip the learning curve and interact with the models in a way that will help them see helpful and targeted results quickly, resulting in more successful introductions to LLMs such as Chat GPT, Google Gemini, etc.

A brief explanation of this framework with several example prompts can be accessed at https://bit.ly/CraftPromptEdu.

Click this link for Long Description of The CRAFT Framework Image

Use Great Caution with AI Detectors

AI detectors are unreliable and shouldn't be used as the sole method to determine if a student has cheated. They often yield false positives for non-native English speakers and creative writers, and false negatives for students skilled at bypassing them. Suspicion of excessive AI use should be treated as a teachable moment, emphasizing appropriate AI partnership rather than penalizing students. Using AI tools is similar to working with tutors or classmates; thus, educators should focus on students' learning processes rather than just final products. Teachers should clearly communicate expectations for AI use on assignments, referencing an AI Acceptable Use Scale, as guidelines may differ across tasks or classes. Holly Clark’s graphic from The Infused Classroom effectively illustrates these concerns and alternative approaches.

FERPA defines personally identifiable information (PII) as direct identifiers (e.g., student or family member names) and indirect identifiers (e.g., birthdate, birthplace, mother's maiden name). Because generative AI tools like ChatGPT use chat input to train models, users must understand and avoid entering or uploading any PII—including student ID numbers—into AI tools. Extra caution is needed when evaluating student responses, analyzing data, or creating personalized content like IEP goals or learning plans.

Conduct and review a security audit on the product/vendor to ensure they meet or exceed applicable security practices, PSU, State, and Federal requirements.

Understand how the product harvests data for training and continual learning. This is critical to help ensure sensitive data or contaminated data is not ingested.

Advancements in AI have increased deepfake images, video, and audio—including explicit or harmful content. PSUs should update bullying policies to specifically address deepfakes, caution students and staff to protect their digital content, and educate about emotional, reputational, and legal consequences. The free resource, Uncovering Deepfakes by AI for Education, can help students and staff safely navigate this technology.

Page updated

Report abuse