- Cama-i, quyana tailuci!
- (Central Yup’ik)
- "Greetings, thank you for coming!"
Educator Guidance
Guidance for Educators
This section provides practical resources and strategies for integrating AI into your classroom. It focuses on enhancing instruction, fostering AI literacy, and navigating the new landscape of teaching and learning, all in alignment with the Alaska K12 AI Framework.
Building Foundational AI Knowledge
Understanding what AI is, how it works, and why it's important is the first step to using it effectively and ethically in the classroom. Click each step to expand details.
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What is AI? (For a Teacher)
At its core, Artificial Intelligence refers to systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, like learning, reasoning, and problem-solving. Generative AI (GenAI) is a type of AI that can create new content, such as text, images, and code, based on the patterns it learned from vast amounts of data.
Think of it as an incredibly advanced autocomplete or a creative partner that can generate ideas, but which requires human guidance and fact-checking.
Key Resources:
- Course: AI Basics for K–12 Teachers - Common Sense Media - Designed for anyone who wants to understand the basics of generative AI and its impact on education.
- Video: AI 101 for Teachers - code.org - A foundational online learning series for any teacher and educator interested in the groundbreaking world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its transformative potential in education.
- Course: Generative AI for Educators with Gemini - Google - A course designed to help educators understand and implement Google's Gemini generative AI in their teaching.
- Course: AI Education - Microsoft - A comprehensive learning path for educators to understand and integrate AI into their teaching practices.
- Blog: Artificial Intelligence 101: Covering the Basics for Educators - Digital Promise - An overview of AI concepts tailored for educators.
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Key Concepts: Hallucinations & Bias
It's crucial to understand AI's limitations to use it safely and to teach students to be critical consumers of AI-generated content.
Key Limitations:
- Hallucinations: AI can "hallucinate" or make up information that sounds plausible but is partially or completely false. It may invent facts, dates, or sources. Always fact-check AI outputs.
- Bias: AI models are trained on data from the internet, which contains human biases (racial, cultural, gender, etc.). The AI can learn and reproduce these biases in its responses.
- Misinformation: Because AI can generate realistic-sounding text and imagery, it can be used to create and spread misinformation quickly.
As the AK K12 AI Framework states, we must empower users "to identify, question, and compensate for biases and misinformation in AI outputs."
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Why Teach AI Literacy?
AI isn't just a tool; it's a fundamental part of the modern world. Teaching AI literacy is essential for developing responsible digital citizenship and critical thinking skills.
AI Literacy Helps Students:
- Understand the technology that is shaping their world.
- Critically evaluate information they encounter online.
- Learn to use AI as a tool for creativity and problem-solving, not just a shortcut.
- Protect their personal data and privacy.
- Prepare for future careers where AI will be commonplace.
๐ Resource: Common Sense Media - AI Literacy Resources (6-12)
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AI Media Literacy & Deepfakes
As AI-generated synthetic media becomes increasingly realistic and accessible, teaching students to critically evaluate digital content is essential. The ability to create explicit deepfakes has opened new avenues for cyberbullying and harassment-schools must take proactive measures to educate students about the dangers of generative AI and its potential for misuse. These resources help educators integrate deepfake awareness and AI media literacy into their instruction.
Lesson Plan Ideas:
- Spot the Fake: Present students with a mix of authentic and AI-generated images or audio clips. Have them work in groups to identify which are real, discuss what clues they used, and reflect on how difficult it was to distinguish them.
- Deepfake Detective: Guide students through analyzing a piece of media using a verification checklist: source credibility, reverse image search, metadata analysis, and contextual clues. Discuss how these skills apply beyond the classroom.
- Create to Understand: Using age-appropriate, teacher-approved AI tools, have students generate simple synthetic content (e.g., AI-generated text or images of fictional scenarios) to understand how the technology works-then lead a discussion on the ethical implications.
- Digital Citizenship Discussion: Facilitate a Socratic seminar on questions like: "Should creating a deepfake of someone without their permission be illegal?" or "How does synthetic media change how we trust what we see online?"
Curated Lesson Plans - Identifying AI-Generated Media:
- Uncovering Deepfakes - AI for Education (Grades 6–12)
- Teaching Students to Identify Fake Videos - Edutopia (Grades 6–12)
- Deepfakes Interactive - MIT (Grades 9–12)
- What Are Deepfakes? - Everyday AI (Grades 6–8)
- Deepfakes: Exploring Media Manipulation - OER Commons (Grades 9–12)
- How to Detect Deepfakes - PBS NewsHour Classroom (Grades 6–12)
- Are Deepfake Videos a Threat to Democracy? - Common Sense Education (Grades 6–12)
- Educator Guide: How Much Should We Worry About Deepfake Technology? - PBS (Grades 6–12, PDF)
- Fake Voices Unit - MIT App Inventor (Grades 9–12, CS connection)
- Detecting Deepfakes - The Achievery (Grades 6–12)
- Deepfakes and Trust - Oak National Academy (Grades 6–12)
- Spotting AI Misinformation - Imagine Learning (Grades 6–12, PDF)
- Digital Deception: Understanding Deepfakes - PSHE Association (Grades 2–5)
- AI Misuse and Nudification - Childnet (Grades 6–12)
- Deepfakes & Consent - Common Sense Education (Grades 6–8)
Additional Teaching Resources:
- Common Sense Education - AI Literacy - Lesson plans and activities for teaching students to think critically about AI-generated content
- Hit Pause Media Literacy Curriculum (Poynter Institute) - Free digital media literacy curriculum for teens, including AI Literacy skills
- Stanford Civic Online Reasoning - Research-backed curriculum for evaluating online information, adaptable for AI-generated content
- Common Sense Media - Deepfakes Can Be a Crime: Teaching AI Literacy Can Prevent It
Discussion Prompts for Students:
- How can you tell if an image or video you see online is real?
- What are the potential consequences of creating or sharing a deepfake of a classmate?
- How might deepfakes affect elections, news, or public trust?
- What responsibilities do we have as digital citizens when we encounter suspicious media?
- Should creating a deepfake of someone without their permission be illegal? Why or why not?
AI for Teaching & Learning
AI can be a powerful assistant for educators, helping to personalize learning and save time on administrative tasks. Here are practical ways to leverage AI in your instruction.
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Personalizing Learning & Differentiation
Use AI to create tailored content for diverse learners. This can help you meet students where they are without having to create dozens of lesson versions from scratch.
Example Prompts:
- "Take this 10th-grade level text about the American Revolution and rewrite it at a 5th-grade reading level. Include a list of key vocabulary words and their definitions."
- "Generate 10 practice math problems on single-digit multiplication. Include 3 challenge problems that involve two steps."
- "Create a study guide for a test on photosynthesis. Include sections for key concepts, vocabulary, and 5 short-answer review questions."
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Teacher Planning & Administrative Help
Reclaim your time by using AI as a planning assistant. It can help you draft materials, giving you a solid "first draft" to edit and refine.
Example Prompts:
- "Generate a 3-day lesson plan for 9th-grade English on the topic of 'foreshadowing' in 'Of Mice and Men'."
- "Create a 4-point rubric for a student presentation on a historical figure. Include criteria for 'Research,' 'Organization,' 'Delivery,' and 'Clarity'."
- "Draft a positive email to a parent about their student's improvement in class participation. Mention their insightful comment about [topic]."
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Supporting Multilingual Learners
AI tools are excellent at translation and simplification, making them a valuable resource for supporting multilingual learners and their families.
Example Prompts:
- "Translate this classroom newsletter into Spanish. Use a warm and friendly tone."
- "I have a student who speaks Ukrainian. Create a side-by-side vocabulary list for our unit on 'The Solar System' with English in one column and Ukrainian in the other."
- "Explain the concept of 'metaphor' in simple English. Provide three examples."
Rethinking Lessons & Assessment
AI challenges us to move beyond traditional assessments and create learning experiences that prioritize critical thinking, creativity, and the learning process itself.
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Effective Prompt Engineering
The quality of your AI output depends entirely on the quality of your prompt. Teaching students (and ourselves) how to write good prompts is a critical 21st-century skill.
The Alaska K12 AI Framework highlights the PREP and EVERY model:
- P (Prompt): State the task clearly. (e.g., "Write an essay...")
- R (Role): Assign the AI a role. (e.g., "...as a skeptical historian...")
- E (Explicit Information): Provide context or key details. (e.g., "...focusing on the economic causes of the event...")
- P (Parameters): Set the rules. (e.g., "...in 3 paragraphs, using a formal tone.")
- E (Evaluate) the initial output to see if it meets the intended purpose and your needs.
- V (Verify) facts, figures, quotes, and data using reliable sources to ensure there are no hallucinations or bias.
- E (Engage) in every conversation with the GenAI chatbot, providing critical feedback and oversight to improve the AI's output.
- R (Revise) the results to reflect your unique needs, style, and/or tone.
- Y (You) are responsible for everything you create with AI. Maintain transparency about how you've used these tools.
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Rethinking Assessment in the Age of AI
If AI can write the essay, our assignments must change. Shift the focus from the final product to the *process* of learning and critical thinking.
Strategies:
- Focus on Process: Have students submit their brainstorming, outlines, and first drafts. Ask them to document how they used AI (if allowed).
- In-Class Activities: Use in-class discussions, Socratic seminars, timed writing, or presentations to assess learning in an environment without AI.
- Analyze AI Output: Give students an AI-generated text and have them critique it. Ask them to "fact-check this," "identify the bias," or "improve this argument."
- Personal Connections: Require students to connect the topic to their own personal experiences, local community, or recent events in ways an AI cannot.
Read More:
Redefining Assessment in the Age of AI - AI for Education
What's worth measuring? The future of assessment in the AI age - UNESCO
Enhancement and assessment in the AI age: An extended mind perspective - Universitat Politècnica de València
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AI Assessment Scale
Be explicit with students about how much AI is allowed for any given assignment. This avoids confusion and promotes academic integrity. Consider adding a scale like this to your rubrics.
- Level 1: No AI
- The assessment must be completed entirely without AI assistance (e.g., in-class exams, handwritten reflections).
- Level 2: AI-Assisted Idea Generation
- Students may use AI for pre-task activities like brainstorming, outlining, or initial research, but the final work must be their own.
- Level 3: AI-Assisted Outlining & Structuring
- Students may use AI to help draft, refine, or get feedback on their work. Students must critically evaluate and modify all AI-generated content.
- Level 4: AI-Assisted Editing & Feedback
- AI can provide feedback or assist with editing student-authored work, focusing on grammar, word choice, style, structure, and tone.
- Level 5: Full AI (Human Evaluation)
- AI can generate the primary output. Assessment focuses on student's ability to prompt, evaluate, revise, and critically engage with AI output.
Navigating Ethics & Integrity
This is an opportunity to have deeper conversations with students about honesty, responsibility, and the value of human thinking. These resources help guide those conversations.
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Setting Clear Classroom Expectations
Don't assume students understand the line between using AI as a tool and cheating. You must define it for them, for your class, and for each assignment.
Best Practice: Co-create a "Classroom AI Agreement" with your students. Discuss when AI is helpful, when it's harmful, and what your shared values are. (See the TeachAI link below for a sample).
๐ Key Resources
TeachAI Student Toolkit
Comprehensive resources including sample student agreements and guidelines for responsible AI use.
Alaska AI Acceptable Use & Academic Integrity Resources:
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How to Cite AI (When Allowed)
When you allow AI use, students must know how to cite it. This models transparency and academic honesty. Major style guides have issued guidance.
Citation Guides:
- MLA Style Guide - How to cite generative AI.
- APA Style Blog - How to cite ChatGPT and other AI.
- Chicago Manual of Style - Citation guidance for AI.
Simple Format: For younger students, a simple note in the works cited or a footnote describing which tool was used and what prompt was given is a great starting point.
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Caution: AI Detection Tools
It is tempting to use tools that claim to "detect" AI writing. However, leading experts and organizations caution against their use.
As stated in the TeachAI toolkit (and echoed by many universities):
"Teachers should not use technologies that purport to identify the use of generative AI to detect cheating and plagiarism. The accuracy of these technologies is questionable, leading to the risk of false positives and negatives... These detectors are often biased against non-native English writers."
Instead: Focus on new assessment strategies and building a culture of trust and integrity. Conversations about academic honesty are more effective than a technological arms race.
๐ Further Reading on AI Detection
- AI Detectors Don't Work - MIT Sloan Teaching & Learning Technologies analysis of why AI detection tools fail
- Why AI Detection Tools Are Ineffective - Chemeketa Community College comprehensive review of detection tool limitations
- MLA-CCCC Joint Task Force on Writing and AI Working Paper - Scholarly analysis of AI's impact on writing instruction and assessment (PDF)
Practical Tools & Resources
A curated list of free-to-use AI tools and further professional development resources for educators.
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Free AI Tools for Education
These tools offer free tiers that are powerful for classroom and professional use. (Note: Always follow your district's policies and vendor vetting procedures).
- ChatGPT (OpenAI): The most well-known all-purpose chatbot for text generation, brainstorming, and explanation.
- Microsoft Copilot: A powerful chatbot (based on GPT models) that also incorporates live web search results.
- Google Gemini: Google's chatbot, deeply integrated with search and other Google products.
- Perplexity AI: An AI search engine that excels at answering questions and citing its (web) sources.
- Claude (Anthropic): Known for its large context window (good for analyzing long texts) and strong writing capabilities.
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Subject-Specific Resources
Organizations are building AI tools and resources tailored for specific subjects.
- Khan Academy (Khanmigo): AI-powered tutoring and teacher tools integrated into Khan Academy's platform.
- Code.org: Provides resources and curriculum for teaching about AI in computer science.
- Elicit: An AI research assistant that can help find papers, summarize research, and extract data (useful for science and humanities).
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Further Professional Development
Continue your learning with these comprehensive guides.
- Alaska AI Framework (Main Page): Your home base for all of Alaska's state-level guidance.
- TeachAI Toolkit: The complete, in-depth toolkit for school guidance.
- ISTE AI in Education: A large collection of articles, courses, and resources for educators.
Professional Teaching Practices & AI Ethics
This section distills key implications of AI use for educators and points to relevant areas of the Professional Teaching Practices Commission (PTPC). It is intended as practical guidance you can apply immediately in your classroom and professional work.
๐ Quick Links
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Key Ethical Considerations When Using AI
Accuracy and Integrity of Curriculum Materials (PTPC B2)
- Do not allow AI to distort, fabricate, or misrepresent content presented to students
- Avoid unverified narratives - fact-check outputs and cite sources when sharing AI-generated materials
- Model responsible use by showing how you verify AI content
Respect for Students and Colleagues (PTPC B5, B6)
- Do not create, manipulate, or share AI-generated images, audio, or text that depict real students or colleagues in disparaging or inappropriate ways
- Avoid "jokes," deepfakes, or role-plays that could harm dignity or be misconstrued
- Be culturally sensitive when using AI-generated content - Review outputs for cultural stereotypes, biases, or misrepresentations that could be harmful to students from diverse backgrounds
Equitable Access and Opportunity (PTPC B9)
- If AI is used for learning, ensure students have fair access or provide alternative pathways
- Avoid grading or assignment designs that disadvantage students without reliable AI access
Copyright and Licensed Curriculum
- Do not paste or upload licensed, paid, or restricted curriculum materials into public or third-party AI tools unless your license explicitly allows it
- Summarize without copying, or create your own prompts that don't reveal protected content
- When in doubt, seek guidance from district curriculum leadership
Privacy and Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
- Never share PII with AI tools, including names, emails, IDs, photos, or identifiable context
- Treat student work as confidential unless you have explicit permission and a compliant tool
Professional Accountability
- You remain responsible for content you share, even if AI drafted it
- Review AI outputs for bias, age appropriateness, and compliance with policy before distribution
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Classroom Practices & Safeguards
Verification Routine
- Require at least two credible sources for factual claims generated by AI
- Use tools' citation features when available and teach students how to check claims
Prompt Hygiene
- Use abstracted prompts - avoid copying full, licensed passages or assessments into prompts
- Strip PII and unique identifiers from any context you provide
Assignment Design
- Make learning goals explicit and provide AI-optional or AI-free pathways
- Assess process, not only product - include drafts, annotations, and reflections
Communication Norms
- Include a short AI statement in your syllabus and class website spelling out what's allowed, what's not, and how to cite
- Avoid sending student lists, emails, or other PII to AI tools for drafting communications
Media and Simulations
- Use stock or synthetic exemplars rather than real student likenesses
- If teaching about deepfakes, select neutral, non-sensitive examples
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Decision Checklist for Educators
Use this checklist before creating or sharing AI-assisted materials:
- Purpose: Is AI the right tool for the learning objective?
- Policy: Does this align with the PTPC and your district's policies? If unsure, pause and ask.
- Content integrity: Have I fact-checked and cited sources where appropriate?
- Copyright: Am I avoiding licensed or restricted materials in prompts and outputs?
- Privacy: Does this contain any PII or sensitive student data? If yes, do not proceed.
- Equity: Will all students have fair access and alternatives?
- Professional tone: Could this be misconstrued as disparaging or inappropriate?
When in doubt, pause and consult your administrator or district office.
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Sample Syllabus Language
AI Use in This Course (Adapt and adopt per district policy)
- Students may use AI for brainstorming and revising ideas unless an assignment is labeled "AI-free." All AI assistance must be disclosed and cited.
- Students may not submit AI-generated work as their own. Sources must be verified and claims supported by class materials or credible references.
- No personal data may be entered into AI tools. Use only de-identified or fictional examples.
- Misuse may result in academic consequences per school policy.
Note: Customize this language to match your district's specific AI policies and academic integrity standards.
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Alignment with Local Policy & Law
Key Compliance Areas
- Review your district policies on AI, academic honesty, acceptable use, FERPA, and CIPA
- If policies are silent on AI, default to the stricter interpretation of PTPC obligations and privacy law
- Coordinate with administrators when piloting AI tools
Resources for Compliance
- Professional Teaching Practices Commission
- Full Code of Ethics (PDF)
- District Policies: Consult your district's AI or acceptable use policy
- FERPA Guidance: Review student privacy requirements with your district
โ ๏ธ Disclaimer
This page provides guidance for educators and does not replace the PTPC or district policy. When in doubt, consult your administrator or the district office. For the full legal text and official interpretation, refer to the Professional Teaching Practices Commission on the Alaska Department of Education website.