AI is a pretty consistent topic in our course, so, I decided to look through our Mattermost chat and found this poster that really interested me. I find it weird to think about the fact that this poster is used in an elementary setting. When I was in elementary school, this was never something that was talked about because it wasn’t affecting us as much, and that was less than a decade ago. Now there are posters telling kids to keep their information private, use AI as a “helper,” check if it’s wrong or biased, and ask teachers if they’re confused. It really hit me how fast things have changed and how deeply AI has become a part of everyday school life.
In one of our classes we all had the chance to share our opinions on AI being used in an elementary setting, and I found it really interesting to hear everyone’s perspectives. I noticed that my own opinion kept changing as I listened to other poeple. Some people were excited about the possibilites and how it could be used, and others strongly disagreed with the idea and said AI should not have a place in elementary schools. I can’t fully agree or disagree because on one hand you don’t want kids to lose their creativity and thinking skills, but AI and technology are everywhere now so pretending it doesn’t exist isn’t realistic either.
I think that this poster is age appropriate and a helpful tool for kids. It reminds kids to be safe, use other tools, and still add their own ideas instead of just copying what AI says. But at the same time, it kind of shocks me that we need this in schools now. It shows how much AI has impacted not just society in general, but education specifically. As a future teacher, it honestly worries me a bit, because it’s something I will always need to look out for and teach my students how to use AI properly and safely. I won’t just be teaching them subjects like math and writing, I’ll also be teaching them how to question what AI tells them, use it as a tool instead of a shortcut, and still trust their own ideas and thinking.
