Artificial intelligence is everywhere, from chatbots and search engines to video games and face-swap apps. Young people are leading users of the tools, but many don’t know the limitations or how to use them ethically and responsibly.
That’s why the Poynter Institute’s media literacy initiative MediaWise, in partnership with PBS News Student Reporting Labs, created AI Unlocked, a five-part video series with accompanying lesson plans that breaks down the world of artificial intelligence in ways that teens can comprehend.
“AI technology — and its encroachment into our lives — is happening at such a rapid pace that it’s hard to keep up,” said MediaWise Director Alex Mahadevan, who serves on Poynter faculty and co-wrote its AI ethics guide. “We’re excited to partner with PBS News to offer young people a chance to take a breath, understand how AI is shaping their world and learn how to get the most out of the myriad new digital tools they’re using every day.”
The AI Unlocked series pairs five videos with lesson plans for educators.
In this series, students learn:
- How generative AI works, the history of AI and the different types of AI they may come across.
- How to use AI ethically, what to expect from responsible AI users and how to tell if a creator or news site is using AI.
- Why bad actors may use AI and how to recognize it when it happens, including tips for spotting images, text, video and audio
- How to find facts using “prompt engineering” — the skill of crafting a specific query to get useful information from an AI chatbot.
- How to evaluate AI tools, separating the legitimate ones from those that may not be so useful. The lesson also includes an activity to help students dream up their own AI creations.
The videos are hosted by students from MediaWise’s Teen Fact-Checking Network, a virtual newsroom made up of middle and high schoolers who use social media to debunk viral misinformation and share media literacy tips. Like the TFCN videos, AI Unlocked incorporates peer-to-peer learning, which is proven to help boost engagement and retention among students.
Each video is paired with a lesson plan that includes an overview, objectives and discussion questions as well as teacher notes, vocabulary and a hands-on activity.
“Terms like gen-AI, Chatbot and prompt are used so often, we assume students know what they mean,” said Leah Clapman, executive director, PBS News Student Reporting Labs. “But it’s important to step back and make sure that students have a foundational understanding of how AI works and the core ethical questions so that they are equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
The AI Unlocked video series and lesson plans were made possible in collaboration with the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.
“Digital literacy has become a non-negotiable element of an informed society. By reaching students at a formative age, The Poynter Institute is cultivating a generation equipped to navigate and engage in an AI-driven world with confidence and discernment — essential skills for maintaining the integrity of our institutions and public discourse. Our partnership with Poynter reflects our continued commitment to ensuring AI education is widely accessible — building the inclusive, technologically empowered future we all deserve,” said Vilas Dhar, president of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.
You can find the AI Unlocked video lessons here. It is the third series produced in the MediaWise/PBS partnership. Check out our previous series: Is This Legit?, which teaches fact-checking and media literacy skills, and How2Internet, which teaches students how to be safe online.
Media Contact
Jennifer Orsi
Vice President, Publishing and Local News Initiatives
Jorsi@poynter.org
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues by teaching journalists and journalism, covering the media and the complexities facing the industry, convening and community building, improving the capacity and sustainability of news organizations and fostering trust and reliability of information. The Institute is a gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on the Institute to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universally shared information ecosystem.
The Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), MediaWise and PolitiFact are all members of the Poynter organization.
Support for Poynter and our entities upholds the integrity of the free press and the U.S. First Amendment and builds public confidence in journalism and media — an essential for healthy democracies. Learn more at poynter.org.
About MediaWise
MediaWise is a social-first digital media literacy initiative of the nonprofit Poynter Institute. The program teaches people of all ages and backgrounds how to responsibly engage with online content in the age of information overload. MediaWise was created in 2018 to empower citizens to find trusted sources and make sense of the vast amount of information at their fingertips. MediaWise brings simple, yet effective, digital media literacy tools to people where they are — whether they’re on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, TikTok, or in one of the 10 countries where MediaWise operates — and walk them through every step to determine what’s real and what’s not on the internet. MediaWise is home to the Teen Fact-Checking Network, a virtual newsroom of middle and high schoolers who empower their peers with media literacy skills which now operates in the Americas, across Europe and India.Through MediaWise, everyone can do their part to reduce the spread of misinformation and elevate the facts.
Follow MediaWise on social media to learn how to debunk viral claims and be more critical consumers of online information. Explore programs and be part of the solution at poynter.org/mediawise.
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