A student's guide to Generative Artificial Intelligence: Building digital competency and ethical awareness

Author and presenter

• Jennifer Kemp-Smith, University College

Abstract

At a time when digital technologies, especially Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) tools, are transforming education and the workplace, digital competency has become a critical skill for university students (Siddiq et al., 2023). With technological proficiency increasingly recognised as a vital employability skill for future work environments, higher education institutions have a responsibility to develop students’ technical expertise and digital literacy (World Economic Forum, 2023; Zawacki-Richter et al., 2023).

This lightning presentation introduces a responsive and interactive H5P resource entitled Using Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools: A Student’s Guide. This resource provides an overview of Gen AI: guiding students through key principles such as critical thinking, prompt crafting, and ethical approaches to using Gen AI for editing and proofreading. Academic integrity is foregrounded and underpins each topic.

Created in response to increasing requests from students and staff at University College (UC) for resources on the responsible use of Generative AI as an academic tool, it addresses a rising trend among university populations (Bridgeman et al., 2023). Accessible to all UC students in a non-award unit, it is also used in the pre-degree and embedded in Applied Health and Community Support units, particularly around assessment resources. Feedback from staff has been positive: emphasising that the guide has been 'highly beneficial in helping both staff and students understand how to effectively and responsibly use AI tools within the learning context.’

Ensuring students can navigate and use digital technologies, such as Gen AI tools, responsibly is key to delivering education that makes a difference.

References 

Bridgeman, A., Chan, C. K. Y., & Liu, D. (2023, May 15). Please do not assume the worst of us: Students know AI is here to stay and want unis to teach them how to use it. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/please-do-not-assume-the-worst-of-us-students-know-ai-is-here-to-stay-and-want-unis-to-teach-them-how-to-use-it-203426

Siddiq, F., Olofsson, A. D., Lindberg, J. O., & Tomczyk, Ł. (2023). Special issue: What will be the new normal? Digital competence and 21st-century skills: Critical and emergent issues in education. Education and Information Technologies, 29, 7697–7705. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-12067-y

World Economic Forum. (2023, April 30). The future of jobs report 2023. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/digest/

Zawacki-Richter, O., Marín, V. I., Bond, M., & Gouverneur, F. (2023). Systematic review of research on artificial intelligence applications in higher education – Where are the educators? International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20(39). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0171-0